Meadowmere Rulebook

2024 Edition

 

 

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Chapter 1: Organization Roles and Responsibilities

Meadowmere LARP has three different roles. Those roles are Staff, Volunteers, and Players. All roles are encouraged to play a character in our game. In an effort to present a fair and welcoming environment, our Staff, and Volunteers follow the same rules that a normal player does.

Staff

The Staff are members of the player base that have volunteered to take on certain responsibilities to benefit the game overall. Each one applies once a year and is asked for a one-year commitment in their role. Many staff members continue to apply each year to assist the organization.

Directors

Directors are a small portion of the staff who volunteer for two-year commitments rather than a single year at a time.They tend to be more tenured members of the community and take on a little more responsibility than normal staff.

Requirements

• Must have attended three (3) day events and one (1) weekend event to be eligible. (Exceptions may apply at discretion of the GMs)
• Serve one (1) season at a time
• Cannot be involved in the leadership of a competing LARP
• Follow all other requirements of players.

Applications open in our off season will be reviewed in January.

Expectations

Each Staff Member has a specific role that they accept. For additional information on role expectations, please reach out to one of the current Directors.

Benefits

Staff are awarded with Additional CSP, have access to discounts available to the organization, and invited to Staff only events when they are available.

Players

A player is anyone who participates in our game. We strive to have a diverse, inclusive, and supportive player base. Each one brings a spark of creativity to our game that makes it incredibly unique.

Expectations

Each player is expected to:

• Locate and follow all rules, policies, and guidelines to the best of your abilities.
• Create a welcoming environment for all others. Don’t be a dick.
• Sign liability waivers at the beginning of each year before a player is allowed to participate in a story event.

Liability Waivers

Liability Waivers are mandatory to participate in any Meadowmere LARP Event. Players should ensure that they have been signed and returned to the organization by the first event of the season. Otherwise they will not be able to participate until this has been completed. These Waivers go hand in hand with our insurance requirements and our obligations to the venues in which we use. 1

 

 

Chapter 2: Organizational Policies

The policies section of the rulebook provides information on the expectations and guidelines for behavior and conduct during the LARP event. These policies are designed to ensure that all players have a safe, enjoyable experience while participating in the game. By familiarizing themselves with the policies section of the LARP rulebook, players can ensure that they are aware of the expectations and guidelines for behavior during the event, and can help create a safe and enjoyable experience for all players.

Health and Safety

The safety policies explain the rules and guidelines for ensuring the physical safety of all players during the LARP event. This may include rules regarding weapons and props, first aid procedures, and emergency protocols. It also explains the roles and responsibilities of staff members in ensuring the safety of the event.

Assumption of Risk

It is important to understand that participating in events has risks. Event activities can involve sustained and vigorous physical activity, and some movements may place meaningful demands on your body. Players are solely responsible for knowing their own physical condition and limitations. Because risks may arise from movements or other actions of other people participating in events, it is important to take brakes and rest. Players should assess their physical and mental well being regularly.

If a player requires medication or any special handling, it is their responsibility to make sure those things are addressed. Meadowmere will do its best to offer reasonable accommodations to those that request them ahead of time.

Staff Members hold the right to cancel, limit, or postpone any event if they feel there is a serious risk of harm or illness. It is important that any player take reasonable precautions to keep themselves safe.

Hold

While attending an event, players may hear the call “Hold" When they do, it should be repeated loudly one (1) time so that others can hear it and then players are to remain in place until staff have a chance to assess the situation. Repeating it does two things: - It lets the staff know that a player is following the guidelines. - It echoes through the play area so that everyone is aware.

“Hold” is used when an individual is either hurt, injured, or at serious risk of being harmed out of game. Medical attention may be necessary and this limits the number of people from complicating the situation. A good example of when “Hold” should be called would be if players are walking through an area and one is about to step on a snake. Yelling “Hold” here could prevent a dangerous situation.

If two (2) players are in combat and one is about to back up into a tree or could possibly trip over something in their path, it is more polite to warn them “Watch out behind you.” unless the risk is imminent.

Hold should not be used for any other types of situations as we do not want to diminish the importance of its use.

Code of Conduct

• Don’t be a dick: We expect everyone to treat each other with kindness, empathy, and understanding. This means not engaging in behavior that is intentionally hurtful, harassing, or disruptive to others at any time, in or out of game.
• Respect boundaries: We expect everyone to respect personal boundaries and consent. This means not engaging in physical or verbal conduct that is unwelcome, and respecting when someone says “no” or “stop.”
• Be inclusive: We welcome all players and visitors regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, age, ability, or any other characteristic. We expect everyone to be respectful of these differences and to create an environment that is welcoming and inclusive for everyone.
• No weapons or drugs: We do not allow real world weapons or illegal drugs at our events. We also prohibit the use of other substances that impair judgment during gameplay. Certain events may allow for the consumption of alcohol, but permission must be explicitly given and the player will be Yellow Banded for the remainder of the day and cannot be utilized around minors, used indoors, or around others that do not wish to be around it.
• No Politics or Religion: It is important that in an immersive environment, we try to keep real world issues out of the game entirely. Although some plots may be similar to real events, they should never be engaged in with the intention of crossing that barrier.
• Follow the rules: We expect everyone to follow the rules and guidelines of our events, including safety rules and game rules. We also expect everyone to respect the authority of our staff members and to follow their instructions.

Permission to Touch

Under no circumstances are players to touch another player without their express permission. This can be a one time permission or a blanket permission granted to an individual, but at all times, permission is required. Permission can also be revoked at any time. Failure to follow this policy would result in expulsion from the community and game. Combat Permission Anyone who is engaging in combat is giving permission to be struck/touched with approved weapons. This still does not permit someone to touch another participant without permission. If a person has not given permission for combat, they will be wearing a colored sash or band.

For more information on sashes and bands, Special Color Codes.

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Anti-Harassment and Discrimination

At Meadowmere LARP, we are committed to creating an environment free from harassment and discrimination. We welcome all players and visitors regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, age, ability, or any other characteristic.

Harassment and discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated at our events. This includes verbal or physical conduct that creates a hostile or offensive environment, unwanted physical contact, and other forms of inappropriate behavior.

If an individual experiences or witnesses harassment or discrimination at our events, we encourage them to report it immediately to a staff member. We take all reports seriously and will investigate any allegations of harassment or discrimination. We will take appropriate action, which may include warning, removal from the event, or legal action if necessary.

We also have a zero-tolerance policy for retaliation against anyone who reports or participates in an investigation of harassment or discrimination. We will not tolerate any form of retaliation, and any reports of retaliation will be investigated and addressed accordingly.

We are committed to creating a safe and inclusive community for all players and visitors. If any individual has any concerns or suggestions for how we can improve our efforts to prevent harassment and discrimination, we encourage them to reach out to us through our website or other communication channels.

By participating in our events, players agree to comply with our harassment and discrimination policy and help us create a safe and welcoming environment for everyone.

Age Restrictions

These guidelines are put into place for the safety and security of our players and their loved ones. If players have any questions about these rules, please reach out to a Staff Member for information or clarification.

Age	Description
Under 9	A designated adult must be in arms reach of the child at all times. The Adult must be designated by a yellow or orange band. Children must be Orange Banded.
10-13	Parents or Guardian must be on site with signature approval.
14-17	Requires a parent or guardian’s signature approval to participate, but does not have to be on-site, unless the child is staying overnight at the event.
18 and older	No restrictions, they are able to sign documents on their own.

Rule of Two

The Rule of Two has a couple of different applications. The first being players are granted two events before certain rules apply to them: - Players may trade their first three starting abilities once by their third event. It is not uncommon for a player to start larping and then realize they have a different playstyle then they thought they had. Once they start their third event, their abilities are locked in. - Players have until their third event to be wearing basic garb including any application that signifies that they are anything other than human. If a player is struggling to obtain appropriate garb, they should reach out to our staff.

Finally, Players can have as many characters as they want, but they can only bring two characters at a time to any event. Any additional characters will not receive any benefits from being there.

Special Color Codes

We use brightly colored belts, sashes, cards, etc…, to indicate out-of-game conditions or information. These colors will always be fluorescent, so they stand out and do not look like garb. Belts or sashes must be always visible during game play. May request these at registration if one of these statuses apply to them. These can also be requested at any time, no questions asked.

Fluorescent Yellow - Non-Combatant

Players wearing a belt or sash of this color are in game and may be interacted with, but should never be engaged in combat. Another player may point at them and say aloud they attack the belted player, but may not physically contact them in any way, including with a weapon.

Additionally, a yellow-belted player should not be near combat. While the belt indicates your non-combat status, accidents can happen. If combat breaks out near a yellow-belted player, that player is responsible for removing themselves from the vicinity if possible.

Fluorescent Pink - Approach with Caution

Players wearing a belt or sash of this color should not be approached from behind, cornered, or chased. Please announce when approaching this player.

Fluorescent Orange - Out of Game

People wearing a belt or sash of this color are out of game completely. They could be photographers, vendors, or have other reasons for being out of game. These people are not roleplaying and should never be engaged in combat. 3

 

 

Fluorescent Blue - Ability Interactions

This color is to designate an object that can be interacted with specific abilities. Examples include cards that can only be read if that character has the ability listed on them, or unique items that require certain in-game skills to handle.

Fluorescent Green - Hidden

This color is used to designate an object or person that characters cannot see but for safety reasons needs to be visible to players. We commonly use this for traps or other things that might be in spaces that could be dangerous if stepped on.

Fluorescent Red - New Player Module

Any item utilizing the Fluorescent Red coloring is reserved for those on the new player Module. Existing players should ignore these items.

Breakables

For player safety, Ceramic or Glass is not allowed at any or our events. If either of these breaks, that could cause a risk of injury since this is considered an active sport. Players should reach out to event staff if they have any questions. 4

 

 

Chapter 3: General Game Mechanics

Game mechanics refer to the rules and systems that govern the gameplay of this LARP. These mechanics provide structure and consistency to the game and help to create a fair and balanced playing field for all participants.

Class-less System

Each character has access to abilities that may be used at any time they are appropriate. These abilities make up the majority of specialization a character has. Because Meadowmere LARP is a class-less game system, no abilities are hidden behind certain choices a character makes and gets locked into. All characters have access to the same abilities every other character has access to.

As characters grow, they gain access to more ability slots which allows them to learn new abilities. These abilities can also be upgraded making them better and stronger than base versions. Upgrades are limited and take time to get, so players should make choices on how and what to upgrade carefully.

See Chapter 4: Abilities for more information.

Civil Service System

Civil Service Points (CSP) are a way that players can be rewarded for going above and beyond. Specific tasks will grant players points that can be spent on other benefits. These tasks are specifically things that encourage interaction and help support the organization in areas that are needed.

How to Gain Points

A player can be rewarded for volunteering at events, performing certain actions on our website, and through donations at the end of the season. More options may be added over time, but these are the main options. How to Spend Points Points can be used to get in-game items like Health potions or resources, or to even modify a character's Mortality percentage, but the most common use of CSP is to spend them on upgrading abilities.

