Larp combat

[Narmoth]

I'm going to my first larp the 30th of this month.
It's mostly a roleplaying-larp, not a hack and slash larp, but there will still be some combat involved.
I'm going as a knight, armed in chainmail and closed helmet (sugarloaf-type for those in the know) and will be armed with either longsword and shield or two handed sword, both weapons made out of latex, not steel.

Any advice on fighting technique, good tricks and other things that might help me get an upper hand in the battles against far more experienced players?

[Dallas-Dakota]

Well it is Live Action RolePlay....

Hmm.
Flank. Definetly, you´l travel in groups. Flank them! Seriously, trying to hit behind you or turning around in combat is hard without getting serious hits.

And, err, I don´t know the exact rules of the group you´re going with so I can´t exactly say more...

[Arokh]

From my experience with LARP-combat, I would probably recommend the shield- and-sword combination, since the effective use of a two-handed weapon does require at least some experience.

As for fighting tips:
1. Let some other players show you how. They should know what works and is allowed.
2. There are two 'shield-tricks' I am aware of. They are useful in 1-on-1 combat.
-The first involves using your shield to pull your opponents shield to the side and trying to hit him by striking over your own shield.
-The second one works similar, but this time you use your shield to apply pressure on your opponents shield (on the side that is facing towards you), thereby pressing it against his body and then striking at the now unprotected parts that were behind the shield. [Difficult to explain, maybe I can find some pictures.]
Of course you have to check the rules first.
3. Aim for their legs/feet. That always seems to work.
4. Regarding fighting in groups: Do what the person in charge tells you to do.(Within the boundaries of common sense.)

So long, Arokh.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Go for the legs indeed. Technically In game they shouldn't be able to move if you hit them there enough....

Shield sword combination is better, in my oppinion
though if you have a long sword, make sure its a LONG sword.
Not just a normal one. The only advantage from a two handed weapon is that you can hit from afar out of his reach.

Spar a bit with some more experienced people. Make sure that there is a weapons master if thats required.

Once a guy started sparring me. With no weapons master.
He was a fighter thingy.
I was a simple tracker.
Needless to say, I hit him once while he tried and didn't.
Then there was a whole debate because his character was hurt and I should have paid his healing costs. Or something....

[endoperez]

Asking for some hints either in-character or before the event starts would be best.

I doubt latex swords work well when half-sworded, and after reading the history misconceptions thread in Media I think most LARPers would just look at you silly if you tried it... :smallconfused:

[kirbsys]

I play Amtgard regularly, what LARP are you playing? I'm a decent fighter and could probably give you some advice depending on the LARP.

For a game like Amtgard or Dagohir where combat focuses on realism, the most important thing is knowing how to get around your opponent's defenses. Throw faints, for example swing right shoulder then left shoulder. If your opponent catches on, throw the same faint a few times then do a double attack to the shoulder. As a new player, the hardest thing for you to fight is a shield. Basically the best attack against them is whats known as a wrap shot. You get up close, then swing and fulcrum around their shield hitting their back or side. This is a very tricky attack and will probably take time to master, but they're difficult to block. Against dual wielding persons, stab. It's very simple, a stab is difficult to block when the person has no shield. Finally against pole arm people, get in close as fast as possible and pummel them while they cannot attack back.

In a more Role-play combat system where you have hit points and more armor related things, use these same strategies. They are less important, however since most people will be fighting using their character's skill instead of their own, you will have an edge over them if you fight well.

[Narmoth]

Asking for some hints either in-character or before the event starts would be best.

I doubt latex swords work well when half-sworded, and after reading the history misconceptions thread in Media I think most LARPers would just look at you silly if you tried it... :smallconfused:

Half-sworded?
And everyone uses padded weapons (mostly latex) in Norway.

Also, this is a low combat game. There won't be many group battles.
The combat isn't focused on realism and only the head is not allowed to hit.

My problem with sword and shield is that I get focused on either the shield (parrying) or trying to hit, and therefore wanted to go for a weapon where the focus is on the same piece of equipment all the time.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Stabbing is not allowed with the group I'm with.
Also damages the weapon badly if its made out of latex or such! Very Badly!

When with a shield : Just await the oppertunity, you can just block until then. Unless he has two weps.

