The first place you should go when you arrive on site is registration, which is generally located in the tavern. If it's your first game, you'll need to submit your paperwork and create a character. Note that new players are encouraged to go on OrnLARP.com prior to their first event so they can register, create a character, and download paperwork to fill out before arriving on site. This will greatly expedite registration for everybody.
If this isn't your first game, you'll need to pay your game dues. Please note that administrators, plot members, and full-time monsters play for free because they are working for the game. New players play for free during their first event to encourage more people to give the game a try. Unless you're in one of these groups, you must pay to play. This is to ensure that the game can pay its bills and continue to grow.
Once your paperwork or game dues are in order, you'll be given your character sheet. Please note that all character updates must be completed online between events. You will not be allowed to make changes to your character at check-in. This is to ensure that registration goes quickly so everyone can get in play and have fun sooner.
Following registration, you'll need to get any props you plan to use inspected by a prop marshal. The prop marshal will verify that your boffer weapons, shields, and armor are safe to use and issue the appropriate item tags.
Last but not least, you'll need to see the cabin marshal for your cabin assignment. Larger cabins are usually reserved for members of large player groups, and you will likely be housed together with other players to better fill out available space.
Once you've registered, gotten your props inspected, and received your cabin assignment, you're free to go unpack and get into costume. Even once you're ready to play, though, remember that nobody is officially in play until the conclusion of opening ceremonies. In the meantime, you're free to socialize with your fellow players at the tavern.
Once everyone has registered, everyone will meet at the tavern for opening ceremonies, where admins, plot members, and marshals will welcome you to the game and make any necessary pre-game announcements. It's important to attend opening ceremonies so that you're aware of any rules updates, game developments, and in-play rumors. At the conclusion of opening ceremonies, the game officially begins and everyone can go in play.
The event takes place from the conclusion of opening ceremonies until midday the following Sunday. During that time, you are encouraged to stay in play as much as possible. Plot members will do everything they can to ensure that there's plenty to do, from fighting monsters and going on adventures to roleplaying with interesting characters and playing a part in intriguing story lines. Remember, the more you're in play, the more opportunities you'll have to have fun.
If this is your first game, you'll be required to attend new player orientation before going into play. This is a mandatory game rules and safety course where a marshal will teach you everything you need to know to get started. New player orientation is generally followed by a brief adventure where you and other new players find your way into town.
Monsters exist to provide players with challenging and thrilling encounters. Playing the monsters is a collective responsibility of everyone in the game. As such, with a few exceptions, everyone is required to perform two hours worth of monster duty at some point during the event. During this time, you go into play as a monster designated by the monster marshal at the Dragon's Den.
Playing a monster is fun for a lot of reasons. It allows you to engage in combat without fear of character death. It gives you an opportunity to try out different character options without committing to them. You may even be allowed to play something more powerful than you're used to. And let's face it, terrorizing your fellow players is loads of fun.
If you really enjoy playing a monster, you can perform more than two hours of monster duty in exchange for boon. Additionally, if you can't afford your game dues or want to try out different character options before creating a character, you can play for free by agreeing to perform monster duty for the entire event.
When the game ends on Sunday, there's one last thing to do before you leave the site. All participants are required to help clean up the site once the event is over. At a bare minimum, you must clean up your cabin and the surrounding area. Volunteers are also needed to help clean up the bath houses, the tavern, and any stray packets. Boon is awarded to participants who go above and beyond to help clean up.
Simulated combat is one of the most exciting, and dangerous, aspects of playing a boffer LARP. At the Shards of Orn, the first and most important rule is safety.
Boffer weapons help minimize the risk of injury to participants. However, remember that even padded weapons can cause serious injury if used irresponsibly. All participants are expected to adhere to the follow boffer safety rules:
Much like pausing a computer game, when someone calls "Hold," all in-play participants in the viscinity must stop what they're doing and take a knee until someone calls "3, 2, 1, play on!" A hold essentially takes everyone in the viscinity out of play until the situation that caused the hold is resolved.
There are two important rules to keep in mind regarding holds. First, do not call a hold without a good reason. Good reasons include participant injuries, important rules clarification, plot narrative, etc. Second, respect a hold whenever it is called. If you were in play when the hold was called, you must remain in the same spot until it is over. Likewise, because you are out of play during a hold, you cannot perform in-play actions or hold in-play conversations.