A character can upgrade their abilities through the Civil Service system by spending points. Each subsequent ability upgrade to a character increases the costs the player must pay for the next upgrade. For example, if a player upgrades Dodge on their first character, the second upgrade would cost 10 points regardless of which ability it is tied to. These upgrades are only counted per character, so if that same player wants to upgrade an ability on their second character, the count starts over.

See CSP in the Appendix or more information on how to gain or spend CSP.

Hand Signals

Meadowmere LARP currently uses seven universal hand signals. These signals can be done with either the left or the right hands.

First is the “Out of Game” signal. You place your hand or weapon on your head. This indicates that you are out of game and are either catching a breath or many times, traveling from one place to another as the player, not the character.

Multiple signals are used for different abilities:

• To target a single person with a ranged ability, that player must point at the target when they use their ability. This is known as Point and Cast (PaC).
• To target multiple people in front of the caster, they must sweep their arm in front of themselves horizontally. This is known as Line of Site (LoS).
• To target an area surrounding the Caster, they make a claw of their hand and hold it vertically above their head. Alternatively, an item can be in the hand if the hand is not empty. This is known as Area of Effect (AoE).
• To indicate a character is speaking another language, the character places their hand on the same shoulder. Characters who do not understand your alternate language, must play as though they cannot understand what you are saying.
• This hand signal is used for “Stealth”. Place your arm across the lower half of your face as if you are shrouding it. While doing so, you are considered hidden.
• The final signal is used for “Flight”. Raise one open hand into the air, and hold it there until the ability ends.

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Chapter 4: Abilities

Abilities represent all the cool and unique things a character can do. Because Meadowmere LARP is a class-less game system, no abilities are hidden behind certain choices a character makes and gets locked into. All characters have access to the same abilities every other character has access to. (Two exceptions to this is the Faction Bonus a character can receive from raising ranks in the faction of their choice, and NPC or Monster only abilities.)

As characters grow, they gain access to more ability slots which allows them to learn new abilities. These abilities can also be upgraded making them better and stronger than base versions. Upgrades are limited and take time to get, so players should make choices on how and what to upgrade carefully. Each character will have a maximum of 11 abilities. They start with three that are chosen by the player, and one that is given based on the character’s background.

Call Outs

Most abilities have a call out to let others know the player is using it. For example Rage requires a character to say the word “Rage, 10 Seconds” so that others know what the character is doing and how others can interact with them.

Upgraded abilities may require players to give additional callouts; for example if they upgraded the duration of their Rage ability to 30 seconds, nobody would know this unless the player updated their callout to “Rage, 30 Seconds”. Not all upgrades require players to call them out because it is either understood by the character’s actions or not pertinent to the other player at that moment. For example, If a character upgraded the number of uses an ability has, there is no reason to call it out when they use the ability.

A player may also decide to narrate or add flavor to a callout because they want to. This flavor does not have any impact on the game mechanically, but can really help with the immersion. An example of this would be to flavor a pierce attack with ice. The player might call out “Ice Pierce” or “Frozen Peirce”, both keeping the callout of “Pierce” in it.

There is no official way to update your callouts for upgrades, as long as the other player can understand the information that is being portrayed then it works.

Re-flavoring Abilities

Every ability is designed to be able to be flavored by the player. For example, if a character has an affinity for fire, they may have the ability Magic Blast and use a fire looking physical representation to demonstrate it. This same character might have the ability Barrier and use a red rope to show that their barrier is covered in flames. We encourage creativity by re-flavoring the abilities if it does not change how the ability works. In instances of the Barrier of fire, it does not have any additional effects like dealing damage.

Ability Aspects

Each ability has multiple aspects. They are:

• Description
• Resistance
• Duration
• Range
• Cast Times
• Number of Uses

Description

Each ability has a description of how it works. Each one is designed to be distinctly different from any other ability. Common terms used in descriptions are “Caster”, “Target”, and “for the duration”.

Caster refers to the person who is using the ability. It may sound like it is magic, but it is not necessarily.

Target refers to anyone that this ability would affect. Sometimes that may include the caster, but most times it will not.

“For the duration” simply means however long the ability’s duration is set for. This allows for the ability to be upgraded and not have to change the description.

Some abilities have a roleplay response, characters can interpret the roleplay based on the description, but they have to follow the description of the ability.

Cast times

Some abilities have a cast time that has to be included when the ability is used. Depending on the ability, find a way to roleplay an action that leads up to it. This is where a player has the most opportunity to show flavor for an ability.

The range of Casting Times can be from Instant cast to 1 minute.

1 minute > 30 Seconds > 15 Seconds > 10 Seconds > 5 Seconds > Instant

Duration

Depending on the Ability each will have a duration. This describes how long the effects of each ability last. Those effects can be anywhere from Instant to lasting All Day.

Instant > 10 Seconds > 30 Seconds > 1 Minute > 1 Hour > All Day

Number of Uses

Every ability has a set number of uses at the start. They range from 1 – 5. Abilities that start at 5 uses are designed to be used more often, whereas some of the 6

 

 

more substantial abilities will start with 1 use. Through the Civil Service System, characters can increase the number of uses of any ability up to a maximum of 5. So if it starts at 5, It cannot be increased.

Range

Each type of ability has a limit on who or how many characters can be affected by it.

Self

This type affects caster only, so players can use it at any time.

Touch

Touch requires the caster to be within reach of the target. They may either call out that they are targeting them or use a combat safe prop. Reminder, physical touch without a prop requires consent.

Spell Ball

To cast, throw an approved weapon after calling out the ability. The ability must strike a player to affect them. If the spell ball misses and does not contact anyone, the ability is still used, but has no effect.

Point and Cast

All that is needed for Point and Cast is to point your finger at a target within 30 feet and speak the spell. (Example: Maim Limb has the caster pointing at another character and causing their limb to stop functioning effectively.)

Line of Sight

This targeting range reaches 10 feet in front of the caster in an arc facing in front of them. It's represented by moving your outstretched arm across your body in a sweeping motion. Characters can't dodge this type of attack, but they can use Blink or Resistance to escape it..

Area of Effect

Anyone, friend or foe in a 10-foot radius feels the effects of this type of ability. The caster gets to choose if they are affected by the Area of Effect (AOE) ability. Characters can't dodge this type of attack, but they can use Blink or Resistance to escape it. The caster gets to choose if they are included or not.

By My Voice

Any player that can hear the caster is affected by this ability. It does not target through sound, this is simply a measurement of range. It cannot be countered by dodge or blink, but a player can use a resistance to prevent themselves from experiencing the effects. (This ability type is mostly reserved for powerful NPCs.) This range ignores structures.

Untargetable

Some abilities make a character untargetable and immune to anything that targets only one individual. This means Line of Sight and area of effect abilities still hit. In game structures however block abilities but environments (trees, bushes, etc…) do not

Upgrading and Downgrading

A player can upgrade their abilities through a system called the Civic Service System (CSS). In it, players receive Civil Service Points (CSP) that allow a player to alter almost any aspect of an ability within reason. Each upgrade has to be approved by the staff..

In a situation where a player wants to downgrade part of the ability, for example the Range of an ability, they may cast it downgraded only as low as the original ability was.

For example: If a character uses the ability Deafen and wants to change it to a point and cast, they cannot because its default range is AoE. It cannot be lowered to any other range below AoE because that is its default. If a character has an ability that has been upgraded, but they want to use it at a lower range, that is fine. For example, if a character upgraded Suggestion to be a Line of Sight ability, but have a scenario where they want to use it as a touch ability, then they can without any other action.

See the Civil Service System for more information on ability upgrades.

Ability Slots

A character can have a maximum of 11 ability slots. These ability slots are comprised of:

• 1 Background or Cultural ability slot.
• 3 Starting ability slots.
• 7 Unlockable ability slots. As a character attends events, they unlock more slots. They get one slot after each event that the character attends.

Learning New Abilities

New characters start with three (3) abilities of their choice and a background/cultural ability based on their character's background. As they attend events and unlock new ability slots, they will want to add abilities to those slots.

To learn an ability, a character must first have an open ability slot on their character sheet. Once they do, they then can complete their training or accept a Gift Ability.

There are two ways to learn an ability:

• In-Game Training
• Staff Gift Ability

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In-Game Training

Characters spend time roleplaying "training" new abilities. This time can be spread out over a single game day. Each ability takes a certain number of hours to learn it, thus adding it to their character sheet. The number of hours is tied to the number of uses a base ability has.

• 5 uses = 2 Hours to learn.
• 4 uses = 4 Hours to learn.
• 3 uses = 6 Hours to learn.
• 2 uses = 8 Hours to learn.
• 1 use = 10 Hours to learn.
• Crafting abilities are considered to be 5 use abilities for the sake of training.

Players report abilities trained after each event during checkout, and the time will be marked on their character sheet. No more than one (1) hour per day will be counted on a single ability, so by design, bigger and more powerful abilities take several events to train. Once the character has completed the training, they can use the ability immediately.

Each ability a character trains requires an hour of time devoted to training per game day for it to count. So for example, if a player had three (3) open ability slots, and wanted to train 3 different abilities, they would need to spend one (1) hour each ability if they want to work on getting each one.

It is important to note that even if a player completes the training of an ability but does not have an open ability slot, they can not learn it until they have the capacity to.

Help

While training, if a character that knows the ability helps the learner roleplay for that hour, then the learner's hour of training counts for two (2) hours instead. With this method, a character can cut total training time in half.

Other Bonuses

There may be other crafted items in the game that can boost the number of hours a character will receive while training. They may be static spaces for the character to train in, or one time use items that will give a one-time bonus.

See the Artisan for more information on crafted items, structures, and buildings.

Staff Gift

After certain events, the staff may give out specific abilities as gifts that were featured at the event. If a character has an open ability slot, they may take one of those abilities without training it.

Removing Abilities

Abilities may only be removed from a character sheet by spending Civil Services Points..

See Appendix III: Charts and Tables for more information.

Unique Types of Abilities

Crafting Abilities

Each crafting ability requires resources in order to create a product or effect. These abilities do not have a limited number of uses, and can be used as many times as the character has resources and time to spend on it.

Lore

Some abilities act as knowledge skills and are known as Lore abilities. Each Lore ability can be used in three different ways:

• Knowledge - The character may submit a question in writing to the GM, and they will get back with them as soon as they are able. This may be between games depending on the details needed to answer the question. The Answer will be tailored to the lore that the character uses.
• Access - The character may read and interact with Blue Fluorescent cards that list that Lore ability on the outside.
• Skill - The character can use the Lore ability based on its description.

Resistance

Some abilities are used as a resistance to other abilities, for example; The Resistance: Physical ability would allow a character to negate the effects of one physical ability that affected them.

