LARPing

[pawsplay]

The organization I was a part of - Belegarth - split off from Dagorhir in the early part of the decade over some political issues.

Amtgard was apparently cobbled together from Dagorhir and Eamangarth by a con artist in the 1980's. True story.

 

[Obryn]

Amtgard was apparently cobbled together from Dagorhir and Eamangarth by a con artist in the 1980's. True story.

Yep!

Over time, the fighting styles have evolved differently due to different rules.

For example, in Belegarth/Dagorhir, shield bashing and grappling are very much allowed. AFAIK, in Amtgard, this is a no-no. As a result, Bel/Dag combat has grown much more in-your-face. There's a lot more knock-them-on-the-ground-then-kill-them going on.

Also, flails in Dag/Bel need a big head and a short chain. Not so in Amtgard, where you at least used to have (and still might have) these crazy-ass long chain things.

In Dag/Bel, you are expected to land blows with some degree of force. If your shot is legitimately light, it can and will be called off. By the same token, dag/bel has weight minimums for weapons - so Amtgard's kite-spar + pipe insulation + nylon stocking weapons won't pass. And, again, it requires different fighting styles.

Amtgard lets you attach weapons to shields, so madu are popular. There are construction requirements for weapons and shields in dag/bel which make these impossible.

There are some excellent fighters in both sports. The best of the best in Amtgard tend to be very, very fast. The best of the best in Dag/Bel tend to be very strong. In both cases, they're pretty excellent athletes.

I visited an Amtgard practice in Tucson way back when. I participated in their "ditching" which is basically like every fight in Belegarth - no magic, no characters, just combat. It was fun and remarkably similar.

-O

 

[pawsplay]

Amtgard does indeed not allow shield bashing. There are no weight minimums on weapons, however, you must still strike a blow that stops, so there are some practical limitations on how light a weapon might be. Speaking of evolution, the early Amtgard weapons were easily twice the weight of a real weapon. Now the typical Amtgard weapon probably hovers at around one pound.

 

[Obryn]

Amtgard does indeed not allow shield bashing. There are no weight minimums on weapons, however, you must still strike a blow that stops, so there are some practical limitations on how light a weapon might be. Speaking of evolution, the early Amtgard weapons were easily twice the weight of a real weapon. Now the typical Amtgard weapon probably hovers at around one pound.

Yep. I'd never call Amtgard a light-hit sport in the same vein as Nero or whatnot. It's absolutely not tap-fighting. I will say that I've been hit harder in Belegarth, but like I said, it's a different combat style.

-O

 

[EdPovi]

I've played a few different LARPs, but there are many more out there that I haven't tried. The ones I've played at cons (i.e. GENCON) are normally non-contact, often because of convention rules. WoD is pretty common, but have seen others like Bablylon 5 and Zombies.

Locally, the LARPs I know about are NERO, LIONE, Mystical Journeys, and Future Imperfect. They use boffer weapons and nerf guns for combat. Typically run weekend events, but there are some 1 days events as well.

End of Seasons - LIONE - Live Action Roleplay
http://fi.mythicaljourneys.com/mjsite/main.php