Kirsty

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 10:47:07 GMT

So, quick question; does anyone else find the combination of the words "seasonal" and "burlesque" vaguely disturbing?

Merry Christmas Flange Time!

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 10:05:37 GMT

Many merry Christmases to any people reading of this journal!

Hoping all you lovely people have a nice day, doing whatever eating, drinking, festivities or lounging around you happen to be doing!

Kirsty is having a nice day so far. So far I have eaten a pop-tart and had a cup of tea, gotten in trouble for wearing odd socks, got in more trouble for wearing socks with holes in them and am waiting for my sister to drive me over to Dad's house for dinner.

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:06:24 GMT

I was not aware Tim Burton was working for Disney again, but as it turns out this Alice In Wonderland film that's been in the works is indeed a Disney. Maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention.

*Pats Burton*

Yes, dear, that all looks very quirky. You're very imaginative.

Of course, I will be going to see it when it comes out, because I am both a nerd and a nineties kid and therefore contractually obliged to watch all Tim Burton films.

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:26:05 GMT

"Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don't blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a post about it."

I dare you, and then post the meme yourself. If you can't think of anything to ask me about, just post it on your own blog.

A meme in the hope that I shall be inspired to blog more often this year.

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 10:36:06 GMT

This entry is in reaction to spike369 ’s post. “Response” is the wrong word; the opinions are my own thoughts in general rather than a specific answer to the entry, and they’re things I’ve been mulling over a long while that I’ve seen an opportunity or motivation to put into words.

Just to make that crystal clear; I am speaking in general, not in relation to the specific situation spike369

is describing.

Obviously, discussion is welcome, this is a rather long piece and I’d be interested to hear thoughts.

On Humour

In Christopher Hitchen’s numerous controversial articles on humour (in which he unabashedly argues that men are funnier than women) he often makes the point that people often wrongly equate humour with intellect – with “wit”. But we all know even the stupidest jokes can still be really funny depending on the execution. Rather, he argues; the reason men have much more practice and need for effective humour is that it’s used to gain dominance over social groups, and to attract women. In short; humour can be used as aggression.

A lot of people who read my live journal were bullied in secondary school; so I’m going to take that for my example. How many times did a popular, charismatic member of the “in crowd” manage to have the whole class in stiches over a joke at someone else’s expense, usually one of the disliked, unfriended outsiders. It was a daily occurrence at my school, at least.

Or, for a more recent example; most members of LURPS will have a mental list of the times SCAN or other societies have made public cracks about LURPS. These “jokes” cost us members every year. The Live Demo at Fresher’s Fair was egged this year. I’m sure the people who did it laughed themselves silly.

Now, these are very obvious examples of the “bad joke”. To give more subtle examples I’d have to resort to more specific anecdotes that would be inappropriate for this forum. So I’d ask anyone reading this far to give their own experience a little thought; when was the last time a “joke” made you uncomfortable? Why?

My point here being; Jokes are not always a harmless bit of fun. Needless to say, these kinds of experiences are going to leave most people with certain scars regarding what they do and don’t find funny.

Humour isn’t obliged to follow the rules of normal conversation or discussion. The position of the Joker is ambiguous; it’s unclear if he actually means the exact opposite of what he said (unless using extreme sarcasm), if he means exactly what says, if he's apathetic on the subject, or is voicing a wistful temptation. It’s not always easy to tell the difference.

I’ve seen it done countless times; people make a joke out of something they really want to say but don’t want to face the consequences of it; because it’s a bit mean, or it’s controversial, or it would lead to more serious questions being asked. But I don’t think a witty turn of phrase and a wiggle of the eyebrows should be a licence to speak with impunity.

I realise I’m risking sounding like a bit of a killjoy at this point. Not all jokes are cynical ploys for social control, nor are they covert attempts to bully and intimidate. The laughter, the banter, the in-jokes, these are all an integral part of the LURPS experience and are a part of what makes the society so close.

But for these reasons, I am also of the opinion “it was just a joke” is not the ultimate get-out clause. And I think it’s easy for jokes and banter to be misinterpreted as aggressive, largely because sometimes it’s not a misinterpretation.