Creating New Abilities

Each season, the team reviews and balances the ability list. Sometimes this means that new abilities are added. These are the guidelines the Rulebook Committee use:

• It cannot do more than 1 damage per use to a single target..
• It cannot remove a player’s agency.
• It cannot be so powerful that other abilities are ignored in favor of the new ability.
• It cannot have more than one effect.
• Is there another ability that does something similar?
• Can this be achieved by one or more abilities that already exists in the game being upgraded?

Keep in mind that the staff attempt to keep flavor generic when creating a new ability and try to consider the core effect only. See Re-flavoring Abilities for more information.

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Chapter 5: Combat

In LARP, combat systems are designed to simulate the thrill and danger of combat in a safe and controlled environment. Meadowmere LARP uses a medium touch system with foam latex boffer weapons, which are soft and lightweight but still provide a satisfying tactile experience for the players. We do accept cloth covered weapons, but prefer more immersive experiences.

Health and Hit Points

Meadowmere LARP uses a synergy of a limb system and a minimal hit point system to designate character health. Each character has three total hit points. A hit to an arm or a leg counts as a single point of damage, whereas an unarmored torso hit counts for two points of damage. The tops of the shoulders and buttocks are considered part of your torso. Hands and feet are considered part of the arm and leg respectively and count as legal shots.

If a player’s limb is hit, it is no longer able to be used effectively. In the case of arms, that player would need to drop what they are holding. When it comes to legs, they should not go down on one knee or drag the foot behind them, instead they should favor the leg as if it is painful to use. This can be a safety issue and if a player were to take the wrong step, they could actually be injured.

To be considered defeated, a character must lose all of their health. Some examples are as follows:

• Three damage to different limbs.
• A torso wound, and any limb wound
• Two torso wounds

Illegal hits include the head, neck and groin. Do not aim for these locations, and if a player is struck in these locations, they do not have to take the hit as a wound.

Bleed Out and Defeated

Once a player's health reaches zero, they are considered to be in Bleed Out. Bleed Out lasts for 60 seconds. During this time, the player can still be healed but is unable to move or take actions themselves.

After 60 seconds have passed, they are considered defeated and out of the game for five (5) minutes. During this time, they must find a staff member who is not heavily involved in a scene to roll a 10-sided die. This roll will represent which ability they lose for the day. After midnight, the character regains their use of the ability. If they are also part of the Mortality System, then they must also roll to see if they get back up from this fight.

Once the five minutes are over, they may return to the game as normal. Hit Points are restored, but damage to equipment or armor is not.

Coup-De-Grace

The Coup de grace is a special attack that any player may use on someone who is in Bleed Out. It will end the character's Bleed Out timer and they will be considered Defeated. The way this works is when a character wants to use this attack, they raise their weapon above their head and shout out "Coup", "De", "Grace", and then strike the other character in Bleed Out. The total time for the callout should be approximately five seconds. If the attacker is struck by a weapon or an ability, the special attack is disrupted and the attacker will need to start over.

Character Death

Because Meadowmere LARP is predominantly a Roleplay game, no player is forced to lose their character unless they agree beforehand. There are two common ways to permanently remove a character from the game.

• Character Retirement
• Mortality System

Character Retirement

At any time, a player may choose to retire a character they no longer wish to play, but in doing so, that character will not be allowed to return to the game. If a player decides to do this, the staff may work with that player to try to ensure they see a sendoff that fits the impact they have had on the game overall. This is highly dependent on the timeframe and circumstances involved with the retirement.

Mortality System

Players are not required to join this Perma-Death mechanic. It is an optional system based on a percentile chance that defeat will be final for a character. Everyone that opts-in, starts at 0% and when defeated, that player must roll a percentile and must roll higher than their percentage or they are permanently dead.

For example, if a player’s percentage is at three (3) and they roll a three (3) or lower, their character does not get up from that fight, if they roll higher than 3 then they narrowly escape death. Each time that a character succeeds their role percentage goes up by 1%. This is a pretty low risk early on, but the more a character is defeated the more opportunities and likelihood it is that the character won’t survive. A character cannot roll zero (0).

Characters who opt into this system are automatically eligible to participate in Mortality quests. For more information on Mortality Quests, see Camping Events.

Looting

Once a character has entered Bleed Out, a player may "loot the body". Looting takes 30 seconds of roleplay, and if interrupted by an attack or ability, the character must start over. While looting, a character can take no other action, and they can only loot one body at a time. 9

 

 

Armor

Armor has several types. Each type has its own drawbacks and bonuses associated with wearing it. Metal armor is heavier but awards more points, Cloth and Leather are easier to wear, but award less points, and other types of armor may not give as much protection but look good.. Whichever armor a player chooses, they should make sure they are wearing it safely. If overheating is a possibility, then take it off. Hydration is always important. Armor should not have sharp points that could harm their users or other players' skin or equipment.

Armor Points

Wearing armor allows characters extra hits before they are defeated. This is tracked by what is called Armor Points. The points provided are global hits, and only count where the armor covers.

If a player is wearing a metal breastplate and metal shin guards, the armor points exist in any of those locations. If they are hit on the chest, they would lose one point of armor. If they are next hit on their shin, that would then be a second point of armor. If the next strike hits an arm, that damage goes straight to the character’s health and the limb becomes damaged because there was no armor here to protect it.

Armor Coverage

In order for armor to count towards a character's armor points, it has to cover at least 50% of the limb that it is on. Otherwise it can still count as coverage, but they do not get points for it.

An example of how this works would be a player who purchased a new custom vambrace made out of leather. This Vambrace covers more than 50% of the limb so it counts as the player having Natural Armor on this limb. Contained within this vambrace is a single strip of rigid metal that helps give layering and depth to the design. The metal itself does not cover more than 50% of the limb, so it does not count as having Rigid Metal armor because there is not enough of it.

Helmets

If a player wears a helmet that matches one of the armor specifications they gain an additional point of armor that goes on top of their Armor Pool. It does not matter what type of helmet it is or what it is made out of as long as it gives coverage to the head and matches requirements of that armor type.

Armor Requirements and Points

Description	Requirements	Points
Synthetic Armor (Plastic, Foam, Kydex, Any not listed)	NA	1
Natural Armors, Cloth and Leather	3mm thick minimum (~7-8 oz)	2
Non-Rigid Metal or Chain	18g minimum	3
Rigid Metal or Plate	18g minimum	4
Helmet	Match the Material	+1

Although costume armor may look fantastic, it’s important to understand that we are a medium contact game and less resilient materials may show wear and tear quicker than others. Any equipment that is brought into the game is the player’s choice to do so, and it’s important for them to acknowledge that there is a risk of damage because of accidents.

Stacking Armor

Characters may combine two types of armor to gain more protection. For example, A character could choose to wear plate armor and a gambeson (cloth). They would receive 6 points of armor globally. If they also wear some leather in addition to the gambeson and plate, their total would not change because the leather and cloth are in the same category, but more of their body would be covered which gives the character more armor coverage. If they then wear a helmet as well, they will get to add 1 more point of armor, making it 7 Points total.

Ability Armor

A character can have a maximum of 3 points of Ability armor no matter what source it is from. These sources cannot stack beyond the 3 points, but it can stack with the physical armor pool creating a maximum armor pool of 11 points of armor. To achieve the maximum points possible, a character would have to get:

• 4 points from Rigid Metal or Plate
• 3 points from Non-Rigid Metal or Chain
• 1 point from a helmet
• 3 points from Ability Armor

Equipment

Meadowmere LARP does not require special abilities to use any equipment. If a player can demonstrate that they are able to use it safely, they may use the item if it does not conflict with other rules in place.

See Policies for more information.

Items that fall under the umbrella of equipment are Foam Weapons, Bows, Arrows, Thrown Projectiles, and Shields. These are all items that are expected to be used in combat.

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Real Weapons

No real weapons are allowed on site during events. This is not limited to but includes: firearms, serrated blades, replica blades, explosives, projectile weapons, chemical weapons, electronic weapons. Some utility tools are allowed, but must be properly stored at all times as to not be available to anyone other than yourself.

Shields

Shields must not contain any metal or wood. Accessories like buckles on your straps are acceptable to be metal. All outside faces and edges must be covered with at least a quarter inch of foam.

Shield Bashing

Shield bashing is not allowed. Under no circumstance is a player allowed to strike or swing a shield with intent in combat.

In Game Foam Weapons

These weapons have a semi rigid internal core at its center. This includes but is not limited to Swords, spears, Axes, and polearms. Wood and metal are not allowed in the construction of weapons used in this LARP, and edges should be soft, smooth, and not abrasive to the touch. Depending on how wide the striking surface is (hammers, paddles, etc.), can sometimes be made with denser foam because it distributes the impact.

All weapons must go through a safety inspection before they can be used at a LARP event. Since Meadowmere is a roleplay heavy game, foam sculpted or latex covered weapons are preferred to cloth covered boffer weapons.

Equipment Approval

The preferred retailer for purchased foam weapons is Epic Armory. All weapons must be inspected before they can be used, but any weapon purchased from Epic Armory will be approved for use in game. Some things to watch out for when obtaining a foam weapon:

• Narrow blades: If the core can be felt from the striking surface, the weapon will most likely not pass inspection.
• Thin stabbing tips: A weapon that does not have sufficient padding on the thrusting tip will not be considered thrust save. The weapon may still be approved for use but cannot be used for stabbing.
• Abrasive textures on striking surfaces: rough foam or fabric covers can cause abrasions to other players.

Every weapon is required to be checked once a year by the game staff for safety reasons, but it should be checked regularly by the player who owns it. Blaster ammo is required to be checked every event.

Weapon Rules

Some weapons have additional guidelines that ensure that events remain fun and safe.

Shorter than 60 Inches

If a weapon is shorter than 60 inches, it can be used with one point of contact. That means that a hand has to be on it whenever it is being used. This includes swords, hammers, axes, and spears.

Longer than 60 Inches

Any weapon longer than 60” requires 2 points of contact with your body. For example, two hands, hand and hip, or hand and armpit.

Throwable Weapons

These weapons do not contain any kind of rigid core. These weapons may be thrown. This includes Daggers, Axes, Spell Balls, etc. Edges should be soft, smooth, and not abrasive to the touch.

Blasters

Nerf style blasters are allowed in the game. A player does not need any specific skill to use them, but the ammunition for them is a crafted item.

Modifications

External or appearance modifications are encouraged, but at no time should a player ever cover up the orange muzzle of the Nerf Blaster. This is a safety issue.

Internal modifications are less encouraged, but it is understood that they are sometimes necessary. For this reason, speed tests will be conducted on any altered blaster to ensure that projectile speeds remain under 110 feet per second (fps). All off the shelf, US, single shot blasters are under this rating as of the time of this writing.

These decisions allow for three things:

• Non-Nerf brand blasters may be used, even 3D printed ones.
• If a spring wears out, players are able to repair it rather than be forced to by a whole new blaster.
• Eye protection is not mandatory at these limitations.

