FAQ & Errata

"Frequently Asked Questions are listed questions and answers, all supposed to be commonly asked in some context, and pertaining to a particular topic." They generally clarify on a rule.

Headshots - Three Strike Rule

1. The first time a fighter hits someone in the head they are dead for that action. They should be reporting it themselves to one elder. This is a matter of personal accountability and we can only trust is a personal honor of the individuals on the field if it is not spotted by an elder. The injured should go talk to a medic.

2. The second time a fighter hits someone in the head they go speak with an elder and they try together to figure out what do you shoot with us. Is the Fighter overheated? Is the fighter in a bad headspace? Does the technique need refinement? They work together to try and find a solution. This is meant to be leadership reaching out and assisting the player base.

3. The third time a fighter hits someone in the head during an event they are off the field for the remainder of that event. They will not be ditching. We will not be doing battle games. They will not be doing land actions. The only time they should have a weapon in their hand is if they partner with an elder a noble or a EB member to try and refine technique. Directly supervised training with a veteran fighter who also is an elder. We do not want them out to continuing to be a danger but we do not want to limit an opportunity for them to correct their mistake by training one on one.

Additionally: if an individual is deliberately taking head shots or blocking with their head, they will suffer the same penalties as someone dealing a head shot. This may be expedited, because they are deliberately cheating and creating an unsafe situation for everyone involved.

Weapons building tutorials

Our favorite go-tos are:

• http://www.foamsmithing.com/ (Website by the Dargarth nobles Bran, Andor, & Arminius)

• http://www.geddon.org/Category:How_to_build (Belegarth wiki)

Land Map & Land Actions

• Country actions must be submitted one week in advance, prior to a battle day. (Aka Sunday night) ~ Tristan (land marshal), May 2015

• Roads - the starting and ending cities must be included in the hex road total; they do not come with a "free" hex of road under them. ~ Arminius(as 1st land marshal)

• Season change - land actions that are to count for the season change (settlements, roads, ships, invasions, etc) must happen before the equinox/solstice. ~ Arminius (as 1st land marshal)

• Country Build Actions during adventures - countries may (normally) submit a build order to take place on an adventure day, but units may not move (aka no explorations, no invasions, no ship battles). ~ Bodvarr (as 3rd land marshal)

There are no land actions on adventure days (regardless of type). It was decided that it increased inflation/bloat, favored certain country styles over others, and wasn't worth the bookkeeping headache for the land marshal. ~ Tristan (4th land marshal) & Rasheab (magistrate '14)

• Improved Land Search - if there are multiple rangers present on a team, this ability stacks. ~ Arminius (as 1st land marshal)

Only one (1) ranger may "lead" a search, but any ranger in an exploration party does not count against the party's maximum total.

• Undead: "a damaging attack" includes those that damage armor. Thus ghoul/flesh golem/wight attacks ignore armor. ~ Bodvarr (3rd land marshal)

The attacks of ghouls and flesh golems do not bypass/ignore armor. A wight's "curse" attack does bypass armor (because Curse does). ~ Tristan (4th land marshal) & consensus of marshal council ('14)

• Some countries are allowed two official surcoats; this is a case by case situation, based on country history. Ex: Holy Order of Mardur uses both their HOoM surcoats, and their older Mardur surcoats. ~ Bodvarr (land marshal, summer, 2013)

• If a defending country cannot make it to an event, they can hire or arrange mercenaries to defend in their stead. In this scenario, the number of defending "surcoated" individuals would be considered 0. ~ Tristan (land marshal) & Rasheab (magistrate), (2014)

• Raze Action (rule addition)
  

As a country's land action, it may raze/sack/burn/or otherwise destroy one or more assets it owns (fortification, settlement, or ship; not mines).

A fortification of settlement will return half its value to the controlling country, and will be downgraded by one step (castle becomes keep, town becomes hamlet).

Ships will be completely destroyed, but will return no value.

A raze action otherwise follows all the normal rules for submitted land actions. ~ Tristan, Rasheab, Arminius (May 17, 2015)

Weapons & Equipment

• "Blue and red weapons can also be green." Aka swung weapons can also be built to stab.

• Cross-gaming arrows are allowed, but they must meet Dargarth's safety standards. ~ Sloane, archery marshal (added 12/10/12)

- (Fyi for Belegarth visitors, the standards are the same in both groups.)

• Titanium "sharkmail" will not be passed. ~ Kanon (weapon & armor marshal, 12/27/12)

- Aluminum chainmaile has already been disallowed by a previous vote of the marshal council.

• What qualifies as a wooden weapon can be found in the "Adventuring Rules" section of the rulebook, entry 6 ("Wooden Weapons" if you Ctr+F).

• Common terminology. Not rulebook stuff, but when people say X, what they mean is:

Spear: stab only long weapon

Glaive: long swung weapon, or swing/stab

Dagger: short stab only weapon

Knife: short swing/stab weapon

• Cored vs Coreless shields

A coreless shield is representational of lightweight historical shields, such as those made of wicker, or hide stretched across a frame. They are made entirely of foam, without a (1/2") wood backing.

"Cored" shields are representational of heavier, more durable historical shields which we are generally familiar with, made from boards and strapped with rawhide or metal. They are made with a wood backing (1/2") and the face and edges covered in foam.

