Combat, Wounds and Healing

Conduct

All players are expected to conduct themselves in a safe and courteous manner at all times especially while in combat. Failure to do so may result in being restricted from participating in combat for a period of time, if not permanently. In order to take part in a Fortune's Landing event, all participants must agree to follow the rules and conventions of the game. Refusal to do so, or deliberately flouting of these rules is ground for being banned from this and all other Raging Gargoyle Games events.

Calling a Hold

This is the most important rule in the whole game and it is essential that all players be familiar with it. Anyone may call a Hold at any time if they see an unsafe situation or because of injury or for any other reason they perceive that the combat should be paused. The Hold should be called loudly so that all players in the battle may hear. Everyone nearby should immediately drop to one knee and remain completely silent. Failure to comply with a Hold may result in a Formal Safety Warning.
Holds may not be called to pick up dropped objects or spell packets, to get a better view of the combat, to parlay with an opponent, or for any other reason not directly related to a safety or rules issue. A Hold may be called because someone has fallen down, a player's glasses were broken, the combat has progressed into an unsafe area or to settle a rules dispute or question. While the Hold is in effect you should not look around or talk to other players. You may however, use this time to pick up or request return of thrown spell packets, check the safety of your weapon, recover arrows or remove expended tags.
When the reason for the Hold is resolved, then the person who called the Hold should call Lay-on. The player should ensure that everything in regards to the Hold is resolved and then call "3… 2… 1… Lay-on!".

Warnings

Warnings will be given to players whose fighting style is deemed unsafe. Most often a Guide will issue an informal warning which has no effect on the player other than to let him know that he has been fighting unsafely and that he should try to adjust his style. Safety Guides also have the right to ban a player from combat for any amount of time to be designated by the Guide. Finally, a Safety Guide may issue a Formal Safety Warning. Receiving three Formal Safety Warnings within the space of a year will result in an immediate ban from all fighting. This is considered a permanent ban in all Raging Gargoyle Games events and may only be repealed by the Directors of Raging Gargoyle Games, LLC.

Weapon Safety

All weapons must be approved and pass safety inspection by a Safety Guide or one of his designated assistants before the start of an event. Each player is responsible for the safety of his own equipment. Damaged or otherwise unsafe equipment should be removed from played immediately. Use of an unsafe weapon (even one passed by the Safety Guide) may be grounds for receiving a Formal Safety Warning.

Legal Target Areas

Legal target areas consist of from the neck down, from wrist bone up to the arm, from the anklebone up the leg. The head, feet and hands are all illegal areas and do not count as successful hits. A combatant who has suffered a head hit should call an immediate "Hold" (see above) and inform his opponent of the hit. Combatants should not target the neck or crotch areas, though blows which land there inadvertently are considered legal. The only exception to this is packet attacks which are considered legal no matter where they hit.
Sports cups are highly recommended for men, as are sports glasses for those who wear prescription glasses, though neither are required.

Strength of Blows

A weapon should be swung with significant strength so that the blow can be felt and considered a "solid" blow, but not with more force than is necessary to ensure a "solid" blow. It should be noted that "solid" means not necessarily hard, only that it connects fully.
Bear in mind that some types of armor protect so well that it becomes difficult judge the strength of a hit. What would seem like a perfectly solid blow while wearing shorts and a T-shirt feels very different when wearing brigandine, scale or plate mail. Part of the "skill" to wearing armor involves learning what legal blows feel like. Take this into account any time you wear armor.

Calling "Flat"

For sparring or other purposes, you may call Flat when hitting someone. This represents hitting with the flat of the blade, or very gently in the case of blunt weapons. Flat blows do not count as blows under the Fortune's Landing rules, and therefore neither interact with protectives nor cause any Wounds.

Arc of Swing

A weapon should never be swung in anything greater than a 120° arc. Great or pole weapons should never be swung in more than a 90° arc. All weapons must be pulled back at least 45° before another swing can be taken.

