Rules of Play

Equipment

You have whatever equipment your character has (or whatever you buy at the event) but you may not initially own equipment for skills you do not possess. The exceptions are Potions and Poisons (including ingredients), Scrolls and certain Magical Items. These are issued, and strictly controlled, by the Game Team. You will be supplied with identifying cards to show the items properties, the item card must be attached to the item at all times.

Hit Locations

The body of each character is divided into six locations: Head, Torso, Left and Right Arms, and Left and Right Legs. A normal, unarmoured character can take one point of damage to a location before it becomes useless (see: Wounds, and Death and Dying).

The skill Body Development increases all locations by a further one point. A character with additional hits will be marked by a clearly visible token. If you do not wear the token, you do not have the extra hits. This is not a requirement for Monsters or NPC'c. Please note, that within the Curious Pastimes system, head hits are allowed. Always refer to the safety guidelines.

Armour

Armour absorbs damage and increases the number of times you can be hit before being disabled. Light armour gives the location covered one extra hit, Medium gives two, Heavy gives three and Extra-Heavy gives four. At least fifty percent of each location must be covered by the armour in order for it to provide any protection. For example: A Chainmail vest that just covers the shoulders would not provide any protection to the arms. Armour must be clearly visible. Locations where no Phys Rep for any armour is worn, are considered unarmoured and without any protection regardless of what skill the character may have, or whether other locations are protected. Light armour must be represented by at least padded/quilted material or light leather. Simple cloth is not enough.

To claim any armour value for the head you must be wearing a helmet. When wearing helmets of any type you must make sure of two things:

That you are wearing correct and adequate padding underneath so as not to hurt your head. That your hearing must not be impaired in any way. This is not only important for spell effects, but for obvious safety reasons too.

The possession of the skill to Wear Armour automatically allows a character to wear/repair lighter armour of a lesser value. For example: The skill Wear Heavy Armour will also gives the character the ability to wear Light or Medium Armour.

'Stacking' armour does not work. Only the heaviest layer of armour counts when calculating armour points. Wearing a studded leather breastplate (Medium) over a padded jerkin (Light) will not give you three points of armour. Only the Medium layer counts.

Repairing Armour

If a location of armour takes a number of hits equal to its protective value, it is considered damaged and no longer offers any protection at all. It will remain in this state until repaired and adjusted. Likewise if a location of armour sustains a number of hits less than its protective value, it too needs to be repaired/adjusted to regain its full strength. Armour must be removed to be repaired by the wearer. Another character with the requisite skill may repair armour while it is still worn but you may not repair it on yourself without removing it. For example: A metal breastplate (Extra-Heavy) takes two hits. It will continue to only provide two more points of protection until it is repaired/adjusted.

This process of repair takes 2 minutes regardless of: The type of armour. The type and number of hits taken, with the exception of Crush (see: Damage Calls). The number of locations requiring repair.

Once done, the armour provides full protection once again. Armour does not require repair/adjustment after sustaining a hit from an arrow or crossbow bolt

(see: Weapon Damage). (For the required Phys Rep see: Basic Skills: Wear Armour.)

Wounds

When a location itself is down to zero hits it is useless. If this affects an arm, anything held with the relevant hand must be dropped, not sheathed or swapped into the other hand. Should a leg be affected you must drop to one knee, and although you cannot hop, you may drag yourself along or be supported by a friend. If both legs succumb however, you must fall to the floor and would have to pull yourself along the ground or be carried. No matter how much damage they have suffered, limbs may be healed at any time with no lingering ill effects. Should either the head or torso be reduced to zero hits you are unconscious, mortally wounded and dying!

Death and Dying

Once you are mortally wounded, by any means, you must start a two minute count. Unless some form of healing is started, or your wounds are bound within the two minutes your character is dead. Your character card and all items carried at the time should be handed to a Referee or the Event Desk immediately. One point is deducted from your starting total each time you die and create a new character at an event. For the next event you may generate a 20 point character. After a Renewal event, you may keep a lower starting point character and claim a veteran pick. You must send in the new character's detail when you book for your next event.

NB: Throat cutting is completely banned! Many systems have been tried and none offer acceptable 'realism', playability or safety. The only way to kill a character by weapon blows is by mortally wounding them.

Coup de Grace

This is only possible by reducing the victim's head or torso to zero, and then continue with ten simulated blows or damaging spells (e.g. Spirit bolt, magic missile, or wounding) to utterly destroy either location. Players should be careful of swinging weapons near a prone person's head. You should strike a balance between representing a full swing and the chance of accidentally hitting them. If a Coup de Grace is notably interrupted or delayed, the victim is to be considered mortally wounded and may be healed as normal. Alternatively, the Corporeal spell Sanctuary will be effective if cast before the tenth blow is struck. More than one person may perform a Coup de Grace however they must comply with all the above rules.

A Coup de Grace performed to any limb will have no effect (see: Wounds).

Weapon Damage

All melee weapons do a single point of damage. Two-handed or Pole weapons do not do extra damage as the extra reach is considered sufficient benefit.

