The Game
Swordcraft is Australia’s largest live-action battle game, combining medieval fantasy with fast-paced, large-scale combat. Players engage in immersive battles using foam weapons, wearing detailed costumes, and embracing the world of LARP (Live Action Role-Playing). The game is designed for both casual and competitive play, offering a rich experience that includes weekly battles, large-scale Quest Events, and deep lore-driven narratives.
Introduction to Live Action Roleplaying
Live Action Roleplaying (LARP) is an immersive form of roleplaying where participants physically act out their characters’ actions in a live setting. Unlike traditional tabletop RPGs, where players describe their characters’ actions, LARP allows participants to experience the game world firsthand by wearing costumes, engaging in combat, and making decisions that affect the narrative.
The Joy of Escapism
Getting involved in LARP is easy and fun. Whether you’re drawn to epic battles, character interactions, or simply enjoy stepping into another world, LARP provides a fun experience of escapism. It’s a chance to leave behind the stresses of the real world and embrace a new identity, whether that’s an honourable knight, a nefarious bandit, or a fledgling spellcaster.
Battle LARP
Swordcraft is a battle-focused LARP, meaning that combat plays a central role in the game. However, fighting is not the only way to participate. Players can still engage in the game without focusing on combat by taking on non-combatant roles such as merchants, diplomats, crafters, or quest-givers. Once a you join a warband you can work with them to help find your role in the world of Swordcraft.
Weekly Friday games provide a variety of opportunities for social interaction, event planning, and community building with the friends you have made in the game.
For those attending Quest events, there is even more opportunity to excel in roleplaying situations, as the world expands with political intrigue, faction disputes, and grand storytelling. Whether you thrive in the chaos of battle or prefer to engage through storytelling and diplomacy, there is a place for everyone in Swordcraft.
Weekly Games
Swordcraft runs weekly battle games in various locations across Australia, offering players thrilling combat experiences all across the country. On the field, your warband may choose to engage in shield wall formations, flank enemies as skirmishers, or take on a supporting role by acting as healers, spellcasters, or operating war machines that can wreak havoc upon the battlefield.
These battles are inspired by both historical and fantasy warfare, allowing players to hone their sword fighting skills, work together as a team, and develop valuable teamwork strategies. Each chapter also has its own ongoing narrative, the outcomes often shaped by the result of the battles - when a warband wins, their story may progress.
So, whether you are a seasoned player or new to LARP, the weekly battles provide an incredible experience that blends sport, storytelling, and friendship-building, all within the immersive world of Swordcraft.
Warbands
After your first night you should ask around and tour with different warbands until you find a warband you like and start engaging with them to create softkit and gearing yourself up for the battle.
A warband is a group of likeminded people who:
- Want to create a lasting friendship group
- Like to fight together
- Share a common interest in creating softkit of a particular interesting group from the Warhammer Fantasy setting
Having joined a warband, you and your warband will then be split with the other warbands into two larger armies and battle it out for winning that night.
We encourage you to experience multiple warbands before making a commitment, this is known as "touring". Each group has its own unique playstyle, culture, and dynamic. Some warbands may focus heavily on the combat aspect of the game, while others prioritise immersive roleplay or community bonding. The Swordcraft community is welcoming and diverse, with many groups eager to invite new members into their ranks and share in their love of the game.
Chapters
While most chapters function similarly, each has its own take on how weekly games are run. Select the chapter closest to you from the list below to learn more about its unique style and structure:
- Melbourne (Sudenburg)
- Brisbane (Helsreik)
- Ballarat (Kriegstor)
- Bendigo (Stromstadt)
- Gippsland (Braylong)
- Geelong (Handelsdorf)
- Mildura (Bracken)
- Newcastle (Ritterstein)
- South Australia (Iron Triangle)
Common Weekly Game Modes
Each week the chapters play different game modes to make the night more interesting and fun. While they vary across each chapter the common game modes you will see include:
- Capture the Flag: Armies must capture the enemy flag.
- Assassination: Each army must try and kill the opponent's VIP player to win.
- Total Annihilation: One army left standing wins!
Quest Events
Quest Events are Swordcraft’s immersive, large-scale LARP experiences, bringing together hundreds of players for weekend-long adventures. These events feature:
- Expansive Stories – Deep, evolving narratives that influence future events.
Faction Warfare – Large-scale battles where players fight for glory and rewards.
Roleplaying & Politics – Beyond combat, players engage in trade, diplomacy, and intrigue.
Custom Costumes & Camps – Players create fully immersive experiences with medieval-style encampments and detailed character development.
Quest Events are the heart of Swordcraft’s living world, offering players the chance to leave their mark on the game’s ongoing storyline.
Joining Swordcraft as a New Player
New players are always welcome at Swordcraft, with our new player training occuring at our weekly games, players are taught the necccessary skills and guidance from our trainers for you to get right into it and join the battle. Here’s what you need to know:
- Provided Weapons: For your first night, you will be provided with a foam sword and shield.
- Joining the Militia: You will join the new player militia, a group of new players like yourself, where you will be shown how to fight together as a team and learn the basics of swordfighting.
- Combat: Combat is based on a hit-point system – the damage you take and deal depends on the weapon hit with and location. Your trainer will go over the rules with you on the night.
- The Battle: You will then join the battle on one of the teams and fight to win the night!
- End of Game: If you enjoyed the night and think LARPing is for you, then at the end of the night, you will have the opportunity to talk to some of the leaders of warbands in the community about playing with them.
Character Creation
Once you have joined a warband you will be able to chat to them about creating a new character. Each warband has its own story and self governed rules about character creation and they will all be more than happy to assist you with your LARP journey!
You can also read about the world setting and character creation if you are interested in learning more about general guidelines for character creation.
