A question of Gear (Southern Mordavia)

South Island Christchurch discussion
#1

If you played a Roman or German would you provide your own armour? (Romans = Lorica Segmentata, Germans = Leather Armour/fur)

  • Yes, Definately Willing to Make Lorica
  • No, I’m happy to pay more for Lorica being Provided
  • Maybe, depends on cost
  • Yes, I would make my own Leather Armour (Germanic)
  • No, I would like to pay more for Leather Armour provided (Germanic)

0 voters

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Hi All,
I’ve been slaving over a hot melt gun for many months trying to get this armoury up to scratch for the first Southern Mordavia Weekend game.

However I need to get an idea of how much of each item I need to produce, or whether players would be prepared to make some of their own kit.

At present for the Romans I’m building:
19 Roman Scutum Shields
19 Roman Gladius
19 Lorica Segmentata
19 Roman Helmets

10 Roman Auxilia Spears
10 Roman Auxilia Shields
10 Roman Auxilia Helmets

The Germans:
20 Leather Torso pieces / replica’s
20 Shields
20 Various Weapons
3 Bows
30 Arrows

As you can see it’s a large gear list for the two Player factions let alone starting on the NPC gear pile. I much prefer it if some of the potential players would build their own armour as it is very time consuming to build, If you were interested in building your own Lorica or Leather Armour I could produce templates that you could use, the vote above is to gauge how many would be keen to build their own armour.

Also game fee’s will be cheaper for those who bring their own gear as it saves me a lot of time in gear production, which at this rate will take me another year to produce the desired numbers.

#2

You have set yourself a huge task and I commend you for it.

I would suggest that in addition to the game fee, you charge a substantial amount for people who don’t provide their own equipment (at least half the material cost, possibly 100%).

In my experience, people who don’t make their own equipment also don’t take very good care of other peoples. That’s a bit of a generalisation, but not much.

It’s all looking very good by the way!

#3

Indeed Derek, the plan was a rental charge for those pieces of kit that was supplied by the group. However in saying that things like Swords and Shields are standard items and will be provided as I’m still yet to find a gamer capable of destroying one of these Roman Scutums :laughing:

In regards to the gear list, most of the weapons and shields I can produce at a fast rate, the major hold up is the Latexing process, the cold weather is slowing me down something chronic.

#4

Don’t leave the liquid latex out in the shed. Christchurch is getting cold enough that it could be damaged.

#5

Actually I leave the coloured stuff in the fridge :slight_smile:, the fridge is warmer than outside on the worst of days :laughing:

Seriously though if it’s kept at room temp it’ll stay good for a few month, left in the fridge a month as long as it doesn’t get too cold :laughing: if it gets too cold it looks alright but cracks when it dries.

#6

I’ve heard people from the USA complain that fiberglass is more inclined to snap in extreme cold. Might be somethign to look out for.

Then again, it was one of their excuses for sticking with fat boffer weapons so I’m not sure how much credit to give it.

This whole idea of playing out the legion of Romans entering Mordavia is really growing on me. I love the idea of heaps of folks in lorica segmentata. Where do the Germans fit in?

#7

They dont. Thats why the romans kill em. Yay, xenophobic world powers :smiley:

#8

The XIIIth legion were chasing them when they got lost in the mountains and mist.

#9

Ah - for some reason I remembered it as being locals they were chasing. Dacian Carps or somesuch.

But you’re right, we thought it would be germanic Goths being pursued, as they had control of the area south of the Carpathians at about that time. The original Mordavians were probably from the Dacian tribes.

This is discussed at mordavia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=284 for those who have access to the Mordavia crew forum.

It raises an interesting question about where von Braun’s ancestors might have come from.

#10

Regarding the fiber glass shattering in cold conditions, I think we’d find that to be in severe cold like in the minus’s, anyhow with the foam wrapped about the fiber glass and the latex over it, it really is a nicely insulated piece of rod .

:wink:

Then again given time available to work on the gear pool, the game will most likely end up in the coming summer or the one after, also depending on upcoming real life events.

I would suspect apart from the Gypsies traveling outside of the valley that Mordavia’s valley would be made up of various sorts of people, after all it’s not an easily accessable valley, so over larges amount of time people would have wandered in decided to settle and villages are formed, the isolation would also explain the strange things that exist in the valley, kind of like “The land time forgot”, but more in the sense of outside world time is a lot slower there.

For those who don’t know the year I’ve set this at is 284AD, mostly to fit in with the state of the Roman Empire at the time

“200-299 Recession and soaring inflation ruin the economy. Twenty-two emperors come and go. After 250: Increasing invasions of the Roman empire by Franks and Goths. Dacia is abandoned in 270 and the Danube becomes the empire’s northern border. Also increased conflict with the Parthians, and a Roman Emperor is captured.”

Makes it a lot more chaotic for the Romans and ultimately for the Legion, also gives this Legion a reason to pursue a repelled Germanic invasion.

Note the year is one year short of the Roman Empire being divided by Diocletian.

