In Orion Sphere LRP, characters will be heavily reliant on items to be able to interact with the world and use special powers and abilities. Advanced technology and equipment are one of the keystones of the sci-fi genre and the widespread use of physical objects (technology) is what often distinguishes science fiction from other genres where special powers are more likely to be innate - magic in fantasy, superpowers in superhero fiction, etc. With this in mind, Orion Sphere will feature a wide array of game items, which have been divided into the categories detailed below. Each category details the physrep requirement for that sort of item.

Many game items, particularly technological ones like weapons, armour and devices, can be modified by engineer and scientist characters to improve them and grant them new abilities.

Some example item styles used by each Faction can be seen on the Pinterest boards indicated on each Faction's pages. If you are interested in building some physreps for Game Items, please let us know and share some images of your work - it might help to inspire others!

The majority of game items that have special abilities or calls will have an attached laminated card, or lammie. Within the game area, lammies must remain attached to a suitable physrep at all times.

Most items that have in-game powers will require energy to use their abilities - a certain number of Charges that they can hold and use. For example, an energy weapon might be able to fire a stunning bolt that freezes someone for a few seconds, or a science device might be able to scan the local area for life-signs, and using these abilities will require them to use up Charges. Charges are represented by tear-cards, about 23mm X 74mm - you can just attach these cards to your item with an elastic band or similar, but we would encourage participants to build in slots to store these cards in the items they build if possible. Charges are purchased from the Faction Representatives or from the MegaCorp employees in the hub area of each game - the flat rate is 1 energy chit for 1 Charge.

Game items that we currently have plans to use Charges with are: Melee and Energy weapons, Shields, Armour, Energy Fields, Tech and Science Devices.

Melee Weapons come in three sizes - small, medium and large. All characters can use small and medium weapons, but must purchase a character skill to use large weapons (large weapons have access to more powerful game calls through modifications). Melee weapons can be modified with a number of special matrices that allow them to tear through armour, stun characters, smash shields apart or other powers.

Melee Weapons must be physrepped with standard construction LRP-suitable foam weapons, which must be physreps of weapons rather than novelty items. Thrust-safe tips are acceptable for use on Large Melee Weapons only. There are style guidelines for the preferred style of weapon in each Faction on the faction pages.

• Small melee weapons are between 8“ and 24” long.
• Medium melee weapons are between 24“ and 42” long.
• Large melee weapons are between 42“ and 84” long.

Energy weapons are the lasers and blasters that are the staple of the genre - conventional weapons have been rendered basically useless in the setting due to the way energy fields work. Energy weapons can be modified to shoot special energy bolts that deliver game calls. These modified weapons can strike lethal blows, tear armour apart, disrupt energy fields and stun characters.

Energy weapons are physrepped with dart guns, such as those from the NERF brand. There are 3 categories of Energy Weapon - Light, Medium and Heavy, the latter of which require character skills to be able to use.

• Light Energy Weapons are defined as any dart gun that does not have either a battery-powered mechanism, a clip-feed system, the ability to fire large MEGA darts, or a dart capacity of 10 or higher.
• Medium Energy Weapons are any dart gun that is neither a Light Energy Weapon nor a dart gun able to fire larger MEGA darts. So the majority of dart guns available to buy will be Medium - they will either have a powered mechanism, or a clip-feed system, or a natural dart capacity of 10 or more.
• Heavy Energy Weapons are any dart gun with the ability to fire the larger MEGA darts. Heavy Weapons have a greater range of calls that they can be modified to use.

Many people like to make modifications to their dart blasters to either improve their performance or alter their appearance. Any blasters that have been internally modified to improve their performance must be tested each event by members of the game team. Modified blasters must not exceed a dart speed of 120fps.

Solid rubber tipped darts are not permitted at OSLRP events. These hard tips can be quite painful, and when fired from a weapon that is close to the speed limit are considered unsafe. As darts are often scavenged and reused by different participants from time to time, we have banned any solid-tipped darts. Darts used at Orion Sphere LRP must have a compressible tip (the tip squashes down slightly when it is pressed) - usually these tips will have a honeycomb structure or have a small hole to allow air to escape when the tip is compressed.

A list of common dart guns can be found on this page, with the category they fall into and the faction look their design is most suited for. You can find a step-by-step guide for painting up a dart gun to look more in-character on this page.

Projectile weapons are weapons such as bows and crossbows that fire arrows or bolts. It will be possible to purchase more powerful projectiles that can fire for a range of game calls - these will be physrepped with a multi-tear lammie that is attached to the projectile quiver.

Projectile weapons must be of suitable draw strength for use at LRP (draw strength of no more than 30lbs at full draw), and projectiles must be suitable for use at LRP games.

