Rules

The Manual of Mayhem is the current ruleset of the WoTS game. Massive changes were included from the previous Path of Conquest Rules set.

It was created at the end of the year 2011, and headed by Emperor Kyle.

Rules[]

Strike Zones[]

Head[]

The crown of the skull. This is not a legal strike zone for any weapon over 47 inches in length, including Great Weapons. When struck here, death.

Torso[]

From the groin to the base of the neck. Including the hip joint and the ball of the shoulder. When struck here, death.

Arm[]

From the outside of the ball of the shoulder to the tips of the fingers if your hand is on equipment and you are struck in the hand it does not count. When struck here, put the arm behind your back.

Leg[]

From the bottom of the hip joint to the foot. If the foot is hit take it as a full limb. When struck here, drop to your knees, do not hop on one foot. If the foot is struck on the ground, it does not count.

Combat Rules[]

Death From Limb Loss[]

The loss of two limbs is considered death from bleeding and/or massive damage, if the same limb is struck twice it is a death.

Sufficient Force[]

A strike must land with sufficient force to count. A light hit or a hit that deflects does not count. A strike only counts with the legal striking surface of a weapon.

Carrying Legged Players[]

If a player is struck in the leg another player may pick them up by putting their arm around the player’s shoulders and supporting at least some of the weight.

Death[]

When you die, try your best to get off the field as quickly as possible. You should yell “DEAD” when killed, as most fighters will just keep swinging until you do so. If you are moving off the field, hold your weapon to the top of your head. Pole weapons users are to hold their weapon straight in the air with one hand and put the other hand over their head. Do not speak to anyone living while dead.

Multiple Lives[]

In some games you will be given more than one life and as such, there is a needed time for you to count before you can respawn. The format used is “Lives/Count” such as “4/20” or “3/30”. You start counting when you reach the designated respawn area.

Worn Weapons[]

A strike to a weapon or quiver counts as a strike to the location it would have hit, unless of armor quality.

Grappling[]

A Combatant wearing no Armor or just Foam armor may Grapple all opponents.
A Combatant wearing Leather Armor may Grapple any armored opponent, but not unarmored opponents.
A Combatant wearing Chain Armor may Grapple opponents wearing Chain or Plate Armor.
A Combatant wearing Metal plate or Barrel Armor may not initiate a Grapple.
A Combatant wearing plastic safety equipment is treated as leather Armor for grappling purposes only.
Combatants with bows may not initiate grapples or be grappled.
Foam armor is considered unarmored for grappling purposes.
No unarmed strikes, throws, joint locks, nerve locks or chokes are allowed.

Weapon Rules[]

Damage[]

Light Damage[]

The standard unit of damage, most weapons you see on the field will fall under this category. Any one handed swing or thrust, regardless the type of weapon be it a Great Weapon or a Piercing Weapon, if it is a one handed strike, nullifies any bonus the weapon may have towards armor. Two handed swings from either non-piercing or Pole Weapons also fall into this category. Does 1 point of damage to armor.

Thrown Non-Javelin Weapons[]

Any thrown weapon that is not a javelin must be 6 inches long or over to be considered legal. They do no damage to armor and all surfaces must be strike legal. They are treated as Light damage if they strike an unarmored target. These weapons are not legal when hitting the face.

Piercing Damage[]

Is caused by Arrows, Thrown Javelins, and a solid two handed thrust from a STAB ONLY weapon. Does 2 points of damage to armor. Arrows fired from a bow and thrown javelins are legal when hitting the face. Arrows require 2 inches of open cell on the tip and javelins require 4 inches on the tip with no tape on the face of the completed weapon, even under cloth.

Heavy Damage[]

Any two handed swing from a Great Weapon is considered Heavy Damage. Any weapon over 4 feet, using 2 hands, swung or stabbed does 2 points of damage to armor/person. Swung Heavy weapons must weigh at least 1.5 lbs. 3 solid swung blows break a shield with a heavy weapon.

Shields[]

Shields are broken when struck solidly three times by a two handed Heavy weapon swing.

A shield with uncovered foam is broken with one strike of a Heavy Weapon. If the quality of the covering on a weapon is subpar (i.e. foam showing through the tape, tears in a cloth cover, etc.) it will count as an uncovered shield.