Thrusting

A weapon should never be thrust with full force, no matter how much padding is used in the construction of the weapon. The elbow should always remain loose when thrusting and should not be locked. Weapons should never be set, either by locking the arm in place or by resting the weapon against the ground or other surface.

Body Contact

You may never come into physical contact with an opponent during combat. The only contact allowed during battle is by weapon or spell packet. Punching, grabbing and kicking are all strictly prohibited. Combat spells cannot be "touch-cast" unless the recipient of the spell has granted permission for the caster to do so.
Characters or monsters who have the ability to strike an opponent with their body must represent the attack by using dagger-sized, red-colored weapons. These weapons cannot be disarmed.

Pinning Weapons

Pinning a weapon is defined as immobilizing it in a way that your opponent cannot free his weapon simply by pulling back. Although pinning weapons is a standard move in most fantasy novels and movies, it's not safe. If your weapon is pinned (i.e. you opponent presses his sword against yours, pinning it to a wall), the logical thing to do would be punch, kick or otherwise beat on your opponent. As this is strictly forbidden (see above), pinning weapons is also illegal.
Weapons designed with hooks or other means of trapping weapons will also be deemed unsafe. Halberds in particular should be designed to minimize this possibility. Similarly, you may not use a weapon deliberately to trip an opponent.

Charging

Crowding an opponent so that he must retreat or step aside to avoid physical contact is considered charging. You must always leave room between yourself and an opponent. If you are pursuing another player it is always you responsibility to be in control enough to be able to stop without ramming into the person you are chasing.

Judging Blows

You should always inform an opponent immediately if you feel that they are swinging too hard or too light. Several factors should be taken into account to determine is a blow is "solid".

• The type of weapon you are struck by.
• How you are struck by the weapon.
• Whether the blow was blocked in any manner, by another weapon, shield or tree branches, etc.

• You are struck solidly on the arm with the blade of the weapon.
• The thrusting tip of the weapon impacts your chest.

• The tip of the weapon brushes across your leg.
• The blade of the weapon brushes against your arm after sliding off your sword.
• The thrusting tip of the weapon grazes your shoulder after having been blocked by your shield.

Effects of Solid Blows

Once you determine that a blow is solid you immediately suffer the effects of the Wound. If you are wearing armor or have magical protections you must immediately let your opponent know that you have such protection. (All protectives must be called within 2 seconds of being struck.)

Armor

A player wearing armor is protected from a certain number of Wounds during a combat, depending upon the type of armor worn. Generally leather armor offers protection against one or two Wounds, chain mail three or four, and plate mail five.
If you take a blow on an armored portion of your body and the damage inflicted by the blow is equal to or less than your current armor rating you do not take any damage. Each time your armor is struck (no matter how much damage was inflicted) you armor's rating is reduced by one (1). If the blow is Dodged or Parried it is not considered to have hit your armor and so does not reduce its rating. Once your armor has been reduced to zero (0) it is considered breeched.
For example: Dimitri the warrior is wearing a suit of light chain mail worth 3 armor points. During an adventure Dimitri gets into a fight with a bandit. After an exchange of blows, Dimitri is struck by the bandit who calls a Strike 3. Dimitri does not take any damage since the blow does not exceed his armor rating, however, Dimitri's armor rating is reduced by one since he has was hit (Dimitri's armor is now worth two (2) points). Later in the fight, Dimitri is hit again by a bandit calling Strike 4. This time Dimitri takes a Wound since his armor rating is less than the damage called and Dimitri's armor is once more reduced by one rating (his chain mail is now worth only one (1) point).
If your armor is not breached (i.e., is not reduced to having no further protective value), you can spend a full minute readjusting it after which the armor regains its full protective value. If your armor is breached, its protective value is permanently reduced by one (though an Armorsmith can repair this damage at significantly less cost than buying a completely new suit of armor, and an Elementalist or someone with a Metal Bond may also be able to assist you). Repairing armor is explained further under Production - Armor. The point value of armor is determined by the type of armor worn and the areas covered. When determining the point value or an area of armor, the amount of coverage does not matter (only the materials involved) since areas not covered do not gain protection from the armor. For purposes of determining locations, the body is divided into five parts; right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg and torso. If you only have armor in one area then you will gain the full value for that armor. However, if you have armor covering more than one area you must average the values (round appropriately) of the different armor types. For example, if you have plate mail (five points) covering your torso, and heavy leather (two points) on your legs you have two choices. The first choice is to ignore the protection on your legs and take the five points of protection for your torso, or you can average the leg armor with the torso armor, giving you a resulting armor value of three points in all areas you are wearing armor. (5 + 2 + 2 = 9) This is the total value of all armor worn, five points for the plate and two points for each leg. The resulting total is then divided by the number of areas involved (9/3=3) resulting in three points of armor coverage in all areas.
Alternatively, player can choose not to include lesser armor value to avoid a loss in armor rating. Use the space provided on the armor tag to indicate which portions of your body are covered by armor by filling in any areas that are not protected.
Armor only protects a character in areas where she is covered. If you are struck in an area not covered with armor you immediately suffer a wound to that area (unless you are protected by some form of protective magic: Skins or Physical Shield). See the Magic page for the effects of spells.