[DreadSpoon]

Best advice on how to LARP fight:

Go to a NERO game. Watch what they do very closely. Then make sure you never, ever do anything that they did. NERO exemplifies "lamer weekend-gamer" LARPing techniques. Make combat fun for yourself and those around you, make combat safe, and combat can easily become one of your favorite aspects of LARPing. :)

Safety First

Before you go fight, practice on a tree, pell, or good friend. Make sure you can throw fast, accurate shots without ever hitting an illegal target (head, neck, hands, and groin in most LARPs), even when your opponent is moving around. If you can't manage to avoid hitting an illegal location, you're incapable of playing a LARP safely and shouldn't go. Since you're fighting with those crappy latex weapons, this is especially important - those things are whippy, too light (and hence hard to control), and easily bounce when hitting a target if you're not familiar with how to control them. Don't let the actual game be your first time fighting - if it's a competently run game, they might not even let you play until you prove that you can control your weapon, so practice before you go.

Practice a proper stance. Your center of gravity should always, always be in your lower gut. Specifically, NEVER LEAN FORWARD. Never. This turns your head into pretty much the only target, and greatly increases the risk that you'll get hit in the head. It also means you don't have any clue how to fight or make proper use of your body's balance, which means you'd fail any Martial Arts 101 class. When you move forward, lunge, or otherwise have to move, you start by moving your hips, NOT your head/body. That'll help keep you in balance and ensure you fight safely (and be a start towards fighting skillfully).

Learn to gauge your shots. If you're fighting someone like me (at a LARP of a style like the ones I prefer), you need to hit hard enough for it to sting. If you're fighting at a "weekend warrior" LARP, you have to hit so light that the only way they even know they're being hit is if you see it (which in LARPs like mine, wouldn't even be a legal damage-dealing strike). Find out what the proper level of hit is and practice. If you hit too hard you'll get kicked out, and if you hit too light your shots won't cause damage.

Honor

Before you start fighting, think about what you will look like when you fight. If you turtle behind paired longswords like the NERO losers love to do, realize that you'll look like an absolute moron. Before you start pulling the cheesy, lame shots, think how cool that would look in a movie. Did Aragorn run around leg-shoting everybody? Of course not. It may very well be effective (and was a favored tactic of soldiers in actual history - many skeletons dug up in battle sites have shattered shins but are otherwise intact, for example), but it is NOT KNIGHTLY. Fight with honor, fight with respect for your opponents, and fight for the love of martial skill. Otherwise, don't fight. Especially if you want to play a Knight, you should (as a role-player) hold yourself and your character up to the ideals of knightly chivalry. Leg-shoting opponents as one of the other posters suggested is completely and totally cowardly.

Ninjas are not cool. Ninjaing people in combat is not knightly. Everyone and their brother wants to dress all in black, play a bad guy, and run around at night stabbing people who don't see them. It gets old, it's complete tripe, and it's dishonorable. I don't know why being a loser is so popular among LARPers, but try to avoid the temptation. If you want to be a knight, great - just hold onto that, even if you see a bunch of other people choosing to be antagonists and evil-doers. Remember, if worse comes to worst, you can always find a different LARP if the people who play at yours are lame.

Fun

Most important of all - have fun, and make sure those around you are having fun. LARPing is not D&D. It is not about getting your personal character up to level 20 so you can be the uber-mcbadass-death-grinder-supreme. Your LARP is low on combat, so expect to focus on the immersion aspects of role-playing. When role-playing, just remember: you're role-playing for the sake of those around you, not for the sake of your own advancement. You are all trying to create an atmosphere that easily leads to suspension of disbelief and immersion. That is your #1 most important goal as a LARPer.

For combat, just remember that everyone is out there to have fun. This is why being cowardly and dishonorable is not cool. Getting cheap-shotted to death gets old after a while, and it turns combat from a fun martial game into a tedious, frustrating, and unenjoyable experience. Remember: it can be a LOT more fun to have a glorious death in battle than to have a shameful victory. Your death can not only be fun to role-play, but it can be a blast for all those around you to role-play, and the after-death (be it a resurrection or simply stories told of your old character's exploits while you play a new character) can also be a great deal of fun. If you find yourself falling into the trap of taking cheap and easy wins to ensure your character never dies and keeps advancing or gaining power, you've stopped playing for fun and started playing to win. Don't let yourself do that.

[Jinura]

You use limb HP? Like one in arm, one in the other , one in leg, one in another, one in torso, then add armor.
Or floating? IE. it dosent matter where you hit. If its the limb one: Go for the Eyes legs.

