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Little know fact: only current or former TSA agents can be nomimated to the DBGA board.

I just had a scary realization - getting to the bottom of issues like this is how metric tracking and paperwork gets started. I was thinking "It's really a matter of injuries per fighter hour, so if you establish a baseline for that in a known safe realm and compare to the rate of injuries per fighter hour in other places...

Look, I'm sorry I mentioned it. Really. It won't happen again. Y'all can put away the torches and pitchforks. It's cool, right?

I've handled them and been shot by them. If well constructed, I'd happily allow myself to be shot with them all day long, with one strict provision - that I NEVER get shot in the face! Just pushing one of those balls against the eye is very uncomfortable. So much so that I feel like an eye shot could easily cause a black eye or even an injury to the eye itself.

So I'd call it unlikely to pass or be adopted as is in Dagorhir, which sucks because I'm really a fan of the idea of round fronted arrow heads.

There are many unscientific methods. Among the most popular are "Just follow the directions," "I think it might work this way, so I'm going to insist that it does," "What do you know, anyway," "I dunno - it seems to do the trick," "Trust me," "My opinion is just as valid as yours," and that old standby, "We've always done it this way."

The occasional messed up hand is going to happen, for reasons already stated. However, if it's happening a lot, something's wrong. Either the weapons are not as safe as all that, or there's a lot of punch blocking going on. Or maybe there's some sort of local, endemic calcium shortage. But if it's happening at every single event, I'd consider a review of what's really a safe, passing weapon.

All I can say is that if someone wants to play test something, they should play test the hell out it. Just declaring a change for one or two scenarios art a couple of events is not going to shake out the emergent weirdness and the metagame tactics. A couple of spontaneous experiments here and there aren't going to really let us know if everyone is going to go full Milanese, if people will tend to hit harder, if archery will be pushed entirely of the field, or if tappy machine gunning will resurge in popularity.

So if you're going to test it, test it right. Otherwise, forget about it.

Yes. If you can...

 

...pull it off.

There are several buried in the forums, here, but the one I like pointing people at is "Building a red which holds together".

The hard green foam that Graymael mentions is some sort of 4 lb closed cell foam. You can get similar stuff from Harbor Freight or other tool supply places - it's that puzzle mat foam they sell for workshops. For the outer layers, use blue foam from Walmart or 1/2", 2 lb EVA or micro/mini cell. For the stabbing tip, GvK's design has been supplanted by the marine foam stabbing tip. Use it instead. Here's one description of how to do it:

http://www.dagorhir.com/forums/index.php/topic,22652.msg485026.html#msg485026

I still don't like tape as foam skin. Use fabric. Glue lightweight fabric to the foam, then make a cover out of something more abrasion resistant.

[Arrows cannot be caught, blocked, deflected, or knocked out of the air by anything else]

If we are serious in talking problems that could happen, myself I see the mixing of armors being a problem. Say I wear all leather except my bracers. Incoming arrow? Armblock, immune. Gets cheesy.

Don't we have a rule that says if you intentionally block an arrow with a weapon, you're dead?  Think of the SPIRIT of that rule.  Now think of using a plate bracer to purposefully block an arrow out of the air.  See the similarities here?  You do that, you should be dead.

Eh, I don't know we allow it with shields. Yes you could have two bracers as opposed to one shield but bracers also have less surface area to block with.

There does seem to be some ambiguity, here. On the one hand, you are automatically dead if you use anything other than a shield, helmet, or coif to block an arrow. On the other, an additional exception is slipped in there for other body parts.

4.5.3.8 - To better simulate the speed and power of real arrows in flight, the only things which can stop arrows are shields or Dagorhir-legal head armor such as a helmet or coif. Arrows cannot be caught, blocked, deflected, or knocked out of the air by anything else, including hands, feet, weapons, or other equipment. If an arrow is blocked intentionally with anything other than a body part, shield, or head armor, the fighter doing the blocking is dead automatically.

I figure that body parts exception was added to keep arrows from being interpreted by some twit as auto-death, but it's really clumsily done. With the current rules, it's not much of a problem. Who's to say if you put that arm or leg there on purpose? You still get wounded, so it's not like you go unpunished. But add arrow-proof armor, and the lawyers will be all over it! People gonna be running around getting their Wonder Woman on, deflecting arrows with their bracers. At that point, you have to seriously consider what rule 4.5.3.8 is truly about. Is it about discouraging people from using anything but a helmet or shield to block an arrow by making them dead if they try it, or is it about the argument-nullifying exemption that lets limbs accidentally get in the way?

