Setting - The Defenders - The Archers

IC: Welcome to the Archers

To our newest Archer,

Congratulations on passing your basic training- you may now call yourself an Archer of the Kingdom! As an Archer you are part of the four branches of Defenders who protect our kingdom. Your role will specifically be to support the Defenders, and rain missiles down upon our foes.

Oaths

As a Defender of the Kingdom, you swear to defend and protect with your life all citizens of the Kingdom, never to flee combat when it places a citizen in danger, and to take and follow the orders of your superior officers. As an Archer you must vow to never use heavy armour or any shield beyond a buckler. These could slow your deployment, leaving the Kingdom or it’s citizens undefended.

Skills

As a Defender the other branches will be able to provide you some training in melee weapons, armour and various castings. However, as an Archer, we provide you with unparalleled opportunities to train in the use of missile weapons, both in their best application and some more fancy “trick-shots”. Of particular value to our recruits is the rapid training that we can offer in the use of our weapons of the field, namely the longbow and the crossbow.

Military hierarchy

You will begin as an Archer, but can advance to the ranks of Lance-Corporal and Corporal, and from there to Sergeant, Lead Sergeant and Master Sergeant. If you have a taste for leadership, you may apply to take a commission as an officer, becoming a Lieutenant, Captain or Overcaptain. Whatever path you choose, you must obey the orders of your superiors at all times.

Foes

Our enemies are anyone who would endanger the Kingdom or her subjects, including those who break the law.

I look forward to seeing you in at the shooting range,

Archer Captain Lindon

IC Resources

Documents

None at present.

Player-Created Snippets

None at present.

OOC: Playing an Archer

The full rules for The Archers can be found under:

Player Rules – The Kingdom – Guilds – Defenders – The Archers

The Defenders are the standing military of the Kingdom, and the Archers form their ranged support branch. Archers follow the same oaths as other Defenders – to defend Kingdom subjects and obey orders- but receive their specialist training in the use of bows and crossbows. Being in the Defenders is challenging and rewarding- your character must sometimes take risks to protect and serve others, but Defenders are most likely to receive responsible roles like party commander, and can enjoy strong camaraderie with other military characters.

There are many reasons to join the Defenders- an urge to protect people, service as an alternative to punishment, wanting power and glory, or just looking for a steady job and a roof over your head. The Defenders will take any character as long as they are willing to follow the oaths.

The Archer bonuses allow a character to rapidly become skilled as a combat archer. The free armour proficiency and half-cost weapon skills allowing them to start play in a better position than if they had no guild. The rest of the Archer bonuses allow them to rack up damage quickly, increasing their weapon skill, learning specialist strikes to go through armour or to be undodgeable as well as learning sniping to deal additional damage to an unaware target.

There is a downside to all of this: bows are, without exception, the most dangerous weapon OOC in LARP as even a padded arrow has a pointy end if it spins. For this reason we require members who would like to use a bow or crossbow to pass a short competency test or “bow comp”. The guidelines for bows and arrows at BathLARP can be found here:

Our Club – LARP Safety – Archery

In addition to this LARP safe bows and arrows can be very expensive, and arrows can easily get lost or broken. A guide to buying bows and arrows for LARP can be found here:

Our LARP System – Advanced Guides and Resources – Bow-Buying Guide

As an Archer, you would know that:

The Defenders consist of the Guards, Pathfinders, Wardens and Archers.
The lowest rank soldiers are referred to simply by their branch (e.g. Archer Smith) or as Private (e.g. Private Smith) or both (e.g. Archer Private Smith).
The Non-Commissioned Officer ranks are Lance-Corporal, Corporal, Sergeant, Lead Sergeant, and so on.
Defenders can choose to earn or buy rank as a Commissioned Officer. Their ranks are Lieutenant, Captain, Overcaptain, etc.
The Archers provide accommodation, food, training and kit, and you don’t have to tithe them, so you keep all your danger pay.