Also on the Germanic side things went something like this

“180-300 The Goths, who perhaps originate in Scandinavia, migrate to the region north of the Black Sea. They dominate and rule the population there, while establishing ties with the Roman empire, and divide into Ostrogoths (East Goths, between the Don and Dneister Rivers) and Visigoths (West Goths, in the Ukraine)”

By what I gather the Germanic Tribes were good as Goths to begin with, just changed their names to suit.

The only problem I have with the game year is it was during one of the many persecutions of Christians, which destroys the Priest Role Playing role I had in mind for a Player, however we don’t always have to stay 100% commited to history, 95% is usually enough.
:wink:

Regards to players ancestors etc, I’ll leave that up to them, however just be warned I will be giving out a base template of certain beliefs and morals a Roman Soldier would expect to posses in that time period, however how one fills out their characters history is completely up to them.

Both Players sides will get given a brief of history before the current year, and will be expected to know certain important events, especially those of the 13th Legions, loses and victories.

Also in planning is a day game campaign that lasts a few months, based around the destruction of Pompeii by the erupting Mount Vesuvius, these day games will help potential CHCH players understand how the events of 79AD relate to the fate of the 13th Legion 205 years later being trapped in Mordavia :smiley:.

  • Scottie
#11

That just makes it an interesting time to play a priest. The fact that they were being persecuted probably means they were getting too powerful at a political level.

#12

Definately an interesting time to play a Priest, anyhow I picture the priest blessing Soldiers before battles and patrols, while screaming to the heavens when they stumble across pagans, really a very high energy role playing position, would ultimately by very minimal on the combat side as well.

Infact the Roman camp will have a few armourers, healers, merchants sorts with them, the beauty of this is that some of these merchants were originally trained in basic Legion tactics, so they could fit nicely into the Auxilia role or lesser Legionaire.

Also for the Lorica, all I’m using is Aluminum sheets, doesn’t rust, is light, and if you use a thick enough piece it will take a sword blow leaving a minor dent :slight_smile: which really just adds character to the armour and might give the armourer back at camp a way to make some coin :slight_smile:.

#13

All that historical background is very cool, it makes all the pseudo-historical nature of Mordavia really shine.

Having large groups coming form the outside should really ground them in the mundane before the supernatural stuff starts. A bit like what horror movies do, starting with everything seeming normal and then ramping up the weirdness.

Very nice.

#14

In the history I dreamed up for the XIIIth Legion the Centurian executed several of his men for “not keeping watch” because some vampires misted into the camp. They had no idea of the magic and assumed the guards had gone to sleep.

Healing should suck as well as the main players will probably have no magic for quite some time…

#15

Funny you mention healing, it will suck extremely for the Romans it will be slow and cumberson, being from the real world, magic is a foreign concept and unknown, this also is where the Priest comes into effect, magic is the devils work! :wink: In Fact I had thought Ryan would suit the priest role high role play very minimal combat :slight_smile:.

The whole historic background is the back bone of the players without it they are starting off as empty shells, hence why I’ve spent the last 3 months studying the Roman empire sigh, the Pompeii Day Campaign is just a recent idea, was browsing the time line and that eruption really stood out as catastrophic event that might have more too it than meets the eye.

#16

If only I wasn’t at totally the wrong end of the country, hey?

[size=59]and hadn’t kicked your arse last time we did swordplay[/size]

#17

Distance isn’t stopping other Auckland Mordavians :slight_smile:.

Oh and the kicking bit, remember I’ve sold you to the kitchen as road kill :slight_smile:.

Seriously though, you seem to enjoy the roleplay aspect a lot more than combat so the role just naturally seemed to fit.

#18

The idea I have in mind for healing is every half day you gain one HP back, which really puts the emphasis on armour, and would mean players would be more concious of how much damage their armour was taking.

Players that vouch for being Medics would also need to research a bit on the medical background of the era, and after reading a few of the cures for common illnesses it should be rather amusing to role play.

#19

Can’t find the drugs list I found the other night, however some of the surgery was effective

"Trepanation was a form of brain surgery designed to relieve pressure and cure headaches. Using a drill, a hole in the skull not only worked to relieve the pressure, but patients had a high survival rate.

Cataract surgery was also known. A thin needle was pushed though the eye to break up the cataract and the remaining pieces suctioned out through a long tube. Evidence suggests this procedure at least had a moderate rate of vision improvement success.

A form of ancient cosmetic surgery was also practiced. Excess skin or tissues could be trimmed from various parts to improve the appearance. Freed slaves also were common customers of branding removal. While an expensive procedure, being able to mask the history of service as a slave was a valuable operation in Roman society."

I do remember one cure for an eye infection, which used heavy metals in an eye drop, like iron and copper (eeek)

#20

The early Mordavia rules said that you get a Health Point back once a day from natural healing, after dinner. We took it out because evrybody got magical healing long before then.

I reckon it would make the most sense if you get it back when you wake up from a night’s sleep.