Or maybe we could leave armor alone or scrap it altogether (see? I'm still being That Guy).

Sadly, cheap rayon is about as durable as a paper sack, but better, longer staple rayon is very durable. I think it has to do with the way it's made and the staple length (length of individual fibers before they're spun into thread). No matter how strong the fiber, a short staple length will greatly weaken it. That's why Egyptian and Pima cotton are tougher than muslin or bedsheets. Luckily, almost all linen is spun from fairly long staple fibers.

I wish I knew how to tell at a glance whether a fabric had long or short staple fibers, but I can't, beyond checking what fiber is in it (Tencel/Lyocell and Bamboo tend to be tougher than generic rayon, etc.) and how slubby the threads are (more and larger slubs tends to = weaker, but most fabrics don't have slubs).

I'd far rather see the SCA helm than the lacrosse.

My completely uneducated gut thinks you are BSing me about wool and/or layers being cool.  My dad used to wear two pairs of socks and yammer on about how it kept his feet dry and cool.  He was a liar.  And a drug addict.  AND YOU GUYS SOUND JUST LIKE HIM!  Well, not quite- but it still sound weird!

Two pairs of socks, in shoes, is great for keeping your feet warm.

Two pair of normal crew socks = not that great. A pair of thin nylon, silk, or wool sock liners inside a pair of wool (or even cotton) socks = wonderful. That's what I wore when I was working all day through the summer (and winter) at a nursery in Texas, and my feet were far happier than when I was wearing regular crew socks.

Linen under light wool is a similar story. Keep your skin covered with something that will wick, breathe, and enhance evaporation. You will sweat, and your garments will get soaked with sweat, and the least movement of air will cool you off, and a good breeze can even give you momentary chills even when the thermometer is in the 110s. Will you feel climate controlled and cool? NO! It's freakin' summer time! It's hot outside! But you won't get cooked. You'll stroll around in triple-digit muggy heat and feel about like you would in a t-shirt at 90 degrees, only without sunburn.

Voice of experience, here. I've tried it both ways, and linen+wool medieval air conditioning works a lot better than bare skin. If you don't believe us, that's cool. Do some science to it. Give it a try for a weekend event. See how you feel.

And since you'll be sweating a lot, bring lots of water. Drink only to match your thirst. Neither force it nor skimp on it.

I wouldn't have any problem with allowing grills. They're not realistic, but they're not painfully unrealistic, and they do provide protection against the occasional stray face shot. As for playability, specify up front that if a white or yellow weapon hits a bar or mesh grill, it hits the face. To put it another way, the grill IS your face.

This is about the point where someone decides to be That Guy and choose Option 3. So I guess I'll do it.

Option 3: Drop armor protection entirely, with the possible exception of rigid helmets.

It's not that I have any strong feelings against a tiered armor system. It's just that I think it moves us a tinier bit further away from the base line of unarmored combat. Armor only got bonuses to begin with because it's (supposed to be) cool looking.

Anyway, single-tier armor works well enough. Multi-tier armor might work well, too, although I'd strongly recommend a large set of field tests to see what weirdness emerges before we go changing the rules. And maybe we don't really need armor at all.

So the Resistance has spoken, and it said "Meh. Whatever."

[you must drop to the ground, and you can no longer use that leg except to kneel on it.]

I'd prefer something like this:

6.4 - If you lose a leg, you must drop to the ground, and you can no longer use that leg except to kneel on it. To move from place to place you must either crawl, dragging the injured leg, or have comrades carry you. Hopping around on your uninjured leg is not allowed. However, you may make a lunge off the good leg toward an opponent.

We could maybe even allow log-rolling to move from place to place. I don't see the harm in that. But the important thing to emphasize is that the wounded leg is unusable. If you were foolish enough to get hit in the leg, you should pay the consequences in full.

it has crappy sleeves that are tied on is what you mean 

Yes. Both my linen and cotton gambesons have tie-on sleeves.

Y'see, there's the problem. If they were poynted sleeves, you could use certain contexts to retake the higher ground.

It probably looks like a biretta, so it's legit.

