Combat

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 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:

• Avoid vital areas such as the head and groin. For this reason, overhead swings are strictly prohibited, and participants struck in the head or groin are not required to take the hit.
• Check your swings. Swinging for the fences can inflict serious injury. Aim for light to medium contact. If a participant indicates that you are swinging too hard, you are expected to ease your swings.
• Mind your footing. Fighting on a downgrade, in slippery conditions, or near tripping hazards can be dangerous. If you don't feel safe, it is acceptable to call a hold and relocate the fight to a safer area. This is an exception the rule that participants are not allowed to move during a hold.
• Remain at arm's length. Avoid the personal space of other participants to keep elbows and heads from getting inadvertently mixed up in the fighting.
• Be especially careful in the dark. Combat frequently occurs in poor lighting conditions. An additional measure of caution is warranted when you can't see your fellow participants clearly.
• Remember, accidents happen. Combat is chaotic; injuries can happen regardless of the safety of the participants. Call out unsafe boffer fighting when you see it, but forgive accidents when they inevitably occur.

Holds

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.

Physical Contact

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.

Prohibited Fighting Styles

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.

• Charging, which is defined as running at someone fast enough to risk a collision. While it is acceptable to run toward another participant, you must slow down before you get close enough to run into them.
• Machine-Gunning, which is defined as striking so rapidly that your damage taglines are slurred together. Effective combat requires effective communication, and real weapons cannot be swung as rapidly as their lightweight boffer counterparts.
• Shield Bashing, which is defined as attacking another character with a shield. Even shields made entirely of foam are not safe to use for attacking.
• Turtling, which is defined as squatting behind a large shield so as to offer opponents no striking profile. In real life, the attacker would respond by kicking the shield, which is not safe in a LARP.