Arrows and bolts ignore the protection given by the Physical armour worn by a character, as well as Natural Armour (see: Racial Veteran Skills: Natural Armour). They do a single point of damage direct to the location struck, which will drop to zero unless the character has some form of Body Development. Arrows and bolts cannot be parried with a weapon but may be blocked with a shield or dodged.

Thrown weapons do a single point of damage which can be protected against with Physical and Natural armour.

Finally, there may be occasions when siege or magical weapons may be able to inflict more than a single point of damage. If there are siege weapons at an event, such as arbelasts, ballistae or catapults, information about them will be posted at the Event Desk. Magical weapons that inflict more than a single point of damage, or have other special effects, have special calls to indicate this (see: Damage Calls).

Grappling

This is generally banned at Curious Pastimes events as it all too easily leads to injury. Also you can never be sure if your opponent is willing or fit to be grappled. To simulate grappling, you must outnumber them by at least three to one. You indicate your intention and grab hold of the arms of your opponent. If you are on the receiving end of this you must yield with good grace. If you start unduly struggling then you are cheating. We accept the fact that some degree of physical contact is acceptable amongst many players. If all involved are willing, they may be slightly more raucous than stated above. However, be aware that some people do not want to be manhandled. If at any point they say so you should stop immediately and utilise the above guidelines. Please use common sense whether you are the attacker or the victim.

Torture

First be aware that normally this is a morally repugnant activity, and players should not get carried away with it. If a 'victim' indicates that they do not want to be excessively restrained or bullied, then do not do so. Inventive role-playing will provide the best results, however the 'torture' of a captive for information may be carried out in an abstract fashion as follows.

The torturer inflicts one point of damage upon the victim - they then quickly play a round of Scissors/Paper/Stone. If the torturer wins, the victim must answer a single question as truthfully as possible. If the victim wins, then they play another round. If the victim wins a second time, they do not have to answer anything until more damage is inflicted, but if they lose then they must answer. After this the process may start again. Again, be very careful you do not really hurt or upset your captive by over enthusiastic role-play.

In Character Theft

This is, of course, a great In Character (IC) part of the game when done properly. On the other hand, a potential nightmare in terms of damage and confusion. The only acceptable items for theft are IC money, special items with cards attached and obvious props (scrolls, maps etc.). This does not include anything that could be deemed of an Out Of Character (OOC), or personal nature.

In addition, thefts may only take place within IC areas, which includes only tents so marked. Under no circumstances are you to steal from a player's tent, or from a designated OOC area within an IC tent.

It is recommended you insure that a Referee is present when you attempt a theft, though this is not always convenient when an opportunity presents itself. However, be aware that if a dispute arises (and there is any leeway), and a Referee was not in attendance, then we will tend to side with the victim.

Having successfully purloined a special item, go directly to the Event Desk and hand in the Phys Rep so it can be returned to its owner.

It is made clear at the outset that anybody even remotely straying from these rules will feel the full force of the law/Security, and will risk being banned from Curious Pastimes events!

Casting Spells

A spell card of appropriate Rank, Sphere and Day must be torn in half, using both hands, when the spell is cast or the spell will have no effect (See: Card Ripping). A Rank 2 card may be used to replace a Rank 1 card of the same Sphere when casting, but not vice versa.

If during the casting of a spell, the caster is struck a physical blow, the spell will still have full effect. This is providing they can fully complete all required verbals without interruption, and have enough hits to withstand the attack.

Safety

As fighting forms a great part of this game and many players enter into the fray with commendable enthusiasm, please observe the following guidelines.

Pull your blows. We can all get carried away in combat but please remember not to swing with excessive force, even when aiming at a shield or slashing the air with no intention to connect. Accidents can happen but are likely to be less severe if all blows, even fakes, are pulled! Do not stab with any weapon. It is both unsafe for you, your opponent and your weapon. To land a damaging blow a respectable swing must be made. The weapons you are using are representative of a far greater mass. Frantic and rapid blows will be ignored. All in all this can be very irritating and potentially unsafe. When hit by a weapon it both hurts and applies considerable force. Even if you are protected in some way and the blow has little effect, you will still try to avoid it or reel with it. If the damage does penetrate it will hurt a lot. Whilst you are not expected to fall over in agony with every strike, do try to role-play the fact you are being hit with a weapon and it hurts.

Bow Competency

Anybody wishing to use a bow or crossbow, of any description, must first pass a Bow Competency Test to ensure safe use of missile weapons. This takes the form of a short training session and is available at all Curious Pastimes events.

Cheating

Unfortunately there are still those who bend or ignore the rules when it suits them. Not only does this unbalance play, but it also severely irritates players who attempt to play fairly. Players who are caught cheating will have this pointed out to them by a staff member, and just what it is they are doing wrong. Players may be asked to 'sit out' of play for a while until they have understood what they have done to merit such an action.

Players should also be aware that Staff are specifically instructed to make inquiries regarding a character's skills, items etc., and should not take this as a slight against themselves. It is simply a part of the constant monitoring Staff have to undertake. Also be aware that it is impossible for an individual Referee to immediately know of everything that is going on.

Persistent cheats soon come to our attention. This will result in the player in question being spoken to by at least one member of the Game Team.

If the player continues to cheat, then their right to play their character will be removed, and they will be asked to generate a new character with basic skills and equipment.