All melee weapons must be constructed of latex and foam over an appropriate core, and deemed ‘LARP Safe’. Arrows must also be of the LARP safe variety, with a foam pad at the end of each arrow. Throwing weapons must be latex and foam with no core. Firearms must be of the cap gun or prop gun variety. Prop guns are replica firearms without a capacity to fire, such as unloaded nerf guns. If you are using a bow or LARP safe claws, you must complete a safety brief with a ref before using the weapon. All weapons must be safety checked by an appropriate Referee before the start of the game.
A basic, unmodified strike (i.e. not accompanied by a damage call) does a single point of damage. It is possible to do more damage by acquiring the necessary skills. Two points of damage would be called as ‘Double’, three as ‘Triple’, four as ‘Quad’ and five as ‘Quin’. These are referred as the ‘Damage Grades’. All vocals for weapons are considered OC calls.
For information on the rules about Spells, please see the Magic page.
A call can consist of up to three elements, the Damage Type, the Damage Grade and the Effect. They should be called in that order, for example Cold Double Through or Single Strikedown. If a body location of the target is needed, for example for ranged attacks, that should be added to the end of the call.
There are six types of damage in the game. They are as follows;
● Epic
● Normal
● Magic
● Flame
● Cold
● Silver
Epic: When a character is hit with a damage call that has the Epic quality, they are reduced to zero hits on the head and body, rendered unconscious, and automatically are Bleeding as if they had received a Coup De Grace, starting their bleed count.
Epic calls may still be dodged or parried as normal, or resisted through other means.
A basic, unmodified strike (i.e. not accompanied by a damage call) does a single point of damage. It is possible to do more damage by acquiring the necessary skills. This is called the ‘Damage Grade’ and scale in this way: Single, Double, Triple, Quad, Quin. All vocals for weapons are considered OC calls.
It is not possible to do more damage than Quin by any means.
STACKING
Characters may gain Damage Grades from skills, powers or other means. However, unless specified otherwise, damage grade increases from the same source do not stack. Damage sources are noted in the skill or power descriptions and are as follows;
Strength- Adds to all weapons regardless of skill
Arms- Adds to weapons of a single type
Agility- Unexpected damage due to surprise
If a character gains a new skill or power that has an increased damage grade to the one they currently possess, and it from the same source, then the highest damage grade skill replaces the lowest. For example, the skill ‘Brawn’ would be replaced by ‘Super Strength’ when it is bought.
WEAPON TYPES
One handed weapons such as swords, daggers and pistols do a single point of damage.
Two handed weapons such as spears, bows and rifles do two points of damage ('Double').
Ranged weapons also apply the through effect apart from throwing weapons - unless you add another effect to the call such as Halt via Trick Ammo.
Throwing Weapons do a single point of damage.
Effects cannot be blocked by armour, unless you have a skill, lammie or loresheet that allows this. If an attack lands on armour and the damage is taken by the armour rather than on hit points, the effect will still apply to the character if it can apply to a person and they are not immune, or able to Resist it.
Only one Effect can be added to any individual call
● Crush - This replaces normal rules for damage grades. When struck, the blow destroys all armour on that location. If struck on an unarmed location, the body hits of that location are reduced to zero.
● Disease - When struck you cannot be healed until the disease is cured. After 5 minutes, you may only move at half speed and cannot cast spells or use skills. After 10 minutes, you cannot walk, see or talk. After 15 minutes, you are dead. Death is immediate. There is no bleed time.
● Through - When struck, damage is applied directly onto the location hit, ignoring AH.
● Shatter - When struck the armour or item is unusable until it is fixed. If a weapon is struck with the effect, it also breaks even if that weapon was used to block the strike.
● Fear - When struck, you must move as fast as possible directly away from the source of the blow or call for 10 seconds. If it is not safe to move, you must drop to the floor and cower until of the end of the effect. You may take no other actions whilst under this effect.
