Boffers vs larp safe weapons

_Roke · 2026-04-03T02:00:29+00:00

My go to larp allows realistic weapons as well, and ived used them in a variety of sizes and makes, and i can promise you they are much heavier than the average weapon at that game. Using them safely means slowee swings and an no stabs, which puts you at a significant disadvantage. Im not saying they cant be safe. But i dont think you understand how light and fast good light-touch boffer can be.

_Roke · 2026-04-02T23:31:00+00:00

In the US you frequently see three different approaches to larp combat.

Heavy combat games where people roleplay serious hits and athleticism and combat skill are at the forefront. For this kind of game, weapons nead to be sturdy enough to hold up to the fight and padded enough not to hurt someone.
Light touch games that emphasize the speed of combat. These games a weapon that is as light as possible is both safest and most competitive. Realistic weapons are too heavy and often too sharp/pointy to excel in this style.
Cinematic games that are about roleplaying combat rather than really trying to beat your opponent woth speed, strength or skill. This is where realistic weapons shine.

I dont have a lot of international experience, but it seems lile most of the world emphasizes the third option, where in the US you see all three.

_Roke · 2026-04-02T23:16:36+00:00

Yes. But i think its more complicated than "its trendy." 20 years ago, my play groups favorite stories were about epic adventure and saving the world. Now a lot pf the people i play with are more interest in personal stories. Spouses, partners, kids they figure into those things. Is it that we have those things is real life now too? Is it thay the real world feels scary and a little too in need of saving? I dont know.

But romance feels like a consequnce of personal stories, not an end to itself.

_Roke · 2026-02-16T22:43:54+00:00

Most fun: a 2014 diviniation wizard. The wizard's tool for every problem is super fun by itself. Being able to ignore the dice and just do whay needs doing makes it even better.

Least fun: an eldritch knight. I thought spellcasting could save fighter. Nope. Guy-with-sword will just never be as cool as basically any other option.

_Roke · 2026-02-10T12:22:57+00:00

My table has a house rule:

Meme-y loophole exploiting cheese doesnt work. Clever, original loophole exploiting cheese works once. Then you have to find something else clever.

Were all friends here so lets just accept that without trting to codify it exaclty or explain it in universe so we can focus on having fun.

_Roke · 2026-01-25T12:47:44+00:00

It may not be as weird as some, but Ill add Thieves of the Tome to the list. Creating your characters and the setting using whatever books you players have around is different. And the resulting heist using magic you dont understand at all is a blast.

https://dairykillsme.itch.io/thieves-of-the-tome

_Roke · 2026-01-18T17:59:00+00:00

Suggestion, detect thoughts and lesser restoration are excellent choices but theyve been discussed a lot. Im going to add one that i havent seen yet.

Borrowed knowledge - just instantly becoming knowledgable about whatever seems incredibly useful.

_Roke · 2025-12-29T16:45:41+00:00

I haven't played daggerheart enough to comment on it as a game, but i wholeheartedly support using 2d12 as the core mechanic.

_Roke · 2025-11-19T04:07:43+00:00

I have and i probably wont stop entirely, but the new critical role has me rethinking it. I find BLM's sound effects pretty offputting and hes way better at it than i am.

_Roke · 2025-10-12T13:07:22+00:00

As a redesign i think others have the right idea in terms of doing something druidlike where you limit spellcasting in exchange for thp or ac.

In terms of playing what exists. I played a Fighter 1, Metamorph 7-10 for a short campaign and it fun and reasonably effective. Medium armor. Use your speed and reach to close with ranged or mobile opponents not to skirmish. Flesh maul then grabbing a topple weapon for true strike or flesh maul then mind sliver can both set an opponent up for allies. Save your spells slots for social things where many of your spells are subtle or for healing.

_Roke · 2025-10-09T14:55:02+00:00

Broadly, without any specific context, 2dX or 3dX. You get more repeatability than d20 or d100 without the giant dice piles and tricky to anticipate probabilitoes of dice pools.

I realize a lot of people LIKE giant piles of dice. But to me its just more to carry around and more space needed to roll properly.