If the other... I would say play a little more defensivily.

[Narmoth]

Dreadspoon, and everybody else suggesting "go and watch...":
I'm in Norway. And not the most urbane part of it either, so it's impossible.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Practice with somebody(Be it family or a friend or something)

Just darn practice before you actually go.
Or even spar a bit at the site before any actual combat starts.

I'm counting on the rules I play with atm :
Go for the chest. If you get em in the torso, they'r dead.
Without legs they can't move around, but with the chest, they're simply dead.
Point taken?

[Jinura]

Also, if the campaign uses Spellcasters, their spells usually pierce trough armor. Atleast at the place i play.. Be carefull about them. The charge in and slash slash slash ain't always the best there.

[Lorn]

O-k. Right.

I'm not great with swords, but stay away from the 2-hander - shields are useful.

I'm assuming you'll be aiming for the upper legs/upper arms/torso, and staying away from groin/neck/major joints/backbone.



-Group tactics. Get someone else to help; get a single enemy, get them away from any support. Then, you need two people - 90+ degrees. Literally, a right angle or more. They can't fend both of you off, meaning someone will take him/her out.

-Shield. I cannot stress how useful a shield can be - make sure it's not too big or small. Generally, a big one has a width twice the length of your forearm. Small one, not so sure. Can be used offensively - hit other people's shields out of the way, weapons out of the way etc.

-Against individual spearmen. This is a handy little trick. Assuming they need both hands and do not have an easily drawn shortarm/aren't able to quickdraw, then use your sword to push their spear aside. You should be able to either get your shield on the same side as the sword, OR you should be able to flick the sword up and get them. May be quite hard with a 2H sword.

-Feint. I have no idea how heavy a latex sword would be; if you can get the speed up without being dangerous, then do what someone else said and feint.

-Poncing about. Not wise, if you're going for realism - it'll tire you out, if you're wearing metal armour. Like, really, tire you out. I've won reenactment fights against idiots who kept running around, pulling flashy moves with a sword - and I'm technically a 1 hit spearman, hopefully soon to become the 2 hit version. I just stayed away, then destroyed them.

-Knives. This may not work being a Knight, with honour and stuff, but if you can get a (obviously, safe) belt knife, foot long at max, you have a very dangerous weapon. I've taken out a spearman with nothing but a knife before. Easy.



Note: All these pointers are general combat from an experienced Saxon reenactor. I've avoided the dirty fighting: this is below.

Dirty Fighting.

Right. 1: Scrap being a knight. 2: Get a knife and a spear. Shield as well, keep it on your back. Armour? Your choice.

This works beautifully against people with a spear.

Grab their weapon up the haft, and they're sunk.

This is how I do things, preferred enemy being a single handed spearman with no knife:

-Keep thrusting - they will grab my spear or vice versa.
-Allow the other to happen, so you're both holding both spears.
-Prance around a bit, lower their guard.
-Drop your spear, take out your knife, then if you can, gut them. If they've taken their spear out, then grab it back again.

Other tip? Get a friend to backstab them.

Last one? Practice. Not dirty as such, but it works - hear your opponents laughing "hahaha, it's a teenager with a sword" turn into terrified screams of "OH, GOD NO! GET IT OFF! PLEASE! HELP ME!
Hehe.


Hope I helped. As I said, these are combat tips, and I prefer spears and knives, not swords.

[Narmoth]

ugh. read the NERO rules.
They truly sucketh.
They ruin all immersion in the game world, and reduces it to D&D played standing/running.
I'm happy that the game I'm joining don't go by those.

[Leper_Kahn]

I'm not great with swords, but stay away from the 2-hander - shields are useful.

I agree with this. I use two handed swords, but that's because I've been playing for 9 years straight, and shields have a far better learning curve.

Since we're not in-person I can't show you much, but the most important thing is to feel comfortable with your weapons. If you're comfortable you'll still get beaten by the really experienced people, but do a good job with newer people and have lots more fun.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Narmoth, this was posted earlier on and I agree :


Best advice on how to LARP fight:

Go to a NERO game. Watch what they do very closely. Then make sure you never, ever do anything that they did. NERO exemplifies "lamer weekend-gamer" LARPing techniques.

