Well we might as well start this off right. To anyone who does not know what Fanwar is, the place to go is

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If you have any questions that you cannot find the answer to feel free to post them, or you can email me at

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That's okay, I shouldn't have spammed up the thread in the first place.

Anyway, hello hypothetical newcomers! You can email me at

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if you have any questions about what it's like to play Fanwar.

I just wanted to let you know that me (stephanie) and two or three other people are planning to come. Should we bring costumes?

Hello all:

Great to hear you are comming Stephanie. It might get rained out, which would be sad, but we will do a build at my house regardless so you can at least drop by and meet the crew and get a feel for the game. As Cora said, you don't need costumes yet, as it is just a playtest. I encourage costumes when we start the season and usually give players a +1 to Rollplay Skills (such as Trades and Crafts) for each authentic costume peice they are wearing! Thus if you are in full costume (dress, bodice, hat, belt etc., cloak, and boots) and are only a 1st lvl Tracker, you would opperate in game as a 7th lvl Tracker, due to being equiped for the job! By the way, I am also doing a build on the 19th if you want to learn how we make our style of weaponry or if you can't make it on the 18th.

Christopher

Sorry I couldn't make it to the game. Jen Bunker was my ride and she was sick. *hugs to Jen.* I hope to make it next week but I will probably have to work on Wed.

Hello Stephanie and all the new Napa players:

Just to clarify, we don't start wednesday games until March 1st. I know that is a week and a half away, but I just don't want people showing up to Crane Park on the 22nd of Feb looking for us. If you want more info or need directions etc. feel free to contact me.

Christopher

Cora's Guide to Not Acting Like a Newbie, Part 1!

So, you're new to Fanwar! You've seen the sights, read the rulebooks, and listened to the (often overwhelming at first) plot leads. There are plenty of things for a newcomer to learn, but there are some important things that are often overlooked. These (until now) unwritten rules are usually learned by playing with more experienced players, and picking them up as you go along. Unfortunately, this often means that you will be shouted at until you do. Well, if you want to get a head-start on refraining from annoying the other players, look no further!

Rule 1: Fanwar is not a real combat simulator
What I mean by this is that you shouldn't be swinging weapons like you're actually trying to kill someone! This is often mentioned by Chris, but I want to put it here anyway to emphasize its importance. In Fanwar's combat mechanics, all you have to do to damage someone else is make contact with your weapon. It doesn't matter how hard or how soft you hit, the damage in-game will be the same. Because of this, it is a lot nicer (not to mention easier) to simply try to "tag" your opponent, rather than swing like you're holding a baseball bat. It is also much more accurate, and you're less likely to accidentally smack someone in the face (and if you do, it won't hurt nearly as much). Please, for the sake of everyone at Fanwar, remember this rule!

Rule 2: Trust your fellow players
Lately, I have been seeing quite a bit of "automatic judgements" from the newer players. People have been hitting their opponents and shouting "you're dead!" or "killzone!" This, especially when you are playing with the more experienced players, is a big no-no. In Fanwar, everyone concentrates on paying attention to their own character's status. In combat, we use the honor system. If you think someone should be dropped, but they're still standing, there's probably a good reason for it. Certain characters may have passive skills you don't know about, or more hit points than you think, or one of a variety of other reasons. In any case, it is not your place to tell them if they are dead or not dead. You can confirm if your attack did damage to them or not, but you really shouldn't do this too often, either. If you really, honestly think that someone should be dead, and wasn't paying attention, bring it up after the battle is over, not in the midddle. There are exceptions to this, of course, in certain critical situations. However, in general, it is best to trust that people know what they are doing.

Rule 3: It's called Live Action Role Playing for a reason
Some people think that roleplaying only comes into effect outside of combat. This could not be more wrong! When you're playing an NPC, you don't just have the stats of whatever you're playing. You also have that creature's fighting style. If you're playing a goblin, don't fight like a Hobbit Hero, even if they would have the same hit points. Sometimes you have to purposefully inhibit your fighting skills to make it more realistic for the PCs. If this makes you die more easily, that's okay! You're only supposed to provide a challenge, not win. The players you fight will do the same for you in return when they become NPCs.

