Happy Easter

 

"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!" (Luke 24: 1-6)

Happy Easter!

Sport or LARP?

It is an age-old debate. Are boffer / foam-fighting organizations sports or LARPs (live-action roleplaying games)? If you ask most members of such groups, most would probably respond that it is a sport. In fact, Way of the Sword bills itself as a "combat sport." LARPs are for those who are doing full immersion, as in the infamous lightning bolt video. "We're not doing that," the sporting enthusiasts would say. "We don't have magic. We are engaged in an athletic competition! Thus, we're playing a sport."

I've long thought that this argument is poppycock. Yes, boffer fighting is an athletic endeavor, but it is also so much more.

We can easily see that in the old Dagorhir Handbook. Let's take a look.

Scroll down to page 4. How does the "What is Dagorhir?" section begin? With a fantasy story. It sets the tone by showing that Dagorhir lets you step into a story.

It then describes Dagorhir as "A game, a sport, a martial art . . . a chance to live an adventure." The sporting enthusiasts will lock onto the second descriptor. "It even says that it is a sport!" But notice that the description begins with a "game" and ends with "a chance to live an adventure." This shows, as I said, that boffer fighting is so much more than a sport. It begins with a game. What kind of game? Well, it doesn't specify but the final part implies what it is. You are living an adventure, a fantasy adventure no less. This sounds an awful lot like a roleplaying game, one that uses live-action - in other words, a LARP.

There are more clues. Go to page 7 - a history of Dagorhir. How did the organization begin? The founder wanted to re-create the battle scenes from Lord of the Rings. In other words, he wanted to play the role of the kinds of characters he read about in a fantasy novel. Again, sounds like LARPing.

Scroll to page 9. Before we get to any game rules, we now find a section on characterization. There is a short piece of fiction before we get to the crux of this section.

To set the mood and re-create the atmosphere of battle it’s very important that each participant become some character he or she has made up. Just as in improvisational acting, you should always act out your part; accents are recommended if they sound believable.

Nothing about sport here. It's all about playing a role. This section continues for another 6 pages.

On page 15, we get to costumes. This section begins with the statement that the "battle costume is the single most important factor in re-creating an atmosphere of fantasy in Dagorhir." Once again, the Handbook emphasizes the concept of playing a role in a fantasy setting.

The Handbook then continues with advice on making weapons, starting a chapter, and organizing and running events. The actually rules don't appear until page 54.

So let's recap:

• Dagorhir initially defined itself as more than a sport
• Dagorhir was founded as a way to roleplay epic LotR battles
• Characterization was considered crucial to create a medieval atmosphere in which to roleplay those battles
• Costume (garb) was considered essential to characterization. (Think about it. If we are not roleplaying, why wear medieval garb? We could just as easily fight in soccer jerseys or HEMA gear).

It seems clear to me that Dagorhir was originally envisioned as a kind of roleplaying game. It may not have magic, but that just means it is set in a grittier world. Nevertheless, it is still Live Action Role Playing.

You may ask, what about other games? Surely they are sports. The thing is, Dagorhir was the first boffer combat organization, and pretty much inspired all the others. By looking at Dagorhir, you see the very origins of boffer combat. What are those origins? LARP.

Good Friday

He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 

(1 Thess 5:10 NIV)

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!

"Cheater" Bracers - Take 2

 I previously posted an experiment in "cheater" armor. I made a splinted bracer using cardboard, velcro straps, and paper fasteners.

Poking around the internet, I found a better construction technique. I decided to try it out. Here is the result.

This time, I put the straps on the outside. It makes it easier to strap it tight to the arm.

Another change is that I did not cut out individual splints. Instead, I cut out a single piece of cardboard then scored lines on the back. I was then able to fold the cardboard to shape.

Here it is on my arm. I have it strapped on the inside so that I could take the picture.

This was a very simple way to make a splinted piece of armor. I want to try it with greaves.

"Cheater" Armor

I know, a paladin should never cheat, and actually I am not advocating it. 

However, there are some LARPs that will allow armor that is made of non-period materials (such as aluminum or plastic). I jokingly call this "cheater" armor because it is a lot lighter than the real thing. Even so, I am a big advocate of such armor if it looks good. Here is an example:

In general, I think the game looks better if people wear armor. To this end, I have long pondered how to outfit people in inexpensive, lightweight armor. This leads to some problems.

• You can buy inexpensive armor, but it tends to be metal
• Leather and plastic armor is lightweight, but tends to be more expensive (go figure)

Therefore, I have long pondered how to construct plastic armor. Recently, I have been acquiring a lot of cardboard boxes (thanks to COVID). I decided to use some to experiment with armor templates. If successful, I can move the design to plastic.

Here is my first build - a splinted vambrace (bracer). Yeah, it's ugly. Remember that it's a template.

I have made a single-piece plastic bracer before, however it required heating the plastic with a heat gun and then shaping it. I was looking for a design that could be built using simpler techniques.

I borrowed the concept from this page of the Armour Archive. For my test, I used a canvas backing with velcro straps, cardboard splints, and cheap paper fasteners.

Here is a picture of it on my arm.

I learned a few things in the process. Primarily I think it will work better if I have the straps on the outside.