[kirbsys]

Ahh, Nero... it where us Amtgarders go so that we feel like we are the best fighters ever. True story: a guy from our park went to a Nero game, and they said he had to pay to get in. Well in Amtgard, its free so he wasn't expecting this. They offered to let him play a monster to get in free (kinda like washing dishes in a restaraunt). So he and his Amtgard buddies are on a path in the forest playing Goblins and they're good fighters, maybe even approaching great. So a guy shows up wearing Cardboard Plate armor and has two squires holding his stuff for him. They attack, and the knight keeps saying "It looks as if your swords won't affect me!" They batter him onto the ground and scare off his squires, and the guy just keeps repeating that their swords aren't hurting him. This goes on until they get bored and walk off leaving the guy to repair his "armor."

[Wraith]

Unfortunate as it sounds, even a LARP character can be turned into little more than a penis extension for some Players. Unlikely I know, but true... :smallwink:

I would just like to thank everyone who has posted so far with their tips. I've been LARPing on and off for about 3 years now, and I'm under no illusions to my own prowess with a weapon, however I've still picked up a lot that should hopefully get me through the next Weekender :smallsmile:

Hopefully I can still offer some advice from a different point of view, neither NERO or Amtgard, though - might as well give it a go, if only so that I can in turn be corrected and learn myself!


My problem with sword and shield is that I get focused on either the shield (parrying) or trying to hit, and therefore wanted to go for a weapon where the focus is on the same piece of equipment all the time.

Luckily, this 'problem' is just a matter of practice and it eventually becomes second nature to just keep your shield moving and a distraction to your opponent as much as anything else - it's hard to hit around a shield to get to the person behind it, and even more so if you can't tell where the shield is going to be from one second to the next.

This does NOT advocate wild flailing, for safety reasons, but at the same time try not to keep a steady rhythm or else your opponent might spot it and attack when YOU are vulnerable.

If nothing else helps, use a really big shield! I have a friend who is about 5'11" and regularly fights with a shield that is 2' by 4.5' in size. All he has to do, upon entering a fight, is hold it to himself and his entire left-hand side, from his shins to his hairline is protected, so he can forget about it and concentrate on fighting.
I never had much luck with that tactic, although he is considerably brawnier than I am and is more comfortable lugging the thing around all the time...

I hope that at least has helped you a little. I personally prefer to fight with a stave (or a spear, provided I can find the materials to fix mine before August :smallmad:) so by all means take my observations with a dose of skepticism, but if nothing else remember this; new Characters are inherently fragile compared to 'veterans', so you might consider playing a Squire instead of a Knight, at least until you are more confident in your abilities.
There's not a lot of different RolePlay-wise, as you can still practice Knightly vows and act in an honourable fashion, but Squires are generally regarded as "Knights in training" and can more often be forgiven for mistakes - which gives you a lot more freedom to simply run away when you need to, a tactic guaranteed to keep you alive better than any other advice you can find! :smallbiggrin:

[Timeras]

You should talk to the other players when you get there and ask for advice and training.

Remember that even the guys who play monsters are just there to have fun. There´s no reason to really hurt them.

And if they hit you, react even if your armor protects you. Few things are more annoying than those "great heroes" who don´t seem to notice when they are hit.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Honestly, it really depends on what LARP you're going to play. Hints and tips that would work in Amtgard are expressedly prohibited in NERO, for example. It depends on which set of rules you're going to go by.

NERO is a perfect example of a screwed up game. The concept is quite interesting, but the execution stinks on ice. Having played NERO for a number of years, it fails to achieve it's ultimate goal. If they had more Amtgard-like combat rules (and weapon construction!), with a competent Plot team, it would actually probably be a lot of fun. Like a live-action D&D game. However, like a D&D game, if your GM doesn't know how to run a game, it's going to stink, and very few NERO plot teams know anything about how to run a game.

One of the problems of NERO is mudflation. You've got characters now that are level 70+, have been played for 15+ years, and are nigh-unstoppable. They've also accrued an obscene amount of 'stuff' in that period of time. They've tried to fix this by getting rid of permanent magic items (2 year limit, now), but when a fighter can swing as much damage as an 8th level spell does on every hit, and has more hit points than anything short of a dragon, it's hard to take him down. Easier now that they've really nerfed magic items, you can't have skill store anymore, or cloak/bane 9th level spells, or Threshold (making you immune to any damage under a certain amount). They've drastically reduced the amount of no's you can have, which is a good thing, but it's still hard to run a game which will be fun for the newbies but at the same time, be challenging for the demi-gods. It's like trying to run a D&D game for characters ranging in level from a level 1 Fighter to a level 30 wizard with Epic Magic Seeds and allowed to use Leadership Abuse to research epic spells. Anything the Wizard couldn't just sneeze on, would totally smear the Fighter.

