The construction principle: The armour is single- layered, meaning that - opposite to the chaos-armour- it is in direct contact with the wearer without underlying volume-generating buildup. The broad shoulders are just fur which also joins the upper-arm- plates to the harness: The fur is glued under the armour, the plates in turn under the fur.
The oversized behind-the-head- structure makes the creature look larger and more massive and the “rollover-bar” actually offers protection against hits from foam- weapons from behind or the sides.
Although I love spikes there are none in impact- areas (that would be unfair because players would spare these regions in order not to damage the outfit). A monster´s impact areas are arms, legs and the back (monster-hunters aren´t stupid as I´ve repeatedly learned the hard way...).
A creature looking like this always is a mighty character- whose kind in the Phönix- gameworld all work for the organizers. If you have something in the game that can kill an unarmed beginner´s character with one hit you´ll want it to be under control.
And how do you portray a superman if in reality you aren´t one? He can be boosted by the rules of the game; for example he might be able to perform magic while wearing armour without fumbling or his weapons might cause exaggerated damage while in turn only special sorts of weapons (for instance blessed ones) might be able to harm him.
But that is only one side. When the critter stands on the field of battle and is meant to be a super-warrior, it chiefly has to be an above- average fighter. That doesn´t mainly mean fighting- prowess- of course he has to know what he´s doing, but we want to tune up the armour: he must be faster and more agile than his opponents.
“Full flexible” for a warrior means: - Head and hip must be able to move unhindered. The helmet must not impair sight or touch the harness which in turn (at least here) covers only the upper body. The hip-area is protected by the belt. - Upper arms must be able to raise 45 degrees to the front and sides. Ellbows must be able to bend 90 degrees. - Legs must not be impaired in their movement to the front. Knees must be able to bend 90 degrees. Leg- armour is light; protection of the thighs to the side is more important than to the front (there´s no stabbing in larp). Rule of thumb: if half- high sidekicks can be performed with correct technique it will work ok. With larp foam- armour we don´t have to consider weight and can ignore details like the otherwise deadly impractical behind- the head- structure (I am aware that nobody in his right mind would wear something like this in a real battle).
Because foam- armour is lighter and more comfortable to wear than steel the above listed features make the monster (assuming same or higher dexterity) a superior opponent. A cqc- training also helps, by the way...
At this point a word to those who know how to fight in reality: 1: Be especially considerate. 2: Refrain from transferring real fighting techniques that exceed basic concepts into the game- worlds. The techniques employed there must not cause injuries. 3: No weapon- demonstrations. If you play with weapons, somebody will get hurt. There is no exception from this rule.
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