[Coda]

Hehe, it's definitely more fun to PLAY it.

And thinking about my giant mallet o' doom reminds me of a weapon from my Amtgard field...

The assassin on the field (who couldn't actually USE the thing while playing his class) made a greatsword that was like 7' long with a triangular blade. It was like getting hit by a COUCH -- because it was! He had filled it with upholstery padding that he had from a couch that broke. XD We called it "The Christmas Tree" because the cover was green, the grip was brown, and the blade was triangular. That weapon only came out to the field a couple times because it was so unwieldy. *laugh*

[Alexander Linden]

Sounds like you can get a real work-out from that! xDD
We actually have a bunch of practice swords here; wooden bokken, and foam swords. (we actually collect a lot of blades, both swords and knives, so it's not completely out of place haha)

[Coda]

Oh absolutely! That's actually something about class battles that you don't get quite so much from normal sparring -- class battles, being large chaotic things with attacks at many ranges, were a lot more of a workout. XD

[Hermes]

Yup, lots of damn work DX I'm actually building up fairly well XD Started the season at 125 pounds, back in November. I look skinnier. I weigh 170. You figure it out. XD

[Alexander Linden]

So you gained some muscle and lost some fat? Sounds awesome... I wonder if I can convince some friends to spar with me (LARPing has never been successful here... haha)

[Hermes]

In Bel, it's not a Larp. We're a combat society, not a LARP XD

[Coda]

Amtgard likewise, that's why I made the thread title what it is. :P It's generally NOT roleplaying, just sparring/combat under defined rules. Especially in the case of Amtgard the mechanics resemble that of RPGs but it's rare that anyone actually plays a character at a level any deeper than just flavor.

[Hermes]

Yep. You want LARP? Try SCA, Dagorhir, NERO....ESPECIALLY Dagorhir

[Coda]

Funny that Dagorhir being the progenitor of our systems puts more of an emphasis on roleplaying. *laugh*

[Hermes]

Part of why our groups split off~

[Coda]

*nods* Yeah, I know. *chuckle* It's still funny.

Fact of the matter is, if I ever get back in, I'm going to be tempted to fork Amtgard, because I'm not much of a fan of the 6.1 rules and I haven't even looked to see if there's been any revisions since then.

[Hermes]

Belegarth is the way to go if Amtguard's rules are gettin all outta whack on ya~

[Coda]

No, because I LIKE the class rules. XD It's just a few little things, like the requirements for red weapons to have courtesy padding on all exposed non-striking areas, or some minor changes to spell mechanics that I'm not fond of. The red weapon rule REALLY irks me because that makes staves bulkier in the middle and less solid-feeling on the grip, and it would DESTROY the appearance of my giant mallet o' doom. (I might also introduce optional incantation-equivalency rules, because I know a couple players who were turned off by the incantations being stuff like "lightning bolt lightning bolt lightning bolt lightning bolt lightning bolt" and would have preferred something that took the same amount of time to say but wasn't so silly.)

[Hermes]

Padding EVERYWHERE? O____________O Okay, rule here about padding: Three layers of foam on striking, no feel-able core on striking or pommel, no visible core, handle can only be 18-inches or 1/3 length on a red(Whichever islonger), and it's 12 inches or 1/3 weapon length for blue. A small layer of courtesy foam on things like javelins and glaives...

[Coda]

Amtgard 6.0 (don't know about anything newer) doesn't do anything so silly as counting layers of foam. The rules are that you can't feel the core through the padding, no point on the weapon can be small enough to poke someone in the eye (6.1 I think set this to 2.5" minimum?), striking areas have to be covered in cloth (exposed tape stings), and OFFICIALLY red weapons have to have at least 18" of blade length, at least 3' total length, and weigh at least one pound per foot of blade length. (I've never seen a red weapon be disqualified for being too light, though.) The major difference by not counting layers of foam means that it's legal to use fewer layers of thicker foam -- in fact pool noodles are a common construction material because they're the right diameter, have a hole down the middle for putting a core in, and are fairly inexpensive and lightweight. (Not to mention generally easy to replace when the weapon wears out.)

Of course, the main rule of thumb is that you have to let someone else hit you with it. If you wouldn't want to be hit with it (or if it hurts you when you're hit with it) you shouldn't be hitting others with it.

Edit: This does mean that it was legal for my 6' staff to have 18" of striking area on either end and just wrapped tape down the 3' in between. I did cause a few sore knuckles using that staff from people blocking with their weapon hand, which is probably the kind of thing that prompted the padding rule, but I still think it's absurd.

[Letiel]

*doesn't want to interrupt Hermes and Coda* ._.