Ammo

Ammo is a crafted item and therefore expendable. Any ammo fired from a blaster is considered spent, and Spent Ammo can be used as 1 Abundant Ore. This encourages players to pick up ammo that they find on the ground. Players may bring their own ammo to events, but it must be inspected before it may be used at every event. 11

 

 

Ability Use with Ammo

Players cannot use the dodge ability against a blaster attack. The only way to transfer an ability through ammo is to use crafting with it.

See Chapter 7: Crafting for more information.

Reload Time

Standard Reload for any blaster is 30 seconds. This may be altered by crafting recipes.

See Crafting for more information.

Archery

Traditional style recurve or long Bows are allowed but must fall within two requirements. - Be classified as 35 pounds or less. - Have a maximum draw of 28 inches.

Arrows

Arrows are crafted items. Any arrow that hits a target is considered spent and cannot be used again. If an arrow misses its target, characters may pick it up and use it again.

See Appendix V: Recipes List for more information.

Dealing with Projectiles

When in combat, do not block or strike at projectiles with weapons or shields. This includes arrows, thrown weapons, or spell balls. There are two primary reasons. - First is safety. If a player bats a projectile out of the air, it changes the trajectory of the object which can send it flying unsafely at another player. Projectiles could strike the other player in the face unintentionally. - Second, it can easily cause lost equipment if the projectile is deflected into rough terrain, such as tall grass, wooded areas, or even water.

Custom Built Weapons

Custom-built foam weapons are allowed if they pass a safety inspection.

See the Appendix II: Foam Construction Guidelines for more information.

Status Effects

Status effects refer to temporary conditions that affect a character's abilities, behavior, or performance in the game. These effects can be positive, negative, or neutral, and are often used to simulate real-world factors such as injury, illness, fatigue, or environmental hazards. They add a layer of complexity and strategy to the game, as players must learn to manage and mitigate these conditions while still achieving their objectives. There are three types of status effects: - Temporary Status Effects - Static Status Effects - Progressive Status Effects

Temporary Status Effects

Temporary effects affect characters for a limited period of time. They will go away on their own without acting against them.

Static Status Effects

Static effects remain on a character until a character takes an action to change them. These effects will go away at the end of an event if it is not corrected before then.

Progressive Status Effects

Progressive effects are conditions that not only stick with characters between events, but it also gets worse each event if it was not addressed. Ailments are the most common trigger of these types of status effects.

See Alchemy for more information on Ailments.

Example Status Effects

Temporary	Static	Progressive
Decoy	Ability Armor	Ailments
Entanglement	Maim Limb
Knockout	Limb Damage
Rage
Silence
Stealth

See Appendix IV: Ability List or Appendix V: Recipes List for more information.

Other Items

Garb

Because Meadowmere strives for immersive events, Garb is encouraged from day one, but players have until their third event before it is required. Garb can be simple, but don’t show up in jeans and a printed T-shirt. Garb should match the theme of the character players are making. With our system, player characters can be from any setting they choose but they have been dropped into a medieval fantasy world. Consider how long they have been here and what they would have done to survive. Is the character trying to fit in? Are they from a Cyberpunk setting with a much more futuristic feel, or is it a dark dry post-apocalyptic world? A character’s garb will hopefully reflect these choices.

Makeup and Appliances

If a character is anything other than human, they should have something that shows that difference. It might be subtle or it might be very apparent, either way a player's choices should be reflected. It might be as simple as painted on scales, a fake beard, pointy ears, etc…

See Character Creation for more information on available species.

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Footwear

LARP can be a very active game, proper footwear should be prioritized over immersion. If players can accomplish both, fantastic!

Tools

Realistic tools are never allowed on the battlefield, this includes, knives, Hammers, Pliers, Screw Drivers, Hand Saw, Wrenches, Clamps, Axes, Chisels, etc., unless they are made of foam and are determined safe for combat. These are however allowed in RP areas where a player may want to simulate a craft but even then should practice caution and never leave anything out that a child may pick up and injure themselves on. 13

 

 

Chapter 6: Economy

The in-game economy is very diverse and has many different ways it can be interacted with. Coin is the basis of the economy, but there are also resources that hold value as well. These resources can be used in different ways but are a major component to the crafting system.

See Chapter 7: Crafting from more information on how resources are used.

Coin

Most goods or services can be bought with coins. There are three different values of coin, Gold, Silver, and Copper. Each one is worth 10 of the next.

1 Gold = 10 Silver = 100 Copper

Many times, the amount of coin a character has is written in copper. For example, Character A might have 34c and Character B might have 1028c. Because the coin type goes up in increments of ten (10), Character A may have 34 copper coins or three (3) silver and four (4) copper coins.

Character B’s coins can be 1028 copper coins or they might have ten (10) gold, two (2) silver, and four (4) copper.

Resources

Resources are a series of physical representation items (PhysReps), that both have value and are used in crafting. Each one is meant to represent different types of things that can be found in the world but without the flavor tied to each. For example, A character might have a Rare Animal Resource, but the flavor of that might be a rare animal hide, or the spleen of a Chupacabra that just consumed a Kobold. Players are encouraged to add their own flair and flavor to these resources, the PhysRep is there just so the player has something to carry with them and trade.

Crafting Material Types

There are seven types of crafting materials. Five of them can be found easily and are called basic resources. Two of them are considered special materials and therefore cannot be obtained easily. The five basic material types are Animal, Chemical, Ore, Plant, and Stone. The two special materials are Magic and Tech.

Basic Resources

The five basic resources are native to this world and can be found in almost any region. In-game these can be found in containers sitting out in the open. For each minute a character spends roleplaying gathering this resource, they can take 1 out of the container. These containers only have the most abundant version of these resources, to get higher versions, characters need to find them in the world or have an ability like Lore: Resource that would help them find them.

Special Resources

The special resources are not native to this world but are becoming more prevalent, because of this, the most reliable way to get ahold of them is by using Lore: Magic or Lore: Tech.

For more information on Lore, see Unique Types of Abilities.

5 rarities

On top of the type, there are different rarities as well, Starting at Abundant, there is also Common, Scarce, Rare, and the elusive Quest Material type.

Rarity	Color	Value
Abundant	White	1 copper (c)
Common	Green	1 silver (s)
Scarce	Red	1 gold (g)
Rare	Blue	10 gold (g)
Quest	NA	NA

Abundant

Abundant are the easiest resources to get, along with the most plentiful. Because of this, all Abundant resources expire at the end of each event. Abundant materials are white or clear. The GMs will put out gathering points where characters can get one material per minute, they spend roleplaying gathering the materials.

Common

Common materials are green. These can be found throughout the game. To gather them from a gathering point a character may get one material per three minutes they spend roleplaying gathering the materials.

Scarce

Scarce materials are red. These can be found throughout the game. To gather them from a gathering point a character may get one material per ten minutes they spend roleplaying gathering the materials.

Rare

Rare materials are blue. These can be found throughout the game. To gather them from a gathering point a character may get one material per thirty minutes they spend roleplaying gathering the materials. 14

 

 

Quest

Quest materials are unique props. These will be handed out at the Game Master’s discretion. If a character has a recipe that requires a quest material, It is likely meant to be a very uncommon recipe to create and it is likely tied to the story.

Income

Characters gain money from many different sources in the game, the most common is through income. There are five major ways characters gain income:

• Basic Income
• Faction Positions
• Jobs from the Job Board
• Rewards from chests or looting.
• Player creativity.

Basic Income

Basic Income is 7 copper per event. Every character gets this as a base. Characters will only receive this if they are checked in at an event.

Position Income

Each Position in a faction comes with an increased income over the Basic Income, but comes with possible conflicts or responsibilities. For more information about Positions, see [Chapter 10: Factions](#p31).

Job Board

The Job Board holds several things including player created jobs, updates about the game world, and Faction Jobs. Faction Jobs are tasks that are posted with only a certain number of times they can be completed. Read the task, and if it has a tab on it, take one. These tabs give players the information they will need to pass along when they check out of the event. Any number of jobs can be done at an event, but each job may only be completed once per event, per character. If the job has tabs and they have all been taken, nobody else can take that job. For the jobs that do not start with tabs, any number of characters can complete them.

Each job will be sponsored by a faction, that is who is giving out the payment for that job. Anyone can complete a job for any faction, but some characters can also raise ranks in their faction for completing jobs in their faction.

See Chapter 10: Factions for additional information.

On the back side of the job board are jobs listed in Fluorescent Blue. These jobs are Syndicate Jobs. A character can only see these jobs if they have taken the oath and joined the syndicate. Otherwise, characters do not see them, nor do they know they are there.

Chests

As an encouragement for exploration, Materials, coins, and items can be hidden throughout the play area. These will be in the form of chests, so they are easily identifiable. Characters can find these chests.

If a chest is in Fluorescent Green, then it is hidden and there is a way in game to find them. If a chest is Fluorescent Blue then it cannot be interacted with without something special.

Chests can also be locked with a crafted item called a “Lock”. If there is a lock hanging off the chest, then the character cannot open it without using the abilities Disable Device or Sunder. Disable Device removes the lock whereas Sunder breaks it.

Player Creativity

Characters are fully encouraged to charge or trade for services. This could be something as simple as gathering resources for a crafter, or as complicated as hiring characters to complete a big heist. There are infinitely possible ways to gain wealth in-game. 15

 

 

Chapter 7: Crafting

Currently, Meadowmere LARP has four types of crafting abilities. They are:

• Alchemy
• Artisan
• Magitech
• Ritual

Crafting abilities are a unique type of ability that requires both a recipe and also resources in order to use. Crafting abilities are unique because they do not have any uses. Players can craft any number or recipes or rituals by simply having the ability.

Crafted Items

Crafted Items are any item that has a recipe in game. They continue to exist in players’ inventories until they are used. Players are encouraged to bring or make physical representations of the item (PhysReps). For example, small plastic bottles are great for alchemists. Labels would also help others know what is in them if the crafters wanted to sell them to other characters. Each Crafted Item has only one use. Once its ability has been used, a character would have to craft a second one to obtain the effect again.

Crafting Recipes

Each crafted Item has a recipe that tells a crafter how to make it. These recipes can be shared between players. Even though recipes are listed on the character sheet, players are expected to keep track of their own Recipes however their character would track them.

Item Cards

Recipe cards can also double as Item cards. There is a spot on the card where a box can be checked if it is an item instead of a recipe. This is important for when there are not enough phys-reps for the situation. This is common for NPC Merchants, so that they can carry all of the things that they bring into the game.

Crafting Time

Anytime a player wants to craft an item, they will need the recipe and the resources needed for that item. The length of time to craft any recipe is based on the number of resources required.

Learning Recipes

To learn a recipe for Alchemy, Artisan, or Magitech, characters must craft it. The first time they craft a recipe, it takes three (3) minutes per resource in the recipe. This is only for the first time it is created, after that, it is one (1) minute per resource to craft it.

See Resources for more information.

Rituals do not have a minimum time requirement because they involve roleplay with multiple people.

Starting Recipe

Each Crafting type has a starting recipe, they are:

Crafting Type	Recipe
Alchemy	Health Effect
Artisan	Repair Equipment
Magitech	Heal Self Effect
Ritual	Creation Ritual

To learn more about Crafting Recipes, see Appendix V: Recipes List.

