new player & alot of questions please help

okay.. so im 100% new to this all so i have tons of questions that i cant seem to find the answers for or atlest not clear enough answers. so if anyone doesnt mind filling me in on some things that would be most helpful.

before my questions i'll give a little intro into my self as it might help you better answer my questions knowing what i know or dont.
okay so i've never larped before, when I come i will also be coming with a few others that have never larped before. i have been into fantasy and gaming since i was a child and im 32 atm. ive played things like runescape, wow, aion, tera, eden, morrowind, oblivion, skyrim and so on. ive also played d&d a few times, so i pretty much understand mmorpg's. as well as having gone to medieval times and renaissance fairs many times in my life, along with watching a lifetime of fantasy and medieval movies/shows so im no stranger to that. nor am i a stranger to weapon combat & archery. what i am new too is larping and its rules as they aren't 100% clear to me.

Q1) my 1st question is there a limit on what i can use.. what i mean is if i was a mage and wanted to use bow and arrows could i? or is there a limit to what weapons i can use? and is there a limit to what armor i can wear? like a mage in plate armor with a shield if that was my thing? i know in the core rules under professions it says what weapons the classes can use but not what armor they can. also it doesnt say if they cant use everything not on the list.
like in d&d you can use weapons your class is not meant to by placing points in the right places to allow it &/or getting feats/perks so is it like that here?
i know if so that an arrow hit would be weaker on a mage, but if i were to be a mage i wouldnt want to use a staff or dagger as im not skilled with them, i would rather use a
bow and arrow when i need to, or shield and sword, so again is that allowed before i buy stuff i cant use.

Q2) also thievery, if i am pick pocketed in game.. what happens to my stuff? its fine if items i got in the game got stolen but what about things i brought into the game my self? and can my weapons, armor, jewelry and other things i wear on me be stolen? like being looted upon death? do i get them back? if so when, where? and how does that all work. i dont like to under do things is why, though im new i would go all out and get the best looking stuff i can find which is going to be a lot of money which is why i fear my stuff being stolen in game which then might be stolen, lost or broken out of game.

Q3) also the healer class. does it use medical healing or magic healing? and any limit on its armor/weapons?

Q4) what about sleeping, do i bring a tent? are there cabins? like what happens? ive never really been camping before, i mean my brother also is joining for the 1st time and a few other people might come with us aswell that have been camping so thats no problem but what do i bring? no point in bringing a tent or something if there are cabins right? or do so many people go to these events that they fill up fast? also when camping.. cant my stuff in my tent get stolen while im playing? or do we only put up tents when its time to sleep and take them down in the mornings?

Q5) also alchemy.. how does this work for larping? do i have to find types of plants or something? or is everything bought/looted from pcs/monsters?

Q6) also death, ive seen in other larps when you die youre dead and that char is over forever like in d&d.. is that the case here? or is there like respawning after time or next event or whatever? if so is there then a number of lives one has?

Q7) the races that are limit in number.. just how many can there be at any given time? and just how many people normally show up?

Q8) are there videos any place on your rules or gameplay anyplace?

I had more things to ask but ive forgotten them atm, anyway thanx reading/trying to help.

Hello, welcome! Name's Conor and I am a New Player Marshal. Let me see if I can answer these questions.

Q1) my 1st question is there a limit on what i can use.. what i mean is if i was a mage and wanted to use bow and arrows could i? or is there a limit to what weapons i can use? and is there a limit to what armor i can wear? like a mage in plate armor with a shield if that was my thing? i know in the core rules under professions it says what weapons the classes can use but not what armor they can. also it doesnt say if they cant use everything not on the list.
like in d&d you can use weapons your class is not meant to by placing points in the right places to allow it &/or getting feats/perks so is it like that here?
i know if so that an arrow hit would be weaker on a mage, but if i were to be a mage i wouldnt want to use a staff or dagger as im not skilled with them, i would rather use a
bow and arrow when i need to, or shield and sword, so again is that allowed before i buy stuff i cant use.

A1: The only limit on what weapons you can use is the weapon skills you have access too as on your professions. For example, you wouldn't be able to use a bow as a mage until you picked up a list with bow on it since a bow is not on the Commoner profession. However you could use a sword since 1HE is on the Commoner list. As for armor there is no specific armor type you need to use, the only thing is how effective it is, for example a Warrior knows how to use armor better so their armor(regardless of kind) will be better than a Mage, who doesn't know it as well, with the same armor.

Q2) also thievery, if i am pick pocketed in game.. what happens to my stuff? its fine if items i got in the game got stolen but what about things i brought into the game my self? and can my weapons, armor, jewelry and other things i wear on me be stolen? like being looted upon death? do i get them back? if so when, where? and how does that all work.

A2: If you are pickpocketed a Rules Marshal will come up to you and ask for an item card out of the pouch that was picked. If you leave a sword, or armor out on the table and someone takes it, it is then taken to Logistics, you then go to Logistics and give the Logistics Marshal the item card associated with that item. You will get the phys-rep back but can't use it until a new one gets made. If you get looted when you die, the same thing happens you lose the item cards, and can't use the items until either you recover the item cards, or get new items made

Q3) also the healer class. does it use medical healing or magic healing? and any limit on its armor/weapons?