I think people should be a bit more aware of this, I think frequently people are afraid to speak out when they aren’t comfortable with certain jokes or banter for fear of;
- Being the odd one out
- Excluding themselves from a group with an in-joke.
- Being the one who didn’t “get it”
- Being accused of “having no sense of humour”
- Or “being too sensitive”
- Or “taking it too seriously”
- Or perhaps even of “taking yourself too seriously”

Now, in my experience, this does happen. And it shouldn’t, really, we should be open to calm and frank discussion on any matters we’re also willing to joke about. Because if you can’t seriously talk about something you’re happy to joke about, then really you’re just hiding behind the humour.

On Aggression

I am, as a rule, of the opinion that if you have a good point to make, aggression is not necessary. I usually think that if you’re in the right then explaining yourself in a calm and reasonable manner should be enough.

Now, call me a fucking hippy, but I also think that more often than not, overt aggression will do more to escalate a situation than to solve it. Most people instinctively react badly to aggression; they either back down completely or with aggression of their own. Often the end result is just that the two parties involved end up feeling misunderstood and the matter has to be “swept under the rug” rather than dealt with properly.

I also find the problem of Aggression In Role-Play (as in role-playing a character being aggressive) to be an interesting and complex subject. I first started thinking on it and trying to come up with maybe some hard-and-fast rules for it when revising the LURPS risk-assessment earlier this year. It makes a point of concern for people’s emotional wellbeing during role-play, and during discussion it came up that; firstly, everyone’s boundaries are going to be different, and secondly, that conflict and emotional exploration is an integral part of role-playing.
Issues of the IC/OOC divide are always interesting to me. Sometimes they can be over-simplified, or sometimes the attitude can be taken that anything that crosses the IC/OOC divide is simply meta-gaming and should be discouraged.

Again, I think this is over-simplification. I think the 4th wall in role-play is in a constantly shifting state. It’s something that differs between the different mediums of role-play. I could go into a couple of examples, but the one that’s relevant her is the time when an IC action creates an OOC response. Specifically, I’m talking about when an aggressive IC action creates a negative OOC response.

Take LARP. Now; imagine this scenario. And other character, be that PC or NPC, is literally inches away from your face, bellowing at the very top of their lungs at you.

Now, to me, something that extreme would be almost as unacceptable as being physically knocked about by the other player. To me, they equate; screaming in someone’s face to try to overpower (read; intimidate, repress) them is an attempt to physically overpower someone.

But where’s the line after that? The whole point of LARP is to enact your character’s actions. If they’re furious, or if they’re trying to bully someone into submission, or, say, trying to get that troublesome leprechaun back in line, in short, if they are going to act in a way that could be seen as “aggressive”; then, yes, of course, you should roleplay that, you should physicalise that with your body language, your voice, both in tone and volume, adding these to how your character would verbalise their request, feelings or intentions.

Knowing where other people’s limits are is not always as intuitive as we’d like it to be. LARP clouds this still more as you can misinterpret someone’s OOC discomfort as their role-played response, or vice-versa. And the last thing you want to do when someone is role-playing their heart out at you is to break the immersion and ask; “are you alright?” or “could you back off a little?”.

Now consider tabletop. Imagine, again, someone’s raising their voice. You can’t really move away, and the sound is contained in the room. In my experience, you don't even need to be the one being shouted at to be made uncomfortable by she sheer volume of the shouting.

In my opinion, there are some agressive behaviours that ought to be reigned in ICly to make sure eveyone is comfortable OOC.

Will the hobby be lacking for this? Well, in my opinion…yes, actually. One of the highest ideals of roleplaying for me is that state of full immersion, where you’re fully in character. Whether for right or wrong, I would feel like an inferior role-player for admitting that something IC could get to me on an OOC level. But it happens. I’ve felt hurt, bullied and degraded out-of-character because of things that have happened IC. I won’t give examples, I will only say that it can happen. And I don’t think anyone would deny that it can, I think most people will have felt, at the very least uncomfortable OOC over something that happened IC.

So, it’s a trade-off. It’s a trade-off we make for physical safety all the time in LARP. Surely making the same trade for emotional security should be just as obvious and important? I’d say in most cases it’s a simple case of pulling your blows; shout, but don’t yell. Storm around and wave your hands all you like, but don’t get in people’s faces or invade their personal space.

