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Shade's Live Action Role Playing (LARP) List: Forums
Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2004 11:45 pm Post subject: Gummi Guns (was 'beanbags....')
Has anyone played a game that used beanbags for ranged weapons? I have seen one that uses them in place of arrows, and another one that uses them for guns. They use cap guns, and you have to fire the cap gun, then throw the beanbag. If the capgun doesnt go off, your weapon misfired, and you cant throw the beanbags. Weapons like Shotguns let you throw more than one bag at a time.
What are your opinions about this? Would it reduce the realism too much for a game?
Id like to know what you guys think about it. It sounds like it would be safer than airsoft, and require less safety equipment. The downside is that ammo would be bulky and I would have to re-think the economy... _________________ Where were you when they began to walk?
They Walk Among Us
"You are what you eat....And I'm a human"
"Having a Paladin tell a monster to go screw himself doesn't exactly constitute roleplaying"
Last edited by zombielarp on Thu Dec 09, 2004 12:37 am; edited 1 time in total
Joined: Jul 12, 2002 Posts: 1060 Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2004 5:13 am Post subject:
I'd prefer a point-and-click style for ranged combat over that. If you see the gun being fired at you, you're hit. With limited ammo this could be power-balanced.
I find the beanbag thing a bit crap, for magic or guns. It's just kinda comical.
Joined: Jan 15, 2002 Posts: 337 Location: Virginia, USA
Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2004 10:30 am Post subject:
Yeah, I play in a 1920s horror game whose rules evolved from a medieval fantasy game where beanbags were used for spells. So, beanbags were then used for guns. They work ok, but it means that you cannot hold a gun and something else (like a flashlight or lanter).
The interesting thing is that the larp has banned bows and arrows from the players because the arrows have better range and accurasy than a beanbag (we use soft tipped, padded arrows on light pull bows).
Because we play indoors a great deal, neither paintball nor airsoft are an option.
Howevr, now that gummi guns are making their way to America, we have started transitioning to those.
I think beanbags are fine for a low-budget larp. You can get a cheap cap gun at a dollar store.
It depends on what the "beanbags" are used for. If you're talking about larger packages (like baseball sized) actually filled with beans, I'm not to fond of them, especially when used for ranged weapons. I've never played a game that involved firearms, though, mostly because I've never seen a system that used them effectively. I've played games that use the larger beanbags as thrown weapons and arrows, which I can't stand.
In our game, we use physrep-packs - very small "beanbags" filled with birdseed - for some of the spells in the game. Physrep-packs are made simply by taking a small square of fabric, loading it up with birdseed, then closing it with a rubber-band to make a packet about 1" across with a short tail.
I'm really actually very fond of using these types of packets to represent certain spells (the rest of the spells in our game are either touch spells or "point-and-click"). I think they can actually add a lot of flavor to a magic system.
For ranged weaponry, however, I don't like them. Unification uses thrown weapons made of foam, and real bows and crossbows firing foam-tipped arrows. That's the way ranged weaponry should be.
Yeah, I play in a 1920s horror game whose rules evolved from a medieval fantasy game where beanbags were used for spells. So, beanbags were then used for guns. They work ok, but it means that you cannot hold a gun and something else (like a flashlight or lanter).
The interesting thing is that the larp has banned bows and arrows from the players because the arrows have better range and accurasy than a beanbag (we use soft tipped, padded arrows on light pull bows).
Because we play indoors a great deal, neither paintball nor airsoft are an option.
Howevr, now that gummi guns are making their way to America, we have started transitioning to those.
I think beanbags are fine for a low-budget larp. You can get a cheap cap gun at a dollar store.
Yeah, thats the game I was referring to. Have you actually tried the gummi guns? Would they be safe enough to use without safety glasses? They look alright as far as looks, but Id like to see some more modern looking weapons.
Im looking into different options. Airsoft is still there, as well as laser tag weapons. Some of the newer ones let you modify variables such as hit points, damage, and range.
[edit]
I chatted with someone at Kapowwe (a US distributer of gummi guns), and they said that unless you are staring down the barrel of the gun, it is pretty hard to get hurt using the guns. What I think im going to do is order one of the gummi pistols and compare it to my aisoft pistol. Once that is done, Ill write a review comparing both and the significance different features would have on LARP. _________________ Where were you when they began to walk?
They Walk Among Us
"You are what you eat....And I'm a human"
"Having a Paladin tell a monster to go screw himself doesn't exactly constitute roleplaying"
Joined: Apr 27, 2004 Posts: 30 Location: San Antonio, Texas, USA
Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2004 5:19 pm Post subject:
What are these "gummi guns"? I am trying to find Nerf-type weapons that have repeating fire, but are (relatively) safe to use without eye protection. _________________ Determination is a two-edged sword
Gummi guns are toy guns that fire little pellets made of soft rubber. You can check out some at http://www.realistictoyguns.com/edison.mv. They have a range of 25 feet, so there would be no sniping from 100 feet away. From what I was told by the owner of the above site, unless you are looking down the barel of the gun, significant eye injuries should not be a problem. I ordered one of the handguns to test it out. Ill post my findings when I do, though.