I will be adding more of these as I think of them, so watch this space.

Well spoken Cora. An excellent observation of what often happens in games with newbies (I hope you are taking notes for your own Sunday games...). I will also invite all the new players to read the FanWar Schedule of the day and Etiquete on the Fanwar website, below is an exerpt,

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Rule #(1) Fair Play = Good Gaming. In order for a LARP to work, everyone has to play fairly and honestly even if it means their character is going to die! If you play the game by the rules, keep careful track of your HP and Mana and accept when you are beaten/killed you will do the best at FanWar. You need to trust the Game Master and the game world to work. If you die in some random encounter, it is not the end of the road for your character, just a minor set back. But because death is somewhat trivial, cheating death is even more serious. So play fair for everyone’s sake.

Rule #(2) This is a Live Action Roll Play so Roll Play! You need to act out what your character does, move around and talk to other players, and really do what your character is supposed to do. This means that if you are a musician, you had better play your instrument (unless you’re a singer…). If you are a blacksmith, don’t just stand around saying, “Yeah my character is making a shield.” Go to the smith and roll play it, or better yet, bring the supplies and really make a shield! Many of the skills in Trades and Crafts have big drawbacks that never get played out because they are never roll played and this upsets the game balance. Also, if you can say something to someone as your character, say it that way, don’t say, “My character is going to ask around in the Inn for information on this Magic Sword.” Go to the Inn and ask around! If need be, inform the GM out of game that you want to use Informant to track down someone who might know something, but then roll play the interaction, don’t just expect the GM to tell you what you need to know. If you want to go to another part of town, get up and go, the GM can describe your journey but not if you are sitting around then the game turns into a RPG and we might as well be inside rolling dice all day. Sometimes it is necessary to inform the GM of where you are going so that there is something to interact with but only the bare minimum of information should be transferred in this format, for example, “I am going to the Guild to find more information on the Magic Sword. Can I get a roll play?” OR “I am going to the other side of town. Can I get some encounters?” This gives the GM the information needed to set up the interaction but doesn’t ruin the roll play.

Rule #(3) Asking Questions: Three Before Me. In FanWar there is a lot to learn and a lot of things to do and ask about. Unfortunately, if I am going to run all the adventures I can’t be everyone’s lexicon of information as well. If you have a question about rules, prices, spells, skills, monster stats etc. DON’T ASK ME! Remember the Three before Me rule, (1) Ask a Friend (many players have the answers your looking for), (2) Go Check It Out, is there somewhere you can find that information (like the Blacksmith or Guild master for example), and (3) Look It Up in a Rule Book (we have Rule Books for a reason and I didn’t spend the last five years perfecting it for nothing!). Please know that it is not that I don’t like answering questions, I don’t like wasting precious roll play time answering question like “What would happen if you fed a Dragon a Goblin with a spell stone inside it…” Who Cares! Let’s focus on the gaming and have fun. If you have in-depth questions about your character or magic item etc, then email me between events.

Rule #(4) PhysRep’s Required! If you don’t have a PhysRep for something, you didn’t bring that item with you (it got left back at camp etc.)! A PhysRep stands for Physical Representation. Some PhysReps you might be familiar with are Potions, Scrolls, Gold, Gems, etc. PhysReps are very, very important, just like Roll playing, they make the game work. Sure it is easier to simply say, “Yeah I have 5 potions of full Mana Restore.” But if you actually have to carry them around, you might think twice about that… It is easy to meet a stranger on the road and say “Oh sure here’s 100 gold for that magic item.” It is very different to lug around 100 gold pieces! Furthermore, NPC’s are not held to the same standard as Players when it comes to PhysReps. If a monster is supposed to have a scroll of Inferno, they don’t have to be carrying it (though that is preferred) because running all the way back to town to get a scroll for a 10 second encounter is ludicrous. But I am going to be very strict about players with their PhysReps as it becomes very easy to “forget” that you already spent 30 gold back in town and then buy another 30 gold’s worth later. You need to take responsibility for these things yourself. If you bought 3 potions but never got PhysReps for them, go get them from a bin, or ask the Smith for them. If your character has 50 gold, a dagger, 10 arrows and 15 potions, go got them and carry them around with you.

