Ultimate Ninja/Samurai LARP Game Background: This game is a live action role playing (LARP) game based on Ninja and Samurai. The game is based on a game I came up with in High School, as well as on a novel that I am in the process of writing which will explain the backstory of the game. Acknowledgements: All credit for the creation of this game goes to God, my creator, without whom none of this would be possible. Part of the inspiration for this game comes from my personal experiences with God. Code of Conduct: 1. Have Fun!!!!!!!!!! 2. Don’t be overly competitive (nobody enjoys that), always remember this is just a game, even if it feels competitive at times. After each match shake the hands of your opponents in a sign of good sportsmanship (or bow while making the ram hand sign, see below). Being overly competitive detracts from the fun of the game, and people have a right to be able to play this game against people who are not competitive. If you are too competitive you may be asked to leave the game by the leader of the village, or if it is a fight between villages the other village has a right to ask you to leave for being overly competitive. In this case even if you won the battle your team still automatically loses. 3. Don’t CHEAT!!! If you are caught cheating the leader of the LARPing group could enforce penalties such as asking you to leave the group temporarily, or be suspended for a day. If the problem continues you may be asked to leave permanently. 4. Be Safe!! Be careful while larping. This game is more like a sport than conventional larping in which there is limited movement. We may also engage in limited obstacle course activities (Think Ninja warrior but not quite that intense). For this reason, parent permission forms need to be signed before you can engage in the game (for children). For adults I require signed waivers as well. 5. Head Safety: Hits to the head, neck, and groin don’t count, so don’t aim there!!! 6. Don’t use excessive force and overpower people. The weapons we are using are likely not extremely durable, therefore weapons could break and people could get hurt if excessive force is used. Instead you need to out “finesse” your opponent by striking from a different angle and attacking more rapidly than they can. If a referee believes you are using excessive force they have the right to impose a penalty on you, perhaps the loss of experience, or a temporary or even permanent ban from a village. 7. The producers of this game promote safety! However, we cannot regulate each individual group (village) that plays this game. Therefore, it falls upon the leaders of that village to ensure that the game is played safely, and that weapons are safe to use. All weapons should be foam padded, and eye protection should be used if soft foam shuriken are being thrown (should have tips cut off). 8. Honor system. This game is based on the assumption that the majority of players want to play a fair game and not cheat. Therefore, we give a lot of responsibility to the individual players to keep track of their own abilities, health, and not abuse rules for the purpose of gaining an unfair or unintended advantage. If a player is caught cheating the leader of the village can determine the appropriate consequences, whether this be an experience penalty (the player does not gain a certain amount, or any, experience that day), or a stronger penalty such as being kicked out of the village. For more severe cases of malignant players, who repeatedly cheat and generally just make the game less enjoyable for other player’s permanent bans can be implemented. The names of these players can be compiled into a list and posted on the game website. For this reason, you may be asked to provide an ID when joining a village for the first time to ensure that you are not a banned player. 9. Waivers should be signed by all players who participate, and waivers should be directed so that neither the creators of this game, nor the local players who run their “villages” are responsible for injuries that result from participating in the game. This activity should be treated more like a sport than merely a “game”, and as with any sport there is a risk associated with playing and the creators of the sport are not financially or morally responsible for any injuries. If you don’t feel comfortable with playing the game with certain players, or with certain weapons, make this known to your local village leader and accommodations should be made. Concerns about rules that are deemed unfair, or weapons that are seen to be dangerous should be voiced to the creator of the game (see website), so that modifications can be made to this rulebook. 10. Conflicts over rules are likely going to arise from time to time. Please email me so I can fix any issues in future versions of the rulebook, and until that time try to come to a reasonable conclusion that is fair and is in the interest of the game. Some disputes can be resolved by simply thinking about what is logical, others may need a more definitive ruling which I will provide as soon as possible. General Rules of Combat How do we fight? Typically in this game you will engage in “battles” which are when two or more sides face off against each other until the other side(s) is/are defeated (all their players are killed or incapacitated). Teams should attempt to be balanced (unless their is an inherent reason why this is not being done, perhaps it is a mission that is supposed to be challenging and the players are allowed to attempt to engage in the mission multiple times.) Each player has a set amount of health (Hit points, Hp) and energy (energy points, ep). This amount increases as you increase in rank. You spend energy to use in-game abilities, use jutsu, or cast spells. Players are responsible for keeping track of their own number of hit points and energy (Honor System, see above). Both Hp and energy are replenished at the start of a new battle. Players should also call out the name of the technique that they are using as they are performing it (this allows everyone to be aware of what is going on) Unless you are sure that everyone knows how much damage and what nature type an attack is you should also call out these facts as the attack is hitting the target (if you know that this information is irrelevant then you do not have to do this, a referee should be able to instruct you on whether it is appropriate for your technique if you are not sure). However, some techniques explicitly do not require this, such as clones, which are meant to be a surprise (unless stated explicitly, assume that the technique should be called out). Most weapons deal damage to any part of the body (with the exception of head, neck, and groin). However, when you are starting out in the game you will not have any weapons to use, since all weapons need to be purchased. Hand to hand combat can be performed safely in game in the following manner: Soft hits to the torso are the only hits that deal damage using your hands ordinarily. Hits to head neck, groin, arms and legs do not count. Kicks cannot be used (unless everyone in the village agrees to their use and safety considerations are taken into account, for example soft sparring pads can be a way to make kicking safe). “Punches” aren’t really punches at all, they are open palm soft strikes (if the local village deems it necessary padded gloves or sparring pads should be worn for “punches”). Closed fists should never be used in combat. If a player has an ability that increases the damage that their close combat attacks deal then the full damage will be dealt when they hit the torso, and the damage -1 will be dealt to arms/legs. For instance, if a player has an ability that increases their damage by 2 then a hit to the torso will deal 3 since ordinarily they would deal 1. However, hits to arms and legs would now deal 2. The exception is if you have the “strong arm” ability which allows you to deal full damage to arms and legs, so now your attacks would deal 3 no matter where you hit. For female ninja (Kunoichi) it is also forbidden to use close combat strikes to the breast area. Players may also voluntarily designate areas that they do not want to be attacked, or they may opt for a “no close combat hit” playing style. To do this simply inform the Kage of your village and they will make an announcement so all players know that you do not want to be hit in close combat. Instead players will “hit the air” within 5 feet of the player who does not want to be hit in close combat and these count as auto hits. If you prefer not to be hit by weapons as well a similar system can be worked out, and ranged attacks would count as hits if they land within 5 feet of your feet. Because the weapons we use are often (and really should be), quite soft, and because we are playing as ninjas so sneak attacks are encouraged rather than discouraged.