In the event that there is discrepancy between the policies below and the policies within the rulebook, the policies within the rulebook shall always take precedence. Please note that these are excerpts from the Rulebook and do not contain all of the rules, guidelines, or policies that a member of the community must follow. Please read the Rulebook for complete guidance.
At the beginning of every game, every weapon brought to game must be checked by a qualified staff member or volunteer before they may be used. There are no exceptions to this rule. If a weapon was checked and approved at a previous game, it still needs to be checked at the current game.
If a weapon is deemed unsafe, it cannot be used in game. If it can be modified to address the safety concern, then it can be rechecked after the modification is made. Once a weapon has been denied by one staff member, do not ask another staff member to approve it. When a weapon breaks or is damaged during game, the player is responsible for removing it from game.
At any time before or during game, a staff member may ask to inspect your weapons. Players must let staff inspect their weapons when asked.
A weapon that fulfills all of the requirements listed below may still be deemed unsafe during Weapon Check if there are other issues with the weapon not covered by the below requirements.
Suitability for the setting requires that the weapon fits into the culture and period of the game. Weapons that are too modern will not be allowed. Likewise, medieval weapons (such as shields, polearms, and maces) will not be allowed. If you have a question about whether a weapon is period appropriate or not, send a picture of your weapon to Rules Team. This is for questions about suitability only. Rules cannot tell you if a weapon will pass safety inspection from a picture.
All firearms and weapons must be painted to match the setting. Gunmetal gray, black, silver, ink blue, or wooden exteriors are preferred. Unpainted weapons will not be allowed.
Archery requires a bow and a selection of arrows. Bows must be simple wood or wooden-appearing. The draw strength must be 25 lbs. or less. Bows cannot be compound and must appear in simple styles. Bows may be covered in foam at the player’s discretion and may be cosmetically altered to better fit the setting.
Arrows may only be professionally made LARP safe arrows or professionally made LARP safe arrowheads attached to standard shafts. No personally made arrows will be allowed at game.
To check archery weapons, staff looks at four things:
Suitability for the setting
Draw strength of bow
Safety of the arrows
Wear on both bow and arrows
Those who take archery cannot use arrows within buildings. While within buildings, archers must use packets instead of arrows. These packets must be touched to the hand holding the bow, pulled back over the shoulder, and then thrown overhand to be valid. These packets will act as arrows in all mechanics.
Brawl weapons can be either black foam boffers or made out of foam and plastidip or latex and have a central core. (Boffers are made with pipe or pool noodle foam, wrapped in a cloth covering, often based around a hollow pvc core.) All brawl weapons must have a central core. Brawl weapons should be 12-18 inches (30.5 to 46 cm) long, including the grip. All brawl weapons must be covered with black fabric or painted black. Players may not thrust with any brawl weapons. Brawl weapons cannot be sundered or disarmed.
To check weapons, staff looks at four things:
Position of the core
General construction
Size of the weapon
Wear on the weapon as a whole
Firearms must be non-electric dart guns such as those produced by Nerf or Buzzbee. Other makes are permitted, provided they pass safety checks performed by an appointed staff member. Firearms with a firing speed greater than 75fps are not allowed. This does not guarantee that firearms with a firing speed of 75fps or less will pass the weapons safety check and be allowed at game. The following are not allowed at game:
Anything that fires darts larger than Nerf Megadarts
Electric blasters
Bow-style dart guns
Crossbow-style dart guns
Weapons that utilize discs instead of darts
The Rival series
Airsoft weapons
Belt-Fed dart guns
Clips holding more than 6 darts
Cosmetic modifications are allowed. The only other modifications that are explicitly allowed are on the list below. This includes both the guns themselves and any ammo that they use. Modifications that are explicitly allowed are:
Barrel extensions
Cylinder mods on revolver style blasters that improve capacity or allow for easier reloading
Adjustments to stock/butt placement, style, shape, etc.