As a rule of thumb, physical contact is prohibited without the permission of the person involved. Exceptions include contact with boffer weapons, contact with packets, and physical contact by a medic administering aid.
Although perfect realism is beyond the reach of boffer combat, certain boffer fighting techniques are so unrealistic that they strain believability and give combat an artificial feel.
Whenever you are in play, everything you do is considered an action of one sort or another. Simple actions like walking and speaking are called "common actions" because almost any character can perform them at will unless an effect prevents them from doing so.
Your character can move around as much as you are able. Certain effects, however, can restrict or force your in-play movement.
Unless you play a special character race incapable of speech, your character can speak as much as you are able. As with movement, certain game effects can prevent you from speaking in play. Additionally, some actions have verbal performance requirements, so you must be able to speak to perform them.
Your character is capable of perceiving his or her in-play surroundings. By default, your character cannot perceive concealed characters or objects, although actions with the perceive effect can give you this ability.
As with speaking, unless you play a special character race incapable of wielding weapons, your character can attack with a boffer weapon. Unless you possess the proper level of Armed Combat, however, the weapon deals half damage (rounded down, to a minimum of one) and cannot be used to deliver actions.
Your character can awaken a sleeping character. To do this, stand over the sleeping character and declare, "Awakening one, awakening two, awakening three." The character's sleep effect is then ended.
Your character can slowly drag an incapacitated character. To do this, stand over the incapacitated character and announce, "Drag." The character must then walk with you until you declare, "Drop," to drop them. Note that, unless you have a Strength effect, you are Slowed until you drop the character you are dragging.
Your character can learn in-play information about an item by reading its item tag.
When you see another character, you can declare, "What do I see?" The character must then describe what you see. Monsters must give you a brief physical description. Concealed characters must tell you their type of concealment. Other characters are not obligated to say more than, "You see what you see," but may offer additional details at their discretion.
Your character can deliver a killing blow to a dying character. To do this, stand over the dying character, declare, "Killing blow one, killing blow two, killing blow three," and strike the character with a boffer weapon. The character is then reduced to dead status.
If you have an appropriate phys rep, you can take one minute to create a light source. This can take any form that is believable and appropriate for your character. For example, you might conjure a handheld globe of luminescence or light a torch. Flash lights will not generally be acceptable for this purpose, but may still be used for out-of-play purposes.
Your character can read and write ordinary writing by default. You can be illiterate if you so choose to suit your character's background, and may likewise learn to read and write at any point in time for no cost.
Your character can refocus his or her prepared actions. To do this, you must spend ten minutes in uninterrupted concentration (e.g., study, meditation, weapon drills, or whatever else is appropriate to your character). For every action that was previously prepared, you can select a different action to prepare. Note, however, that actions which haven't been refreshed cannot be refocused. For example, if you have used a daily action since dawn, that action cannot be refocused.
Your character can refresh his or her encounter and adventure actions by resting. To do so, declare, "Resting," and cross one arm over your chest. During this time, you cannot perform any actions other than speaking, perceiving, or inspecting. If you do so, or you are attacked by another character, your rest is interrupted and must be restarted. After 60 seconds of uninterrupted rest, all of your character's encounter actions refresh. After 10 minutes of uninterrupted rest, all of his or her adventure actions refresh.
Your character can perform a search of an incapacitated character. To do this, stand over the incapacitated character and announce, "Searching." The player of the incapacitated character is then obligated to hand over any in-play valuables he or she may be carrying.
In contrast to common actions, special actions allow your character to perform amazing and complex feats in play. Special actions gained through class levels are called class actions, while special actions gained through racial skills are called racial actions.
Special actions have a number of attributes that define how they are acquired and used. Each of these attributes is detailed below.
All special actions call taglines. A tagline is a brief phrase that describes the effect the action has on the character affected by it. For example, a sorcerer who casts a Petrify spell throws a single packet with a tagline of "Freeze," indicating that the character struck by the packet must freeze in place. Likewise, a warrior swinging a two-handed sword might have a tagline of "10 Sharp," indicating that the character struck by the sword takes 10 points of sharp damage. There are two types of taglines: Damage Taglines and Effect Taglines.