Honestly, I think NERO should do what D&D does: run different campaigns depending on what level your characters are at. One weekend, run a 'core' game (level 1-20), couple weekends later, run the 'epic' game (25-50), and maybe once in a while, run the 'hardcore' games (51+). It would make things a LOT easier.

However, this still doesn't address the one major flaw with NERO: Price Tag. Unfortunately, NERO is built as a for-profit organization on the Franchise model. Each NERO chapter is it's own Franchise, and must abide by all the rules and regulations NERO International puts down. As with any franchise, they are allowed some local variation, but mostly they have to follow the Core ruleset. The problem here is that, because it's a franchise, they have to pay royalties on everyone who plays. I've seen some of the numbers, since a friend of mine is a chapter owner, and it's quite pathetic. On your typical $50.00 weekend fee for an individual, the chapter gets maybe $5 off of it, everything else goes to Corporate or Site Fee or Insurance. With that $5.00, they're expected to be able to come up with a full theatrical studio capable of enabling a number of individuals with zero theatrical experience to be suited up in 'realistic' fantasy garb, complete with non-human traits. You just try and see how much it costs to make one person look anything like a 'goblin', for example. It ain't cheap.

The other problem with NERO, is that it is a numbers based system. Being in the middle of a NERO combat is like being in the middle of an auctioneer's convention. Everyone yelling numbers at you left and right and you're supposed to be able to keep adding up everything in your head while you're trying to be active in combat. I could pull it off, because I am particularly adept at keeping running numbers in my head, but I am the rare exception in that regard.

Amtgard's combat system is FAR superior to NERO's, and it's weapon construction guidelines are MUCH safer. However, it isn't a 'total immersion' game. Combat is restricted, for safety reasons, to the field. But it makes WAY more sense and a lot easier to keep track of than NERO.

If we could come up with a game that runs combat similar to Amtgard, with the 'total immersion' that NERO supposedly brings, and a competent Game Master to run it all... now THAT would be a game I would come out of LARP retirement to play.

[kirbsys]

I disagree with you on the point that anyone can be invincible while playing Nero. It may take me more hits to kill the guy, but considering that in Nero bad habits are not only encouraged, but sometimes made into rule (for example you must leave a target out side of a shield at all time rather than making people learn to throw wrap shots), whereas in Amtgard you must actually know how to fight, thus you learn quickly, I think that I could take out a high level guy simply because even though he only has to hit me once, he still has to hit me. :smallamused:

I'm not saying I'm a great fighter, just that Nero fighters are very very bad.

[Grey Paladin]

If this is not too much of a hijack . .

I'm a newbie fighter myself, standing at 1'98 and having a massive build, even for a Russian, I use a shield the size of some of the smaller combatants and Light-Medium armor (Ringmail) due to me being inherently slow and an extremely easy target with restrictive/heavy suits.

My weapon is a massive warhammer, but not the silly fantasy World of Warcraft style ones but a realistic one, which is pretty much a long pole with a small heavy hammerhead and a spike (doubling as a spear) on the top, designed for the blows to be 'thrown', letting the momentum inflict most of the damage rather then the swing itself.

Any and all advice is welcome, I have none to learn from but myself as no one knows how to use a warhammer properly.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Grey Paladin,

Being at nearly two meters, you've got a very good build for using a warhammer, although it sounds like you're using more of an SCA or Livesteel combat system than a LARP.

My advice to you is this: Think in three directions. Hammers can be deceptively swift, and the momentum is very difficult to check. Spinning the haft will spin the hammer, making it an effective method of blocking lighter weapons and forcing the weapon sideways so you can thrust unchecked. Furthermore, you have a good bit of reach, use it. You're able to strike first if you're smart about it. Control the distance, force them to approach you, which gives you a free hit before they can retaliate. Aim for weapons, your weapon of choice is a massive and weighty instrument of havoc. Particularly if you are facing an opponent with a fencing weapon, you're easily able to knock it clean out of his hand, if not break it outright.

