Campaign Seminar

The updated version of the Seminar here is in progress. The ultimate 
goal is to have a brief outline so GMs can print and carry it with them 
for game day.
# Safety
## Halt
## Medical
## Fires
## Friends
# Combat
## Counting points
## Swinging weapons
## Waylay / Assassinate
## Unconsciousness
 Your character will regain consciousness after sixty seconds. After 
that you may get up and do as you please, but remember, you still have 
zero BP and little strength left. If you get hit again you will be 
unconscious for ninety seconds (add 30 seconds each time you are hit 
until you regain a BP by magik or rest). (Added because we always forget
 it's 1 minute and not 5 after getting set to 0 BP)
## Death
# Magik
## Caster responsibilities
## Target responsibilities
## Flags
## Component vs. Marker
## Common Spells
### Blast / Force
### ...
# Thieving
## In-game
## Out-of-game (Serious no-no, duh!)
# Atmosphere
## Forsooth
## Scrolls
## LIGHT spells
# Fair Play
## Counting points
## Fun for everyone
(Working on combining these two for an update.)
Just found the very old version. I like the new outline better, but the 
material hasn't changed much. This needs a edit job, if someone feels up
 for it.
Welcome, everyone.
What is Campaign?
Campaign is a fantasy based live-action role-playing game. Each player 
takes on the persona of a fictional character that they have created and
 role-plays adventures and stories as that character. 
So what makes us different?
We 
emphasize Role-playing and Character vs. total combat. We enjoy creating
 stories of character interaction instead of creating a ìI win, you 
loseî atmosphere. Campaign is a game of friends. Though we have a 
handbook with rules, the most important thing we do is play fairly. 
Because we play for fun and
not 
competition we have not developed a need for extensive rules or 
out-of-game referees. Campaign has a ìstyleî of play that you will learn
 after playing a few times. This style is hard to define, but it 
revolves around having fun and creating an atmosphere of fun and 
fairness intertwined with live-action storytelling.
In 
addition to the handbook , there is also the Campaign Lands Book which 
is for sale for $5. This will give you a more detailed picture of the 
fantasy world in which we play. Other publications are on the way. There
 is much about Campaign that can only be learned by playing and talking 
to others, so feel free to ask questions.
Important Stuff
The 
Campaign seminar covers important safety aspects of Campaign, but this 
seminar does not cover everything you will need to know in order to 
begin playing Campaign. For that you will need to read the handbook. 
Stuff You Really Need to Know!
1. Be safe.
2. Wear 
your whistle. This is your, ìIím in really big need of assistanceî 
whistle. Only blow it if you really need help since everyone will stop 
playing and come running to your side.
4. Read the handbook. Thereís a lot of little stuff in there that you
need to know.
5. We allow minors on Campaign, but there are some stipulations in the book that need to be read first.
6. There 
are thieves on Campaign, but they will only take in-game items Anyone 
who steals for real will be removed from the game. In-game items are to 
be given back to the player or a GM so they can be returned after the 
game. Money and gems need not be returned.
7. No 
Drugs or Alcohol are allowed on Campaign as it can impair your combat 
and running-through-the-woods-while-being-chased-by-crazed-goblin 
skills.
8. You should report any medical conditions on your character sheets and also inform the GMís before each game.
9. 
Everyone who wants to attend a Campaign must attend a Campaign seminar. 
This means you should bring your friends here before bringing them to a 
game.
10. Each 
game will have a check-in where we will check your weapons, magik items,
 spell books, whistles, special abilities, and character sheets. It is 
important to submit character sheets with your items listed FIVE DAYS 
BEFORE the game. If you do not, you may not be able to use those things 
in the game.
11. The 
word ìHaltî is used to stop the game for injuries or rule clarification.
 We usually say ìgame onî or ìReady? Goî to restart the game.
12. We 
encourage everyone to bring new people into the game. If you have played
 Campaign a few times and feel that you know someone who would love it, 
introduce them to a GM and bring them to a Campaign Seminar so we can 
answer all their questions and get them ready to play.
13. While 
campaign is for fun, there are occasionally people who either donít play
 by the rules or donít play in the spirit of the game. If such a 
situation arises, the committee will ask that player to leave Campaign
with or with out warnings.
Magik
Many 
Characters in Campaign have the ability to cast various forms of magik. 
There is an extensive spell list that you do not have to be familiar 
with in order to play. There is a small section in the handbook of magik
 you should know about. Other than that, it is up to the mages
casting the spells to inform you of what to do.
How it works:
Mages must inform you of the spellís title, duration, and range.
For example ìTremor, 10 feet, You are all knocked to the ground for 30 secondsî
If a mage touches you with their hand or a short wand while casting, they do not need to tell you a
ìrangeî.
What to do
 if the mage doesnít tell you what to do.Play along, if you wish, 
otherwise nothing happens. You should say ìfizzleî, or something along 
those lines, to indicate that the spell did not function properly and 
you are moving along your merry way.
Know your Spells:
The most 
important thing to do when you play a mage is to learn your spells. If 
you mix up a duration or effect, or forget which spells can be affected 
by Dispel Magik, it makes things confusing for everyone. 