There's more where that came from if your interested below

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Why LARP?

“I parry with my short sword and Expert Disarm his Axe with my long sword to have it land in front of Daltark whose sword just go shattered.”
“Okay, make a Dexterity roll and then roll your two attacks with the appropriate minuses.”
“Okay, made them all.”
“Wow! Nice going.”
“Hey, no problem.”
For all of us who have played the table top RPG’s the above scenario is painfully familiar. In various forms and permutations, characters do the unimaginable all with the roll of a dice. Unfortunately many table top RPG’s tend to focus in the area that they are the least equipped to simulate: combat. No matter what the system, from the downright simple to the epically cinematic formats, there is always something missing. No one has to actually swing a sword, block arrows, parry and run. It is this characteristically real aspect of LARP, the bridging of disciplines and real life experience that sets it apart and ultimately makes it an incredible medium for not only fun but positive social change.
Ultimately, RPG’s are fun to a point but they are only as interesting as the imaginations of those involved and tend to encourage the kind of disassociation with reality that characterizes so many games. It is one thing to say,
“We stand our ground and attack the thirty Orks as they rush down the hill at us. Their just Orks, they can’t even hit us at our level.”
It is quite another thing to be staring up a hill at thirty individuals all bent on attacking you with various weapons. It is quite different to feel the earth shake as they thunder down the hill, yelling a screaming and begin pummeling you and still manage to survive! Those who have been in such a situation in a LARP can attest to the power of such an event to change ones views about warfare; modern and medieval.
Many articles have been written that explain the merits of the RPG and point out the many intellectual skills and life lessons learned through table top RPG’s (see the Lost Grimoure by David A Hargrave). It is true that gamers learn a great deal of world history, geography, science, math, language and social skills through RPG’s. Roll playing games are an incredible tool for education and as a teacher I have used them in numerous situations to bring a concept to life for my students and broaden the learning scope. But LARP transcends the confines of conceptual learning and passes into the realm of what Dr. Christine M. Cress calls, Transformational Learning. Transformational learning is when you do not just understand a new concept, but the concept changes the way you see the world. This can happen in many different ways, from incremental change to a sudden “ah ha!” but in all cases it is not simple factual data that is retained but rather a new way of viewing the world, a new understanding of the way things work. While I have heard of situations in RPG that have done this for people, I have rarely experienced it myself with RPG. In the world of LARP, however, I witness it in some form at every event from watching how roll playing the murderous gangs causes players to serious reevaluate their belief systems and understanding about pain, suffering and fear, to seeing the newfound sense of competence brighten a young mans face who suddenly discovers he is holding his own with a sword! Every event is not just a practice in thinking about philosophy but in putting it on and walking around in it. LARP is the place where roll playing becomes more than skilled discourse and blends with theater arts, sports and real life experience.
No where is this transformed world view more apparent than in the way players’ views towards combat are altered. LARP never fails to bring those involved a much more sober view of war and violence. Contrary to popular behaviorist theory which ascribes the “monkey see, monkey do” theory to children’s acquisition of violent behavior, LARP actually decreases the amount of violent behavior in its participants. Children need to act out violence and war as Gerard Jones points out in his book Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Super Heroes and Make Believe Violence. While this may seem counter intuitive, it has been well documented by philosophers and psychologist such as Carl Jung, Abraham Maslow, Bruno Beitelhiem and Francis G. Wicks that acting out violence and war serves not only to help vent pent up aggression that might otherwise explode uncontrollably, but also as a means of processing the violence and war that has been a plague in our culture. To be sure, war and violence are a cultural phenomenon, not a biological need of humans, as renowned author Alfie Kohn points out in his book, The Brighter Side of Human Nature. But aggression is natural and unless focused appropriately may become violence. Furthermore, violence is so prevalent in our culture that to simply pretend it does not exist and ban violent play is an exercise in denial and only serves to make the banned behavior into a taboo to be intensified in the form of gangs and bullying. LARP offers the opportunity for children and adults alike to play at war, rather than really becoming violent, and allows the participants to take on the roll of the violent gang member, but also the roll of those who are picked on, in a very real way without a script or safety net, and thus approximates a more real life experience of all these concepts.
Unlike war based video games which are so prevalent these days, LARP requires real human interaction, social skills, physical activity, and interaction with the natural world. Many RPG’s have gone computerized, as having a computer run an adventure offers the maximum amount of control and freedom for both the designer and the player. But while computers do allow for a more complete and fool-proof form of combat, they are more akin to watching a movie of a battle than actually being in one. Video games actually take people away from the human aspect of war and violence, creating anti-social, inactive gamers. LARPs bring people together, face to face, in nature, an entirely different experience than the computerized forest on the screen. The simple act of walking through the woods and observing nature with a band of friends at your side is transformative in and of itself. LARP forces people to play together as people, in a real setting, not a simulated one, and as such offers a precious opportunity for real human understanding in a tech support world.
Unfortunately, LARP gets a bad name from extremists who strive for “real combat” and “historical accuracy.” These groups are not true LARPs but are more of a martial arts offshoot, emphasizing the heavy hitting and sparing of a traditional contact sport. These poor approximations of LARP are the flip side of the RPG, bringing combat to life but missing the critical link of roll playing that gives the combat meaning. Real LARP is not extremist and can be quite casual. While there are those who get deeply involved in costuming and combat to fully experience the roll, there are those of us who come straight from work and battle our way in jeans and a t-shirt. LARP is not about costumes and real combat, but action and roll playing and thus the true LARPer only needs the critical elements to bring their character to life, just as any skilled actor needs only a single prop to portray their character. Good LARPs are not rigid and power dominated, but fluid, casual and fun; as involving as each participant chooses to make it.
Live Action Roll Play is an entirely different experience than normal RPG’s, and draws people from all areas of expertise because of its unique holistic approach. Unlike the traditional RPG, LARP draws athletes, intellectuals, actors, engineers, craftsmen and writers who all meet and interact together towards a common goal. This cross discipline phenomenon benefits all those involved, as those who would not otherwise be physical are pushed to their bodies limits as they battle to save their lives and those who normally don’t give situations a moment’s thought, carefully consider their next choice and combination of skills for maximum effect. LARP is the manifestation of learning through doing, active rather than passive interaction with the real, natural world, with in real face to face interactions; in a time of war and human struggle, it is catharsis for the cultures soul.

