by Jason "Aeston" Rosa
We asked a wide assortment of Realms players from many different starting eras what they believe is the most significant change made to the rules in the time they have been playing. Let's see their answers:
John “Gordon” Rescigno: I can’t remember the year because time has become meaningless since Covid and becoming a parent. But the most meaningful change I have seen has been the removal of spell paths in our current system. Customization to match roleplay is a huge part of what our game has become, and I like that we no longer have “tax spells”. This allows players to have builds that feel more engaging and more importantly, make them feel more like their characters.
Alex "Adoros" Taylor: Honestly, I like the change of the spell system from Paths to the current Pool system. I do wish we had 7th spells back because 4 and 5 circles are quite heavy.
Travis "Elwin" Wilcox: When the entire system changed back in '98 I believe it was.
Kim "Mayumi Sorbus" Coffey: Code of Conduct - most important.
Sean "Wil" Veale: Arch / rouge spell system to circle system (94?)
Eric "Rosetta" Willisson: Adding the Code of Conduct in 2018. It was an essential part of helping to make our community safer, and it was a project carried out largely by some of our newer members at the time.
Alyssa "Umbra" Lee: Allowing more armor materials
Steven "Kaelkatar" Yazinka: Bamboo weapons in 2012 (and fiberglass weapons in 2009) made combat what it is today.
Ed "Tuilli" Drummond: The elimination of the paths of magic. I think it did a great job at allowing folk to build characters the way they wanted to, with a lot more narrative freedom.
Crystal “Cressida” Welch: The most important rule change since I started in 2016 has to be the addition of the Code of Conduct in 2018. This made the game feel safer and made it clear to those in the game, and those looking to join it, that we care about our community and that certain behaviors will never be tolerated.
Sara 'Zarine' Jessop: I can't decide between changing how we learn spells or getting rid of spell paths. Both have made spell casting much more flexible. Spell learning being quicker is much more newbie friendly as well as making it easier for everyone to switch things up if needed but I still think the system needs some tweaking. Getting rid of paths was something I didn't like at first, but it's proven to be a change for the better with people being able to customize their characters better making far more interesting builds. Overall I think both changes work well together and have been good changes.
Kyle “Killian” Yazinka: It’s changed several times but how long it takes to learn spells. When I started, learning a spell depended on what weapon restriction you had. It took longer to become a useful member of a questing party or tournament and in doing so, slowed the game down
Zach "Loken" Senchuk: The code of conduct: 2019ish I believe. Setting a standard, written, list of values we should all hold ourselves to was not the only reason I believe the community has gotten more inclusive, helpful and welcoming, but I think it marks the start of that shift as a whole rather than individual efforts by people or individuals.
Mikey "Janus" Donnelly: When we added the ability to use alternative weapons materials, such as bamboo.
Matthew "Alexander Cecil" Brenner: In 1998, after much lobbying and discussion on the email lists, we transitioned from the Arc/Sphere system to the Path system. That was an entire spell system rewrite that fundamentally changed almost every aspect of the game except for the mechanics of combat and the abilities of a fighter. Almost every rule change we have made since has been iterative of that dramatic paradigm shift.
Pi "Wait I don't know whether Kwido or Alpacasaurus is my main" Fisher: The change from 7 circles of spells down to 6 circles of spells, paired with the removal of segregated paths of spells. This change was made for the 2018 Omnibus, and it's given us so much more freedom in how we tweak spells, both when we add or remove spells and when we try to tweak power levels.
Nick "Raynor" Quadrini: Adding the CRB and its evolution
Tucker “Temorse” Noyes: Bamboo weapons becoming an omnibus standard
Stephen "Laika" Sanford: Since I've been playing I would say the change from 2 cost to 1 cost buy downs was the most significant change. It happened around the year 2008 I think. The balance of casters and the idea of paths were changed. 1 cost buy downs was so good that there were people who would just buy down every spell in their path and just go embrace death instead of taking any necromancy. Additionally there was no reason to go 3 different paths like a few casters did before because even fully buying down a path including the 7th circle was effectively the same thing.
Keith “Saegan” Cronyn: Probably the shift of 7 circles of spells, and having paths, to having 6 circles of spells, but no paths. I think it was a bold move that broke people free from specific archetypes, but also maintained some measure of comparable balance.
I want to say the change to alchemy happened in the same year, and it was also a cool and well thought out change.
Anna "Hedda" Hewitt: Changing "hold" to be "hold hold hold"
Jason "Aeston" Rosa: The initial shift to 75% coverage for armoring a hit location to me signaled a shift in the attitude around combat. We've always treaded the line between a combat sport and a LARP and I think that change really showed our commitment that garb and story and RP were the more important parts of our game.
Angela "Phoenix" Gray: Somewhere around 2000 they changed repair armor so that it worked when you were wearing your armor.
At the time I was playing a fighter and there were multiple of us that had more than one shirt of armor so that you could fight on the front line until your second point of armor got taken and then you would step back shake out of your shirt. Pass it back to a blacksmith while you were putting on a second shirt. Oh and the shirts were steel then and weighed about 15 pounds.
