About Kingdoms of Novitas
Atmosphere
One of the many things Kingdoms of Novitas strives for is immersion. We take pride in raising the bar for authentic garb, higher quality weapons, and a heavy restriction on anachronisms. You won't see t-shirts or sneakers in our game. We allow for latex weaponry and push for 'prettier' weapons rather than 'burrito boffers' and pool noodles. You'll find no plastic, rubber, or foam armor; our players are expected to carry the weight of realistic materials.
Combat
What sets us apart from similar games is that we do away with rules which compensate for peoples' physical ability. We follow the general rule where "if you can physically do it, and do it safely, then you need to act it out". There are no skills like "dodge", "parry", "shatter", "disarm", etc. If you want to dodge an arrow, then you'd better get out of the way! If you want to pick a lock on a trapped treasure chest, you'll be using real lockpicks to do so. We feel that substituting special rules for people lacking the real-world skill takes away from the Live Action part of a Live Action Roleplaying game.
At KoN, you'll find combat a middle-ground in comparison to other games. This isn't a "tap-block" game. If a weapon strikes you, you take damage. On the flip-side, however, we tend to pull our shots. In no way should you be aiming to hurt anyone with your strikes. As a rule of thumb, you should be hitting your target with enough force to be acknowledged as a hit; no more and no less. Keep in mind though that this is not just a game of theater, but a game of fighting as well. You will be swinging weapons for melee and throwing projectiles for spells; there will be no dice rolling, no rock-paper-scissors, and no need to make initiative checks.
Classes and Alignments
This is a classless alignment free system. We have no chaotic neutral wizards, but we do have characters that are morally gray magic-users. If you want to play a magic-user in full plate at your first event, then go for it.
Skills
Skills are obtained by spending skill points which you gain each level. One of the appealing things about our game is that a level 50 character might be just as vulnerable to dying as a level 4 character is. No matter how many levels you throw at your character, there are hard caps which everyone must abide by. You'll never have to calculate things such as: 362 HP minus 78 damage with a 5% resistance to fire. You generally have a cap of 4 on each subsection of defense (magic armor, physical armor, and body). This keeps the math easy, the combat fluid, and the fear of death high.
Items
We incorporate many perks and features into our game which volunteers contribute to. Kingdoms of Novitas has real currency and loot (you won't find item cards here!). Our coins are generally nickle and brass. Magic items are physical props which become numbered and can be looted by other players. Consumables such as potions and alchemical substances are generally contained in standard-size vials such that you can customize your own equipment to carry them.
Food
We have a working Inn with a steady supply of hot meals, non-alcoholic beverages, and various home-made treats. All food is paid for with in-game coin and NPC's are given tokens by the GM's when they're hungry. That means that NPC's don't even have to pay with their own coin!
Cost
Costs to attend are the lowest of any Live-Action game that charges admission. To show up for an entire weekend, including a bunk in a cabin and meals at the inn, it's only $30! Yes, thirty bucks, whereas other games have been known to charge in excess of 50-60 dollars or more!
Shifts
The event itself is split into 4 shifts where each player is expected to play at least two of them as non-player characters (ie. monsters and plot roles). Every game we bring piles of totes full of masks, make-up, weapons, and garb for NPCs.
How the game is run
The game is run with logistics personnel and GMs (game masters) who ensure the flow of gameplay is safe and consistent. Month to month our volunteers put countless hours of time towards writing plot and creating new and exciting costumes for game. All in all you'll find this game to be vastly different from any you've played in the past.
Who attends KON?
Don't let movies, articles, or general misconceptions about LARP dissuade you from the game. We have people from a wide variety of backgrounds and ages, from doctors and librarians to business executives and teachers.
The experience is like living a weekend in a medieval town, under siege by the forces of undead, rampant orcs, and shifty bandits. You take away from the game what you put into it; whether you're a fan of archery, spell-casting, shield-walls, or just living the story. For what it costs to attend, you'd be crazy not to give it a try!