Assassination weapons in LARP - the Gom jabbar poison ring.

Oh yes, assassination is a big thing in LARP, nothing gets the game running as a good old backstabbing so to speak. Being an assassin in larp is always fun if you are proficient in well, being a dick. It is also, not very easy as one would make it out to be. See, assassination requires not just getting close, doing the kill but getting out too. Those are not so easy to accomplish as people think. For example dressing like that will give you praise for a good costume...

But you will never ever have a chance to get to your target. That's real life for you - people don't forget you or your face if you hide in a haystack for a few seconds. Same theme as with ninjas...you know they did not dress in black and jump around a lot in real life...but thats why they were effective. No, you need to look unassuming. That also means no fancy stuff like spring loaded hidden blades.

Yeah, I know its cool and so on, but even if you somehow resist showing off before the game, you can use it only once...after that people WILL know you have one, and you can't exactly change how your bracer looks all the time(though it IS possible)

No...you need a weapon that is easier to hide better than the hidden blade. Yes, pun intended. A boot knife or one hidden in your sleeve is better, except that most of the time it won't escape a half decent search attempt.

Now, I devised first as concept and soon as real practice, a series of cheap, disposable and rather useful assassination weapons. Bear in mind on the word assassination weapons - they will be useless in actual combat.

First one depends on one thing really - the availability and use of poison in your game.

Ever read (or watched) Dune? Then you must be familiar with the Gom Jabbar - the poison needle ring from it. This is my variation. Its very simple, cheap, effective and disposable. Just approach someone, gently wrap your arm around his shoulders while pricking his neck and whispering "Poison" to his ear and you are done. You can hide the ring in a second, or just throw it away - its  something small enough that won't be found immediately or at all. 

But how its made?

Tools needed are two pairs of small pliers and a pair of scissors.

Material - plastic bottle, cheapest trift store 10 for a buck plastic and brass crap rings. Just make sure its from those that can be expanded or tightened with ease. Optional - aluminium foil.

First make cut and sharpen some "needles" from the plastic bottles. Yeah - don't be afraid to make a sharp point - the target must feel the pin prick after all and its nothing serious, its not as if its capable of penetrating skin. If you want you can wrap it in foil or paint it in some colour. I'd say sickly green on the tip will do nice.

 Then use the pliers to open the ring you've chosen to work with. They are soft enough(being brass mostly) to be opened by hand, but you still need the pliers to close em tightly after that.

 Then fit the "needle" between the two sides, and simply close the ring again. Tighten it good or the needle might fall off. A drop of superglue should help too, I simply don't have any at the moment.

 Finally its done - You have your own needle ring that you can use immediately. Takes less than a minute to make one.

 

Here's the full collection I made today.