Crafting Tiers

Each Crafting recipe falls under one of three tiers:

• Apprentice
• Journeyman
• Master When a character learns a crafting ability, they can only craft Apprentice level recipes. In order to craft higher recipes, they have to upgrade their crafting ability.

See CSP for more information on upgrading abilities.

These tiers also match the names of the tiers in the Crafting Guilds. Characters don’t have to be in a crafting guild to upgrade their crafting.

See Chapter 10: Factions for more information on Crafting Guilds.

Artisan

Artisans are one of the most versatile crafters in the game. At low levels they focus on repairing equipment but in higher level recipes the Artisan can create structures that can benefit the entire community.

Repair

Artisans have unique options for repairing broken equipment or armor. This is the foundation for them as a crafter. Armor is counted in points, so when repairing it the Artisan has a cost per point.

Artisans can also create an item called a Repair Kit that allows armor or structures to be repaired on the go.

See Armor for more information on Armor Points.

Traps

Traps use the Fluorescent Green color code to show they are hidden from other characters. Players should do their best to not metagame when they see one.

See Special Color Codes for more information on the

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Locks

Locks are placed on items to represent them being locked. A container or building can have any number of locks placed on it. Locks can be affected by both Disable Device and Sunder, and therefore are painted Fluorescent Blue.

See Special Color Codes for more information.

Sundering a Lock destroys it and sets off any traps placed in the container when opened, with no chance to disable them. If a trap is triggered in this way, all resources below Rare and non-artifact crafted items are destroyed. All other items can be retrieved, and the container is not damaged.

Structures

Structures are a special type of crafted item that can be used more than once. They can be used by anyone and have special destruction or movement rules. Players can use the ability Sunder to damage a station or building.

Stations

Stations require a cloth or sheet set out over a table or on the ground and a sign that states the type of station in use. Players may otherwise decorate anyway they choose. - Each station has a name that reflects its function, but players should feel free to theme them in any way. - No more than 2 people can use a station at a time. - Once built, stations are an item that is maintained by one player between games. - At the start of each game they may be placed in any approved area, including buildings. - There is a 4-person requirement to move a station after it has been placed. - Stations can be disabled by two sunders and repaired by two repair kits.

See the Appendix V: Recipes List for more information on stations.

Buildings

Buildings are designated by a 10 x 10 space marked by some sort of barrier to represent a building. This barrier can be rope, walls, chalk outline, or anything else that shows a change of space. Players may decorate anyway they choose. - Each Building has a name that reflects its function, but players should feel free to theme them in any way. - No more than 4 players can gain the benefit of a building at a time. - No more than 2 stations can be within a building at any given time. - Once built, buildings are an item that is maintained by one player between games. - At the start of each game they may be placed in any approved area. - Once placed, Buildings cannot be moved for the event. - Buildings can be disabled by three sunders and repaired by three repair kits.

See the Appendix V: Recipes List for more information on buildings.

Alchemy

Alchemy is focused on administering status effects through consumables. Those consumables can have any flavor text the crafter wishes to portray. Some examples include Apothecary, Bakers, Brewer, Potion Makers, or Perfumer.

Ailments

Ailments are status effects that affect a character's performance, abilities, or attributes in some way. If a character is not cured by the end of the event they are affected, then it gets worse at the next event.

See Ailments for more information.

Apply Alchemy

Crafted items made by alchemists can be applied to weapons with the Apply Alchemy skill. Normally they have to be consumed.

Magitech

Magitech is the art of infusing fantastical effects into mundane items. This requires a phys-rep for the effect to be attached to. Those effects then stay attached to the item until either triggered or used.

Enhancing Items

Most Magitech recipes apply abilities to already existing items, allowing the player to flavor their crafting. This flexibility gives the Artificer a lot of versatility in play styles. Examples include Arcanist, Artificer, Enchanter, Inventor, Runesmith, or Tinkerer.

Their recipes are one time effects that get added to items traps, ammo, and weapons.

For more information on crafted items see the Appendix V: Recipes List.

Artifacts

Artifacts are special crafted items with ongoing or advanced special abilities. They require three different recipes, one from each of the previous crafters. (Artisan, Alchemy, and Magitech) These items do not expire after a single use there for making them a very powerful tool in gameplay.

Artifact recipes are created as players request them. Staff will design the recipes to fit the strength of the Artifact.

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Rituals

Rituals are formalized roleplay actions that characters can perform to achieve specific magical or supernatural effects. These rituals are more complex than standard abilities and require multiple participants, specific components, and actions to complete. This makes Rituals fit more like a crafting ability than just a normal ability. Players are expected to keep track of their own Rituals however their character would track them.

Chance to Fail

When performing a ritual, the success of it is determined by pulling a stone out of a bag. If the stone is a "Success" stone, then the ritual's positive effects happen. At the end of the roleplay a single stone is pulled from the bag. If the stone drawn is a "Fail" stone, then the ritual's negative effects are triggered. If the stone drawn is a "Success" stone, then the ritual's positive effects are triggered.

Gaining Stones

Each Ritual has a difficulty level, that difficulty level is the number of "Fail" stones that get placed in the bag to start. During the roleplay of a ritual, characters will take turns sacrificing ability uses to put a stone of their choice into the bag. One ability use is equivalent to one success stone. And this is a secret, other characters do not know what stone has been added.

Story Rituals

Other than the list of rituals that have been created in game, there is a special ritual that is meant to be a powerful, game altering option. It can do anything, but requires the Game Masters involvement in its difficulty and implementation.

It could also have a “Mixed Result” because the ritual caster will draw 5 stones rather than just one. Depending on how many “Success” stones are drawn of the five will determine how successful the ritual was. This means that characters can get what they want out of the ritual and negatives along with it.

Aspects

Aspects are modifications a character can make to a ritual. Each one adds "Fail" stones to the ritual in exchange for changing something about it. Characters can add any number of Aspects to a ritual changing it each time an aspect is added.

See Ritual Aspects for more information.

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Chapter 8: Character Creation

Character Submission

In order to create a character, players must first create an account on the website. (www.Meadowmerelarp.com) From there, players will find the Character Creation option on the main menu.

Character Design

Here are a few things to consider when creating a new character:

• Character’s Name
• Species
• Culture
• Major Locations
• Language
• Background
• Background Ability
• Picking Abilities

Character Name

A character's name is their identity and how they are identified in the system. It is not uncommon for a player to be indecisive about what they want to name their character but they must have one before they can be submitted.

Species and Culture

In Meadowmere LARP, any species may be chosen but there are 5 that are way more prevalent to the world of Astrel. A species is purely flavor in how a character wants to be perceived. There are 5 native species to Astrel, and each has a suggested alteration.

Species	Application
Human	NA
Elf	Pointed Ears
Dwarf	Beard
Orc	Tusks
Beastfolk	Fur/Ears/scales/etc… (Depends on the Animal)

Beyond these recommendations players are free to build them as they see fit. Combine them with different cultures and a player has a good base for a character!

Culture

A character’s culture is more impactful in this game. Cultures are representations of large groups of people including their customs, histories, holidays, and values. Many cultures have already been identified in the game's lore to help give players shared experiences to build off of, but at the same time, players can create their own origins beyond what has already been established. Alternatively if a player does not like any of the cultures that are present inside Astrel, the player can create a character that has fallen through a portal into our world.

Portalfolk

It is important to know that if a player creates a character from a world that was not created by Meadowmere LARP that there is a strong chance that their backstory and history outside of Astrel will not be interacted with.

See Chapter 11: Story Lines and Quests and Quests for more information on player submitted stories.

Major Locations

There are several locations that have been established based on localized cultures. Those locations are: - The Capital of the Halcyon Sovereignty - Duchy Illychnyaev - Duchy Jernigan - Duchy Stenstrom - Duchy Velazquez - Ancuram - The Baahir Republic - The Vertigron - The Plane of Imperium - The Plane of Feywild See [Chapter 9: Cultures](#p27) for more information on the differences of each.

Language

Every character starts with the language "Common" and they also can get an additional language based on their origin’s location.

Origin	Language
The Capital	Common
Duchy Illychnyaev	Common
Duchy Jernigan	Common
Duchy Stenstrom	Common
Duchy Velazques	Common
Ancuram	Fey
The Feywild	Fey
The Baahir Republic	Imperial
Imperium	Imperial
The Vertigron	Planar
Other Planes	Planar

Background

The background is the personalized experiences that belong to the character. What events have led them to this position in their life? This not only gives the player something to go off of, but it also prompts that can be submitted to the staff for personal quests.

See Personal Quest Submissions and Quests for more information on player submitted stories.

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Background Ability

Based on a character’s background, a Character Creation Manager will give that character a background ability. It is alright to request a specific ability, but it must support the story that is written in the characters backstory.

Picking Abilities

New players select three abilities at character creation. They can be any ability on the list except those that state otherwise. Over time, players will unlock more ability slots on their character sheet to a total of ten (10) ability slots and the Background Ability.

See Abilities for more information.

Character Sheet

Players recieve an updated character cheet at each event they attend. This sheet will tell them how many of each item they have and list out other useful things like player abilities and details about them.

Leveling Up

Characters won't level up in a traditional sense, but instead they gain Civil Service Points (CSP) from the Civil Service System (CSS). This is a way of giving rewards to players for engaging in different aspects of our community. It is similar to an experience system in some games but has one major difference: The Civil Service System can gain points for doing things outside the game that helps build the community as well.

For more information on how to gain or spend Civil Service Points (CSP), see Civil Service Points.

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Chapter 9: Cultures

In this chapter we will give a brief overview of each of the major cultures in Astrel. Contained in this chapter is general knowledge about each culture. A player should decide for themselves, how much of this information they know about each culture. It makes sense for a character to know more about culture that they are from or have visited, and less about cultures that they have not experienced.

The Capital of the Halcyon Sovereignty

The capital is also known as the Forever City, as in they are forever awake. There is always something to do whether it be a tavern with live performance or a theater with new and witty works to entertain the masses. Since the capital is also home to a large portion of the military, the capital is home to some of the brightest, most strategic minds in the Empire. In general, the houses with the most wealth tend to be seen as winning the great game that is life. Manners and respect are important and the populace shows respect to others no matter how much discontent there may be.

Rules are held very highly in the capital, and those that break the law are heavily criticized. Catching someone breaking the law is the most shameful act they can have on themselves or their family. It is not to say that these things don’t happen, they are just extremely rare and acts of desperation.

Competition is one the the most sought after things in the Capital and the rules of any chosen competition are seen as law for the duration and the same social stigmas come with breaking the rules as they would with breaking the law. Dueling is a very common activity here, but humiliation is enough of a reward, plus dueling to the death is illegal and no one wants to break a law. Challenges are usually public and commonly happen between noble houses. Image is everything in this culture.