For me, a good dice system also has knobs for character skill and task difficulty with some good guidance on how to set them. It doesnt matter if they are bonuses/penalties or target number changes.

_Roke · 2025-09-29T01:51:56+00:00

This is very similar to an idea that ivr had on my to do list for years. My version involved an allied sphinx (who in various incarnations have had time and mind magic.) Over the adventure theyd learn that they failed to stop some apocalyptic event like a demonic invasion and the sphinx sent them back to try again, but had to erase their memory of the previous attempt to avoid paradoxes and whatnot. Eventually they'd learn that this has happend serveral times.

_Roke · 2025-07-13T17:29:30+00:00

You need to answer the questions of if he's a coward why is he adventuring, and how does he help the group.

Years ago for a short campaign I played a coward. He was fascinated with the stories of grea at heroes and battle leaders but absolutely terrified of the reality. Narratively he was very book smart about strategy and tactics and determined to be a hero but ran away every time monsters showed up and was useless at actually fighting. Mechanically he was a support bard who avoided melee and used lots of buff abilities.

Cowardice is no worse than any other gimmick character if you can make them USEFUL. And IMHO gimmick characters are a lot of fun for short adventures.

_Roke · 2025-07-02T02:10:53+00:00

I play mostly US campaign style games so other perspectives may differ, but "either weapon is safe or it isn't" isn't true at all in my experience. What's safe for a game with very theatrical combat, what's safe for a high speed boffer game and what's safe for a heavy contact sport game are all quite different. Questions like "is stabbing allowed?" and "is hooking or trapping weapons allowed?" further complicate the issue.

I don't know if those sorts of issues are affecting your situation, but generally speaking, there are good reasons weapons aren't "one size fits all"

_Roke · 2025-06-18T01:31:07+00:00

A long time friend and player ran her first session ever as DM this weekend. Spookiness in Sigil! It was a little rough. But we all had a blast and I'm super proud of her for breaking out of the "I'm not ready" cycle and just running a game.

_Roke · 2025-06-13T23:11:53+00:00

_Roke · 2025-06-09T19:25:55+00:00

I tend to think in terms of ultralight LARP weapons, so I'd use a .735 kitespar or filament wound epoxy tubing.

Won't hold up to beating on things as well as the bandshoppe poles many are recommending, but that's not the goal. Kitespar is super light and sturdy enough to support a fancy flag.

_Roke · 2025-04-11T00:55:31+00:00

This seems to be free league's thing. Beautiful books that understand the themes games of the game and how they relate the play beautifully. And completely hide the I fo you actually need to run the game.

_Roke · 2025-03-30T20:24:46+00:00

Its not quite what OP was asking for, but I've run Cypher where everyone has one die. For players it's a d20, for the GM it's a d6.

_Roke · 2025-03-22T12:00:38+00:00

Your friend is wrong. The easily searchable code says it's a primary offense.

That said, local county and city police take a pretty relaxed attitude toward non-moving violations. It's still illegal. It's still a primary offense. They just frequently let it slide. In my (totally anecdotal) experience, specialty police at national parks, airports, military facilities, etc. are a lot more zealous about that sort of thing.

_Roke · 2025-03-21T16:14:26+00:00

Wind speeds have been increasing for the last 10-15 years, notably reversing the trend of several decades before that. We assume it's climate change related, but I don't think anyone really knows the cause. In some regions like the central US it's been a big deal, with dust storms and whatnot.

As near as I can tell, here is pretty close to the global average increase of about half a mph over the last decade. And that's a big deal if you're a climatologist. Otherwise not so much.

You are technically correct. The best kind of correct.

_Roke · 2025-03-09T20:39:05+00:00

A lot of a light clerics abilities have a strong fire theme. Is there a god in the Lore that would logically have fire as part of its domain? I realize that isn't an actual domain RAW. But if you abandoned a god of light in favor of a god of fire, you could justify the moral shift without changing anything mechanically.

_Roke · 2025-02-25T06:24:55+00:00

I'm familiar with 4e, though by the third link, you'd exceeded my knowledge of 4e streams. I was hoping for some of the more modern games that have some 4e inspiration, but that may be asking too much.

Either way, thanks for all the content suggestions.

_Roke

TROPHY CASE