Damage calls

A beginner's guide to damage calls in LARP combat — shouting a number or keyword when you strike so everyone knows the effect.

When you land a hit in LARP combat, simply connecting the weapon is rarely enough on its own. Most games ask you to call out a number, a word, or a short phrase at the moment of the strike so your target knows exactly what effect to apply. This spoken declaration is known as a damage call, and it keeps the fiction consistent and the game fair for everyone involved. The most common form is a plain number — saying "two" or "five" as your weapon makes contact tells the other player how many points to subtract from their character's total. Some games layer keywords on top of, or instead of, numbers: words like "single," "double," or "heavy" might each correspond to a fixed amount set in that game's rulebook. Effect words such as "poison," "stun," or "flaming" can also be added to signal a special condition beyond raw damage. What each call means, and how you respond to it, is defined entirely by the game you are playing. Taking calls honestly is just as important as making them correctly. When you hear a call and feel a valid hit land on your body or your prop, you are expected to apply the effect in good faith, even if nobody else saw it happen. This mutual trust is often described as "honour system" play, and it is the foundation that lets fast, exciting combat work without a referee watching every exchange. If you are ever unsure whether a hit connected cleanly or whether you heard the call right, most communities encourage a quick out-of-character check rather than guessing. Safety is always the first priority in any LARP combat scene. Before play begins, attend the game's safety brief, which will cover permitted strike zones, forbidden targets such as the head, neck and groin in many systems, and how to call a time-out if something goes wrong. The word "hold" — or an equivalent stop-play call — freezes all action immediately; learn it before your first fight and never hesitate to use it. Weapon standards, padding requirements, and how hard you may swing vary from event to event, so treat your game's own rules and briefing as the final authority on all of this. Damage calls differ meaningfully between games, and a call that means one thing at one event may mean something quite different at another. If you are new to a system, read the rulebook section on combat before you pick up a weapon, and ask an experienced player or a marshal to walk you through the most common calls used at that specific event. A few minutes of preparation will make your first fight safer and more enjoyable for everyone sharing the field with you.