Combat Safety

Below are the combat safety rules we use at DR:IN. There will be overlap with what’s written in the DR Live Player’s Guide. There is also additional information that is not covered in the book. We recommend reading both.

Lightest Touch and Legal Targets

We are a lightest touch game meaning you only need to hit hard enough for the person to register contact. Essentially a light tap. Blocking is also part of that. If a shot is blocked, it is blocked. You must start a new swing. Combat can get scary and exciting which might make you fight harder than you should. If you hear “check your swings,” that’s not an attack on you as a person. Simply be more mindful of your swings and if it continues, you might have to step to the side and calibrate with someone else. Or it might be the weapon itself.

You cannot aim for necks, heads, arms, legs, or groins. Accidents happen and that’s okay. Sometimes the other person moves somewhere you don’t expect or the wind throws off your arc or your swing glances off something. That is perfectly fine and happens to everyone. Take a few seconds, make sure everyone is okay, and continue the scene. If someone is not okay, anyone can call a Hold for safety.

Safety Holds and Medics

Holds are a normal part of combat. As long as you are trying your best to follow safety rules, do not feel bad about Holds from either side. We are not precise robots fighting in well lit areas on stable terrain. The woods are full of tree roots and fallen branches, paths might have loose gravel, glasses might fly off, someone might dodge one strike to take a different, otherwise safe shot to the head. When a Hold is called, everyone stops moving and remains quiet so guides can figure out what’s going on. A medically trained person may be called for. If you see someone still chatting or moving around, feel free to tell them to stop. More serious situations need minimal distractions. Once everything is resolved and combat is safe to resume, the Guide on shift will do a loud countdown for play to resume.

Terrain and Obstacles

While Holds are a normal part of combat, we would like to minimize them. A big source of Holds is tripping and falling or colliding with larger objects. If you notice you’re fighting somewhere with lots of tripping hazards or someone is edging closer to a tent, it’s perfectly acceptable to ask everyone in the immediate area to nudge combat a few steps to a closer location.

Strikes and Flurries

We are a lightest touch game. It may help to think of fighting as tapping your opponent instead of hitting them. Strikes should be individual swings, as close to a 90 (45 for 2 Handers) degree arc as you can manage or have a clear pull back to your body. Strikes are made in sets that we call ‘flurries.’ You cannot make consecutive strikes on the same target beyond what a flurry allows. That changes with specific mechanical things which won’t be covered here. You also may not strike the same general area twice in a row with a weapon. While we are lightest touch, we are still simulating combat. Would a swing hurt if someone only drew back half an inch? If you hit someone in the arm, would you aim for the same spot again or somewhere they’re not guarding because they’re distracted by being hit in the arm?

Other things to consider for safety are how you’re hitting the places you’re aiming for. Backs are legal targets, but if the person is facing you, you cannot make a legal shot to hit their back. Do not throw any shots that require your hand to go past the target’s body or wielded shield. That’s how people get punched.

Blocking

We are a lightest touch game. If a swing is blocked, it is blocked. You must start a new swing. You cannot push through blocks. You cannot pivot your blocked weapon to tap the person. You cannot bind or trap or otherwise manipulate someone else’s gear to open up their guard. The legal striking areas are not just for strikes. You cannot deliberately move an illegal strike area to block strikes. Accidents happen and your hands might get hit. You cannot wave your hands to block everything or duck so your face catches a swing.

Shields

Shields are meant to protect you, not harm anyone. They must be kept as close to your body as is comfortable. You can still slide it around yourself, but keep it close, no wildly swinging it around. You cannot extend your shield out or slide it over to protect someone else. Remember that even when you’re calling big effects or doing something dramatic, your shield is still a substantial piece of kit that has some mass. No one wants to get hit by it.

Blasters

Blasters have the same targeting areas as melee weapons. You cannot fire darts at a target within 10 feet and that’s measured from the end of the blaster. If your blaster exceeds 110 FPS, you’ll be informed it ‘fires hot’ and the minimum distance increases to 15 feet. Packets must be used within minimum firing distance.