As for NERO: It's easy to be invincible, if you have the right toys. Threshold, Skill Store: Dodge items, and Cloak/Bane toys all can make an individual invincible. Fortunately, they've removed most of that sort of cheeze, so it's much more difficult. But back in the day, in 7th ed, if you had a Threshold of 10, if you were swinging less than 11 damage, you were not affecting them, no matter how much you hit him. It's got nothing to do with skill and everything to do with character power.

Personally, I'd like to see a LARP based on 4th ed, much like NERO is based on 2nd ed. Using Amtgard style weapon construction, of course. In fact, I'd ban Ultralight weapon construction outright except for certain magic weapons. Say you get a weapon enchanted with Swiftness or Haste or somesuch, then you can use an Ultralight phys-rep for it. Otherwise, old-school Amtgard weapon construction, with eye-socket legality, and PVC core.

Using 4e, you could have daily powers, encounter powers, and at-will powers. That would be a LOT easier to do than the current way NERO does things. Use Amtgard incants to keep Magic balanced vs melee. In fact, use Amtgard's basic damage system, so you don't sound like you're in an auctioneer's convention every time you step on the field.

[Grey Paladin]

ShneekeyTheLost:

First of all, thanks for the advice.

Secondly, the system/equipment used is LARPish, but strives for realism (to the degree that safety allows it).

All equipment used is carefully weighted so that it is as cumbersome as its real counterparts, and all armor is crafted to restrict movement properly.

Armor provides damage reduction but can never reduce the damage of a hit below 1, weapons also have special qualities that effect their damage versus certain types of armor, body areas have a local value of hit points.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

ShneekeyTheLost:

First of all, thanks for the advice.

Secondly, the system/equipment used is LARPish, but strives for realism (to the degree that safety allows it).

All equipment used is carefully weighted so that it is as cumbersome as its real counterparts, and all armor is crafted to restrict movement properly.

Armor provides damage reduction but can never reduce the damage of a hit below 1, weapons also have special qualities that effect their damage versus certain types of armor, body areas have a local value of hit points.

Ummm... real armor should never restrict movement. I've worked out livesteel in SCA in real armor. I perfer Chain and Plate, with Plate covering the inflexable portions, chest and bracers and such, with Chain covering the joints to allow freer movement, although articulated plate has just as much maneuverability. Trust me, I've seen SCA Knights, in August, in Texas, in 100 *F (around 37.5 C) weather, in full plate, out-jazzersizing the jazzersizers in spandex.

The most restrictive armor I've ever worn was a Helmet, because it restricted my vision. I much prefer an open face helm to a close-face one.

But yes, I had a close friend who was just over 2M tall, and weighed in at about 100KG. He also used a Warhammer, and was bloody scary with it. One trick he used, similar to a spear trick, hold up close to the head, then back close to the butt. You can use it similar to a spear to block with the haft, then thrust, like using a Pool Cue, right into the opponent, before swinging it around into the opponent charging from a different direction.

I, personally, preferred to use a polearm or a Bo-Dao (two-handed very heavy chopping blade with a long almost polearm-like haft, chineese weapon designed for chopping calvary horses and their riders). While the Naginata was a stereotypical polearm, I was never very fond of it for some reason. The Bo-Dao, with the heavy Falchion-like blade on one end and the balance-ball on the other end, was a very, very fun toy to play with.

[Swordguy]

*raises hand*

Played NERO for 7 years. Hated it. (Though it was the one near me for the longest, which is why I played it for that long)
Played Amtgard for 3 years. Meh.
Played Dagorhir for 3 years. VERY meh.
Former Red Belt in the SCA. SUCKS.
IFGIS. 3 games. Never again. Suffer not the IFGIS system to live.

Here's the issue - every system is making a LOT of concessions in one place or another for "safety's" sake. People can run around with huge shields in the SCA, for example, because you can't kick shields or do the stuff that makes those shields not work. Most boffer LARPs don't allow headshots, which promotes a fighting style that leads with the head. NONE of them is anything resembling "live" combat. Having played these, the perfect system would be:

NERO's general scope, magic system and national chapter system (except the crazy franchise stuff - Joe Valenti is an ass)
Most of Amtgard's physical combat rules
The SCA's costuming standards, and the rest of the physical combat rules
Dagorhir's player base

Now, to the OP:

Here's a nice trick. Wrap shots (blows that wrap around to strike the foe in the back of the head) do not work in "real life", and a LOT of boffer LARPs prohibit them due to the chance to striking someone in the head. However, a wrap shot to the leg is a perfectly good attack.

