Special Actions in Combat

Non-Lethal Blows

To knock out an opponent, the attacking player must call out the words, "Flat of the blade!" or "Flat!" prior to his attack. Should a successful killing blow be struck, he has instead rendered his foe unconscious for a steady count of 300. The unconscious character may be wakened sooner by having another character come and wake him up. You may call flat of the blade at any time, even in the middle of a fight.

Peace-Bound Weapons

Unless specifically stated otherwise, all events are considered "live steel" and all hits from weapons that are not peace-bound are assumed to inflict damage, unless the attacker calls, "Flat of the blade." An EH may declare areas of the event site peace-bound at any time, although the live steel rule is still applicable. Should players wish to peace-bind their weapons, they must place a band of tape around their weapon in a visible location with the word "Peace-Bound" on it. This signifies that the weapon has been tied into its scabbard or otherwise padded. The weapon may be un-peace-bound at any time, simply by removing the tape. Hitting someone with a peace-bound weapon will not hurt them, and is most often used in tournaments and practices while on site.

Impaling

Impaling is the act of holding a weapon in an opponent's kill location after death. It counts as continuous, non-scalping blows to that location. The results depend on the opponent.

Dragging

To drag a dead, unconscious, or otherwise incapacitated body in our game, you must place a hand on the shoulder, back, or arm of the body and say, "Drag." The player being dragged must then get up and walk with you. A dragged body is considered one- handed and may not be used as a weapon or a shield. At any time you may tell the dragged player, "Drop," thereby letting go of the player and dropping them on the ground.



Combat Calls

Combat calls are what you may hear yelled in combat, and you must know how these calls affect your character.

Armor: Negates a hit attack. When "Armor" (or "Armor 1," "Armor 2," or "Armored Cloak") is called in combat, it means that the person calling armor is protected against the attack that landed on him, usually by means of actual armor, natural armor, or a spell effect.

Armor-Piercing: Armor cannot always protect your character from certain attacks. If an opponent attacks you in any way and calls out, "Armor piercing", any of the armor that is struck by the attack is completely destroyed, and your character suffers the effect of the blow as if he were not wearing armor. For example, if you are wearing heavy armor on your right arm, and an opponent hits you in the arm while calling, "Armor piercing," your characters armor is destroyed on that arm and he loses the limb.

Poison: There may be occasions where you are struck with a blow and the wielder calls, "Poison." If this strike damages your character in any location, be it torso, arm, leg, etc., then your character is killed. If the blow does no damage to your character, such as a hit to an off-target area or to armor that protects your character, then the poison has no effect. Armor struck with a poison blow is still used. If your character is under the effects of a spell that protects him from poison in some fashion, your character still takes the normal damage from the blow, but the poison will have no additional effect.

Disease: If a weapon strikes you and the wielder calls, "Disease,", any injury done by that blow cannot be healed until Panacea is first cast upon the diseased character. This affects only damage to your character, not to your character's armor. For example, if you are hit by a diseased blow to the leg, but are then killed by a normal blow, when the spell Raise Dead is cast upon you, you would be alive, but still without the leg. Since the disease was not removed by the Raise Dead, you would need to be cured before your limb could be healed. Similarly, if you are killed by a disease shot, the spell Raise Dead will not raise you until you are cured of the disease. Disease can affect both live and dead characters. If you are struck by a diseased shot after you are dead (such as a diseased scalping blow), it is to be taken as a disease shot to a kill location. If your character is under the effects of a spell that protects him from disease in some fashion, your character still takes the normal damage from the blow, but the disease will have no additional effect.

Flat: A non-lethal blow (See Non-Lethal blows).

Lightning Bolt: If you are hit with a white boff arrow, by either the tip or the shaft, and the thrower calls 'Lightning Bolt,' your character is struck as by a magic armor-piercing weapon (see the Magic and Armor Piercing calls in this section).

Magic: If a weapon strikes you and the wielder calls, " Magic" (or "Magic Missile"), it means your character has been hit with a magical blow. Generally, being hit by magic doesnt affect your character any differently than being hit by a normal weapon, but sometimes characters are under spell effects where it makes a difference.

Weapon Type and Material Calls

Occasionally, more powerful monsters are only affected by certain weapon types or by certain materials. For example: Axe-Mace trolls are typically only injured by axes and maces; werewolves are only affected by weapons made of silver. It might be a good habit when using a melee weapon other than a sword, to call the type of weapon you are using as you swing. If using a mace, say mace with each swing. If you are wielding a non-normal weapon (ie. magic or silver) that weapon will always strike with the same effect therefore you must call that effect with every swing.

Special Weapons

Boulders: One of the nastier things that some monsters in the Realms may try to do is crush your character with a "Boulder." Generally, this involves throwing large duct-taped chunks of foam, or beanbag chairs with the zippers duct-taped over. Once thrown, the boulder is active until it comes completely to rest. While active, boulders convey damage in the following manner:
-They kill any character whose body, or equipment they touch.
-They destroy all armor over any locations they touch.
-They disenchant any magical items they touch.
-They break any non-enchanted weapons, bows, shields, and non-monetary stealable items. It is the player's responsibility to see that items damaged this way are not used until the appropriate repair spells are cast upon them.
PCs may not throw or pick up boulders. Four or more PCs, each using both hands, may work together to "push" a boulder along, to free trapped gear and companions, but not to cause damage.

Armor

Your character may be able to wear armor. Armor allows your character to take blows without taking injuries. There are two kinds of armor: heavy and light.

Light armor is a thin, pliable kind of armor. Light armor can be made out of multiple layers of quilting or a moderate weight of leather. A quilted cloth jerkin or a thin leather helmet are examples of 1-point armor. Garment-weight leather (such as suede pants or moccasins) is not suitable for light armor.

Heavy armor is in general, bulkier, rigid, and more cumbersome than light armor. Hard-boiled leather, heavy-weight leather, studded leather/cloth, brigandine, and chain/plate mail are classic examples of 2-point armor. Any armor that is studded, must have at least one metallic component every square inch to count as heavy armor.

Armor must allow you to feel blows through it and it must look like it would fit in a medieval or fantasy setting. You should avoid wearing armor underneath your clothing (i.e. it should be obvious that you are wearing armor).

Heavy armor will absorb two blows per location before you have to take the shot. Light armor will absorb one blow per location.

Armor protects by location, so if you have more than one piece of armor on a location, it is all considered damaged when you are struck there. On the other hand, if one piece of armor covers more than one location, it is treated as separate locations. The armor locations are divided up by the hit locations for taking wounds and kills. The blow must strike the armor and only the armor for you to call, "Armor". If you are wearing heavy armor you should call out, "Armor 1....Armor 2".

For example: If you are wearing a thin leather upper-arm bracer and a metal lower-arm bracer on your right arm, only a leather upper-arm bracer on your left arm, and a chain mail shirt that goes down to your knees:

A shot to anywhere on your lower-left arm disables your characters left arm. The upper bracer was not struck and thus has no benefit.

A shot to the upper portion of your left arm damages the upper arm-bracer. Your character still has the limb, but the armor on that limb is gone. A shot to the lower-right arm bracer damages all the arm armor. You still have a point of armor left on the lower bracer, but if you are hit on the upper-right arm bracer, your character will lose the limb. Had the next shot also hit the right lower-arm bracer, all the right arm armor would be gone. Three shots to a leg covered by the chain mail skirt would destroy all of the armor on that leg and disable the characters leg as well. Even though the armor protecting the leg and the armor protecting the torso is all one piece, you can still take two shots to the armor on your front, back, and your other leg before the armor in those locations is completely destroyed.