Attachment of period appropriate sights/scopes/accessories
Mods that alter dart type fired
Shortening Darts to fit weapons/clips they otherwise would not fit
To check firearms, staff looks at six things:
Suitability for the setting
Whether the firearms are painted
Any modifications made to the weapon
Force of dart fired
Types of modifications to the weapon
Wear on the weapon
Melee weapons are made out of foam and plastidip or latex and have a central core. They may be professionally made or homemade. Melee weapons can be between 1 foot to 6 feet 3 inches long (30.5 centimeters to 190.5 centimeters).
All surfaces of must be padded with enough closed cell foam to ensure that the core cannot be felt through it with reasonable pressured applied, typically a minimum of ⅜ inch (1cm) is required to facilitate this. If the weapon has an unpadded handle, it can be no more than ⅓ of the weapon’s length. The pommel of the weapon must be padded or covered. Players may not thrust with any melee weapon.
Standard or traditional boffer weapons are not allowed for melee weapons. No duct tape or cloth coverings are allowed. No hooks or protrusions may have a core and may not be used to catch other weapons or players. No loose pieces, lanyards, or straps are allowed.
To check melee weapons, staff looks at six things:
Suitability for the setting
Position of the core
Size of the weapon
Hardness of the striking areas
Whip of the weapon
Wear on the weapon
Packets are made out of a 5-inch to 7-inch (13 to 18 cm) square of fabric filled with millet seed and secured with a rubber band or some type of string. Birdseed with sunflower seeds or other similarly sized pieces is not allowed as a filling for packets – the packets must be millet seed only. The striking surface of packets should be between 1.5 to 2.5 inches (3.8 to 6.4 cm) in diameter.
To check packets, staff looks at four things:
Size
Density (whether the seed is packed too tightly)
Type of seed used
General construction
Thrown weapons are made out of foam and plastidip or latex. They must be completely coreless and cannot be weighted or have rigid components. They must be under 12 inches (30.5 cm) in every dimension. They must be covered by latex or sturdy foam. If they have points, the points must be blunted enough to avoid any possible harm to other players. No duct tape or cloth coverings are allowed. The thrown weapons must resemble actual weapons. For example, an 11-inch cube is not allowed.
To check thrown weapons, staff looks at five things:
Suitability for the setting
Whether there is a core
Hardness of the weapon
Size of the weapon
Bluntness of any points
Wear on the weapon
Each weapon has a rank. This rank corresponds to what weapons can be used and crafted. Brawl Weapons, Natural Weapons, and Packets are not ranked.
Archery: All bows are Rank 1.
Firearms: Firearms ranks are based on capacity and whether or not they are clip-fed. Capacity means number of shots, not darts, able to be loaded into the gun at one time. Characters will take damage equal to the number of shots, not darts.
The Nerf Roughcut carries 8 darts, but fires 2 darts at once. This means it is a 4-shot gun, with a 4-shot capacity that does not utilize clips, making it a Rank 2 Firearm. The Nerf Sledgefire carries 3 darts, but fires 3 darts at once (each shell holds 3 darts). This means it is a 1-shot gun, with a 1-shot capacity that does not utilize clips, making it a Rank 1 Firearm.
Rank 1: Any non-clip-fed blaster with a stock capacity of up to one shot
Rank 2: Any non-clip-fed blaster with a stock capacity of up to six shots
Rank 3: Any clip-fed blaster with a maximum magazine size of six and any non-clip-fed blaster with a stock capacity of more than six shots up to a stock capacity of eight shots
Melee Weapons: Length determines the rank of melee weapons. When measuring length, measure the weapon from one tip to the other.
Rank 1: Any melee weapon of length 24 inches (61 cm) or shorter
Rank 2: Any melee weapon over 24 inches (61 cm) up to 48 inches (122 cm)
Rank 3: Any melee weapon over 48 inches (122 cm) up to 75 inches (190 cm)
Thrown Weapons: All thrown weapons are Rank 1.