The Capital is the seat of power for the Halcyon Sovereignty which is a shortened version of “The Reign of the Right and True Halcyon Sovereignty of the Denizens of Astrel” but most refer to it as the Halcyon Sovereignty.

The Capital and its Duchies typically worship The Saints. The Saints are former Human Royals that have Ascended from the throne. Once someone of the Royal Family Ascends they leave this plane and are worshiped for good favor over things that they accomplished.

Duchy Illychnyaev

They are inquisitive and rarely stay in one place for long. Many of the Denizens of this area live in settlements carved out of the woods themselves. If players were not from here or knew what they were looking for they might walk right by them.

While there are some notable settlements that are permanent many choose to travel, living with groups and caravans that move between settlements. These caravans are nomadic in nature, will settle one place for a few months then move on to a new place. Sometimes they are as small as 2-3 families or as large as 25 -30. The sizes of these groups change drastically as some families will choose to stay in one place while the others move on to the next place. Sometimes these caravans will bring with them entertainment and experiences to share with the more permanent residents. Some are crafters, some are hunters, they each have their own focus.

This duchy is in the Northeast corner of the Halcyon Sovereignty. This Duchy borders Baahir, making it a prime area for trading with the Baahir people. Most of the Halcyon Sovereignty‘s Wood and Furs come from this area due to a rich forest that covers a large area of the Region.

Duchy Jernigan

This land is carried by Honor, integrity, on the search for glory and achievement. This is considered to be one of the more comfortable duchies in the empire, but don’t think that those that live here are not hard working. They pride themselves on being able to complete a hard day's work.

Most of this duchy is composed of laborers, farmers, and tradesmen. The Land is worked and prosperity is tilled through the soft dirt with every harvest. Here nature is tamed and Life is generally considered to be simple, making this a common place for former glory seekers to retire. The people here tend to be proud of their accomplishments and never forget a grudge. Family feuds have been going back generations to the point where no one knows when it started or why they are even fighting in the first place. They are very traditional and because of their sustainability, they supply a majority of the crops to the other duchies. Most towns are surrounding a market at the center that is usually filled with food, skilled crafters and traveling tradesmen.

This duchy is in the easternmost Duchy. This Duchy borders all of the other duchies in the Halcyon Sovereignty. This region supplies most of the nation’s crops and livestock making them essential to the economy of Astrel.

Duchy Stenstrom

A place of Dark Tales and even Darker Creatures, The Lands themselves are twisted and corrupted. The landscape has a dark shadow that hangs over it and the creatures here have grown vicious and territorial. If characters keep to the roads and towns they can usually stay safe. Few venture the wilderness at night.

Holding access to one of the most used trade routes in Astrel, this Duchy sees a lot of traffic moving between the Baahir and Ancuram Nations. The Whispering Wilds make up the majority of this duchy. It is a Badlands of sorts and is not as hospitable as many other areas in the nation. Traveling by land is the cheapest option for traders, so when they must pass through the badlands, many precautions are taken for those caravans.

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Beastfolk are very prominent in this Duchy, due to their strong adaptability to their environment. The Elderly are also highly admired here due to their wisdom and the sheer fact that they have lived so long in such harsh environments. These people hold a natural suspicion of outsiders and never assume that everything is as it appears.

Outsiders are viewed with suspicion because everyone else is soft. It is assumed that they can’t handle the tough environment until they prove themselves.

Duchy Velazquez

Traders, Lovers, and Artists. They are upfront negotiators and never afraid to speak their mind and like deals to be fair upfront. Their humor is without spite and never at anyone else’s expense. Like most of the Halcyon Sovereignty, success is measured in wealth and influence, but unlike the other areas, arrogance can make your coin worthless. Respect is earned and cannot be bought or won. They are upfront and honest.

They live in extended family groups and hold their families to the same high standards for honesty as they do their trade partners. Negotiations and contracts are extremely important to these people and held in the highest regard. Combat is not frowned upon but the people here prefer to make deals to make everyone happy.

Art is one of the most valuable commodities in this region, commonly using the gems and stones obtained from the mines in their creations. Musically they use a lot of String and Percussion Instruments.

Duchy Velazquez in the southwest corner of Astrel Most of the stone, ore, and precious metals that come from the Halcyon Sovereignty comes from this Duchy. It is the largest mining area they have, only overshadowed by the nation of Baahir..

Ancuram

Ancúram community is based around one main family unit, but it is not uncommon for multiple families to be close and join to make a larger community. No one individual leads the group, everyone takes responsibility doing things that need to be done. There is no formal structure to the family groups, and each one is independent.

It’s not uncommon for there to be 5-6 generations all living in the same area. Most communities center around a longhouse that is used as the community center. The elders of the community are looked upon as advisors and respected for their experience. The Ancúram make decisions independently without any form of leadership.

Much like the Dwarves, Ancúram are gender neutral however lean towards feminine rather than masculine. Most Ancúram choose to not grow beards.

An intrinsic aspect of the Ancúram culture is the stories they tell known as Hero Stories. There are four major stories that they tell, one coinciding with each of their seasons, but there are hundreds more that they use to teach lessons and fill each other with joy and inspiration.

Stories mean much to the Ancúram and they judge outsiders based on the stories that they tell. It’s rare for an outsider to be welcomed into a community, and even rarer if the individual doesn’t have a good story to tell.

There are two locations where much larger groups of Ancúram reside. These are the two great Ancúram cities; Irhdell and Sheelin. These cities are composed of many communities all working together. Without a leader or a council, the Ancúram take their small community model and expand it to ensure that all residents and travelers are taken care of during their stay within the city. The buildings show ornate, elongated form based on the natural sinuous curves of plants, flowers and trees; They are very Art Nouveau in style.

The Baahir Republic

The people of Baahir are the Idea of efficiency. Process and form, everything is planned out and accounted for. The Baahir take great pride in what they create and the role they play. Their society is very structured, and the Obligations that they are born into is where they will be the entirety of their life. Tradition is literally their way of life.

One of the most important aspects of the Baahir culture is the way in which they treat their guests, and also the way the guest treats their host as well. The relationship between a guest and a host is where the host will receive the guest with goodwill, including the reception and entertainment no matter if the visitor is familiar or a stranger. They are friendly to outsiders as long as the outsider doesn’t break this social contract .

The Baahir tend to be gender neutral leaning toward Male in Appearance. Because most Baahir are Dwarves and all Dwarves have beards, it is something that many Baahir take pride in.

Baahir worships the idea of things, not people or individuals. To worship a person would be to put flaws in the idea. These Ideas are known as Aspects. Each Aspect is divided into individual Obligations. These obligations are specific types of professions that are all linked. For example, All of the different types of Carpenter positions would all fall under the Carpentry Obligation. Each individual is given two obligations based on heritage, and it is unheard off that someone would change any time after it had been assigned.

The Stonefather and The Firemother are the creator gods, not worshiped, viewed more like Cronus and Gaia, they gave birth to the Aspects, who define the separate Obligations. Aspects are most typically prayed to for those that are religious. Those Aspects are: The Artisan, The Farseer, Foodbearer, The Lawkeeper, The Peacemaker, and The Labourer. Depending on which Obligation a Dwarf belongs to determines which Aspect they look up to.

The Baahir Capital Nassaar, is a huge city built onto the side of Mount Dajani in the Baahir Mountain Range. Filled with majestic archways with Art Deco design. The Buildings have a sleek, linear appearance with geometric stylized ornamentation. The entrances of buildings, around windows, and around roof edges, all usually contain low relief decorative panels that tell the stories of their history. It is common for the walls or floors to be covered in a glazed brick or mosaic tile. From the outside characters can

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see that the Baahir have carved into the mountain to expand their City, but it’s unknown just how deep it goes.

The Vertigron

Vertigron is a culture that resides in a series of Islands that includes woodlands, savannas, freshwater lakes and streams, salt marshes, mangrove, volcanic areas, offshore coral reefs, and deep sea trenches. Founded by Orcs, Vertegron has become a haven for ambition. Calling themselves Void Callers, any species or culture can be found here. Good luck finding it because the only people that know where it's located in the Expanse are those that have been there. Even then it takes a skilled navigator to guide travelers safely. Many have been lost to the walls of storms on the edges of the known world.The Vertigron are the most experienced sailors and highly sought after for their sailing experience.

This culture is highly aggressive in nature, not necessarily in combat, but in desire. People of this culture know what they want and they will go to almost any means to get it. Void Callers have traditionally learned traits to sell themselves. They are good at weaving entertaining tales about their background and accomplishments so that their audience wants to hear more. This makes Void Callers usually talented orators and storytellers. These stories tend to be about themselves and their accomplishments.

Void Callers tend to covet devices that allow them to do amazing things. They search the known worlds looking for things that have fallen out of portals, especially if it is magical or of higher technology than what is currently available in the world.

Void Callers not only own their achievements but also the lessons they had to learn the hard way. This ownership of opportunities has created a habit of adding tattoos to their physical scars that are on their bodies. They celebrate the lessons they have learned and own those experiences. A Void Caller with a lot of scars is not a bad thing as long as they have the accomplishments to over power them. These scars are always genuinely earned and never self inflicted. If the organization that the Void Caller worked for found out that they had falsely tried to fabricate these, they could lose ranks, funding or even be released from the organization entirely.

Vertigron is divided up into many different companies, each one with its own goals.

Other Planes

The planes cannot be reached easily as one must travel through a portal to travel to or from there. If a character has not been to one of these planes, then it makes sense that they would not know anything about them.

The Plane of Imperium

The Plane of Imperium is an ever-changing landscape, intense and unforgiving climates with extremely harsh conditions. Considered to be a source of great power.

Securely nested within this plane is the organization known as the Imperium. The Imperium is home to Demon Lords and Celestials who each rule over a domain. These domains range from The Department of Corrections to the Department of Waste Management. Most of the time the Celestials and Princes hold these positions, but occasionally an Archdevil or Jinn will find its way into power.

This may sound like they really have their stuff together, but it’s almost impossible to get anything done. Everything is behind so much bureaucracy and red tape that it takes years if not centuries to get anything done. Every Imperium Citizen has a story about standing in line for hours just to find out they have the wrong form. They need form IMP-657b but they have IMP-657c. To get the form they need to go down the hall and talk to Sandy, a pleasant stone golem who informs them that they no longer use form IMP-657c and that they actually need form WISH-464. All of this was just so they could use the restroom.

The Imperium is home to species like:Celestials, Demons, Devils, Gnolls, Dwarves, Tieflings, and Raksha(Cafolk).

This place is also a common source for more spiritual creatures and beasts: Couatl, Griffins, Hellhounds, Imps, Kirin, Lamasu, and Sphynx.

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The Plane of Feywild

The Feywild or Faerie holds home to many fantastical creatures along with the kingdom of the fairies. The settled areas are very warm and inviting, almost enchanting even, but the further characters get away from these areas the more twisted and dangerous the nature of this world gets.

The cities in Faerie come in two styles. The Summer Court is almost like exaggerations of plants and trees. Long structures with incredible detail. Many of the windows are mosaics with colored glass in a very asymmetric way. The sinuous curves almost give way to almost a whiplash of dynamic movement. These structures would fit very well in the Art Nouveau style.

