A New Sherwood Strategy

“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” (JER 29:11 NIV)

I recently posted this notice on the Realms of Adventure (formerly the Shire of Sherwood) Facebook page. I figure I would share it here.

Hello Sherwooders!

I pray that you have remained well over the past year. I certainly miss fighting with you and am eager to do so again. With vaccines rolling out, that day may be coming soon.

I have been thinking about our park recently and have some ideas I’d like to try out. Let me share them with you.

Restart Practices – I will begin running practices again on Sunday afternoons. I don’t have a start date yet, but I’m guessing it will be May or June. Location is TBA. Right now, I’m planning on Sherwood but Robb has another park he’d like us to try. 

New Rules Set – Our contract with Amtgard has expired so I would like to try a different set of rules. I have reviewed the Way of the Sword (WoTS). There are things about them that I like so I want to try them. There are also some things I don’t like, but I plan to make some house rules.

A New Unit – Official WoTS branches are expected to have a historical theme. While I’m not ready to officially join WoTS yet, I would like to lay the groundwork. To that end, Robb and I are developing a historically themed unit. More on this later.

Let’s Have Fun! – the main goal of our group is to have fun, so we want to make it an enjoyable place for all. We want to try new things out and are open to suggestions. Here are some ideas that have been floating around.

• Nerf gun battles – Robb has been inspired to run some dieselpunk games, akin to TankLarp but without tanks. I jotted down ideas for a WoTS variant featuring Nerf guns.
• Monster battles – while WoTS is historically based, they welcome historical fantasy. I have some ideas to stat up monsters for WoTS rules. These games may be good for small groups – one powerful monster vs. a small party of adventurers.
• Return of the Tipsy Tankard – just want to hang out? No problem! We’ll set up an area where you can relax and socialize.

Share Your Ideas! – We are open to experiments. Just share your thoughts with the group

I hope these ideas whet your appetite for a return to the field of battle. See you soon!

All glory to the King!

A New Creation

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation." (2 COR 5:17)

And speaking of new creations, welcome to my "new" blog.

Actually, I amalgamated two prior blogs. From 2015 until 2019 I ran a blog called Way of the Wardens, which chronicled my personal LARP experiences and the history of the "realms" that I ran. In late 2019, I started a blog for a new LARP that I proposed. Called "Paladins' Quest," it was intended as a Christian LARP. COVID derailed it, and I have since changed my plans. Therefore, I decided to merge the two blogs together as The Paladin's Path.

How will Paladin's Path be different? I want to highlight the intersection of my faith with my hobby. Many think that Christianity and LARP don't mix; I disagree. As I explain in this prior post, I have found that LARPing as a knightly character has strengthened my faith in Christ. Thus, I see no conflict between LARPing in general and Christianity.

So what should you expect from this blog? Well, it will be a mix of things:

• General LARP stuff, like battle reports, persona advice, and organizational discussion
• General Christian stuff, like holy day reflections, (hopefully) without getting too preachy
• Discussions about how faith and LARP can work together. For example, I am planning a series on the Christian virtues that undergird the code of chivalry, and how they apply to LARP

Anyway, I hope you join me on my journey.

All glory to the King!