Shields are to be dropped immediately upon being broken. If they are not dropped immediately, any further strikes to the shield will count towards the arm and then the body. Shields are also to be dropped if the arm holding the shield is struck.

There is a limit of one shield per person.
Shield contact to the head is prohibited.

Shield Checking[]

Striking an opponent with a shield from three steps or closer.

Shield checking is legal to all sides.

Shield Bashing[]

Striking an opponent with a shield from more than three steps away.

Shield bashing is only legal to the front of an opponent.

Shield Edging[]

Striking an opponent with the edge of the shield.

Shield edging or checking is legal to all sides.

Weapon Construction and Safety[]

Weapons are to be constructed in such a way that does not physically harm other combatants. They will be checked and marked for safety before being declared legal.

Cloth covers are REQUIRED on all striking surfaces of weapons including arrows and throwing weapons.

Any weapon must have no less than ½ of its entire length padded. The only exception is weapons that are STAB ONLY. They may have 1/3 of the length padded.
Standard weapons must have 1 inch of padding on the striking surface.

Courtesy padding must be at least .5 inches thick.
All weapons must have the butt end capped in a pommel. Minimum 0.5 inch diameter. Minimum 1.5 inch diameter for pole weapons and great weapons.

Great Weapons[]

Great Weapons must be at least 4 feet in length, weigh 1.5 pounds or more and have at least 2 inches of foam on the striking edge. A weapon of the club, sword or glaive type must have a 2.5 foot(30 inch) long striking surface to pass.

Bows, Crossbows, and Arrows[]

All weapons must pass a hit test of light, medium, and hard strikes. The core is not to be felt at all and a hard strike should be uncomfortable but not painful.

Arrows must have heads larger than 2.5 inches in diameter.

All Bows will be of 35 pound draw at 28 inches or less.

All arrows must have their ordinary tips removed and a penny or equivalent object secured perpendicular to the shaft.

Throwing Weapons[]

All Javelins and thrown weapons must be completely covered in legal padding.
Non Javelin throwing weapons must be at least 6 inches long to count for damage.

Armor Rules[]

To wear armor you MUST have garb on underneath the armor.

Armor Types[]

1 Point[]

Covered foam, thin unhardened leather

2 Point[]

Hardened leather, Barrel armor, PVC Chainmail

Heavily modified is defined as being burned, tooled, painted, covered, dyed or having some other process done to the armor to make it look better.

Armor covering a target area is not separated, meaning that front/ back of chest both count towards the same count, forearm /bicep count towards the same count and shin/thigh count towards the same count.

Armor will be checked just like weapons to determine the point value.

Armor that looks blatantly modern is not allowed, this includes sports gear. Sports gear may be used if it is made to look period.

The edges of armor must have no more cutting power than the edge of a penny.

Miscellaneous Rules[]

For a combatant to participate in a tournament or wear armor, garb of medieval or fantasy appearance is required to be worn. No modern logos or symbols are allowed, shoes are excluded for safety.

Calling an opponent’s shots is rude and in poor form. If you suspect an opponent of cheating, report them to a referee and/or hit the person in question harder.

Due to their delicate nature arrows are not to be struck at with weapons. Striking at arrows also causes them to tumble, which is very dangerous to players. Doing so will count as a death by technicality. You may move your weapon in front of it to block, by do not swing at it. However, there are some groups (Verum, etc.) that enforce a death by technicality for any weapon/launched arrow contact.

When asked about your armor count or whether or not you are alive, you must respond as soon as possible; if you do not you are cheating.

Always call out extra damage; this is not the same as calling an opponent’s shots.

Example: you hit an opponent with a great weapon, you say “three”.

Walking out of boundaries, hiding amongst non-combatants, pretending to be dead, hiding in an opponent’s respawn area are all acts of cheating in the highest regard.

Spirit of the Rules[]

So what exactly is Spirit of the Rules? Simply put: SotR is what was meant by the rule, not how it can be bent or manipulated to the selfish ends of the people who would do so. This is why the rules of this book are written down simply. We believe if they are simple, they will be harder to twist and the SotR will have to be called on less often. So when in doubt, refer to SotR. A referee or event coordinator has final judgment on what exactly Spirit of the Rules means for that event or battle.

Updates[]

Updates are being tracked on the MoM page.