Characters
Perfect Shadows is a cross between a directed freeform and Live Action Roleplay - your character and their aims and desires are decided through a discussion between yourself and the organisers. It is entirely up to you how much or how little imput you choose to have in the creation of your character - some people have created their own and presented us with a full character brief where as others have left the matter entirely in our hands. Others still have opted for the middle ground of choosing the kind of character they would like to play and then waiting to see what we come up with.
With this in mind, please contact us with your character idea or wants before you send in your booking form - if only so we can make sure you are not doubling up on a character already in play! We can be reached here. A provisional cast list can be found by following the link here.
The Rules
The rules system is a simple one - if your character should be able to do it then your character can do it, although there will be restrictions on anyone trying to be too unrealistic about this. We don't want the medieval equivalent of superheroes showing up. If you want to have an ability that you are not sure is acceptable please make a special note of it and we will get back to you. It should be noted that literacy is not a common skill amongst the nobility of the period – if you want to be able to read and write you will need to justify it. Contrary to what might be expected, women are more likely to be able to read and write than men.
LRP safe weapons are the only weapons allowed to be used.
Linguistics
Every character is accepted as being either a native speaker of, or else comfortably fluent in, Middle French - the language of the nobility in the 14th century. No one needs to use any silly accents - the use of which will be frowned upon by your organisers. Due to the difficulty of representing the different languages that some characters are familiar with we have a system in place that puts a large amount of trust upon the players. Each language is represented by a specific symbol. If you find a document marked with a symbol you have not been told you are familiar with then your character cannot understand what is written and should not act on any information contained therein.
Anything written in French will not be marked - anyone capable of reading can understand it.
Anyone wishing to speak in a different language to someone will be issued with a card marked with the appropriate language's symbol. If you wish to converse in a different language please display the appropriate symbol so that others know they may not understand what is being said. We realise this is not ideal, but this came out as the best idea short of forbidding characters from having a knowledge of other languages.
Every character will be able to recognise the native tongue of their nation if it is different to French when it is being spoken, but will not be able to understand it unless otherwise informed (i.e. the English nobility will recognise Anglo-Saxon, the Scottish Gaelic and so on). Similarly, all churchgoers will be able to recognise conversations taking place in Latin.
Fighting
This system again places a lot of trust in the players and allows for player skill at fighting whilst taking into acocunt the training that their character may, or may not, have received. We employ what has been dubbed the "Ightly Ratings" - Slightly, Knightly, and Rightly (and the very rare Deus rating) - with the power of drama overlying the whole. Most characters will fall into one of the "Ightly" categories. If someone of a higher ightly hits you then you're really going to know about it. If you go for someone with a higher ightly level then you're going to have to work harder to put them down. A general rule of thumb is that it will take twice as many blows for someone of Slightly rating to take out someone of a Knightly rating than it would for someone of the Knightly to take out a Slightly. For example, if it takes one blow of a sword for a Knightly to take out a Slightly then the Knightly can expect to withstand two blows from the Slightly.
There will be verbal cues to indicate what level each character is at - they should be made before the fight starts so everyone knows what level they're dealing with.
Duels will take place only after the combatants have had time to see a priest and deal with other formalities. Thus, any duels will be resolved in the aftermath of the event.
The Brief
You will receive a brief (sent to the email address stated on your booking form) no less than a fortnight before the event date detailing your character and what they know, or think they know, about the other characters present and their overall aims to be achieved during the course of the event. These are by no means binding, but are included to give ideas for what your character is up to. A cast list will be included, as will some general historical details and pointers. A printed copy of your brief will be available at the event on request, but will not be provided as a matter of course.