• Spars in Lost Worlds are not for the purpose of eliminating one’s opponent, but rather, for the purpose of enjoyment.
• Anyone wishing to settle a dispute via sparring must arrange it with the room leaders. At least one judge will be required in such an event.
• If someone wishes a practice spar judged, he/she must send the script to the room leaders.

Spar Rules

• Spars will be fought in alternating posts.  The number of posts must be agreed upon beforehand by the combatants.  In the case of a tournament, the number of posts shall be three.  No more, no less.  5 is right out.
• Each post may have a total of 5 actions. No more than two of these actions can be defensive. An action is a deliberate maneuver to dodge, block, or otherwise avoid an opponent’s attack, or an attempt to use your weapon to touch the opponent.
• The first post (which does not count towards the post limit) will be an introductory post, in which the combatants state: weapons, shields, armour, and stance.
• Combatants are limited to a total of three weapons and shields. However, they are encouraged to use all parts of their body as well. Only weapons from the Lost Worlds era (Ancient Europe from 3000 BC – 500 AD) will be recognized.
• Competitors are reminded that it is unacceptable to backpost. Backposting is when you place an attack action in the period before your opponent has finished his attack actions. You may place your defence during his attacks, but please refrain from attacking until the period in which his attacks have ended.
• Godmoding will not be tolerated.
• The competitor who begins the spar will get a chance to make a final post, in which he may post his defence against his opponent’s final action. The amount of actions he may take in this post is dependant on his first post – however many actions remain from that post (which should be all attacks) may be used.
• Opponents may agree on a time limit. In a tournament, the limit will be 10 minutes.

Forceposting

The definition of force posting is, that during the process of sparring, you declare an action in such a manner as to leave no choice for your opponent but to accept the blow. Whether this is directly applied or indirectly applied, it is a violation most heinous of the rules.

Direct violation:
"I swing my sword, slashing quickly across your chest."

Indirect violation:
"I bring my sword down towards your chest, knowing that there is no way you can block, because your arm is pinned and you don't have time to raise your shield."

Proper:
"I bring my sword down towards your chest, in an attempt to slash along it."

How to deal with force posting:
Force posting will result in a loss of points for the person making the post. All blows the defender accepts as a result of a force post will NOT win the attacker points. As there are no death spars in Lost Worlds, force posts cannot result in severe of fatal wounds.

Judging

Lost Worlds uses a point-based system to judge its spars. Each combatant will start with 10 points. Points will be deducted for the following:

• One point will be deducted for each force post.
• One point will be deducted for each back post.
• One point will be deducted for each unrealistic action.
• One point will be deducted for each action that does not have a flowing transition.
• One point will be deducted for each action over five that a competitor takes.
• One point will be deducted for each defensive action over two that a combatant takes.
• In timed spars, one point will be deducted for going over the time limit.

Similarly, points will be added for the following:

• One point will be added for acknowledging a blow.
• Two points will be added for scoring a blow.
• One point will be added for making a defensive action count against multiple attacks.
• Up to three points may be awarded at the judge’s discretion for excellence in description or originality in movements.

Copyright Caius and Hippolyta 2003 - 2007