● Halt - When struck, you may not move or speak for 10 seconds. You are aware of anything happening around you.
● Strike Down - When struck, you must drop to your knees for 5 seconds. You may take no actions whilst struck down.
● Fumble - When an item is struck, you must drop that item to the floor. If a weapon is struck with the effect, it also is fumbled even if that weapon was used to block the strike.
● Repel - When struck, you must take 5 LARGE steps away from the source of the blow. (If you are unable to take large steps, aim for a minimum of 5 metres)
● Confuse - When struck, you cannot focus and may take no actions for 10 seconds or until struck on a body location.
● Sleep - When struck, you fall asleep and may take no actions for 10 seconds. You then may be woken up by a strike on a body location. Lasts until woken.
● Mute - When struck, you are unable to use IC calls for 10 seconds. Prevents the use of abilities.
● Attract - When struck, you must move towards the source, taking no actions, for 10 seconds.
● Slow - When struck, you must move and fight at Half Speed for 10 seconds.
● Freeze - When struck, you are unable to move or speak for 1 minute. You are aware of anything happening around you.
Damage effects come at the end of the damage call. For example, Single Slow, Double Fumble or Epic Single Fear. You may only use one Damage effect at a time.
If you are hit with multiple movement impairing effects, you only will take the first effect that hits you until its duration ends. For example, if you are hit with Halt and then Slow, you will only take the Halt effect. For the avoidance of doubt, these effects are Halt, Slow, Strikedown, Repel, Attract and Freeze.
Firearms are allowed in Guild of Darkness. They also have their own specific set of rules. Prop guns are preferred but cap guns are allowed if they are checked by a Referee beforehand. You may not use blank firing guns and all guns must be check by a Referee before Time-In. All guns have a range of 30ft.
To shoot a target, point your weapon at the target and call your damage, followed by the location you would like to hit; for example ‘Single, Through, Head’. After 6 damage calls, you must role play reloading for at least 30 seconds before shooting again. Your target must be visible and aware of your attack in order to take the damage. Each gun has a maximum of three clips that can be used in combat. This means that after you reload the gun three times, you are out of ammo and the gun becomes useless. You can restock ammo by returning to the Forging Desk and collecting it. This takes two rounds of concentration as you fill you clips with fresh rounds. Some skills and abilities allow you to carry more clips per gun and per encounter.
Armour absorbs damage and increases the number of times you can be hit on a location before being disabled. This is called an ‘Armour Hit’ or AH. Armour has four types and requires the appropriate skill to wear. These are as follows;
● Very Light - +1 AH and is represented by padded cloth or soft leather or light furs.
● Light - +2 AH and is represented by heavy leather or heavy furs or bulletproof clothing.
● Medium - +4 AH and is represented by chainmail or rigid plastic.
● Heavy - +6 AH and is represented by plate mail or powered armour.
To wear armour, a character must have the appropriate skill. The armour phys-rep must cover 50% or more of the location to grant the wearer AH on that location. Blows do not need to strike the phys-rep for the AH to count towards their protection.
Abilities may grant some form of magical protection. This functions as armour and will add AH to all locations when used. It may also stack with normal armour but cannot be repaired.
Once the AH provided by the magical armour has been reduced to 0, it is dispelled.
You can only have magical armour from a single source at any one time, and you cannot stack multiples from the same source.
REPAIRING ARMOUR
If the AH on a specific location is reduced to 0, the armour is broken and cannot be used until repaired. Characters with a specific armour skill can role play patching the armour to restore 1 AH on the armour per round of Concentration up to the maximum AH value for that type of armour. They can also use this on any armour type that is a lighter grade than the armour skill they possess. They cannot being any armour back to full AH unless they possess an appropriate skill.
REPAIRING WEAPONS
If a weapon is broken it may be repaired by a character with skill in that type of weapon by role playing fixing the weapon. This requires Concentration.