Calls

 

Man down-Call when someone is actually injured or a dangerous occurrence is about to take place (someone about to fall down a large hole whilst fighting etc) All play is stopped when called, if needed you maybe asked to move back to a safer area/ or just out of the way

Time Freeze-Players to close their eyes(no peeking)and hum their favourite tune whilst we place a Balrog, Dragon, Castle, large army right next to them. You can open your eyes when time in is called

Time in- Start of game or resumption following man down/time freeze call.

Time Out- That's it, events over time to say goodbye after first listen to the refs drone on in the debrief. Pack up, help us pack up and go home to a much needed shower/bath.

We try to limit any use of calls, there are no weapon calls or ability calls in H&D and we only use timefreeze when absolutely necessary

Combat

 

All single handed weapons do a single point of damage

 

All double handed weapons do two points of damage

 

There are no weapon calls, heroic fighting is encouraged, it makes your game and everyone else’s better if hits are role-played, i.e.- taking a hit to the chest by a creature wielding a 2-handed hammer will force you back and off balance, if not a warrior it will force you on the floor. This does not matter whether armour is being worn.

 

Arrows- do a single point of damage but will go through the first 3 armour levels.

 

Please pull your blows but remember that this is a contact game, try to avoid head and groin shots and never hit the face

Arrows or large weapons will knock you back unless you are a warrior, even then you must be in a fighting stance.

 

On occasions large creatures may do extra damage, a ref will on these occasions let the characters know. E.g. – That’s a strong beast, that weapon will break bones/shields. Etc. It’s up to the players to respond rather than repeated calls being made.

 

Shields must be foam only, no wooden, plastic or metal shields allowed, the use of shields as an offensive weapon will be allowed only if it is in a safe manner,

 

Grappling is allowed only where both parties are in agreement, do not grapple/wrestle someone without first seeking their agreement. This can be done before the game or at quiet points during the event. Remember to always do so safely and use of martial arts are not allowed

 

Ref’s will remove someone from fighting if they believe that they are fighting in an unsafe manner.

 

Armour

 

Each armour class will take the amount of damage stated before hits go through to the body. If plastic or plastazote armour phys rep is being worn then the armour class will be one level less than the armour it is representing, i.e.- Plastic plate phys rep will be at armour class 4 not 5. This is due to the lightweight nature of these armours giving an advantage that someone in heavy leather or steel would not have.

 

Lvl 1- Soft leather, furs, padded cloth.

 

Lvl 2- Studded leather, padded leather

 

Lvl 3- Hard leather, leather scale, lightweight chain

 

Lvl 4- Heavy chain, heavy (must be min sole leather) leather scale, metal scale

 

Lvl 5- Steel plate

 

There are no head hits however a soft leather helm will had 1 point of armour to the body, hard leather (min 4.5mm thickness) or steel helm will add 2 points to the body.

 

Any accidental hits to the head to be treated as a glancing blow.

 

If you are unsure about your armour rating, please see a ref, armour can be stacked.

 

The armour rules are written to show the relatively effectiveness of each armour and also to promote good costume.

 

Look and feel to H&D

 

Heroes & Dragons is a fantasy game based in a fantasy world, for costume and culture references please see the guides in Setting and for the various races. As a general rule an early medieval look is being aimed at (tho some cultures are more late dark age, 17th century or higher style of costume will look out of place, please refrain from these. It is however a fantasy world so use your imagination but remember not to use modern materials. Knitted chain, combats, jeans, trainers and t-shirts are not allowed, if you have trouble getting some kit together please contact us, we may be able to lend basic kit or give you guidelines on how to make some cheap ones of your own.

When playing a Half Orc, Bovini, Caprini, or Cervini prosthetics/masks are required as well as good face/body paint. Please contact us regarding these races if you are unsure about how to physrep them, if you are applying prosthetics/face paint we do advice bringing a mirror along as there isn’t always one at the sites we use, and sods law dictates that’ll there’ll be a queue of players wanting to use it when you need it.

 

Please bring along an InCharacter drinking vessel and bowl, cutlery/ no cans or bottles (some bottles may look good and InCharacter (please change or cover the labels to something more appropriate) but beer/lager bottles are a definite no no)should be seen in the InCharacter area. Tankards, Horns, wooden bowls, terra cotta wear are all ideal. For cutlery wooden spoons, wooden or horn handles all work well.  (Some events are catered and bowls etc will be supplied)

 

Nothing modern should be seen in the InCharacter area, I.e. sleeping bags (can be hidden by a good blanket), Camp beds (again large blankets are good for hiding these), gas cookers, torches etc. Please do not wear modern jewellery or watches. (medical bracelets and wedding rings, or that ring you brought cus you really liked it and now can’t take it off your finger without the aid of a powerful cutting tool are obvious exceptions, if you need to take medication at set times then a watch may be worn)

 

Glasses- You can’t see without them so don’t worry about wearing them, we do suggest a strip of cloth or leather thronging to tie them around the back of your head is a good idea, if you use contact lenses it is best to bring along a small mirror, some clean water and anything else you need. We try to provide good facilities but these are not available at every site we use.

 

At larger events there will be separate InCharacter and Out Of Character camping areas. No plastic tents or gazebo’s can be used in the IC camping area; there will be a plastic OOC camping area for these.

 

There are no lammies

 

Renown and Character progression

 

All player characters start with zero renown/fame. No character can start out with a title (Lord, Baron Etc). Renown will be earned through deeds, heroism and can sometimes be brought

 

In the world of Heroes and Dragons the focus of player evolution is more about the story of your character rather than the collection of additional points to spend on new skills and powers. How you interact with the game world and the peoples there in will have consequences for the renown and sagas surrounding you. For example if you play a warrior who is a terrible bastard with murderous intent the renown of the character will be infamous as word spreads and may result in revenge upon you for your deeds and bounties being offered for capture or your well deserved defeat. In short your actions may have far reaching consequence for your character for good or evil.

That is not to say that your character can not learn new abilities in the course of your adventure. rather if you want to learn a new skill or progress with an existing one you must actively go about the process of researching/finding a skilled teacher/training or a myriad of techniques to progress in your chosen field. This can be done in both game and between adventures, let us at Heroes and Dragons know of your characters training choices and as part of your story we can see how successful you have been in your endeavours. It can take between six months to a year to learn a brand new skill, shorter if masters of the chosen field can be found to train with.

The list of skills we have written are a guide to what you can be but is not by any means an exhaustive list, If you have a concept in mind that is not listed submit your character to Heroes and Dragons and we can see if it is appropriate for the game world.