“It was all IC” should not be the ultimate get-out clause. We wouldn’t accept it if someone was told they were hitting to hard, and replied “but my character was angry – that’s why they were hitting harder”.

Now, of course, there is a level of aggression that it is acceptable to role-play. But there is a limit. Of course I’m not arguing that no aggressive behaviour is acceptable IC. I would actually tend to take the attitude that in a mature, dedicated RP group like LURPS, the limits of what is acceptable to role-play is pretty high. We deal with mature themes in our storylines, the IC responses are often strong.

And don't get me wrong, I love that, I think that's amazing, I feel lucky every day to have found this society and to get to be a part of it.

But as I noted above, everyone’s boundaries are different. And I don’t think it should be a transgression against the society to feel as if your line has been crossed.

And everyone should always, always feel free to talk to the live-reps about it. We wouldn’t bat an eyelid at someone taking a physical safety concern to the Live Reps, emotional issues should be just the same. No, it’s not as simple as asking someone not to swing their sword as hard. There’ll almost certainly be two sides to the story, and the person or people in question may well have been roleplaying within perfectly reasonable limits. But I don’t think there’s any reason players shouldn’t go to Live Reps if they feel unhappy; even if it’s just that the Live Reps talk it over with them, rather than go out kicking ass and taking names to deal with the situation.

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:39:52 GMT

Some people diet for holidays.

Some people diet for weddings.

I diet for sci-fi and fantasy themed bar-crawls.

Wish me luck...

Wisdom from W.O.W.

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:27:28 GMT

There is no such command as /blowjob or any varient and I should assume this rather than trying it out.

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:35:05 GMT

Reply to this meme by yelling "Words!" and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your LJ and explain what they mean to you.

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 09:04:59 GMT

THINGY ONE.

Thingy one is that Sammi is in Tall's production of Hamlet this week.

My current cunning plan is to go eat pizza in Pizzetta after the Live on saturday and then bimble over to the Nuffield from there for the 7.00 show. If anyone should wish to join, that would be most good.

THINGY TWO.

Thingy two is that I want to drag people to Revs for a faux Hen Party before the wedding on Sunday of week 8. So that would be the saturday after next. Although it's prompted by a Far Shores thing, it will *not* be in character, except that I *may* be wearing the ring phys-rep. Hopefully with this little bit of deciet, we will be able to book a booth, have some pitchers and play some drinking games!

All females welcome, more useful details like the time yet to come.

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Mon, 11 May 2009 09:28:18 GMT

Right; it is about time I updated. Mainly because every time I click on "Recent" I am confronted with the Anal Meme and am reminded once again of the monster I have creatred and that I am clearly going to hell for this.

So, in the interests of moving things along, a date for the diaries of those who play Far Shores. Maxwell and Cionnaye are going to be getting married, and an afternoon social for the event is being held.

The preliminary details are:

Weekend: Week 8

Date: Sunday 14th June.

Place: The Ashton Memorial Park

Time: 14.00 onwards.

As with all socials so far, it’s being kept reasonably open to any who wish to show up. Anyone without a Far Shores character who would like to come is welcome to come and play an NPC or a one-off character, please see me or Mike.

After the ceremony we’re planning to have an IC picnic type gathering, so please bring your own contributions of food and drinks.

More details may come later!

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 10:27:00 GMT

It's a sign of a very distinct lifestyle when the predictive text function on a person's phone has somehow learned the word "lekku".

Not that mine has.

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 23:26:48 GMT

Happy Christmas Everybody!!!

Many loves to you all.

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:45:12 GMT

Role-Call (or is it Roll-Call? What does it mean, anyway? Anyway-) of my WOW characters...just 'cause.

Horde...

Lady Selai Seashine

* Blood Elf Female.
* Hunter, Marksman.
* Artisan Skinner and Expert Leatherworker.
* Level 30.
* Middle-aged.
* Mother of Keylai Seashine.
* Widow, greiving mother, finds it easier to express affection to her Mulgore wolf, Bertolt, than her only surviving child.