Threshold

Any armor of rating five (5) or higher is considered to have a Threshold of one (1). This means that if the character is struck in an armored portion of the body by a weapon that does only one point of damage there is no effect to the armor or the character. The character suffers no Wounds and the armor is not reduced in value. If the armor is ever reduced below five (by taking a hit that inflicts more than one point of damage) the Threshold effect is lost and the armor is affected as usual by all weapon blows.

Ultra-lights and "Fake" Armor

Ultra-lights and costume/replica armor are permitted in Fortune's Landing, however such weapons and armor suffer some minor penalties. These penalties are imposed because of the in-game advantage granted by these items (ultra-lights are quicker and costume/replica armor is lighter and generally easier to maneuver in while wearing). While we don't want to prohibit the use of these options we do feel the advantages they grant needs to be slightly counter-balanced.
Both the monetary and production point costs for ultra-lights and costume/replica armor is increased by 1.5 times the base cost (Superior Quality, Resists, and silver coating are not multiplied). Additionally, all costume/replica armor MUST at least look real from a short distance. Good quality stage chain, PVC plate mail (if properly made and painted) are fine. Silver shirts, T-shirts painted with chain mail or scales and football/hockey/ or other sport gear will not be permitted.

Effects of Wounds

Wounds have variable effects depending upon which part of the body is struck. Each of these effects are described below under the appropriate section. Players are encouraged to roleplay any Wounds they take to the best of their ability. While this may not always be in the best interest of the player it certainly helps to enhance the mood of the game, making the entire experience more enjoyable for everyone.

The Wounds You Take

Wounds taken	Effect
One Limb Wound	Limb is useless Second hit to an arm (though not a leg) causes a torso Wound
Two Limb Wounds	Unconscious in 10 minutes Dead in an additional 5 minutes
Three Limb Wounds	Unconscious immediately, Dead in five minutes
Torso Wound	Unconscious immediately Dead in 5 minutes

Limb Wounds

A solid blow to an unprotected limb, or that gets through any protection you might have, causes the limb to become completely useless. This does not mean that the limb has been removed, only that it is rendered useless. If the blow struck is of significant force and the weapon is of an appropriate type the player may decide that the limb has indeed been hacked off. The actual effect varies depending upon whether the limb is an arm or a leg.
If the limb is an arm the player must let the arm hang limp at his side and not utilize the arm in any way. Any weapon or item held in that hand may be switched off to an empty hand. If the player's other hand is already full the player must drop whatever he is holding. If a shield arm is struck the player must drop the shield or let the shield arm hang limp, at his own discretion. You can never use an injured arm to block an incoming attack. A second blow to a disabled arm has the same effect as a torso wound.
A player who takes a Wound to a leg may hop a maximum of three times to move to a better position and the must drop to his knees. The character may only crawl until the leg is fully healed.