The cities of the Winter court’s architecture are identified by elongated towers and very symmetrical designs. On the interior, there are long elegant staircases and windows, the homes are adorned with multiple balconies and a fireplace in every room.

Faerie is controlled by two courts of Fae, the Summer Court and the Winter Court. The Summer court is the original royalty headed by the Queen and two Ladies as her royal council. Its less of a ruling body and more of a social structure that is always shifting, these Fae are more bright and colorful, can be seen as peppy, seductive, emotional, flamboyant, and even hot headed. These Fae are far more likely to lure characters in with promises and enticing offers, but these deals come at a cost usually greater than the character realizes. These Fae are very capable of cruelty but will be very secretive about it.

The story goes that the Winter Court was a group of Fae that participated in an uprising breaking off from the Summer Court. Establishing their own monarchy, the Winter Court allows their leader to sit on the throne for only 1000 years. Their time can be extended if the court agrees to have it continue. These Fae tend to be more sensible, chilled, dark, mystique, eerie or ravishing even. These Fae are more likely to be upfront and honest about their cruelty which makes them appear more evil than their counterparts, but it is assured, both are incredibly dangerous..

The Fae courts are the paramount social structure for the Fae society with strong political alliances to extend their reach across the cosmos. Their members reside in nearly every plane that exists.

There are some Fae that swear no allegiance to any court, these Fae are normally respected for their abilities, but are looked down on for not participating in the social/political game that the courts play.

Either physically, emotionally, or mentally, the Fae enjoy their games that they get to play on mortals, making them one of the more manipulative cultures that exists.

Species that are found here include: Faeries, Dryads, Satyrs, Elves, Pixies, Sirens, and Centaurs. In the darker, more frightening parts of this plane, other races can be found like: Hags, Goblins, and Trolls.

This plane is also a common source for magical creatures and beasts such as: Darklings, Quicklings, Redcaps, Sprites, and Unicorns are found here.

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Chapter 10: Factions

Factions are groups or organizations that exist within the game world and have their own unique goals, beliefs, and values. Factions help create dynamic and engaging gameplay, as they provide players with a sense of identity and community, often driving the plot and conflict of the game. Some factions may be hostile to each other, while others may work together towards a common goal. Players may choose to join a faction, or they may remain independent. Either way their choice must be made in game and not during character creation.

Factions have their own unique aspects that encourage roleplay in unique ways. Factions are an important part of a game’s lore and world-building, providing players with a sense of the larger world beyond their immediate experiences. They also have their own hierarchy and leadership structure, with different ranks and titles that are known as Positions.

List of Factions

There are 5 Major Factions:

• The Town Guard
• The Order of the Halcyon Sovereignty
• The Syndicate
• The Merchants Association
• The Crafting Guilds

There are also 5 Alternative Factions:

• The Beastfolk Schools
• The Ancuram
• The Baahir Republic
• The Vertigron
• Player Created Factions

Positions / Ranks

A position within a faction refers to a specific role or job that a member of the faction can hold. Most Factions have a variety of different positions available, each with their own responsibilities and privileges. A player may only hold one position at a time but may be associated with as many factions as they would like. They will only gain in-game bonuses from their Faction/Position combo, the rest may have story impacts, but not mechanical impacts..

Each Faction has a different structure, and a way for players to increase their position within the faction. Each one engages with different aspects of the game, allowing for diverse play styles. Inside the faction, a play will sometimes have choices they can make to determine how they progress within the organization. The decisions will sometimes affect what they have access to, but the biggest difference is the Skill that they unlock at the end of their progression.

Joining a Faction

In order to Join any faction, including player created factions, the character MUST take an oath using the creed of that faction. This is a magically binding contract that says you will uphold the beliefs of the organization. The person who administers this oath can only be a high level NPC in the faction or a character who has reached the top rank of that faction. This person is the Faction Sponsor for the character.

It’s important that characters that sponsor other characters take this role seriously because if the new recruit breaks the tenants of the Faction, it can come back on the Sponsor. In other words, Sponsoring a character should be a big deal.

Climbing the Ranks

Each faction has multiple ranks, allowing characters to grow in their chosen industry. To promote different playstyles each faction asks for different types of activities to progress through their ranks. Some of those tasks include: - Complete Faction Jobs - Selling Stock of Items - Writing Reports - Merit Points - Spending Coin - Story Achievements

Complete Faction Jobs

Each faction will have available jobs on the job board but only two of the factions promote based on those jobs. Those Factions are the Crafting Guilds and the Syndicate. Characters who are in these guilds not only get paid from doing the job, they also increase in rank once they have completed enough.

Selling Stock of Items

The Merchant Faction members get semi random items provided to them each event and are encouraged to sell those items. Each item, or bundle of Items that the merchant gets has a cost associated with it. They either have to pay that cost or return the item at the end of each event. Any excess coin they make beyond the cost of the items the merchant gets to keep. At the end of each event the total cost of the items sold from the Merchant Association is added to a running total from each event previously. At certain milestones the Character gains notoriety and ranks up.

Writing Reports

The Order of the Halcyon Sovereignty is very much about documentation and research. Even the clergy and legal enforcers write reports over their experiences. After each event, Order representatives are expected to write reports about what happened at that event. After 3 25

 

 

reports have been filed, the character is eligible to move up.

Merit Points

Once per month, characters in the Town Guard may request a Performance Review. During said review, that character displays their armor, weapons, and Tokens (Wooden rewards for participating in specific events, usually Camp events.) they have received. Players get 1 Merit point for each Armor Point, Weapon, and Token they are able to produce. If their Merit Points are higher than their current rank, they move up one (1) rank. A character may have enough points to reach a higher rank but they cannot climb more than one rank at a time.

Spending Coin

For most other Factions, characters will donate coin in the name of their Faction. This coin gets added to the stock that the staff keep. Once a character has donated enough, they may be able to move up in their Faction. However, some Factions may have other requirements.

Story Achievements

Once a player has moved up as far as they can in a Faction, they receive a skill bonus, something that only players in that position can do. This adds an accomplishment to the end of their journey and also a bit of customization. For example, someone who becomes a Master Crafter in a guild will have one bonus, while a Famous Merchant will have something else.

The Town Guard (Major Faction)

The Town Guard is the local law enforcement, they represent stability in the community and are some of the first ones to defend them. This Faction holds two beliefs: - The whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. - Structure is important.

Allong with these beliefs, they hold a Creed that is used in most if not all rituals for this faction:

• “Together, we can bring peace to the world.”

And finally their beliefs are most contradicting to the beliefs of these other two factions.

• The Merchant Association
• The Syndicate

If a player reaches the top positions in the Town Guard, they choose one of the following benefits:

• Funds: May choose to spend funds from the Community Chest to benefit the Community.
• Battle Damage: May repair your armor as if a Repair Kit was used, once per day.

To move up in the Town Guard, a character must obtain Merit Points. Each position requires a certain number of Merit Points and the final positions are gained through role play achievement.

The Order (Major Faction)

The Order represents knowledge and ones achademic potential, they represent stability in the community and are a character's first stop in the pursuit of knowledge through leagal means. This Faction holds two beliefs: - Structure is important. - One is not defined by one's origns or contrained to the role society has set.

Allong with these beliefs, they hold a Creed that is used in most if not all rituals for this faction:

• “Through knowledge, we can overcome any challenge.”

And finally their beliefs are most contradicting to the beliefs of these other two factions.

• The Crafting Guilds
• The Merchant Association

If a player reaches the top position in the Order, they get a benefit based on the department they chose:

• Knowledgeable (Headmaster): Does not need to know an ability to give the teaching bonus.
• Vanguard(Magus): May expend 2 uses of any ability to cast any non-upgraded player ability, once per day.
• Adapt (Cleric): May add up to 5 stones of your choice into a ritual you are participating in, once per event.
• Heighten (Justicar): May use an ability as if it were an AoE, once per day.

To move up in the Order, a character must write reports after events. After a certain number of reports, the character can progress to the next position. The final position is gained through a roleplay achievement.

The Syndicate (Major Faction)

The syndicate represents knowledge at any cost and personal gain, they are the deviance in the community and are a wealth of posibility for characters if they are willing to forgo their morals.

This Faction holds two beliefs:

• One is not defined by one’s origns or contrained to the role society has set.
• Indipendance is something to be fostered and defended.

Allong with these beliefs, they hold a Creed that is used in most if not all rituals for this faction:

• “You have the angency to seek your own satisfaction”

And finally their beliefs are most contradicting to the beliefs of these other two factions.

• The Crafting Guilds
• The Town Guard

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If a player reaches the top positions in the Syndicate, they get a benefit based on the department they chose:

• Fortitude (Spy): May respond however you choose to Mental Abilities, twice per day.
• Assassinate (Phantom): Every time you coup de grace an enemy, you may gain back one use of an ability.
• Copycat (Copycat): Choose a skill from any Faction.

Moving up in the Syndicate requires a character to take on a certain number of Syndicate Faction jobs, the more jobs they do, the higher they progress in the organization. The final Position is gained after completing a Heist with other syndicate members.

The Merchant Association (Major Faction)

The Merchant Association represents opportunity and indipendance, they bring new experiences to the community and are a fantastic contact to have wihen a character needs something.

This Faction holds two beliefs:

• Indipendance is something to be fostered and defended.
• Authenticity and the choice to let our true selves be seen.

Allong with these beliefs, they hold a Creed that is used in most if not all rituals for this faction:

• “No profit, is bad profit.”

And finally their beliefs are most contradicting to the beliefs of these other two factions.

• The Town Guard
• The Order

If a player reaches the top notoriety in the Merchant Association, they get the following benefit:

• 25% off the wholesale cost of all their sales items. (25% more profit) Merchants gain notoriety through sales. As they gain more notoriety, they can specialize in different types of items, eventually gaining enough to get a permanent discount on all of them.

The Crafting Guild (Major Faction)

The Crafting Guilds represents creativity and Inspiration, they supply the community with its basic needs and is the foundation for the economy.

This Faction holds two beliefs:

• Authenticity and the choice to let our true selves be seen.
• The whole can be grater than the sum of its parts.

Allong with these beliefs, they hold a Creed that is used in most if not all rituals for this faction:

• “Create, Repair, Innovate”

And finally their beliefs are most contradicting to the beliefs of these other two factions.

• The Order
• The Syndicate

If a player becomes a Master Crafter in the crafting Guilds, they choose one of the following benefits:

• Artisan: Every Artisan item crafted by you is considered Mastercraft if you add 1 common tech to the recipe and has one physical resistance.
• Alchemist: Every Alchemist item crafted by you is considered Mastercraft and acts as a tier higher than the recipe used if they add 1 common resource of any type.
• Magitech: Every Magitech item crafted by you is Mastercraft and you may use any resource of the appropriate level in place of what is required by the recipe if you add 1 common magic resource to it.