James "Tao" Murphy: Change to how often you can learn spells. Some early players would look at the amount of time it would take to get all three paths and just stay a fighter. Not saying its a bad thing, but some people have been able to max it in just few weekends. I think we started changing that part of the system in 2010?
David "Tirvanel" Rubenstein: In my opinion, the most important rules change we have made since I started playing was the addition of the Code of Conduct in 2018
If you just look at gameplay mechanics, and not the surrounding rules, I think the most important change was the shift from 1 cost to 0 cost buydowns also in 2018.
Jason "Malaki" Gray: There are a few that stand out that are more memorable and or important.
The first big one was the change in the spell system in 1997 from Guilds and Arch Casters to a Path system.
The next, probably in the late 90s early 00s was when we stopped making people remove their armor for it to be able to be fixed.
The most recent and possibly most important change was when we voted in the Code of Conduct. It was long overdue and I'm glad we had people championing it when we did, as most other larps either had them or were instituting them.
Dan "N" Hudon: Last year I made a 16" dagger and a 4'6" in case I ever wanted to go one path, only for the restriction to be bumped up to 5'/5'2" combined a few months later! The timing was quite unfortunate, but I'm glad 1-paths got that buff and can now use more standard weapon sizes.
Janna "Iawen" O-P: I sadly cannot remember like I used to. Things I was either happy about or surprised were things such as: Love Potion removal, Alchemist/Alchemy overhaul, getting rid of Seventh circles, getting rid of paths :-( , mostly things I can recall were spell changes. Well, there was that one year we did 16-18" for daggers only. Lolz. 😅
Matt "Vesper" Hewitt: Removing paths for casters really added to flavor and build diversity.
Jerry "Pawldo" Pearce: The most important rule change was the introduction of the Path system, replacing Arc/Rogue. This change was introduced to the PCs at Gathering of Heroes 15 Feb 03. It is the basis for the explosion of spells and the nearly yearly refurbishing of the magic system.
Amber "Lady Tarnisha" Fox: The switch from Guilds to Paths was monumental and opened the system up so much and made the magic system more open, no longer requiring you to "know a guy" or sign up for a religion to learn advanced spells. (Timing ~'99?)
The next most important one was creating the 1st circle pool. That lead to how every circle has a pool now. (Timing ??2007 +/- a few years.) The flashiest was adding the Alchemy path to the system-- "magic" for casters who had "non-magical" schtick.
For Non-magic changes: The most important rule change was adding the code of conduct and the CRB/Arbitration committees. I don't think it's quite perfect yet, but we are a much better game for choosing to travel this worthy path. (Timing ~2016?)
Briar "Felnar Dulintel (Phee)" Sieracki: For interesting: the removal of paths! I remember it being a buy-down cost to have spells from other paths, but now it's a lot more free, which can add to a lot of fun roleplaying choices.
For important, this might be a personal preference with my experience in other games, but moving Hold from a single word call to a three-times one. It helps so much in preventing a simple mishearing that stops the entire quest, or worse, a hold not happening when it needs to.
Kelly “Fern” Perfetto: 2023, increasing the size restriction one path casters can have.
It seems like 5 ft weapons and larger combos have allowed one path casters to play on the front lines more. This in turn has lead to a few more people around who can heal caster’s limbs, and more of questing parties can stick together. I really like it, and it’s fun to fight alongside a caster buddy with a five foot!
Kenneth "Celtrex" Crowley: Probably when we decided to move away from spell paths and make all spells into level pools with no cost by down. It was a significant power bump for casters. I believe it was 2016 or 2017 when that change was made.
Dan “Diamond” Diamond: The change to the path based magic system from the guilds.
Ryan "Orion" Welch: Removing spell paths (2018) really upended the way we think about spell and created so many new and interesting spellcaster builds.
Looking through the above there are certainly some common themes. The spell system, weapon materials, conduct reporting. All significant changes that have taken place across the last three decades. There are also a fair number of very unique answers as well, what people decide is an important change is ultimately a function of how they have interacted with the game and the community over their years of playing.
The rules of this game have changed over time in response to an evolving player base and and an overall evolving society as a whole. There aren't many LARP communities out there that have the kind of history that we do and have required a constant, deep, and introspective look at the guidelines we play by and govern ourselves by. I think it is a unique and special thing that the Realms does that isn't very common in our hobby.
Regardless of how anyone answered the above question, my point about the Players Meeting holds true. With so many decades of changes in a set of rules that evolves in accordance with the need of the players, participation in this process is both a right and a privilege extended to everyone who calls themselves a Realmsie. Why we want to go to the Players Meeting is to have our say. It's to make our own impact on how this game changes over time and it's how we ensure its longevity.
We go to the Players Meeting because the Realms belongs to us. Not just the people who have been playing since the 90's. Not just the people who throw events. Not just the people who lead nations and groups. The Realms belongs to all of us and we all get to create it together.
Let's do some more of that tomorrow.