Multiple Limb Wounds

Solid blows to two limbs will cause unconsciousness in ten minutes (unless the Wounds are tended to); the unconscious character will then die in five additional minutes.
A character who suffers three or more Limb Wounds immediately fall unconscious. The character will die from blood loss in five minutes unless treated with Healing Ways or some other healing method that stops bleeding.

Torso Wounds

A solid blow struck anywhere from the neck to legs is considered to be a Torso Wound (unless prevented by armor or protective spells). A player who suffers a Torso Wound must immediately drop to the ground, unconscious, and will bleed to death in five minutes unless the wound is treated.

Striking Blows

It is possible to cause more than one Wound with a single hit by purchasing the combat skill, Strikes. Strikes allow you to cause one or more additional Wounds when you strike your target. Each level of Strikes has a particular "tag-line" that is called as you swing your weapon. (A complete description of Strikes can be found in Combat Skills.) The tag-line will indicate how many Wounds you take from that hit. All characters are limited to using a maximum of three Strikes per combat (i.e. you must be able to rest a full ten minutes before your Strikes will reset.) It is possible for certain magical weapons to duplicate the effects of a Strike. If you feel that someone has called a Strike too many times, feel free to call a Hold and question the player about it.

Killing Blows

Any character may deliver a Killing Blow to an unconscious, immobilized or otherwise unmoving foe. To do so, place a weapon on the target's torso and count aloud, "Killing Blow-one, Killing Blow-two, Killing Blow-three." (If a bare-handed Killing Blow is administered a hand should be placed on the player's shoulder.) As soon as the final phrase has been uttered, the victim is dead. If the character possesses a Physical Shield the spell takes effect on the final count of the Killing Blow.

Wake Up

This chart shows when a character will wake up from unconsciousness due to Wounds taken.

Healing Administered	Time Until Awakening
None	24 Hours
Healing Ways	1 Hour (or immediately with Rapid Healing)
Stabilize	1 hour (or immediately with Rapid Healing)
Chirurgery	Immediately
Accelerate Healing	Immediately
Cure Light Wounds (multiple Limb Wounds)	Immediately
Cure Light Wounds (Torso Wound)	Immediately
Cure Serious Wounds (or greater)	Immediately

Shields

Destroying Shields
You may declare at any time during a combat that you are fighting to destroy your opponent's shield by calling "Fighting to destroy your shield!". To do so, you must concentrate all your blows on the shield (blows aimed for the body but blocked by the shield would not count). It takes six consecutive hits with a weapon to destroy a shield. If any of these hits are blocked or miss the shield then the count must be started over. If six consecutive hits are made the player using the shield must drop it immediately.
IF a character had an injured leg and is forced to the ground his shield can be destroyed with only three consecutive hits.

"Turtleing"

Turtleing is hiding behind a shield so the only visible target is your head. As the head is not a legal target, this obviously poses a safety risk.

Archery

Healing

There are two means by which a character can heal: naturally or magically. Natural Healing is generally a long and slow process and often occurs between events. Some Advantages speed natural healing and Skills such as Healing Ways will help the process as well.

Natural Healing

Natural Healing is the process of allowing the body to heal on its own with little interference other than setting bones and applying poultices. Natural healing takes weeks or even months.