Christopher M. Melville
FanWar LARP Director and Originator

Excellent article Chris! I definately agree with all of that!
One thing i know that i've learned first hand is that violence is rarely the only answer to a given problem. You'll often do better to roleplay and talk your way through!

Hello all:

Check this out and add yourself so people know we are a crew!

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Enjoy!

Christopher

Hello all:

The last birthday party I did, one of the parents was kind enought to video sections of it and post them on the net. I put one little piece as a link from the Birthday Party page here

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If you want to see more of it, just email me.

You can sign is with the password "Guest" in order to view it.

Christopher

Sheilds:

I get supplies for shields as follows:
Restaurant Supply Company (trash can lids for bucklers)
Paris Flying Disk Sleds (for Large Shields)
Paris Snow Snake Sleds (for Tower Sheilds)

I get the webbing for the straps bulk at REI, as well as the ladder locks. I make the straps and sew them on a sewing machine, melt the ends so they wont unravel. I ge the egg-crate foam from cheap old camp mats people are getting rid of. I put pipe insulation around the outside when I can for added protection from edge-of-shield-into-lip-syndrome.

Christopher

This is for all Noobs and those beloved cannon fodder that seem to get killed alot. One of the best ways to learn to the tougher aspects of this game early on is just be a monster for at least a couple of events and get used to the riggers of all the basic and advanced class skills. By the time you have gone through at least 3, you will have found something to your liking and pick up tips on how to play such a charecter A.E work the system rather than fight it.

How to Learn the Game:

I recently posted some new demo videos that give you the basics of how to play LARP and how to do Adult League FanWar. You can check it out at the New Player Website on FanWar.com below

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Enjoy!

Christopher