Wraps key off of the fact that swords, when swung, tend to want to travel in a circle. Take a ruler or something and hold it horizontally over your head and swing it in a horizontal circle - that's the motion of a sword swing. Now, you'll note a point during the circle where your wrist turns over - with a real sword, you want to strike your target before that happens. With a wrap shot, the target for your swing isn't your opponent, but about 2 feet to the SIDE of your opponent. When you swing the sword in that circle while aiming off to the side of your adversary, the sword will loop back around and hit him in the back AFTER the wrist has turned over (with the "false edge" of the weapon). Because you're aiming off to the side, you're going around that stupidly large shield that's hanging in front of him. The swing "wraps around" the target and hits him from the rear. Hence, "wrap shot".

So, what you want to do is pump your shoulder up- your opponent reads this as a highline attack and moves his parrying weapon/shield upwards. Then drop your weapon vertically and throw a wrap shot into the back of his knee. Even if he drops his shield, it has to travel MUCH farther to actually stop the shot due to the mechanics of the wrap - meaning you're much more likely to hit. It's even tough for him to step backwards out of range, since the shot is wrapping behind his leg - he'll move his leg into it.

It even works against armored fighters, because it's next to impossible to effectively armor the back of the knee.

[Dallas-Dakota]

*raises hand*

Played NERO for 7 years. Hated it. (Though it was the one near me for the longest, which is why I played it for that long)
Played Amtgard for 3 years. Meh.
Played Dagorhir for 3 years. VERY meh.
Former Red Belt in the SCA. SUCKS.
IFGIS. 3 games. Never again. Suffer not the IFGIS system to live.

Here's the issue - every system is making a LOT of concessions in one place or another for "safety's" sake. People can run around with huge shields in the SCA, for example, because you can't kick shields or do the stuff that makes those shields not work. Most boffer LARPs don't allow headshots, which promotes a fighting style that leads with the head. NONE of them is anything resembling "live" combat. Having played these, the perfect system would be:

NERO's general scope, magic system and national chapter system (except the crazy franchise stuff - Joe Valenti is an ass)
Most of Amtgard's physical combat rules
The SCA's costuming standards, and the rest of the physical combat rules
Dagorhir's player base

Now, to the OP:

Here's a nice trick. Wrap shots (blows that wrap around to strike the foe in the back of the head) do not work in "real life", and a LOT of boffer LARPs prohibit them due to the chance to striking someone in the head. However, a wrap shot to the leg is a perfectly good attack.

Wraps key off of the fact that swords, when swung, tend to want to travel in a circle. Take a ruler or something and hold it horizontally over your head and swing it in a horizontal circle - that's the motion of a sword swing. Now, you'll note a point during the circle where your wrist turns over - with a real sword, you want to strike your target before that happens. With a wrap shot, the target for your swing isn't your opponent, but about 2 feet to the SIDE of your opponent. When you swing the sword in that circle while aiming off to the side of your adversary, the sword will loop back around and hit him in the back AFTER the wrist has turned over (with the "false edge" of the weapon). Because you're aiming off to the side, you're going around that stupidly large shield that's hanging in front of him. The swing "wraps around" the target and hits him from the rear. Hence, "wrap shot".

So, what you want to do is pump your shoulder up- your opponent reads this as a highline attack and moves his parrying weapon/shield upwards. Then drop your weapon vertically and throw a wrap shot into the back of his knee. Even if he drops his shield, it has to travel MUCH farther to actually stop the shot due to the mechanics of the wrap - meaning you're much more likely to hit. It's even tough for him to step backwards out of range, since the shot is wrapping behind his leg - he'll move his leg into it.

It even works against armored fighters, because it's next to impossible to effectively armor the back of the knee.
I find the the system of Arcana(Located in the netherlands and Belgium) works really well.

[kirbsys]

I have a question for you about your time in Amtgard. Did you ever go to any inter-kingdom events? If so which ones? I think that a lot of the best fun in Amtgard is at these events (I'm going to Clan later this month, I can't wait). Also which park did you go to? That makes an enormous difference.

EDIT: Something to add on combat. Body faints work wonders in any type of combat. People watch head and shoulders as a general guide-line of where the body is going, so if you can move your shoulders to seem as if you are going to attack from the right, when really you plan on striking from the left, you create an awesome opening (especially since you never actually move your sword into a position to attack on the right, thus its much quicker than a traditional faint).