Medieval Adventures

The phys reps for the labs are not strictly defined. You may add things to it that you think would properly represent the equipment needed. Think about things that would set the lab you need apart from other types of labs. Consider the first item on each list to be the defining item and the rest as suggestions.

Smithing tools are a hammer and anvil.
For alchemy you could arrive with a small fire source, some powders and some chalk and pieces of charcoal.
For potion making, you bring a small cauldron, some herbs and dried flowers and a couple sticks of cinnamon.
For traps you bring string and springs and wire and a set of pliers if you are planning on making them. If you want to disable them bring things like screwdrivers, wedges and pliers.
For a forge you need a representation of a hearth and hammer and tongs
For poisons you bring a mortar and pestle, a few sharks teeth, some red beans and dried mushrooms.
For spells you bring paper, ink and quills.

1) A mage summons a creature and the creature kills a player.

The monster gets it. Though the mage summoned the creature, he does not do the actual killing, it is the skill of the monster that decides the outcome.

2) A mage controls a creature and the creature kills a player.

The creature gets it. Though the mage has mentally controlled the creature, he does not do the actual killing, it is the skill of the monster that decides the outcome.

3) A mage controls another player (like Charm) and that player kills another player.

The controlled player, since it is the player doing the killing and thus that player gets experience in the art of killing.

4) A creature controls a player and that player kills another player.

The controlled player, since it is the player doing the killing and thus that player gets experience in the art of killing.

5) A controlled player kills himself.

The tag is lost. The reason is that there is no contest of skills. There is only one person in the "combat" and since that person is both the killer and the deceased, there is no second party against who he could be testing his skill.

Spells that remove free will and cannot be used by Sylvans:
Charm (both spell and poison)
Friendship
Influence
Supercharm
Vampyric Dominate
Love poison
Love Poison #9
Honesty
Lie
Truth

Spells that Sylvans can decide on at their own discretion:
Berserk
Trance
Fear
Sleep

No. Those materials are common enough and, against the cost of the actual labour to produce an item, the price of them is negligible. You can assume that you have stock of the common materials.

Only poison can be put into food or drink. Poisons can be detected and identified with the Poison Lore skill.

Alchemical solutions *cannot* be put into food or drink, with the exception of antidote elixirs. If an antidote is poured into food or drink that is poisoned, the antidote will nullify the poison. However, if there is no poison in the food or drink, the antidote becomes inert and will not nullify poisons poured in later. Pouring the antidote out of its container is the catalyst that triggers its effect, a short time after being decanted, it becomes inert.

Potions *cannot* be used in food or drink, they become inert upon being decanted into food or drink. Potions must be consumed in a single draught to be effective otherwise they just don't work, they cannot be shared out or used in smaller doses.

Although it is in the Solar Rulebook, Mead has decided not to allow players to just sell back skills. Unfortunately we are not currently equipped to keep track of who has sold what skills and who can no longer take what. We would prefer the more experienced players to carefully consider their choices and make the most of the skills they selected. However, you may petition the orgs for a change to your character providing you have a reasonable reason and are fairly new to the game. This is to allow those players that are inexperienced to create characters they can enjoy.

After a great deal of research and discussion the team has come to a decision.... unfortunately, the decision is "no".

However, as always, we have a number of very compelling reasons backing our conclusion, because we are just that efficient and clever.

Different Fighting Styles - Two points. Firstly, latex and moulded weapons are lighter and far less unwieldy than the boffers we currently use. Boffers are at a disadvantage with speed, you cannot swing them as quickly and easily. The lighter latex weapons are at a disadvantage when blocking and parrying. This makes for very unequal combat between two people wielding the same weapon. Two long swords are no longer on equal footing when used against each other, neither are two maces or two of any other weapon. Secondly, latex weapons give a distinct advantage to people with OOC weapons training where boffers do not. So, a real life fencer who decided to play a mage would have an in game fighting advantage over an untrained person playing a fighter... essentially, the mage could kick the behind of the fighter in weapons combat simply because the character would get the players weapons skill advantage. (Seriously, we didn't make this up... we researched it.)
Different Combat Systems - Latex and moulded weapons are geared for "location hit" LARPs where a hit to a location disables that limb or is a death wound. They are not made for "hit points based" LARPs where the aim is to hit a player until they die from loss of body points. We play a "hit points based" LARP. Obviously, you hit people a lot more with the latter option. Because latex swords swing faster and have more shaped forms, they hit harder. They are far more likely to leave welts and bruising... and while some of us may have a fetish for that kind of thing, it isn't fair to inflict it on our gentler MEADers.
- The only way to solve these two problems would be to require everyone to move over to latex swords and change our combat rules system to accommodate them. Which brings us nicely to point 3...
Latex Weapons Are Expensive - As explained above, we cannot have both boffers and latex weapons, it has to be one or the other. Latex weapons are expensive, most MEADers don't have R500+ to spend on a new weapon.

In conclusion, we cannot ask the majority of the MEADers to spend money they don't have to upgrade to a new weapon and to make the organisers redo the combat rules to accommodate the change.

If you would like a latex sword for decoration of cabins or because they are cool, feel free, but they cannot be used for combat or as your weapon phys rep. If you have money to spend and you don't know what to do with it, why not pretty up your living quarters and add to the atmosphere of the game as a whole... or donate something to plot (they will give you gobos for it!) so that they can spend it on improving the experience for everyone?

Please note, the organisers will get very upset with anyone deciding to throw heavy objects at them for making this ruling... feel free however to toss as many choc-chip cookies at us as your heart desires to express your dismay.

This ruling does not extend to include normal foam weaponry coated in a thin layer of latex to increase durability and 'prettiness'.

(This might change if we become aware of anyone with a latex allergy, please fill out your forms correctly so that we don't accidentally send someone to hospital)

There are a number of very good reasons why we cannot allow under 18s at the MEAD events.

If we start bending the rules for "1 month to 18 years old" then the rule has become elastic and the next person that is 1 month and 3 days or one month and 12 days can claim just as much right to play. The rules are there for a reason. Even if you are 1 day away from your 18th birthday, you are legally a minor. We didn't make that rule... it's the law, plain and simple.

As it is, we try very hard to keep all of our MEADers safe and out of danger, but as most of you know, MEAD isn't a night at the movies. Things can go wrong. With "adults" we are all responsible for ourselves, if we allow minors we have to take responsibility for them and MEAD does not have the capacity or expertise to deal with minors if something goes wrong. Please note that "parental consent" does not mean you have been legally emancipated, it means your parents hand responsibility for your safety and well-being over to the MEAD organisers. We are still legally responsible for a minors safety.

In the event of MEAD we have risqué behaviour, we have a "brothel" and "opium den" (even if they aren't real), we have people hitting each other with large fake weaponry and we have smoking. We cannot protect minors from what goes on and we do not have the legal capacity to deal with parents that may take offence to these things. No matter how much you may assure us that your mom or dad won't complain, we just cannot take the risk.

MEAD happens every 3 months. It isn't a long time to wait till your next birthday when you come of age (congratulations!) and we will welcome you gladly to the game.

I am being absolutely serious when I say that if there are ever any problems at MEAD that involve minors, the whole event could be shut down. For the sake of MEAD and all the people that love this game, we cannot bend the rules and allow any minors into the game.

Do not petition the admins for permission to allow minors into MEAD. The answer is "no" under all circumstances.