Treating Wounds

A character must have the Skill Healing Ways to tend a Wound. Tending a Wound will stop a character from bleeding to death as well as speeding the healing process. Treating a Wound takes one minute after which the Wound is properly bound and the character is no longer in danger of bleeding to death. A treated Wound heals naturally in two to six weeks. A treated Wound that is cleaned and dressed once daily by a character who possesses both Healing Ways and Alchemy heals in half this time.
Torso Wounds - A character who is recuperating from a Torso Wound is very limited in what actions he can take. He can move at a slow walk with assistance from at least one other character, but he cannot fight, cast spells or use any other in-game skills or powers. The character can fend off or avoid a Killing Blow but cannot take any offensive action of his own. Attempting to do so causes the character's Wounds to break open again and he immediately lapses back into unconsciousness and begins bleeding out again.
Wounds that are broken open from action can be treated again with Healing Ways, or healed with healing magic as usual.
Healing Ways - Using Healing Ways requires that a character spend at least 60 seconds tending to the injured character's Wounds. Once this 60 seconds has passed, all of the injured character's Wounds are stabilized and he will not bleed to death. A character who is unconscious will awaken one hour after receiving a successful Healing Ways.
Chirurgery - Characters who possess this skill are able to set wounds with such skill that they heal at an amazing rate (all Wounds can be fully healed in one hour). Before Chirurgery can begin the wound must first have been successfully treated with Healing Ways. The chirurgen must then have five minutes of uninterrupted time in which to work her miracle. Most chirurgens prefer to practice their craft in private. Once the chirurgen has finished, all Wounds are healed after one hour of time has passed. An unconscious character awakens immediately once chirurgery is complete.
Any Wounded limbs are completely useless until fully healed. Attempting to use the limb before the hour is up stops the healing and reopens the wound and the entire process must begin again. Characters suffering from Torso Wounds are limited by the restrictions outlined above in Torso Wounds for the duration of their recuperation. Wounds that are broken open must first be treated with Healing Ways, then the chirurgen must tend them again if they are to be healed at the advanced rate.
Unconscious characters awaken as soon as the chirurgery is complete.
Healer's Touch - This skill cuts the recovery time for the patient of Healing Ways and Chirurgery performed by the owner of this skill in half. Rapid Healing - This Advantage allows the character to heal at an incredible rate. Once the character has been treated with Healing Ways he recovers from all Wounds in one hour.
Limbs or torso wounds healing with Rapid Healing are subject to the same limitations as those recovering through the use of Chirurgery. Attempting to use a wounded limb or undertaking any strenuous activity while healing a Torso Wound will cause the Wound to break open and it will be necessary for the healing process to begin all over again.
If Chirurgery or Accelerate Healing is used on a character with Rapid Healing, the remaining healing time is cut in half. If Accelerate Healing and Chirurgery or Chirurgery and Healer's Touch are used healing time is quartered. If Accelerated Healing, Chirurgery, and Healer's Touch are used, healing time is dropped to 1/8 of the total. A character with Rapid Healing awakens immediately upon receiving a successful Healing Ways.

Advanced Healing

Magic spells and potions have a profound effect on healing wounds.
Stabilize - This spell or potion immediately stabilizes all of a character's Wounds as if he had undergone Healing Ways. A stabilized character will awaken in one hour or immediately if he has Rapid Healing.
Accelerate Healing - This spell or potion immediately stabilizes all of the character's Wounds and causes them to be healed in one hour. If combined with Rapid Healing or Chirurgery, the remaining healing time is halved. If all three are combined, the healing time is quartered. If the Chirurgen has Healer's Touch, the time is halved again. A character who is unconscious due to his Wounds who is affected by this spell immediately awakens, though he still suffers the full effects of the Wound until the requisite amount of time has passed.
Cure Light Wounds - This spell or potion allows limbs to be rapidly restored to full usefulness. Each application of this spell or brew instantly heals any one limb Wound. Neither the spell or the brew have any affect on Torso Wounds. An unconscious character who has Limb Wounds healed by this spell immediately awakens. A character who suffers from a Torso Wound awakens as if he were stabilized (see above).
Cure Serious Wounds - This spell or brew instantly heals up to three Wounds of any type (limb or torso).
Combined Effects - Character may combine different methods of healing to reduce the time necessary to recuperate. There are three basic means by which a character can decrease the time needed to heal: Accelerate Healing (either potion or the spell), Chirurgery (with the possible addition of Healer's Touch) and Rapid Healing. If two of these methods are combined the healing time is halved. If all three are combined this time is quartered. If the Chirurgen is also skilled in Healer's Touch, the total time will be cut in half again. Keep in mind that Chirurgery takes a minimum of five minutes to administer.

