Rules
Safety, costumes, combat and gear — the rules of the Uncertain Future battle.
Basic Rules
Age
This event is open only to persons over 18 years of age.
Costume
Our battle has a mandatory costume policy. That means jeans, hoodies, camo and other unsuitable clothing stay at home. Your costume must match the colours of the faction you're fighting for.
Since our battle is set in the world of The Witcher, please style your costume accordingly. A classic gothic or early-medieval costume is perfectly fine. This isn't a historical-accuracy event, so you're welcome to add fantasy elements to your costume. Especially if your character is an elf or a dwarf, elf ears, face paint, dwarven beards and similar touches are welcome.
Don't forget that your luggage is also part of your costume. You'll find more details in each faction's section. Please try to match the description of your faction — we think everyone can manage at least one small accessory for their costume to better fit into the world of The Witcher. Plenty of things can be borrowed from friends, and the overall impression will be that much better for it.
Equipment and Armour
March and Gear
Adapt your gear for a longer march, because during the event you won't be returning to the same spot! Bring a water canteen — you'll be able to refill it along the way. Be ready to move over demanding terrain, and for the event to take place in any weather, since a proper downpour only adds to the intensity of the battle. Since the event takes place in February, you should also expect snow :-)
Armour
A mandatory part of your costume is a FUNCTIONAL helmet (a visor or other face protection is recommended), metal/hard leather/heavily padded gloves suitable for historical fencing, and at least a gambeson. Maybe you're tough and nothing's ever happened to you even wearing just a mail coif, but stitching someone up on a stump in the woods simply slows everything down. Please be considerate of us — looking after the injured drains our resources.
Given the nature of the event, we don't recommend bringing overly heavy armour such as a full mail hauberk or full plate armour. Various extra pieces are welcome and serve only your own safety — they won't give you any advantage in the game. Please don't raise arguments like "I've got a cuirass, I could take more hits."
Combat
Every side will have several members of the organising team in the field, and we will be checking everything very strictly. We don't want invincible brawlers running around the battlefield. If you can't hold yourself back, please don't come.
Also, don't argue if you feel your opponent is being too tough. If you have a problem with someone, report it to the nearest commander/organiser and we'll sort it out for you. Over the course of the whole campaign you'll get more than enough fighting in, so if someone slips through your otherwise perfect defence, just admit it — you'll get them back soon enough.
Rules of fair, friendly fencing apply
- I don't strike where I can't see — behind myself, wildly flailing behind a shield, behind a wall, etc.
- Once I've taken a hit, I stop actively taking part in the fight. That means I don't cut at my friends' legs on my way to the ground!
- If I attack from behind, I don't deliver a jumping axe blow to my opponent's neck.
- If I injure someone, I'm responsible for them. I make sure they get treatment and find the nearest medic.
- Thrusting with a weapon not designed for it is explicitly forbidden.
- A cut is delivered with a reasonable, controlled swing. A tap isn't a cut, but we won't look kindly on excessively hard or vicious blows either.
- Blocking with invalid or forbidden hit zones is forbidden!
- Adapt your fencing to your own gear. Hitting people hard while wearing only very light armour isn't fair, and it takes advantage of your opponent's restraint.
Hit Zones
Hit zones for melee combat:
- Valid: torso, arms down to the forearm, legs down to the knee, head
- Invalid: fingers, wrists (essentially the gloves), below the knee
- Forbidden: groin, face
Hit zone for archery: torso — the arrow must stop against the enemy's body. If it continues in flight, it doesn't count as a hit.
Death and Revival
Dying
Every soldier and every commander has exactly one life during a single engagement. That means if you take a wound in combat that would realistically kill you or take you out of the fight, you're out for that engagement. It's great if you fall to the ground in feigned pain, cry out for help, play dead, and so on. In other words, you die on "first good hit." Unless told otherwise, you stay lying on the ground like a corpse until the end of the engagement.
The second way to be revived will be at your faction's flag — you'll always be told about this in advance.
Reviving
After every engagement, all the corpses will be revived on the commander's signal. Please follow their orders (kicks, whip strikes...). In exceptional cases we'll proceed differently, but we'll clearly let you know beforehand.
Weapons
Melee Weapons
Both edged and blunt weapons are allowed at the event — swords of all lengths, hangers, axes, maces and so on. The edge and point of the blade must be blunt (a seemingly obvious note, but it's happened to us before). You can bring as many as you like, but every single one must be approved by an organiser. Attempting to smuggle in a non-compliant weapon means immediate expulsion from the event.
Based on past experience, we'll be paying extra attention to axes, since their tips are often quite sharp. Every part of an axe head must have a minimum radius of a two-crown coin. We will only approve one-handed axes of a reasonable weight. If you have any doubt about a weapon, it's probably justified.
Polearms
Every polearm must be reported in advance and registered to a specific fighter — this will be possible during registration. The number is limited to one polearm per 10 fighters.
But beware: the head (tip) must be made of rubber or plastic and have a deforming or flexible surface. We want to keep a good balance between safety and appearance, so painting it in a matching colour or with spray paint is definitely welcome and won't look out of place.
You can get heads like these from, for example:
Ranged Weapons
Every archer must wear a functional helmet.
Ranged weapons will be limited at the event the same way as polearms, i.e. one per 10 fighters. The maximum draw weight is 15 kg. Given the rising number of eye injuries at events, we'll be paying extra attention to arrows and bolts — their construction, dimensions and padding. You'll find instructions for making an arrow in the text "O lucích a lidech" ("On Bows and People").
The minimum diameter of the arrowhead is 5 cm. The archer must be willing to disassemble a randomly chosen arrow if asked to by an organiser during approval. Please don't raise arguments like "I shoot with this everywhere else", "it won't fly properly otherwise", or "you approved it last time." We'll strictly follow the measured parameters. Also be prepared for a test shot on the owner at full draw. The minimum number of approved arrows is 15 (we recommend bringing spares). You may not shoot someone else's ammunition — after every engagement you'll get time to collect and swap arrows.
If you'd rather not spend time making a head yourself, you can also buy one, for example from Hůrka.
Most common reasons for rejection: draw weight too high, head loose/wobbling on the shaft, cracked shaft, little or no padding, shaft punching through the padding, head diameter too small, sharp/metal objects inside the head, missing nocks.
Any weapon may be banned and confiscated by the organisers for the duration of the event!
Special Rules
Non-combatant Characters
There will be atmospheric characters at the event whom it is forbidden to attack with any weapon unless you receive a direct order from a commander.
Non-combatant companions of fighters (children, women, grandmothers, ...) are NOT permitted. All animals are banned at the event.
ONLY the photographers and camera operators arranged by the event organisers are permitted to take photos at the event. The list of official photographers will be added.
Prohibitions
Alcohol in any amount is strictly forbidden before and during combat. Anyone we catch is sent home. We'll have a beer after the battle ;-)
Smoking and lighting fires are also forbidden on the battlefield.