Sarathy Stormcloud

* Tauren Female.
* Druid.
* Level 4. Awwwwwwwh.
* Young, on the verge of adulthood.
* In case the scary Elf lady gets a bit much. A young Tauren kidnapped and maimed by centaurs, Sarathy can only barely walk. This is my excuse not to bother leveling her, she's intended mainly for roleplaying purposes.

Alliance

Vylera Degare

* Human female.
* Frost Mage.
* Journeyman Tailor and Apprentice Enchanter.
* Level 20.
* Youngest daughter of the Degare family, childish, clumsy, perpetually bullied and prone to making slighty stupid comments. Means very well, but decidedly inept at soothing the rifts between her siblings.

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:47:42 GMT

Have you ever typed "www.thingumy.com" into your URL bar and then got cross with your internet because it didn't understand what you wanted?

I have. Just now.

EDIT: I'm going to start writing proper entries again soon and not just random anecdotes. I used to come home from every live so enthused I wanted to type up in-depth analysis of the whole thing, which I've stopped doing and I think is sad. There is by no means any less burbling I can do about my various characters and games, I just don't make the time to blog. That and of course the other things I do with my time, like this little degree thing I've got going.

So, in short, I am going to try to post stuff a bit more often, and more...you know, interesting things.

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:06:59 GMT

So, my mum wandered into my room just now while I was backing up my shoes, folding my thigh-high black boots neatly away into a box.

"They're a bit slutty, aren't they?"

...

...

"Yes...m-mum...."

*shame*

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 11:05:08 GMT

Today’s rant shall be on the subject of irritating fatuous things my step-mum says.

Now, I’m sure a fair few members of my flist have fielded comments along the lines of; Roleplaying/Gaming is a waste of life and a way of avoiding the real world. I made the mistake of mulling over my thoughts on getting a WoW account to Ashleigh over the dinner table last night, and my stepmother, Cindy, decided to chime in with a variation on this theme.

Her particular way of putting this charming sentiment was delivered with a smug grin and my dad nodding along like the fucking Churchill dog.

“Well, that sounds like a massive waste of time. How about you get out there in the real world! I wouldn’t waste my time on stuff like that, I have a life. I’ll go in my garden instead.”

Now, stepmother dear, I’m afraid I can’t really concede your point. Yes, I guess MMORPGs can be a bit of a time sync, but I don’t see why your alternative proposition is any better than mine. Because your idea of what constitutes time well spend involves gardening.

BECAUSE THAT’S OBVIOUSLY SO FUCKING PRODUCTIVE! HOW CAN I HAVE BEEN SO BLIND? CLEARLY ARRANGING AN ATTRACTIVE FLOWERBED AND THEN SUNBATHING CONSTITUTES THE PINNACLE OF HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT! OH, NO, WAIT! IT’S A HOBBY, ISN’T, JUST A WAY TO PASS THE TIME, NO MORE OR LESS OF A WASTE OF TIME THAN WHATEVER EVER THE HELL I HAPPEN TO ENJOY!

I happen to love Roleplaying, I think it's great. It exercises my creativity, my love for performing and storytelling in all the right ways. It gives me access to a profound scope of emotions and experiences. It gives me a sense of achievement and groupwork. It provides wonderful escapism and has introduced me to some of the most interesting, imaginative, intelligent people I've ever met and made me the best friends I have ever had. Sorry, I don't find weeding all that stimulating.

The double standard of it really fucking hacks me off. If I wanted to spend all my money on new clothes, like my sister does, they wouldn’t raise an eyebrow. Makeup, music, DVDs, sports equipment…all this would be fine. But because I have an interest that isn’t mainstream, isn’t something they personally get, they think it makes them weird. Cause heaven forbid I should be someone different to them. Without wanting to cry “I’m so misunderstood!”, I still find it a little hurtful to be treated like a freak because I have an hobby that wouldn’t appear in fucking Cosmo.

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 18:57:33 GMT

Right. For nostalgia's sake, I want to make myself a little playlist of the song that they used to play on the Monday Rock Night at Hustle. It used to occupy my VIP-less monday nights during my first year; a good night every week, because it was the Same Damn Night every week. There were certain song that would get played week in, week out.

