Safety Reminders for Denver Style

Traceroo

Prodigy
Official Safety Marshal post:

Alliance Denver has welcomed a lot of new players this spring -- yay! In June 2017, our chapter will host a number of visitors from other Alliance chapters, across the country -- yay! So now is a good reminder of some safety notes about our fighting culture in Alliance Denver:

Alliance Denver does not observe any fighting rules, guidelines, or techniques which are not referenced in the Alliance Rulebook, or by an Alliance Rules Committee official post on the website.

To be very clear:
  • Fiberglass core ultralights are the norm here; we don't use a lot of heavy PVC weapons. "Oversize" weapons like in anime cosplay are not used in the Alliance Denver game.
  • Denver does not observe a "flurry" rule in melee or spellcasting.
  • Denver does not allow swings other than the ones described in the rulebook, between 45 and 90 degrees (p. 94)
  • Moving just your wrist instead of your whole arm is legit here.
  • Wrap shots around the side are legit in Denver. Please watch overhead wraps if you're tall and they're short. Don't be a jerk.
  • "Clapping Monkey" is using 2 weapons or claws and flapping your arms to squish the opponent between them, especially if you do this really fast. Don't do this. That Clapping Monkey was super creepy in childhood, and no less creepy when hitting someone with sticks
  • Hands are not a legal target in Alliance. Some other rules systems allow you to block melee weapons with your hands; our system does not allow this. Doing this will get you a disapproving talk from the Safety Marshal. Complaining that other people's weapons are unsafe because your hands get beaten up when you block with them gets you a super unpleasant talk from the Safety Marshal.
  • Heads are currently legal for packets (you take the effect), but not for melee (you don't take the effect) - nevertheless, hitting someone in the head with anything is always a **** move, and worthy of pausing to apologize really sincerely :)
Charging
We have a bunch of new players here, and Charging is a nuance in fighting that's not immediately easy to grasp. You get all excited, run up to an opponent, and your momentum is such that you can't stop easily. That's when someone yells at you, "Watch the Charging, guy!" When you're running, plan to stop 6' feet before you get to your opponent. You can walk the remaining 2 steps. Safety first, don't run over your opponents, nobody likes that!


Keep it classy, Denver
Last, but MOST IMPORTANT: Denver has a culture of BEING NICE to our fellow players! We have a really friendly, welcoming community here, and we like it that way. Thus, if someone calls you on hitting too hard, hitting them in the head, charging, whatever it may be, the only acceptable response is:

"I'm very sorry."

Then stop doing that thing. Take a breather. Check yourself. Be nice. It matters.

https://alliancelarp.com/forum/threads/safety-culture-of-being-classy.33918/


Safety Complaints
If you need to tell someone in authority that some jerk needs to be taken out back and have the crap kicked out of him for a safety violation -- you may tell me. Please bring me at least a physical description of the person, even if you don't know their name. "Some guy charged me!" isn't something I can do much about -- but if you can give me any details, I'll have a discreet word with the player. We rarely get repeat complaints around here because our players are super cool and want to be nice.


Thanks,
Trace "Captain Safety" Moriarty
Safety & Weapons Marshal
2017 Acarthia Plot, too
 
Last edited:
Just a few questions:
Fiberglass core ultralights are the norm here; we don't use a lot of heavy PVC weapons. "Oversize" weapons like in anime cosplay are not used in the Alliance Denver game.
Does this mean that PVC weapons are generally frowned upon? or is this just making an observation?


Moving just your wrist instead of your whole arm is legit here
"Clapping Monkey" is using 2 weapons or claws and flapping your arms to squish the opponent between them, especially if you do this really fast. Don't do this. That Clapping Monkey was super creepy in childhood, and no less creepy when hitting someone with sticks
I don't see this in the rules, is this posted on the forums somewhere? In the rules it states:

If you are merely moving your
wrist back and forth to cause your damage, then
you are not fighting correctly and may be subject
to disciplinary action.

Sorry for being a bother,
John
 
Hi John! You're not a bother in the least bit. Thanks for asking for clarification.

Many of these items I cite because other chapters specifically have different rules. For example, there are games out there which have forbidden use of fiberglass cores at all -- so I just want to let people know they're not only legal in Denver, they're our norm. PVC core weapons are still allowed here.

Wrist vs. whole arm: I believe that the intent of the rulebook passage you cited is to prevent "shallow" swings which are less than a 45 angle, and also to prevent "machine gunning," which means that you're hitting much too rapidly for those shots to be considered fair. Provided that a combatant isn't engaging in either of those activities which are otherwise illegal, then moving just your wrist is fine here for the typical fighting style found in our community here in Denver. Again, there are other Alliance games where such a manueveur is considered illegal regardless of whether it is actually physically safe, or fair as a fighting style. Its inclusion on the list of local-to-Denver safety items is to distinguish our local view from that of other games.

Please pipe up if you've got any other questions.

Thanks,

Trace Moriarty
Safety & Weapons Marshal
Alliance Denver
 
Trace, any way you can move Denver closer...say to NY or maybe invent some type of teleportation device? Dam you Denver for being far away. ;)
 
I played hq back when the "4 horsemen" was running plot. I know that with Jesse as your owner, Denver plot must be great.
 
As a follow-up to the fiberglass cores thing (as I plan on making a new physrep between games -- somebody showed me how much lighter a fiberglass core makes a weapon and lo I have seen the light), is it typical to use solid fiberglass rods or hollow tubes?
 
As a follow-up to the fiberglass cores thing (as I plan on making a new physrep between games -- somebody showed me how much lighter a fiberglass core makes a weapon and lo I have seen the light), is it typical to use solid fiberglass rods or hollow tubes?

Usually hollow. The solid ones are a lot heavier (and cost more).
 
Last edited:
Back
Top