To grow in the Crafting Guild, the character must use their crafting skill and complete a certain number of jobs. The final position is gained after creating an artifact that is given to the guild.

See Chapter 7: Crafting for more information on how to craft.

Alternative Faction Skills

If a player reaches the top positions in any Alternative Faction, they can choose any applicable Faction Skill. This is very open, because these Factions do not give as many roleplay opportunities.

To move up in these Factions, a character must spend gold to increase the standing of the faction. This represents the money needed for a faction to grow. The final position is gained by helping to make their Faction relevant to the overall story. This is meant to be flexible and could have many different interpretations. The player should feel empowered to be creative with it, and work with the Story Team once they know what they want to do.

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See Player Quests for more information about submitting Quests.

Alternat Faction Creeds

All other Factions have unique Creeds:

The Beastfolk Schools

Authenticity: "A Person's actions reflects their values."

The Ancuram

Community: "All actions are linked."

The Baahir Republic

Structure: "Tradition will lead us to the future."

The Vertigron

Growth: "I will take the path of least resistance to achieve greatness."

Player Created Factions

Indipendance: (Each Group has their own Creed.)

Player Created Organizations

Any group may start their own faction in-game without any need to have approval by the staff.

Bank Chest

Any group may start a bank account to store group items. It costs one Gold to open the account. A chest must be used in the game to store the items and must remain in game at all times. Players may disguise it, but all other players must be able to access it the entire event. Inside the chest, the group must keep a living roster of all active members. The account can be withdrawn at check-in by any member designated on the roster. and if it is not withdrawn at check-in then nothing can be added to the account that day. The faction owner should go online and create a faction, just like they would create a character.

Faction Identification

Each Faction has a unique way of identifying themselves.

• The Military uses belt flags of the noble houses.
• The Order uses Woven Cordage in the Orders colors.
• The Syndicate uses Purple items.
• The Merchants have a license.
• The Guilds have badges showing their rank.

Leaving a Position

A player can choose to leave their position with a Faction at any time through role play and story, but if they do, they lose any benefits they had achieved including skills gained through that Position. If they wish to rejoin, they have to start at the bottom and move up again.

In most cases, players cannot lose their position within a Faction without choosing to leave the organization. The one exception to this is the Syndicate. If at any time a character is found out as Syndicate in game and charged with a crime, they could lose their position within the organization. This makes the Syndicate a high risk, high reward option for players that are looking for that style of gameplay.

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Chapter 11: Story Lines and Quests

Meadowmere’s Stories are divided into Seasons. Each season runs from March till November, and then there is an off season between December and February. Some social events are held in the off season, but no story is usually happening at this time. This time allows the Staff time to rest during the holiday season, and for them to make plans for the next story arc.

Collaborative Storytelling

LARP is a shared storytelling experience, at times some players want a story to go one way, but others want it to go another. It's important to know that stories don’t always work out the way players think they should. This is what makes collaborative storytelling such a powerful way of telling stories. Sometimes characters even make choices that their player never would have, and that is ok. It is important that players learn to work within the story to accomplish their characters goals. This includes working with other characters to make tough decisions.

Also remember, Meadowmere simulates realism in some respects and gamifies others. One aspect where realism is strived for is action consequences. If players assassinate a high level noble, then there may be an investigation and may even become the focus of our story, putting other things on hold. The staff will react and change the story based on how a character interacts with it.

PVP vs PVE

Although Meadowmere is primarily a "Player vs. Environment" (PVE) game, it does not restrict "Player vs. Player" (PVP) gameplay. This can lead to some very interesting and complicated stories since each player ads their own flair to the story. If players have an idea that they think they would like to take their own story in, and it creates conflict with other players, they should approach that player out of game and pitch their idea. Many times, players find that the story that comes from these divergent perspectives to be far more enjoyable than trying to force the story to go a specific direction on their own.

Main Story

During the season, players will see a lot of similar themes or even NPCs that are recurring. Players are encouraged to interact with these events. They are considered the Main Story for that season.

There are usually two really big twists or challenges the payers interact with during the season and those happen at the Camping Events. The actions of the players at these events will normally change the pace or options of future events.

Down Time Events

Game driven stories will not be the only thing happening at an event. Side stories and free time are offered to allow for character choices to interact or even alter the events as they unfold. Because of this, there is time between each game driven plot point. It is a player's choice as to how their character uses this down time. Common activities include roleplay with other characters, discussing events, plans for future challenges, crafting, or even resting. LARP is a physically challenging activity and it's important to find that balance.

Personal Quest Submissions

If a player wants specific stories or events to be added to the Season's plots, they must supply a Personal Quest Submission. In this submission players are asked a number of details to help GMs understand what they are looking for. These quests will take time to implement and not all are accepted. As a general rule, staff will not engage in any story that involves other's Intellectual Property (IP).

Events

Due to reservation challenges events are not always held on the same days, but attempts are made to standardize all event dates.

• The 2nd Saturday of each month is the monthly Social.
• The 4th Saturday of each month is the monthly Story Event
• The spring camp event is held in either April or May.
• The fall camp event is held in either September or October.
• Occasionally a special story event is held in November.
• The holiday party is held in December.
• Throughout the year we table at different conventions or fairs.

Socials

Socials are opportunities for players to get to know each other along with aspects around the game. Players are encouraged to bring questions or things they are working on to socials for discussion.

Story Events

Story Events are held at local parks and carry on the story of the season. Players are encouraged to be in character, roleplaying for the majority of the event. 29

 

 

Event Check-in

Every player is expected to check-in with the staff once they have arrived and Check-in has begun.

Here players will:

• Sign in their characters.
• Pay for their tickets if not done already.
• Receive their character sheet, coin, resources, and other items.
• Sign up for NPC Shifts

New players can also:

• Build characters.
• Complete fight training.
• Get information on how to begin.

NPC Requirements

Each player is asked to sign up for at least one hour of NPC duty. During this time, that player would take on some role that helps support the game's story. This might be an enemy combatant, or it might be a wandering trader. Players have the choice of when they want to complete this hour, but all players are asked to share the responsibility.

Event Check-out

At the end of each event, players are expected to fill out a Check-out form for each character they brought to the event.. Players must fill out this form in its entirety. Anything not listed on the form will not be updated to that player's character sheet for the next event.

Camping Event

Camping Events are like Story Events but instead of only being one day, they typically last from Friday afternoon to Sunday at noon. The campsites used traditionally have bunk houses, power, and running water for comfort and accessibility reasons.

NPC Requirements at Camp Events

All players are required to sign up for a time when they are able to be used for NPC duty. During this time, the Game Master can request them to play an NPC, help complete a task, or even help facilitate something that needs attention. This is vague because it’s not always known what things need to be completed to facilitate the game overall.

Depending on what is going on, the staff may not require a player’s services at that time and may reschedule or let them rejoin the game. If a player has circumstances that will affect their time choice, such as an elaborate costume, they should discuss this with the staff, and they will work with them to find a time that is easier for them to fulfill this requirement.

Mortality Quests

Mortality Quests are special quests that only happen at Camping Events. In order to participate in a Mortality Quest the character has to either be in the Mortality System or spend CSP to be added for one defeat.

See Mortality System or Civil Service System for more information.

Battle Picnic

The Battle Picnic is a special type of Social where players are invited to bring friends, family, and food to share with others. Games and other events are played to practice skills or just enjoy each other's company. 30

 

 

Appendix I: Important Terms

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Appendix II: Foam Construction Guidelines

Due to the complexity involved with crafting foam equipment, Meadowmere LARP does not have a specific process for crafting items. Instead, here is a set of guidelines that will help guide someone to create something that is likely to pass. We cannot guarantee however, that any weapon will pass without inspection.

Coreless Weapons

Corless weapons are weapons that may be thrown. This includes Daggers, Axes, Spell Balls, etc.

• For these items, there cannot be any hard material including wood, metal, rigid plastic, etc.
• Striking surfaces should be at least ¾ of an inch or 1.9 cm.
• Edges should be smooth and not rigid.

Cored Weapons

Cored weapons are weapons that have a semi rigid internal used at the center of it. This includes Daggers, Axes, Spell Balls, etc.

• For these items, we prefer solid fiberglass, Kitespar or Graphite.
• Striking surfaces should be at least ¾ of an inch or 1.9 cm wide.
• Edges should be smooth and not rigid.
• At least 1” space between the core and any striking surfaces.
• We encourage 1/2“ diameter cores for any weapon up to 48″.
• 5/8″ or 11/16″ diameter cores are great for weapons 48″ and above.
• If the player is going to be using the weapon to “stabbing” with the weapon, crafters need to make sure that the tip is rounded off and not pointed.
• Crafters should also give 2-3 inches of clearance between the core and the top of the foam if players plan to use it this way.
• We also encourage using tear resistant mesh, cloth, or tape around the core in case of catastrophic failure. It also helps the core adhere to the foam as well. Foam Choice
• Ethylene vinyl acetate or EVA is a common material to use in LARP weapons. It is best if used in densities of 1.5# - 4#.
• XLPE or cross-linked polyethylene has also been used for LARP construction. It is best in the 2# - 6# density range.

Depending on how wide the striking surface is (hammers, paddles, etc.), denser foam can sometimes be used, Any plans should be discussed with a GM before the project is started, but it is important to understand that approval cannot be given until the weapon has been completed.

Custom Shields

Shields cannot contain any metal or wood and must be covered in foam on the outside face and outside edge. There aren't any specific rules on size but be reasonable. What foam to use follows the same rules as the weapons above.

Finishing Foam

To seal the foam, crafters should use some sort of skin safe, non-hardening sealant. Common options are Plasti-dip or other rubber sprays. This helps protect the foam from damage and helps give it strength. Crafters can make a cloth or tape covered blade, but they are not as common in our game. 32

 

 

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Poisoned

• Level 1: Locks off 1 ability
• Level 2: Locks off a 2nd ability
• Level 3: Locks off a 3rd ability

Diseased

• Level 1: Can’t run
• Level 2: Constant 1 HP damage
• Level 3: Constant 2 HP damage

Petrification

• Level 1: Non-dominant arm becomes unusable
• Level 2: Leg of choice becomes unusable
• Level 3: Whole body becomes unusable

Paranoia

• Level 1: You do not want to be touched at all
• Level 2: You don’t want anyone to be within 10 feet of you
• Level 3: You avoid all contact with others

Hallucinations

• Level 1: You constantly see something in your peripheral vision, and you think it’s a threat
• Level 2: You confuse PCs with other PCs
• Level 3: Inability to distinguish friends or foes

Impaired

• Level 1: Drunkenness
• Level 2: Wandering and extreme emotions
• Level 3: Uncontrollable divination (please see a GM if you get inflicted with this)

Aggression Syndrome

• Level 1: You think you can take on anything
• Level 2: You actively try to take things by yourself
• Level 3: You hunt everyone

Burned

• Level 1: You are Stunned anytime someone touches you
• Level 2: It hurts too much to wear armor
• Level 3: It hurts too much to hold or equip anything

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