Disputes:
Sometimes 
there are disagreements as to what just happened in an exchange between 
two players. You think a spell fizzled. The mage thinks it didnít. 
Youíre sure you hit that monster with enough blows to kill
it, but it hasnít fallen. As with any dispute in Campaign you can do one of three things.
1: Pretend the event never happened and start over.
2: Figure it out between the two of you.
3: Find a GM to arbitrate the dispute.
Stopping Play
If for any reason, you need to stop play by calling a ìHaltî, try to do so in the least obtrusive manner possible
Combat
The rules are laid out in more detail in the handbook but here is an overview.
1. Safety First. No one has fun if somebody gets hurt.
2. No hits to the head, throat, neck, or groin are allowed.
3. Control your attacks at all times
4. 5. All weapons must be approved and marked before each game.
6. The GMís of a game are the final arbitrators of all disputes.
7. No hand to hand combat, it can lead too easily to injuries. This includes grabbing and holding onto weapons. 
8. No real
 weapons. Hopefully this should be self-explanatory. Only utilitarian 
implements (axes for wood, knives for eating) may be brought on a game.
9. No combat if a player is on one or both knees. It is too easy to get hit in the head. You canít do this to avoid combat.
10. Keep track of your damage. It sounds easy, but you really have to think about it.
11. Safety First. Itís so important we mention it twice!
Damage
Each 
player starts the game with Body Points, generally four to five of them.
 Each time you get hit with a weapon, regardless of type you subtract 
one point. 
If you have armor, you subtract those points before you subtract body points.
While all 
physical attacks cause one point of damage, magikal attacks, which are 
done by having a ball thrown at you, always take two points. Any other 
exceptions will be reported during the game by the attacker saying 
something like ìTwo pointsî when they hit you.
Armor 
Different 
types of armor give you different amounts of protection. Armor must be 
approved to ensure you get the proper armor points for it. Armor 
protects you against damage causing attacks only. It does not protect 
you from non-damage causing spells or arrows (which pierce through 
armor).
Recovery
When you 
are injured, you will regain your body points over time. Your recovery 
will be two or three body points per hour. This means that after thirty 
minutes you regain one point (not all at once after an hour.)
Waylay / assassinate
A waylay is a one shot knockout to another character who is unaware of your presence. 
To do this
 you must be positioned behind the target for two seconds and place the 
hilt of your weapon on their shoulder blade or upper back. Then you say,
 ìwaylayî. This will knock the character out for five minutes, but will 
not reduce their body points. If you start attacking them (technically 
impossible
since they
 are on the ground, but it is a role-playing thing) then they will wake 
up. Give them a moment to regain their feet before fighting. Waylay will
 not work during combat or if the target is wearing armored
headgear. 
Assassinate works the same way except that when the assailant says 
ìAssassinateî, the victim is reduced to 0 body points and is unconscious
 for 30 seconds. At this time a killing blow may be applied.
Killing Blows
Once a character is knocked to 0 Body Points, they are unconscious for a short period of time.
Killing in
 Campaign should be viewed the same way as in real-life. It ís not a 
nice thing. If you are attacked and you knock your opponent to zero 
BPís, you do not have to kill them! You should let the situation and 
your character make the decision to when a killing blow is appropriate.
Role-playing
The 
lynchpin of Campaign is role-playing. By role-playing you enhance the 
game for everyone and you reduce the appearance of rules during the 
game. Instead of walking around waiting for your health to return, limp.
 Faint. Act injured! The more you role-play, the more real it all seems.
Weapons for use
We use 
many types of foamed weapons, but the primary one is the sword. 
Instructions for making one are in the book. While you can make a 
different type weapon, it may not get approved.
Fighting
Attacks
Your 
primary target area is from the shoulders to the knees. (We are allowing
 hits below the knees this year) Your attacks should be controlled in 
both power and speed. Though the swords are light, they can still hurt 
if not swung properly.
Types of 
attacks to avoid are overhead shots to the shoulder area (youíll hit 
their head by mistake) and thrusting. Thrusts MAY be done, but use them 
sparingly and with great caution and control since they could cause 
harm. Thrusts should be done more theatrically than combatively.
How to hit:
Attacks 
should be quick, but light. Swing with the arm, but make the final 
contact with a snap of the wrist. You should hit with enough force to 
register, but the weapon should bounce off the target instead of 
impacting.
Individual Hits
Each blow 
must be an individual and distinct attack. Generally, your weapon, after
 striking the target, should be pulled back to ready for the next blow. 
This will also create a slight pause between blows. 
Clean Hits
When an 
attack is made, the sword must make contact with the target and stop its
 forward movement. If the blade of your weapon glances off the target or
 continues past the target after striking, it does not count.
Hits must 
register, but not be too hard. You cannot do a ìrabbit punchingî style 
of striking. Remember, your blows should be distinct from each other and
 not a rapid succession of hits.
Glancing Blows
It is a 
good practice to acknowledge blows that you consider to be either 
glancing or invalid. By saying something in character, such as, ìYou 
tore my best shirtî or ìA mere scratch! Youíll have to do betterî
you let 
your opponent know that you did not count that blow. This will help 
alleviate some confusion when one player counts blows that the other 
does not.
Practice
How to swing
How to block
Practice one on one
Group melee (watch for control)