Songs I have so far (EDIT);

1. "Down With The Sickness" by Disturbed
2. "This Shit Will F*ck You Up" by Combichrist
3. "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails
4. "Poison" by Alice Cooper
5. "Bodies" by Drowning Pool
6. "Shut Me Up" by Mindless Self Indulgence
7. "Dragula" by Rob Zombie
8. "Du Hast" by Ramstein
9. "Killing In The Name" by Rage Against The Machine
10. "Walk" by Pantera
11. "Bartender" by Hed P.E.
12. "Disposable Teens" by Marilyn Manson
13. "Freak On A Leash" by Korn
14. "Halo" by Soil

Can anyone make any additions? I know there are many, many that I have forgoten about...

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:21:07 GMT

The internet is full of fun.

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:19:12 GMT

You know when you idly start composing LJ entries in your head? I have been thinking a lot about what to put to sum up what being home is like, and I think, ultimately, it comes more or less down to this;

*Deep breath*

I DON'T LIKE IT HERE, I WANNA COME HOME! I WANNA SEE MY FRIENDS AND HAVE MY OWN SPACE!

*Stamps foot*

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:00:46 GMT

Day 2 of the play-by-post Star Wars and I am already sprawled bear-arsed across my bed at midnight, pounding on the keyboard of my laptop crying "Post! Post, dammit! I live for the poooooost!"

...I may be a little over-excited.

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:59:14 GMT

Yaaay.

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:04:17 GMT

Last minute request:

I have belatedly realised I've yet to sort out any armour to wear tomorrow.

If anyone has some spare leather armour (lvl 1 phys-rep, ideally) which will not be in use tomorrow, or a pair of vanbraces, I will be very grateful if I'm allowed to borrow them. They'll be worn under a tabard and therefore kept nice and clean...and...and...I'll buy you a cookie?

Many thanks.

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:57:35 GMT

Okay, new game!

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:13:09 GMT

Oh, yes, before I forget; I promised I would link to this, the rough guide to monstering as posted on the Dumnonni Chronicles forum. It's (presumably) a ref's guide to how he wants his monsters to perform. I find it an absolutely admirable approach and something I wanted to start preaching from the moment I said it, and so I'm copying up the text here, with full credit and kudos to the Dumnonni crew. Enjoy.

"As an NPC or Monster you are an actor playing many parts. It is your performance (whether as the third spear carrier on the right or a major plot-device character with a long background briefing) which will lift the event and guide it towards a great success, or weight it down and steer it toward mediocrity.

This means we require a lot of hard work and discipline from you, but the results and sense of achievement due to them makes it very worthwhile and enjoyable.

We value our "Monsters" very highly, because they are such a crucial element in making an event in work.

- Setting off…

Just before you set off to play an encounter, make sure you have got everything required - costume, weapons, special props, treasure etc…

Also check that the others in the group do not have 20th century garn showing that they might have missed (Tee-shirts showing under tunics, the dreaded wrist watch, to name a few).

- Twang!

Check elastic or thong on any masks you need are OK. Holding a mask on your face to stop it falling off will seriously ruin any attempt to look menacing! Check all weapons are not damaged or unsafe.

Please, don't take kit that hasn't been allocated by a referee - it might be essential for another group playing the next encounter, or be inappropriate costume or weaponry etc… for the tribe/race/characters you are portraying. (Just because that Axe is much bigger and looks more fun, doesn't mean its more suitable than your Scramasax…)

- "I'm OK! Cormac Mac Art - What's up! Gimme five!"

The above is an extreme example, but try to keep obviously modern terms of speech and phrases to a minimum when talking in an encounter.

Also always try to keep in character however funny (or boring) the situation.

- What's In a Name…

It's always good to go out with a character name fitting for your race/tribe etc.

A name could become important for even the lowest cannon fodder goblin as the player party might decide to capture you and question you.

- Character Motivation

Try and make sure you know your reasons for being in that location for an encounter. If the ref. hasn't given you one in briefing (ooer - missus!), ask them to. There's nothing worse than a questioned "Monster" that can't answer it's name, leader's name, clan it belongs to and what it's doing there.

Also for single combats between champions, Celtic style; to announce one's name (and possible also one's lineage) proudly, is essential -

"I am… er… er… Fred!"

makes a potentially heroic moment instantly plummet.