Damage taglines indicate that the action deals damage, which reduces a character's health total. A damage tagline is composed of two parts: The amount of damage dealt followed by its type. The warrior dealing "10 sharp" in the example above is calling a damage tagline. Some damage types include:
Effect taglines indicate that the action produces a specific game effect other than damage. The sorcerer calling "Freeze" in the example above is calling an effect tagline. This generally matches the effect of the action in question. For example, an action with the Maim effect calls the "Maim" tagline. Some actions may call different taglines to further clarify their effects. For example, an action that uses the Repel effect at higher intensity might call "Repel 10" to indicate its increased strength. Whatever the tagline is, it is noted in the action's shorthand on your character sheet.
Regardless of the effect tagline being called, all effects obey the following rules:
You learn class actions during downtime. If you attempt to develop them independently, it takes longer and you stand a chance of failing or botching. If you learn from a teacher, it takes less time and you cannot fail. Unlike skills, you are not limited in the number of class actions you can learn. Depending on the action's context, however, you may be limited by the number you can use at one time.
As mentioned above, every special action has a context that describes the type of gameplay during which it can be used. For example, you can only use Combat actions during combat, and you can only use Story actions as part of a story. The special rules that apply to each context are described below.
Combat actions are used in battle to attack, defend, and impose temporary status conditions. They obey the following rules:
Before a combat action can be used, it must be prepared. This is done before you go into play at the beginning of each event by penciling in the number of times each combat action is prepared next to that action's name. If you wish, you can also use the Refocus common action at any point during the event. This takes 10 minutes of uninterrupted concentration and allows you to change the combat actions you have prepared.
The number of combat actions you can prepare depends upon your class level. You can prepare one combat action from a particular class for every level you have in that class. For example, a 4th-level disciple can prepare four disciple combat actions at a time. If you want, you can prepare the same combat action multiple times, to a maximum of three. The same character, for example, could prepare three Lesser Healing Winds and one Minor Healing Aura, but not four Lesser Healing Winds.
There are several ways to exceed these limits. For example, non-human characters can prepare one additional combat action when they are members of a class for which their race has an affinity, the Specialty Action skill grants a character additional uses of actions in which they have specialized, and certain treasure can be used to store and perform actions. See these character options for more details on how they work.
In order to use a combat action, you must first meet that action's performance requirements. For example, most spellcasters must recite a verbal when using their combat actions, and most fighting classes are restricted by the kind of weapons they can use to deliver their combat actions. These performance requirements must be met at the moment the action is used and must be immediately followed by the action's tagline.
Combat actions are expended as soon as they are used. However, they can be refreshed (i.e., made usable again) by using the Rest common action. The amount of rest required to refresh an action depends upon its frequency. After one minute of rest, all of your encounter ("E") actions refresh. After 10 minutes of rest, all of your adventure ("A") actions refresh. Daily ("D") actions refresh at dawn each day.
Story actions are used outside of combat to gather information, bypass obstacles, and accomplish other story-related goals. They obey the following rules:
Unlike combat actions, story actions do not need to be prepared ahead of time and are not expended when used. However, they always take a minute to perform, and because their effects are variable depending on the circumstances and the story, they can only be done with a plot member present to decide their effects, if any.
Story actions are further limited because they may have a chance of failure. When declaring a story action to the plot member on call, that plot member may state a difficulty to you. You must then choose a number between 1 and 10, which the plot member uses to determine if you succeed. The possible difficulties and their chances of success are as follows.
Note that a plot member may ask for a number without stating a difficulty or may arbitrarily decide whether or not a story action succeeds, at his or her discretion.
Cabin actions are used to fortify your cabin and belongings against intrusion and theft. They obey the following rules:
If you wish to use a cabin action, you must declare it to the logistics marshal during check-in. This action applies to that cabin's occupants and any goods stored inside of it for the entire event. As above, you can only use one cabin action per event, and only on the cabin you're sleeping in for that event. Furthermore, you cannot declare a different cabin action later on; you're stuck with your choice for the entire event.
Downtime actions are used to create consumables or enchant equipment with special properties. They obey the following rules:
Although it's not something most players need to understand, special actions are built using a system of components and ratings. Every action is defined by five different types components that combine to determine how an action works and what it does. These include its Effect, Intensity, Method, Duration, and Meta components. Each of these components has a numeric rating based on how powerful it is. For example, the Sleep effect component has a rating of 7, the Burst method component has a rating of 3, and the Pierce meta component has a rating of 2.
