Safety is a primary concern in all our games; following these rules is imperative, and ignoring them could result in removal from the game.
The only contact allowed during active combat is by an approved melee Weapon. Any other type of fighting contact such as grabbing someone, hitting, or kicking is strictly forbidden. Even when contacting another (friendly or immobilized) creature, for example to pick up a fallen ally, you may only touch the target on their shoulder and indicate your intention with a proper verbal call. You should never actually pick someone up or move them to drag them off of the field of battle, nor should you attempt to make shoulder contact (for a Skill like Healing Arts or First Aid) with a target who is resisting.
Shield Bashing is the intentional use of a Shield to gain physical OOG advantage over an opponent. This might include physically pushing or striking an opponent with a Shield. Shield Bashing is a serious violation of the safety rules. The potential for injury is great. Excessive use of Shield Bashing will result in warnings and possible loss of the Shield Skill.
During combat, you must never come into physical contact with your opponent. If you are crowding your opponent enough that they must step back to avoid body contact with you, you are charging. It’s possible to fight safely with very short Weapons, but you must take special care to not force the other person back physically to avoid contact.
If you have moved so close to your opponent that they can reach out a hand and touch your shoulder or torso, you are probably charging.
If you can hit an opponent over their shoulder from the front, you are probably charging.
“Pinning” refers to a fighting tactic where you trap your opponent’s Weapon so that it is unusable, intentionally trapping the Weapon under a Weapon or Shield so that it cannot be safely pulled back to swing again. Although pinning Weapons is a mainstay of many movies, it is dangerous in combat and as such there are many restrictions as to its use.
Any Weapon or Shield shaped in such a way as to trap Weapons, whether accidentally or by design, is forbidden.
Legal targets include the entire body except the head, neck, hands from the wrist out, and the groin. These locations count for both for Weapon delivered attacks and Packet delivered attacks.
You may not intentionally block a hit with an illegal target such as putting an empty hand up to block a swing and then claiming it hit an illegal target.
If you do not have the Skill to use a Weapon you are carrying, or if you are presently unable to use a Weapon in which you are Skilled, you must either immediately drop the Weapon or take any damage that hits your Weapon.
You may not hold more than one Weapon in a hand and use those Weapons. If you are holding more than one Weapon in a hand and one of those Weapons is hit with a Weapon blow, then you must take the damage. This includes Shields; you may not hold a Weapon in the same hand that you are using to carry a Shield and still block with the Shield.
You may hold other small non-Weapon items such as gas globes, spell Packets, coins, potions, etc, in your Weapon or Shield hand and utilize that Weapon or Shield normally. This must be done safely. You may not hold anything in combat that is not combat-safe. Set aside unsafe objects immediately, calling a Pause Game if needed.