Knee walking/running really should be a Rule Zero thing. Our damage system, like most medieval combat sports, is a super-simplified bit of play acting. Something gets damaged, and you stop using it. So if you lose a leg, you don't use it. It's unfortunate that a bad piece of wording gave the impression that an exception could be made. I'd very much be in favor of the proposed Option A, and totally opposed to Option B.

I think we've got a pretty good balance between weapons as it is. There's a darn good reason that the core mechanics of the game have not changed in over 30 years - they work!

I've seen some cheating archers who do crap like calling shots as the arrow leaves their bow. Precious few, actually, and I'll pull them aside and correct their behavior in a polite way, because they were probably told something stupid when they first joined.

I've also seen people who deliberately blow off arrow hits when they think they can get away with it. Still very rare, and they're probably attracting attention as rhinos in general. Far more common is the person who gets annoyed by archers shooting them, and who develops an unconscious filter that screens out data like an arrow hitting the ground just after a light bump, or more commonly, a filter that presumes that all archers are overpowered, cheating god-modders that should be defied at every opportunity.

The truth is that 95% or more of the people who play this game are honest and honorable and working on their skills. It's best to assume, when there's any room for doubt, that they aren't cheating. Maybe that really was a legit call the archer made. Maybe that arrow you just shot really hit arm instead of torso or deflected off a shield. That's why archers are only supposed to call for clarity. You feel it, you take it. If you're not sure what it was, look around to see if an archer or herald is signaling you. If someone takes a shot you fired in a different way than you thought was right, trust their judgment.

Be cool. Expect others to be cool. They'll probably live up to your expectations.

Step 1: Reintegrate the MoA with the Handbook.

Linen and wool, some 100% cotton, silk, and silky or linen look rayon/Tercel/bamboo with discretion. Poly-cotton blends are not pretty, but they are cheap and durable.

It's supposed to look almost nothing like that soccer jersey. If you lay out the normal tunic neckline flat, it's shaped like a kindergartner's version of a tree - a circle on top of a line. The early Irish neckline moves the trunk of the tree over to one side. It's a lot like the necklines on the tunics the Russian gentile peasants wore in Fiddler on the Roof.

My topic, my rules!   

Such a thing might actually be illegal in your state. I believe some state weapon statutes specifically ban weighted scarves, coats, and capes.

Of course, this might be alarmist BS because I don't like the idea for the same reasons already expressed by previous respondents (playability nightmares, possible safety risks, etc.).

Or it might be true after all, but I only mention it because I don't like the idea.

It probably wouldn't hurt to look it up.

[already mentioned]

Magnus, I know you're having fun with the monstrous, world-gobbling nature* of Disney Corporation, but let's try to stay focused and remember the instructions:

The Star Wars, Ghibli, and Touchstone stuff already mentioned gets a free pass, but going forward, let's narrow it down to the parts of the company that Walt actually built - Disney Animation and maybe Buena Vista live action movies.

That means no Star Wars, no Marvel, no Touchstone, no Ghibli, and if I feel like being a hardass, no Pixar.

Meanwhile, while I'm not changing my favorites, I'm also very fond of the climax in "The Fox and the Hound," where the friendship between Copper and Tod has been broken and Copper is even helping Slade hunt for Tod and his mate, yet Tod saves Copper from the bear, then Copper stands between Tod and Slade's gun. It's a wonderfully redemptive moment.

* Remind me to go on a rant some time about the evils and inherent dangers of allowing a bare handful of corporations to control almost all media production and distribution. It's right up there with too big to fail banks.

To be fair, Kurai, nobody thought they could look as pretty as you, and it made them violently depressed. So we all killed each other. It was the only way.

It's a tricky blazon (I had to look it up), but it's legit. Might have trouble passing the SCA College of Heralds, though. Anyway: Argent in base a mount vert on the dexter side a hurst of oak trees issuant therefrom a wolf passant towards the sinister all proper.

It also appears that the Callaghans were old Irish, from the neighborhood of Cork, although they retreated inland after Strongbow's conquest. By the time they were awarded arms, however, they had probably intermarried with some of the Anglo-Norman Irish.

If you're going pre-conquest or just after, your armor (if any) would probably be similar to Danish armor of the same or a slightly earlier period - mail and a spangenhelm. Fashion would be a bit different, and that's where looking for a specialized historical group would likely come in handy. Things like the leine, inar, and brat mutated a lot from century to century. One tidbit I do recall from some point in early medieval times in Ireland is a rather unique neckline. It was your usual crew neck and slit arrangement, only the slit was offset - dropping from the left side of the neck instead of the center.