An action's level is equal to the highest rating of any of its components. For example, the Sunder action uses the One Swing method component (rating 1), the Ruin effect component (rating 4), and no intensity, duration, or meta component, so its level is four.
An action's rating is derived using each of its component rating in the following formula: (Effect + Intensity) x (1 + Method + Duration + Meta). The rating it then used to determine other characteristics, such as the frequency of combat actions.
Some components used in downtime actions have an associated cost multiplier that determines the relative value of reagents consumed when the action is used. The actual value of reagents consumed is determined by multiplying the action's rating by the sum of its components' cost multipliers. For example, the Create Minor Healing Potion downtime action has a rating of 10 and a total cost multiplier of 0.3, so the total cost of reagents consumed when using it is 3 gold pieces.
Other characteristics of a special action, such as its name, the classes or races that can use it, the type of reagents consumed when using it, or the properties it bestows upon treasure, are defined individually with each action.
Often times during the game, your character will come under attack from enemies (or other players) wielding a variety of harmful or debilitating effects. Thankfully, you don't have to sit there and take it. Here are a few ways to fend off attacks against your character.
The surest way to defend against an effect is never to get hit by it in the first place. For actions delivered through packets or weapon strikes, if the packet or weapon fails to hit you, the action has no effect. Keep in mind, however, that certain actions are delivered through areas (e.g., Burst, Viscinity, etc.) rather than packets or weapon strikes. The only way to avoid these area effects is to be outside the area when the effect is called.
You can typically defend against an action delivered through a weapon strike by blocking with a shield or parrying with a weapon. Some exceptions do exist. For example, blocking or parrying an action that uses the Ruin effect causes it to affect the prop used to block or parry, and attacks with the Pierce tagline are unblockable.
Note the blocking and parrying only defends against actions delivered through weapon strikes. Actions delivered through packets take full effect if they contact a held or worn prop. Likewise, area effects cannot be blocked or parried.
In addition to their normal uses, many special actions can be used to counter other actions. A counter is a special action that prevents a harmful or troublesome effect from happening to the character who performs it. There are three ways to counter.
Of course, performing a counter isn't the same as performing a normal action. Counters must obey the following restrictions.
Daily or adventure actions within items that are currently being used by your character may be used to counter as described above. For example, you can use a sword with a daily Fumble action to counter a Fumble while you're holding it. However, you cannot use the sword's action to counter if it is sheathed or sitting nearby.
Most single-use and charged items, however, cannot be used to counter. For example, a character may not use an Emblem of Renewal or a Death Gas to counter a Slay. The only exceptions are charms, which are specifically designed for this purpose.
At one point or another, every character gets overwhelmed by the perils of adventuring. Whether or not this means the end of your character's life depends upon several factors. Here is the process that determines your character's fate.
A character whose health has been reduced to zero is dying. The character must fall to the ground (or take a knee, for safety and/or costume damage reasons). The character cannot move, speak, take actions of any kind, or perceive his or her surroundings. If the character has not received outside assistance after one minute, the character dies.
A dead character remains in play for five minutes. The character is now beyond conventional means of resuscitation; only a Revive effect will restore the character to life. If the dead character has not been revived after five minutes, his or her body dissipates.
Equipment on a dissipated character may or may not dissipate along with that character. If the item in question has been in the character's possession for 20 days or more, or is contained within another item that has (e.g., a sheath or a bag), the item dissipates, and may subsequently reappear, along with the owner. Note that any item, even an item that has been in the character's possession for 20 days or more, will not dissipate if it is forcibly removed from his or her body beforehand.
A dissipated character must go out of play and find a marshal. He or she must then draw a card from the Deck of Many Deaths. The Deck of Many Deaths is a tarot deck containing cards of the major arcana, each of which determines a different outcome from the character's untimely demise.
The Shards of Orn is a game where the heroes (the PCs) oppose the villains (the plot team). PCs cannot attack, kill, or steal from one another unless both PCs have opted into player-versus-player (PvP) content. How your character fits into this system is denoted by his or her alignment. Each alignment carries its own significance and changes how the character is perceived by, and interacts with, other characters.