General Rule Conventions

• Posting a Leg - be a slow zombie. Don't try to game this rule; if you choose to post a leg instead of taking a knee, then move slowly. And don't hop. ~ Rasheab & others (Added 8/28/12)

• "Significant deflection" of a missile weapon, for the purpose of what counts as a valid hit, is approximately 30 degrees. ~ Archery marshals (Cat & Alicaryn) @ 2/14 meeting

• Casters are not archers, and thus cannot "call" their hits. However we all agree that it can be hard to know if you've need hit, so casters can continue to "clarify" for game expediency. However, if it comes down to a disagreement, the recipient has final say in whether he or she was hit, same as in the rest of the combat rules. As always, if someone is deliberately cheating, please inform an elder (or a marshal or noble if an elder is not available). Triumvirate Meeting - 12/17/12

• Simply to clarify, shields and other physical gear are repaired by spending time in Hades, same as armor. ~ Rasheab & Froste (11/8/13)

- This might occasionally vary at specific adventures

Roleplaying & Characters

• Character race does not make a difference in the rules at Dargarth. You do not gain any bonuses or penalties from playing a race; it's entirely roleplay. No character classes are barred/required to be played by any particular character race. (Consequently, you do not need anyone's permission, because there are no benefits related to race.) ~ Rasheab & Dameaion (4/14/13)

• Character class is just a label, and only has as much impact on roleplay as you want it to. Out-of-game a class is a reference to a set of abilities. In-game the name of your class can have as much or as little influence on your character as you like. Reskinning a class to fit what you want to play is more than encouraged.

Example: a "rogue," with their wide variety of skills, can easily be a thief, an assassin, or an explorer (Indiana Jones and Flynn Rider are both examples). Rogues also make excellent pirates.

Example: a "ranger" can be a army's scout, a highwayman, or, well, a ranger (Robin Hood and Aragorn are both examples). They also make good barbarians.

Example: "monk" is a very flexible class. It can easily be played as anything from a kung-fu adept to a barbarian. (Conan the Barbarian types are likely monks mechanically.)

• Every character has spell points. (This is equal to double your character level.) It mostly doesn't matter for classes without spells (Fighter, Rogue, Monk), but sometimes it might: for example with certain relics (such as The Skull and the Bracer of Mending).

New Rules & Playtests

New Rules (not yet added to the rulebook)

• Ranger's "enchant arrow" is now "enchant missile weapon."

• Rangers gain "brew potion" at 10th level

• Javelins have a maximum weight of 20 ounces

• Magic Weapon uses white tape instead of green

• Monk abilities switched: 1st level is "Immunity to Disease" while 2nd level is "Deflection"

• Ship Battles - attackers & defenders

Now if a country's ship intercepts (attacks), that country is considered the attacker/invader in the ensuing battle. This can mean there are two attackers (if both countries choose to intercept).

• New Action: Scuttle Ship

A defending country may "scuttle" their ship prior to a ship battle. Their ship will begin the battle with 0 HP, and will begin sinking when "lay on" is called.

• New Action: Abandon Hex

A country may give up ownership of one or more hexes. The hexes return to neutral/unowned. When next explored a new encounter and spoils will be rolled, as normal. Any assets (fortress or settlement) will be reduced to ruins.

• Sleep Poison was added to the available poisons to make.

Sleep Poison: The victim is unconscious, cannot move or speak, and will have no memory of their time while asleep. If the victim takes a wounding hit, they will awaken.

Plant: 5 minutes, 2 GP to create

Animal: 10 minutes, 4 GP to create

Supernatural: 20 minutes, 8 GP to create

• Cure Light Wounds and First Aid stabilize the mortal wounds of a willing recipient.

• New mage spell - Reduce Person

3rd level (Mage)

Length: 200 words

Component: Purple Spellball

Area of Effect: One Creature

Effect: Counters Giant Growth and Giants; removes "giant" effect

Blocked by shields and weapons

Not blocked by armor

• New mage spell - Mage Bolt
  

1st level (Mage)

Length: 80 words

Duration: instant

Area of Effect: one creature

Component: black spellball

Effect: This spell allows a caster to throw a magical bolt, which causes one point of damage upon impact. It may be blocked by any equipment (weapon or shield).

• Mages are allowed to use Rocks.

• Pouch changed to 2nd level for all classes that gain it (previously was 6th level)

• Spell length is now in consonants instead of words.

Gambesons are passed (currently waiting for actual rules wording)

• Armor materials: iron and brass added to acceptable materials. Armor marshal may at their discretion approve other types of armor as appropriate.

Playtests

• "Deflection" changed to "Block Arrow"

Clarification of current rulse: a block must be done with a static weapon and not a strike against the arrow.

• Gambesons

Thickly quilted fabric counts as AR1. Part of this playtest is to determine how thick such armor should be. What constitutes legal armor of this sort is at the discretion of the weapons & armor marshal. If you are planning on making this sort of armor, it would be a good idea to bring a sample to the marshal, and remember: that this armor type might not be passed to be added to the rulebook.

General rule of thumb is two layers of the pre-quilted Joanns fabric, or a moving blanket (such as from Harbor Freight), or equivalent.

• Mage spell-list changes:

1st level: Mage Bolt

2nd level: Flaming Hands

• New mage spell - Reduce Person (changes were made, but unsure what they currently are)

3rd level (Mage)

Length: 200 words

Component: Purple Spellball

Area of Effect: One Creature

Effect: Counters Giant Growth and Giants; removes "giant" effect

Blocked by shields and weapons

Not blocked by armor

• Crossbow Poundage:

The maximum poundage allowed on a crossbow is 450 inch-pounds.

Inch-pounds are measured by: measuring the length/distance of the drawstring from rest to its maximum draw (ie powerstroke), multiplied by its poundage at full draw.

Here is a neat chart about crossbows. Courtesy of Belegarth.

If a crossbow is capable of varying its draw-distance, a maximum poundage above 450 inch-pounds may be tested and approved on a case by case basis (no greater than 900 inch-pounds), so long as it can be set to 450 inch-pounds or less.