A3: The Healer Profession uses "magic healing" based on the casting points they have. Once those are out you can use the skill "first aid" if you have it to use medical healing. The limits on armor/weapons are the same thing as I outlined in the answer about Mage's armor/weapons.

Q4) what about sleeping, do i bring a tent? are there cabins? like what happens?

A4: You can bring a tent and pitch it and it stays up all weekend, or you can see if you find a bed/tent/cabin on the camp. All the lands have cabins, but they are usually reserved in private with the characters in that land before the game. The Inn is a first come first serve basis. However there is rarely not enough places to sleep and people will do their best to help.

Q5) also alchemy.. how does this work for larping? do i have to find types of plants or something? or is everything bought/looted from pcs/monsters?

A5: There are Essences that Alchemists use for their higher (rank 3 or 4) potions. These cards are either found in the woods, or dissected from monsters using the dissect skill. The rank 1 or 2 potions don't require essences just the RP time to create them.

Q6) also death, ive seen in other larps when you die youre dead and that char is over forever like in d&d.. is that the case here? or is there like respawning after time or next event or whatever? if so is there then a number of lives one has?

A6: The way death works is you have 5 "lives". You can die 4 times upon your 5th death you need to retire your character and create a new one. You get refunded a percentage of build based on your last character and use that to make your new one. The way you get a new body is an IG thing and as it is a cool RP scene, I won't say how it works.

Q7) the races that are limit in number.. just how many can there be at any given time? and just how many people normally show up?

A7: There are only a few races that are "capped" meaning there is only a few number of them at a time. However there is no race has reached its cap yet. We are in the process of new "racials" and race write ups. These should be posted soon in either the announcements or rules boards by our Rules Officer or Director.

Q8) are there videos any place on your rules or gameplay anyplace?

A8: There aren't really videos on our rules or gameplay, other than the link below, that I know of, only photos on the website.

This video and article is a documentary that the author of a book had done about her book, since she got a lot of her experience from Knight Realms as one of the LARPs it features us heavily. If you want to check it out feel free:

www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17914502


Any other question feel free to ask and I'll see you at the game!!

Hello Jason R.

Welcome to Knight Realms (or KR as we call it). Many of your questions were answered by one of our New Player marshals. This is a great thing... whenever there's a questions, it's a marshal who should be answering them as those responses are the official responses you should be listening to.

Another source for answers for any future questions is covered under the " New Players " section of the website.

We also have a " Rulebook " that covers a majority of the questions you asked prior. Please feel free to look over both sections and read everything we have.

Welcome once again and i hope you & your friends join us soon.

ALSO! If you see the post below yours (which is mine, entitled "small group looking for place to stay" or something like that), there is a whole bunch of info about empty tents so your group can stay together.

I want to also point out that larp is not quite the same as tabletop or video games in a couple of key ways.

First major difference from video games is that you are not merely a consumer who is being entertained. In a larp you are also entertainment for others. Even in an MMORPG there are quest givers usually who will give you a set of breadcrumbs to follow so that you can attain your next widget or weapon. In Knight Realms there is some of that, but the base assumption is that you will find your own way as well, make your own story.

Then compared to tabletop -- there are going to be many storylines going on. You will probably not be involved in all of them and might not even know that some of them exist. You also won't be taking turns calling actions. What you do and say is what your character does and says. Want to go somewhere? You walk there. Want to look like something? Put that something on.

The final piece of advice. The word "Clarify" is your friend. Don't know what that skill just called means? Say "Clarify" and have it explained to you.

Welcome to Knight Realms. You'll do fine.

thanx guys, that's most helpful.
I have new questions if you guys don't mind helping out a little more.

Q9) when my group finally joins for the 1st time, I read somewhere that new players have to tell a gm before hand, is this because we get like intro low level quests? with not so complex rules/spells and so on and not so high in stats mobs? or do things not even get scaled in larp or is what I'm saying not even making sense because its all real skill base and not in game stats?

Q10) also how bad is it heat and stamina wise to play and fight all day in plate armor? some of them wonder.

Q11) I believe in the rules it said we can only use a bow with 25 draw and 25 pounds, but with if the pounds are 25 and the draw is 28 but used by someone that's knows what they are doing and is an honorable person and uses 26 inch arrows anyway thus not allowing a draw of 28inchs would that then be allowed?

Q12) this one is likely listed some place in the rules sorry if it was and I over looked it, but in playing an npc I don't have to make stats/story and so on I'm assuming right? we just fill whatever role is needed the way that is needed rather then making up our own?

Q13) are new players a normal sight? or will my group likely be alone in the starting zone?

sorry if my questions seem dumb its just we wonder a lot about these kind of things but fail to find the answers. there are also a lot more questions but I don't want to be too annoying all at once.