Good characters are the heroes of the story. This includes most PCs and some NPCs. Unlike other alignments, good characters do not have to wear any special visual cues; a character without an armband or monster tabard is assumed to be good by default.
All PCs are good by default. A neutral PC may become good by declaring his or her intention to plot and abstaining from PvP for three consecutive events.
Neutral characters are neither the heroes nor the villains of the story. This includes many NPCs, as well as PCs who are somehow dark or untrustworthy. Neutral characters must wear red armbands at all times to denote their alignment.
Good PCs may become neutral in one of several ways.
Evil characters are the villains of the story. All monsters and many NPCs are evil. No PC can ever be evil, although some PCs can temporarily or permanently become evil NPCs. Evil characters must wear a monster tabard or a black armband at all times to denote their alignment.
Monsters are always evil. PCs may only become evil through plot action, and become NPCs in the process. This may or may not involve the character's forced exile or retirement.
Regardless of alignment, any character may engage in a duel. Duels are strictly voluntary; all duelists must agree to participate beforehand, and other characters may not interfere. The duelists may likewise stipulate any number of terms for the duel (e.g., forfeiture of treasure, restriction on use of certain abilities, healing for the loser, compulsion of public apology, etc.). If a good character is involved in the duel, these terms must be honored.
A cabin raid refers to one character entering another character's cabin without permission. This is most often done in order to pilfer goods or kill the cabin's occupants in play. Cabin raids must obey the following rules:
During a raid, the characters entering the cabin without permission are known as intruders, while the characters occupying the cabin (whether or not they're present) are known as occupants.
A cabin may be either in-play or out-of-play. This is declared by its occupants at check-in. Only in-play cabins may be subject to raids, and alignment rules still apply during a raid. For example, even if a good character chooses to sleep in play, a neutral character may not attack or steal from that character. Neutral characters, of course, must sleep in an in-play cabin, while good characters are not required to do so, and evil characters may initiate raids on any cabin so long as it is in play.
Cabin defenses are established by using cabin actions, which are declared at check-in. Each occupant of a cabin may establish one cabin defense that lasts the entire event. Cabins with multiple occupants can have multiple defenses, but multiple effects of the same type do not stack. For example, a single cabin can have both a Seal and a Guardian defense, but not two Seals or two Guardians. In addition, a good character may not establish a cabin defense if he or she shares a cabin with a neutral character.
Certain story effects, such as Breach, Sabotage, or Sense, can be used to disable specific cabin defenses. When used in this way, they obey all of the normal rules for story effects: They take one minute to perform, cannot be used while in combat, and are adjudicated by the raid marshal present. However, their chances of success are set based on the level of the intruder compared to the level of the occupant who established the defense, as shown on the chart below.
| Intruder Level Compared to Occupant | Difficulty (Chances of Success) |
|---|---|
| Five or more levels higher | Very easy (90%) |
| Three or four levels higher | Easy (70%) |
| Two levels higher to two levels lower | Moderate (50%) |
| Three or four levels lower | Difficult (30%) |
| Five or more levels lower | Very difficult (10%) |
Note that, in many cases, failure to disable a cabin defense causes it to trigger. For example, an intruder who attempts to Sabotage an Alarm and fails causes the Alarm to trigger.
Your character continues to exist in the game world even when you're not at an event. He or she may even run into interesting situations from time to time. These situations, called scenarios, are represented by "Choose Your Own Adventure"-style narratives that arrive in your private messages and present you with two or more options for how you might respond.
Giving a response to a scenario is a act of some significance. You can only choose one response to a given scenario, and you're stuck with the outcome of your response, for better or worse. Your character may receive or lose treasure, you may gain a beneficial or detrimental condition, your downtime activities may be affected, and there may be in-play consequences that need to be resolved in play.
Outcomes themselves may be preset or random. Thus, it is possible to receive the same scenario as another player, give the same response, and receive a different outcome. Because of this, you can never trust that the experiences of another player in a given scenario will be the same as your own.
If you're uncomfortable with a scenario, you can always choose the default response. The default response allows you to walk away from a scenario without any consequences. That is to say, nothing bad happens to you, but nothing good happens, either, which makes it a safe choice in any scenario.