Monster Manuel
05-05-2006, 05:56 PM
In high school, we had some simple combat rules that we called a LARP. We played every weekend in an abandoned field for a while, but things eventually tapered off. We had an even mix of males and females, and many of our players would never play tabletop.
Here they are, as I remember them:
Everyone had 10 Hit points in the basic game.
There were 3 classes of weapons numbered fom 1 to 3. Small weapons like daggers were class 1, medium weapons like swords and axes were class 2, and giant weapons like great swords and spears were class 3.
Each weapon did it's class value in damage to an arm or leg, and double damage to the torso. Heads ,hands, and crotches were off limits.
We had ranged weapons in the game, like blowguns that shot tiny paintballs, sling shots, and thrown tennis balls. We safety-tested everything, and the injuries were minimal-usually twisted ankles or bruises. The safety tests were the reason we never had bows or thrown spears.
The games were usually a lot like capture the flag, with an objective that needed to be accomplished. We either had teams, or every man for himself, and sometimes we just did a battle to the death. It was a hell of a good time, and I got into great shape.
After a while we added some rules, like classes- clerics could heal a certain number of life points per game, rogues did extra damage from behind and could try to disarm "traps" which usually accompanied the mcguffin in a chest that we used for most games, Fighters had more HP, etc. We never got wizards working, but I had a much more complex set of rules in the works when things died.
The game died when a friend and I tried to add even more complex RP-based rules and another friend simultaneously brought some girls who were too cool for the game, making fun of everyone, and embarrassing us all. Emotions escalated throughout the night, and I probably got more self-conscious than I should have. The game imploded into name-calling between myself and the other person running the game in front of everyone, and we never really played again with that group.
It was a great time while it lasted, though.
Here they are, as I remember them:
Everyone had 10 Hit points in the basic game.
There were 3 classes of weapons numbered fom 1 to 3. Small weapons like daggers were class 1, medium weapons like swords and axes were class 2, and giant weapons like great swords and spears were class 3.
Each weapon did it's class value in damage to an arm or leg, and double damage to the torso. Heads ,hands, and crotches were off limits.
We had ranged weapons in the game, like blowguns that shot tiny paintballs, sling shots, and thrown tennis balls. We safety-tested everything, and the injuries were minimal-usually twisted ankles or bruises. The safety tests were the reason we never had bows or thrown spears.
The games were usually a lot like capture the flag, with an objective that needed to be accomplished. We either had teams, or every man for himself, and sometimes we just did a battle to the death. It was a hell of a good time, and I got into great shape.
After a while we added some rules, like classes- clerics could heal a certain number of life points per game, rogues did extra damage from behind and could try to disarm "traps" which usually accompanied the mcguffin in a chest that we used for most games, Fighters had more HP, etc. We never got wizards working, but I had a much more complex set of rules in the works when things died.
The game died when a friend and I tried to add even more complex RP-based rules and another friend simultaneously brought some girls who were too cool for the game, making fun of everyone, and embarrassing us all. Emotions escalated throughout the night, and I probably got more self-conscious than I should have. The game imploded into name-calling between myself and the other person running the game in front of everyone, and we never really played again with that group.
It was a great time while it lasted, though.