I've always figured the leg-hit test was just one step in a process.

1. Visual and specs check - anything obviously wrong? What class is it? Does it weigh enough? How flexible is it?

2. Hand check - feel for dimples, hard spots, soft spots, core or layer separation, etc.

3. Minor hit check (optional) - smack it against your arm or leg a few times.

4. Light hit check - against a back.

5. Medium hit check - ditto.

6. Hard hit check - ditto.

If it passes one check, move on to the next. Don't pass it unless it passes every step. Wash out the crazy unsafe stuff and the stuff that doesn't meet specs first so you don't waste your time with it, then do progressively harder hit tests until you're sure it's safe.

In other words - the goblin is wise.

I figure if you've got a reasonably medieval skill or hobby that you like doing when you're not fighting, it could be a fine and good thing to set up a table or day shade in a public place where you can sit there and do your thing and invite others to do theirs along with you and share tips and tricks and tell passersby about whatever it is you're doing.

This might not work for some things, like brewing, but for spinning or tablet weaving or pottery or hand sewing or carpentry or music or many other things, it'd be excellent. Jam out. Stitch 'n bitch. Get into brawls over the finer points of heraldry.

Do something fun and sociable and let it grow. Classes are good. Hangouts are good. And why gripe about organized activities for non-coms when the main event could be described as organized activities for fighters? Gotta keep those thugs corralled and entertained, otherwise they might not want to come to an event where everyone just sits around doing arts and crafts and stuff.

Aluminum cannot be used for armor because it was not available in medieval times. We decided as a game, long ago, that only leather, copper alloys and iron alloys would be acceptable as armor. We are a game of unarmored combat, so if you want the extra hit, we require a certain level of realism. Additionally, for playability's sake, we don't allow anything on the field that looks like armor but doesn't pass as armor, so the decorative scales and such likely won't be permitted.

Regarding the thickness of leather, you might slip it past an inattentive inspector, but it's best not to do it. Down that road lies a cheating attitude and other bad habits.

As for using a metal weapon core - NO!!! Read the rules. It's very clear. No metal weapon cores. Back away from this idea, and never look back. There are few notions that can get you crucified as quickly as this one.

A happy story all around!

And one hopes that, perhaps, she won't be wearing items of great sentimental value to battles, anymore? 

3/8" solid fiberglass rod is good for shorter blue weapons. Much longer than 30" will tend to fail for excessive flex. Doubled up properly, it can work for up to 48" or so. However, it's better to get 1/2" or slightly thicker when you start getting that long.

I wouldn't worry to much about SCA leakage. Sure, there will be a lot of parallels between non com classes in both groups, but i think that's just a function of pedagogy and craft culture. Things tend to get done a certain way, just like hitting people with sticks trends to get done a certain way. There are other games than SCA that have A&S communities, and they do many things the same way, and some things differently.

So don't worry about it. Learn to brew your spruce ale and naalbind your own arming cap and don't fall in the fire while you dance.

Putting the pesky in piskey for multiple generations. It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it!

I know nothing about helms or neurological health but it seems like whatever padding the sca used in its helms would work perfectly seeing as they're modern an made specifically to protect from blunt force trauma.

SCA helmets tend to be fairly heavy, made of 14 ga. or even heavier mild steel. That alone can account for a lot of their protective nature - they have enough mass to soak up the energy of a hit.

As for padding, there are lots of different things I've seen inside SCA helms. Everything from computer packing foam to blue foam to Neoprene to military helmet padding to leather suspension with batting or felt padding and an arming cap. To me, the telling thing is that many of the folks who've started using the medieval suspension and padding claim that it works as well, if not better, than the foam padding they used to use.

But the basics of head protection seem to be a combination of mass with some sort of suspension and/or padding.

A football helmet is good against head-head and head-body collisions. Sort of. There are some indications that it doesn't really do the job all that well.

A motorcycle helmet is good against head-environment collisions.

A modern army helmet is good against just about any low-momentum flying object.

A medieval or ancient helmet is good against strongly delivered blows from edged and blunt melee weapons.