- Who am I?

Before playing a role, have a think about the person or creature you are about to portray. How would they stand, move and behave? (A lowly goblin, limbering troll and proud Fianna Chieftain would all be very different).

How do they speak - with eloquence, humility, haughtiness, harsh tones?

Is this character dour or cheerful? Confidant or cowering? Brash or polite? Try and flesh out that NPC - especially one that is likely to be interacting with players for a while.

Even simple combat situations, such considerations can add colour to an NPC warband as they cower, taunt or rage prior to and during clashes.

- Theatrical Combat

As stated before, the Monsters' job is to entertain the player the aim is not to be in competition with your adversary, or to see how many players you can kill, or how long you can survive in a fight. Good "Monstering" in combat is fighting to the ability of your character part (not on your own skill) and dying in a spectacular manner (rather than grudgingly after being surrounded by 5 players and hit thirty times in exasperation).

A clumsy but tough large monster that keeps a group of players fighting it for several minutes (and receiving a wound each before they finally defeat it) is far better than a quick moving juggernaut of a creature that kills three players in quick succession and runs off, proud of their "achievement". That Monster has not scared the players or entertained them. He has killed them without time for either fear or entertainment to set in!

Latex weapons are wonderfully light in comparison to the real thing. To give a visually exciting and satisfying fight, wield them as if they carry some weight - with effort, possibly slowly (for BIG weapons), strain on your face. Make that hammer seem as heavy as it looks. Grunt and shout at the effort of bringing that heavy (reality 1lb!) broadsword down on your adversary's shield.

Stagger back when struck on your armor or shield. Strain to block that heavy club with your spear. Make fights as theatrical and exciting as possible.

Taunt, curse, invoke your war gods in the panting lulls as you prepare for another strike at your foe. Hopefully your example will encourage players to do likewise. Thus, we create battle which look great and last a lot longer. Likewise, really act out appropriate reactions to spells - really fling yourself back at that windblast!

- The Spirit of the Game

If a player lands a theatrical and mighty blow upon you, reward the player with an equally theatrical fall! Even if technically you still have a few hit points left and could keep going.

This looks great for all concerned and creates a grand finally to that player's roll-playing actions.

- Arrows

Remember to act appropriately to arrows - falling back when struck by one - even if you have enough armor to stop it from getting through. Likewise with other weapons, however many hits or armor you may have, you can still momentarily stagger back or fall before recovering to give a sense of realism. The blow may not have killed the ogre that you are playing, but it did hurt him and you have clearly registered that to the player.

- Don't kick a man when he's down

Don't continue to hack at players once they have gone down due to their wounds. You are, in effect, punishing them for being a good role-player and honestly taking their hits. Once a player collapses at your feet, go to the next standing player.

Likewise throat cutting is unacceptable in any situation unless sanctioned by a ref.

Even if playing a very powerful creature that can survive a knife slash along the throat - react to it in shock, anger or pain. No reaction gives the impression the monster is not taking hits.

- Body Contact

In fighting, avoid body contact, wrestling, grappling, barging, offensive shield use etc… unless it's a setup situation where both combatants know one and another and have rehearsed before hand avoid all the above. In non-rehearsed, non-weapon contact, things get out of hand rather quickly. (See the poor soul who was thrown into the thorn bush a few years ago for details).

- Playing Dead

When you are 'killed' in combat, provided you are not lying in quicksand, water, broken glass or in danger of being trampled underfoot, try to stay in location as still as possible. Don't sit up and talk to the 'corpse' next to you. Wait until a ref. calls a "time-freeze" or "time-out" to get you out. If there is no ref. allow time for players to search bodies etc… and call your own "time-freeze". (Call a "time-in" for the players once you are well away from the scene).

If you do need to move, once dead and during "time-in", raise your arm. This signals you are no longer part of the on-going game and can be ignored. Likewise, when leaving any battle after being killed, its an idea to have one hand in te air to avoid confusion and a second attack! "

kirstybarnes66@hotmail.com — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:59:41 GMT

"Mobile Phone Tumours; far more likely in the city! Well, you know what, so is everything else, including sex, coffee and conversation." - Dylan Morran.

God, I miss term-time.

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