When I first started out, I was going to go with nerf, but decided not to since official ammo is kind of expensive. I think the darts are around 50 cents each, whereas gummi bullets are half that price. You can make your own nerf bullets, bt they arent nearly as safe as the official ones, and you have to modify the gun in order to use them. The upside is that they are available in most toy stores. _________________ Where were you when they began to walk?
They Walk Among Us
"You are what you eat....And I'm a human"
"Having a Paladin tell a monster to go screw himself doesn't exactly constitute roleplaying"
Joined: Aug 09, 2004 Posts: 153 Location: Kiel, Germany
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 6:47 am Post subject:
Only to have mentioned them: I knew of rubber-band guns in this fashion http://www.lydia.org/bandgun/items.html. Those guns at that site look great - but I fear the original creator Gerry Stevens (Baron Sir Gerhard Kendal of Westmoreland within the SCA) has died in 2003. There were plans of getting the production up again by spring 2004 but I do not know if it is possible to purchase new rubber-band guns by now.
They 'shoot' the rubber-band approximately 5-7m (~15' to 20') and though there are concerns about a rubber-band being dangerous for it is smaller than the eye those who used it say that it is about as dangerous as a normal boffer/latex weapon. The rubber-band spreads out in midair and it is the whole ring that actually hits you - and since the velocity of the rubber-band is not that high I'd consider it altogether as 'not dangerous if used with the usual care everyone has to show when simulating combat with others'. Some LARPers I know use these band-guns (of course they ask for permission to use them and demonstrate them before play) for quite some time and they are very satisfied. Kendal Band Guns advises to wear eye protection, though.
There is a german site with a detailed (german) description on how to build these guns: http://www.markoschenheim.de/waffen/pulver/schwarzp.htm I could try to translate this page if neccessary. _________________ "Like the moon goddess on her path eternal..."
Joined: Jan 15, 2002 Posts: 337 Location: Virginia, USA
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 10:59 am Post subject:
zombielarp wrote:
I chatted with someone at Kapowwe (a US distributer of gummi guns), and they said that unless you are staring down the barrel of the gun, it is pretty hard to get hurt using the guns. What I think im going to do is order one of the gummi pistols and compare it to my aisoft pistol. Once that is done, Ill write a review comparing both and the significance different features would have on LARP.
They are correct. It's tough to get hurt with a gummi gun.
There is a steampunk/pulp LARP up in the Boston area that makes its own guns out of pvc and springs. They are way cool looking and fire soft foam balls. I can't remember the name of the group, though.
I didnt want to start a whole new topic, so I changed the name of this one..
I got my Gummi gun in the mail today. I did some close range testing (i.e under 2 feet) on both bare skin and 2 layers of clothing. It stung a little on both, and left a whelt on my bare skin. I still need to test out longer ranges to see at what distance it becomes safe to use it without safety goggles.
Buggy, was there any particular brand of guns used in the games you played? Or was it all generic? Also, what was the range of the guns you used? Were there any special rules you had for using them?
Thanks,
Z _________________ Where were you when they began to walk?
They Walk Among Us
"You are what you eat....And I'm a human"
"Having a Paladin tell a monster to go screw himself doesn't exactly constitute roleplaying"
Joined: Jan 15, 2002 Posts: 337 Location: Virginia, USA
Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 10:10 am Post subject:
I don't recall using a specific brand. We didn't have any particular rules other than if you got hit with a gummi pellet, you were shot where you were hit.
We do have the rule that for all weapons, head shots don't count.
The campaign is called "altered Realities campaign." You can do a google search to find it.
The gun I got is hitting a little harder than I thought. I stil have to try ot out at longer ranges, but I think I may have to make some rules about using (or not using) the guns at close range.
I beleive that the Altered Reaities site still has the cap gun/beanbag rules up.
One problem Im running into is that there is no rating system on the guns like there is in Airsoft. So every brand of gun might have a a different level of firepower to it, and there is no way of objectively estimating it, intil you test it out. _________________ Where were you when they began to walk?
They Walk Among Us
"You are what you eat....And I'm a human"
"Having a Paladin tell a monster to go screw himself doesn't exactly constitute roleplaying"
I did some more testing today, and found that with both the gummi gun AND the airsoft gun, that changes in clothing greatly affect the impact the bullet has on you. If you are wearing a tight(ish) t-shirt you get stung pretty badly by the bullets, but putting on at least one layer of loose clothing reduces the impact to the point that its almost not felt. That is at close range (i.e 3 feet).
Not sure what to do about that. Any suggestions? _________________ Where were you when they began to walk?
They Walk Among Us
"You are what you eat....And I'm a human"
"Having a Paladin tell a monster to go screw himself doesn't exactly constitute roleplaying"
[quote="RyanPaddy"]I'd prefer a point-and-click style for ranged combat over that. If you see the gun being fired at you, you're hit. With limited ammo this could be power-balanced.
I find the beanbag thing a bit crap, for magic or guns. It's just kinda comical.[/quote]
If you see a gun being fire at you, just throw directly with your throwing knife. _________________ cheap weapons
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I still need to test out longer ranges to see at what distance it becomes safe to use it without safety goggles.