Character Death

When a character dies his spirit remains on this world until dusk or dawn, at which time it departs forever. Some say that the soul is then reborn into a new body, while others believe that the spirit lives on in another realm of existence. In the world of Fortune's Landing, death can at times be halted, or at least delayed for a time through the use of magic. It is said that the Master of Fire at the University of Flame can restore life to the dead, and the spell Spark of Life is known to be able to sustain the spirit in this world past dusk or dawn. It is told in whispered rumors that Necromancers can bring life back to the dead, but the one brought back is never the same as they were.

Upon Dying

Once your character is dead, either from having taken a Killing Blow or having bled to death from his wounds, you must remove all of the tags for all items you are carrying and leave them at the site of your death (You may also leave the phys-reps but that is not recommended). Anyone present can lay claim to your items if they wish. All active spells on you are removed. You should then proceed immediately to Monstertown where you will be issued your Spirit Shroud and, if you body was not completely destroyed, a Body Double for you to place in the spot where you died. From here you are free to roam about as a spirit until you are brought back from the dead, or your spirit passes on at sunrise or sunset.

The Spirit Shroud

Player whose characters have died must immediately put on a white headband, or otherwise indicate they are out of play. At this point the player should immediately proceed to Monstertown to obtain a Spirit Shroud. Until the player actually gets a Spirit Shroud he is considered to be out-of-play and cannot communicate with any other characters, even mediums. The character is also not aware of anything going on around him. The character's spirit simply has not had enough time to coalesce. Once the player leaves Monstertown wearing the Spirit Shroud, they are considered inplay again.
Once the player gets a Spirit Shroud he must wear it over his costume. A player wearing a Spirit Shroud is completely invisible to all characters except those with the Empathic ability, Medium. Living character cannot interact with characters wearing Spirit Shrouds in any way unless they are a Medium. If a Spirit is speaking with a Medium, she should do so quietly where other characters may not hear. Characters who have become spirits can move about freely, though they cannot pass through physical objects (such as walls, doors or people). A spirit can pass out of a structure, but must have an open doorway to enter or exit. Nor can they affect the physical world (such as opening doors, moving objects, etc.). Spirits only have a dim view of the real world since they are present primarily in the realm of Spirit and though they can see what is happening around them, they cannot hear anything in the physical world (unless a character speaking to the spirit is using a spell or special ability to do so).
A spirit has very little memory of the physical world and will not recall the circumstances of his death, although he will recall the location of his body at the time of death. Upon being brought back to life a character forgets everything that occurred while he was a spirit, though he remembers everything up until the time of his death, including the circumstances of his death.

The Body Double

A Body Double is a mannequin of sorts that can be placed in the area you died so that other characters will be more likely to find your "body". The Body Double can be dressed in part of your costume, if you like, and you should pin your Character Card along with the cards for any items you were carrying at the time of death onto the Body Double. As a spirit you can only communicate with a character who has the Empathic ability, Medium.

Returning from the Dead

There are means by which a character can return from the dead. Certain magical items may allow it and the Fire Alchemy spell, Rebirth of the Pheonix will allow it as well (though the character is likely to be somewhat changed by this means of returning). ,/p>

The Tiles of Fate

Each character begins with a clean Deck of eight cards - this means that the first time he is brought back from the dead he will return to life just as the spell states, with no mishap or changes and only a slight chance of permanent death. Each time the character suffers a death and is brought back from death he must add a number of new cards to his deck. These additional cards contain a great number of different things that can happen when the character is brought back from the dead on future occasions. The possibilities range from Permanent Death, to extended bouts of amnesia, to alterations to the character's body, personality or skills.
How the character is returned to life determines how many and what variety of cards are added to the character's Tiles of Fate for the next drawing.

Permanent Death

Characters who have not been brought back from death before dawn or dusk face the possibility of a Permanent Death. At dawn or dusk all players who are spirits who have not been brought back to life must report to Monstertown to inform Plot of his death and draw from the Tiles of Fate. The card that the player draws determines exactly what happens to the character - a permanent death is not the only possibility - some characters may receive a "second chance" at life, or at least be able to say their farewells to friends and loved ones.