Before we get started with this week's Moon Pope Monday post I'd like to give my readers an update. I've been steadily working to get my previous character build articles up and running again, and as of today my Gotham Knights series has been re-posted and collected at this link right here. You can also see the complete archive of character conversions by clicking the tab above and to your right.
Now that I've told you that, let's talk about this...
Yes, it's exactly what you think it is.
What you are looking at is something that every kid would squeal with joy to find under the Christmas tree (and if we're honest, most of us so-called "adults" would do the same). Sabertron is a sword fighting system that can tell the difference between a blow on the wielder and a blow on his or her sword, and which can keep score electronically. So while cheap shots and dirty fighting are still part of the game there's no denying that one opponent managed to strike the other.
Seriously, check out the promo video they put together for this thing.
I want one. Hell with that, I want four.
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Sitting at a roleplaying table and rolling dice is the closest many of us get to strapping on a suit of armor and entering life-threatening combat with medieval weaponry. A lot of gamers will pick up foam weapons and play at being heroes in a LARP setting, and sometimes they pick up a few genuine skills in the endeavor. Some may even get up the cojones to join the SCA or another re-enactment group and compete in armored combat, but by and large these organizations always put fighter safety first. This means that weapons tend to be rattan or some other form of blunted material, the pace is meant to be less than full-speed, and there's a laundry list of maneuvers that simply are not allowed on the field. More often than not modern Western martial arts organizations are interested in history and fantasy, but not in leaving participants bloody and broken on the battlefield.
Then there's these guys.
No this is not a joke, or some illegal thing that only happens in the boondocks; that is a promo video for a Polish Knight Fighting League. It is a place where men put on full plate and helms, pick up blunted swords, axes, and polearms, then proceed to get medieval on each other until there's only one man left standing. Gauntlet punches, elbow and knee strikes, helmeted head butts, shield bashes and full-out bull rushes are all allowed, and judging from the crowd's reaction quite encouraged.
Approacheth me brother!
As with any sporting event combat is judged by referees. Landed blows count to determine the winner based on form, but knock outs are understandably common (there's a beautiful shot or two in the promo that shows what happens when a mace is applied to a helmet at around mach 2). In many ways it's like MMA or boxing... except worlds cooler. These events are understandably popular in Europe, but they have them in America too. There's also international leagues, for those who want to travel to the birthplaces of the knight and try to throw down heavy metal style in places where castles and banners are not that far in the past.
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