You wouldn't be wise to wear a bascinet when riding on a motorcycle. It might offer some protection in a wreck, but not like something designed to sacrifice itself to protect your head. By the same token, a smart person wouldn't wear a motorcycle helmet to a sword fight. It's too easy to cut or crush. The padding collapses and doesn't recover. It lacks sufficient weight to soak up the force of blows. A modern army helmet? Maybe. They're tougher, and they're designed for similar purposes to the old, medieval helmets.

It's just a good idea to go with the sort of protection that's designed for the specific purpose you have in mind.

They already did Victor Hugo as a musical comedy. Why not Titus Andronicus as a kids' romp?

I think it depends on who's wearing the hat. Get someone who can really play the part well, and it can be fun!

It's like King Crimson with John Prine as a front man. What's not to like?

Dev is wise.

That's three now in the same week...this is creepy.  

Ain't it? Better watch out - someone's going to end up declaring you a prophet. That never ends well.

I thought a lot about saying "core Disney (Disney Productions/Buena Vista/Disney Animation) only," but thought "Meh. I can deal with a few Pixar and such references." I didn't expect 40% of responses to travel down all the squid-like appendages of the corporate monster. Silly me.

So...

The Star Wars, Ghibli, and Touchstone stuff already mentioned gets a free pass, but going forward, let's narrow it down to the parts of the company that Walt actually built - Disney Animation and maybe Buena Vista live action movies.

Dev is wise.

As long as you're talking about the original version and not the "Noooooooooo!!!" version, I'll allow you to live. Even if it's only retroactively Disney.

NOTE TO THE UNWARY: I don't know if anyone out there has been hiding under a rock for their entire life, but if that's you, and you want to go forth and watch all the Disney with no spoilers now that you've escaped from your sadistic family of obscure religious sectarians or got dumped by your panther and bear friends at the edge of the village or whatever, GO BACK NOW WHILE YOU STILL CAN!

For everyone else, if it's Disney, it's in play. So, what's your favorite climactic scene, and why?

For me, I'd almost go with Tangled, because it was a beautiful thing when Flynn doomed himself by freeing Rapunzel. It gives me the weepies almost as much as Iron Giant (which, not being a Disney film, is not in the running), but they had to go and throw Mother Gothel out the window. Why does Disney always have to do that?

And that complaint might provide a clue as to my real favorite Disney finale. Yes, the climactic scene from The Emperor's New Groove (quite possibly the most un-Disney Disney film ever made)! Everyone's climbing around on ledges, fighting over a vial of potion that'll restore either Kuzco or Ysma to their human form, the stony ground is far below, there's even the moment of the big bad hanging on by her claws and begging the good guy for rescue, with obvious plans of betrayal in her eyes... and nobody falls. The villain survives. As a fluffy white kitten. They totally set up your expectations, and yank the rug out from under you! It's wonderful!

As long as the rules of the game are enforced, the waivers are signed (in the case of minors, signed and notarized by parents/guardians), and psychopaths don't get involved, the odds of a lawsuit are infinitesimal.

Alas, the factor that has the biggest effect on the likelihood of a lawsuit (the presence of psychopaths with lawyers) is out of our control. So we should just make sure parents and players know what's involved in the game, get those waivers in, and then make sure everyone obeys the rules that they agreed to play by. It's all we can do, but if we do that, then the psychopaths will have a hard time finding a lawyer that'll take the job.

This is all my totally non-professional and barely semi-educated opinion, in case you were wondering about that smell.

Besides, it's like a verbal guarantee of strife and adventure! Any time someone points you out by name, you get a new adversary, seeking to bring you to justice.

"That guy? Oh, his name is Mudd!"

Your physical health may pay for it, eventually, but long as you keep safety in mind, you should be OK.

Just don't do a Jedi flip over someone you just legged. They might smack you with an axe, resulting in you dropping head first on their head. Don't laugh! It's happened every single time I've seen someone try that move!

Here's how I do it:

IF statement=annoying or offensive
   THEN assume sarcasm=true
   ELSE assume sincerity=true

It's amazing how often this turns out to be objectively true!

No, it's not. Build this with 4 lb. and 2 lb. EVA or microcell, substitute the biscuit-and-marine-foam tip for the GVK tip, and (optionally) substitute a routed channel for a box-and-GOOP channel, and you're building something that's both fashionably current and seriously durable.

Except it uses glue and fabric for a skin, which I will argue with my dying breath is superior to using tape.

If you want ridiculously outdated, try making an open-cell Dove bar on a hockey stick and wrapping it in duct tape.