Combat Rules

Global Hit Points

In Menhirs Fate, each player character starts with 3 global hit points, which can be increased with armour and skills. For the purposes of global hits it does not matter where you have been struck. You lose one hit every time you are struck in combat. A normal unarmoured character can take three points of damage before entering a ‘critical state’. Any increase to your hits also increases them at a global level. You cannot gain different hit points on different sections of the body.

All characters regain their full amount of hit points at sunrise. There is no other way to naturally regain hit Points, without the aid of magic, faith or a physician.

Head hits 

The head is not a viable targets at Menhirs Fate. The head should not be targeted in melee or at range. Characters should aim elsewhere during a fight. We understand accidents happen and if you do accidentally strike the head then give a quick apology. Being struck in the head does not inflict any call or damage.

We do not expect people to use their head to block – this will be considered dangerous play and may result in combat warnings or bans.

The 1 second rule

Being hit and receiving damage in Menhirs Fate follows the 1 second rule. This means you can only lose 1 hit from each source of damage every second. It does allow you to take more than 1 damage per second if you are hit by multiple sources of damage, such as two separate people hitting you at the same time. The ambidexterity skill may allow you to attack fast enough to hit multiple times very quickly, but you will still only cause 1 damage per second.

Ranged Magic

Ranged calls do not cause a point of damage apart from the Blast call. They cannot be blocked with a shield or parried with a weapon or focus – they always hit unless you have a Rebound or Resist ability to counter them.

Sparring

Menhirs Fate does not feature non lethal damage as a mechanic. In the safety of Haven you may spar or otherwise practice with weapons and foci, and not do any damage or require healing afterwards, but only when all parties have agreed to a sparring contest. Any other kind of combat will inflict damage as normal. You may roleplay that you have received minor training injuries if you wish, and give healing roleplay to those playing healers without it requiring mechanical efforts to fix.

Sanctioned Combat and Grappling

At Menhirs Fate grappling is not allowed during normal combat for safety concerns. In certain circumstances we will allow for Sanctioned Combat that may allow for grappling and other stage fighting elements to be used. This must be done under the guidance of a Ref who will check if all participants agree to these elements and also check the area to make sure it is safe for Sanctioned Combat. Generally this will be within Haven in situations such as duels or sparring but occasionally may be occur on a skirmish that is specifically set up to accommodate it. These fights still follow all other combat safety rules and while stage fighting is allowed in those circumstances, you may not land punches and kicks.

Armour 

When the character is healed, their global hits are recovered, with no distinction between hits provided from their base hits, armour or other sources.

The coverage system below describes locations but coverage may be achieved by any number of actual armour pieces. Chainmail, articulated plate arms or a set of shoulder armour and bracers would all achieve the same mechanical effect.

For armour to be effective and provide benefits, you must have at least partial coverage as described below. Only then will it stop damage calls and increase the number of hits a character can withstand before entering a critical state.

Partial coverage

Armour safety rules can be found here.

To gain Partial Coverage, you must have some armour on any 4 of the locations in the list below. This will grant you the hits listed in the relevant armour type section below under Partial Coverage.

• Head
• Upper torso
• Lower Torso
• Upper Arm (Left or Right)
• Lower Arm (Left or Right)
• Upper Leg (Left or Right)
• Lower Leg (Left or Right)

Full Coverage

To gain Full Coverage, you must have one torso location covered and any other 5 of the locations in the list below. This will grant you the hits listed in the relevant armour type section below under Full Coverage.

• Head
• Upper torso
• Lower Torso
• Upper Arm (Left or Right)
• Lower Arm (Left or Right)
• Upper Leg (Left or Right)
• Lower Leg (Left or Right)

You may mix armour types, but you will only get the benefit of the lowest type for the quantity of coverage.
e.g. 2 leather greaves and 2 padded arms would result in light partial coverage.
2 leather greaves, 2 padded arms and a leather torso would result in light full coverage.

Stacking armour layers does not increase global hit points; only the highest number is considered for hit points. For example, wearing full coverage heavy over full coverage light will not grant eight global hits. The heavy armour will grant five hits and the light armour will not be counted.

Light Armour

• Partial Coverage: A character wearing light armour, such as soft leather, furs, Mage armour (this covers all clothing that looks like armour), or padded material (excluding simple cloth), gains two global hit points
• Full Coverage: A character wearing light armour, such as soft leather, furs, or padded material (excluding simple cloth) on all locations gains three global hit points

Note: While wearing Light armour you are able to cast any Rite or Ceremony and the Crush call only does one point of damage, the Rend call puts you to zero hit points and into the critical state.

Medium Armour

• Partial Coverage: A character wearing medium armour, such as heavy leather, studded leather, or leather scale, gains three global hit points
• Full Coverage: A character wearing medium armour, such as heavy leather, studded leather, or leather scale on all locations, gains four global hit points

Note: While wearing at least partial coverage of Medium armour, you may not cast any Rite but you may conduct Ceremonies, the Crush call only does one point of damage, but the Rend call puts you to zero hit points and into the critical state.

Heavy Armour

• Partial Coverage: A character wearing heavy armour, such as chainmail, flexible plate (latex/poly plate), or scalemail/brigandine, gains four global hit points 
• Full Coverage: A character wearing heavy armour, such as chainmail or ringmail, flexible plate (latex/poly plate), or metal scalemail/brigandine on all locations – This gives you five global hit points

Note: While wearing at least partial coverage of Heavy armour you may not cast any Rite but you may conduct Ceremonies, the Rend damage effect will do only one point of damage, but the Crush call puts you to zero hit points and into the critical state.

Weapons, Foci and Relics 

In Menhirs Fate all larp safe weapons are categorised as either a “Weapon”, “Relic” or a “Focus”. 

The descriptions below indicate what sort of physical representation you would need for each type and the safety requirements for them. As there is some amount of crossover in these physreps, (a staff may be a melee weapon or equally a foci, a wand may be a foci but could equally work as a relic) you must decide which it is to begin with. If you have decided your physrep is of one type, it may not then be used as another during the same event.

Jess Bobbins has a Wand and has the ability to cast rites and also conduct the basic ceremonies. They decided to bring their wand along and use it as their Focus. Later when they want to do a ceremony, Jess must find a different physrep to use as their Relic, but that’s okay, they have a rather cool looking amulet that they use instead. 

Weapons 

In Menhirs Fate we would encourage players to use weapons that fit with the themes of the game and the themes of the nation they are playing within. We suggest that all weapons look like just that; weapons. The Phys rep should also be larp safe as per the weapons guidelines. When looking at any item that we consider to be a ‘Comedy weapon’ we will follow the rules of: 

• Is the Item safe for all participants and does the Item conform to weapon safety
• Could the item parry a sword 

The rules for weapon physreps and safety are here.

Foci

Foci may be physically represented by a staff, stave, wand or similar. The important part is that it looks like a magical tool as opposed to a weapon as above. The Physrep should also be larp safe as per the weapons guidelines.

The rules for focus physreps and safety are here.

Relics

Relics in Menhirs Fate are items of iconography that priests use to channel their faith and perform ceremonies with. These items are never used to make physical contact with other players and as such we do not require them to be larp safe. These may be physically represented by amulets, symbols of their gods, small effigies of importance to them and their gods.