Characters can wear physical armour to protect them from attacks and from hostile environments. Armour can be modded to resist more damage, or activate Charge-fuelled abilities to self-repair or render them immune to harm for a short time. There are three categories of armour, differentiated by their flexibility and bulkiness. All armour physreps must be constructed to appear like actual protective gear - thick clothing is not sufficient. In order to grant its protection to a location, an armour physrep must cover at least 50% of that location.

• Light Armour is made from flexible material such as thin leather or woven armoured fibres. It should be reasonably light and flexible enough to allow a good range of movement.
• Medium Armour is made from either semi-rigid material (such as thick, boiled leather or thick foam padding) or flexible material with rigid plates or panels attached to at least 50% of the location to be protected. Light chain mail such as aluminium chain or butcher's mail also counts as Medium Armour.
• Heavy armour is made from rigid plates or panels or of heavy chain mail. Flexible material can be incorporated into the armour as a backing or for articulation, but the surface area must be almost entirely covered with rigid plates or panels. This could include metal (metal plates must be at least 1mm thick or have turned edges), rigid plastic or hardened, heat-treated foam.

Shields are protective items that can be held in one hand, and require the purchase of a character skill to use. Shields can be modified to resist more effects, shatter weapons that hit them and other powers.

Shields must be constructed from foam and be designed to be held in one hand. They can be covered in painted latex or fabric. Shields cannot be more than 48“ in any dimension.

Shields that use a hard former can also be used but are subject to additional restrictions.

• Must have at least 10mm of dense foam around all edges (front, back and side).
• Must have at least 10mm dense foam covering any hard protrusions (bolt heads etc).
• No wing nuts. Protruding bolts must be cut down as much as possible.
• Should be constructed from a material that is able to resist significant impacts and weight on it without cracking - ideally polycarbonate. No acrylic or laminated glass or anything else liable to crack, splinter or shatter.
• Wooden formers (generally plywood) are liable to be quite heavy to achieve the required strength, and must be covered with at least 6mm dense foam padding on the front.
• If the shield has a significant curve to it (like a police riot shield), ideally the most directly forward-facing part of the curve should be padded also.
• Although physically impacting another player or barging with a shield are already not permitted in the rules, doing so with a hard-cored shield is liable to get the offender immediately removed from the event.

Energy field emitters project protective barriers of force around a character, and act as a first line of defence that can be recharged relatively quickly when not in combat. Emitters must be physrepped with a technological device at least the size of 2 packs of playing cards in volume. Guidelines for the overall style or look of a Faction's technology can be found on the faction pages. An energy field emitter must be worn over any other costume in order to have any effect.

The role of potions and drugs in other systems will be filled by injectables and injectors. Injectors are devices that carry doses of pharmaceuticals (called Medicaments) for quick administration. They might look like an automatic syringe (such as those used in EpiPens), or some kind of gun device, or something in-between. Critically, injector physreps must not incorporate any actual sharp needles or any other method of actually puncturing the skin - they are for in-game roleplay purposes only.

Medicaments can be physrepped by bottles or ampoules of clear or coloured liquid. To be used, you must either roleplay loading them into an injector, or if you have the Physician skill, you may roleplay using medical equipment such as syringes (again, without real needles) to administer them directly to another character (which takes more time).

Exotic Substances can be found by groups at or between events, or can be synthesised by scientist characters between events.

There are 3 types of Science Substances; Exotic Particles, Exotic Reagents and Exotic Biotics (One type for each of the 3 Science Specialisations in the game). Each type can be used by scientist characters to enhance certain classes of objects for a short duration. The lammies for these items will have removable stickers which can be stuck to other lammies to indicate a change in their properties. Physreps for rare substances might be a small test tube of mineral samples, vial of coloured liquid or small containment vessel (at least the size of a pack of cards, ideally as large as a typical jam jar).

Tech Devices are pieces of technology that have a game effect that doesnt fit into other categories. They are devices and tools that are manufactured by the megacorps or factions and have an effect on the game world somehow when used. Examples include rebreathers for entering toxic atmospheres, emergency first aid kits, psi-field emitters or programmable maintenance nanites. Most tech devices in the game world will be single-used items or devices with Charges, which can be bought from Megacorp employees in the hub area.

Tech device physreps could take a wide variety of forms, and need not strictly relate to what the device actually does - so you can link your tech device physrep with whatever lammies are associated with it. Tech device physreps should be large enough to need an entire hand to hold, and clearly look like a technological device. Some specific examples of tech devices are detailed below, with additional requirements for their physreps if there are any.

Charge packs are simple batteries that hold charges, ready to transfer into other devices. They allow characters to purchase more charges than their gear could normally hold, and use those charges in the field - although it takes time to transfer the charges over, so unlikely to be feasible in the middle of a firefight. Charge Packs can be styled in a manner appropriate to your faction, but in essence they are simple boxes that are big enough to hold Charge Cards in them - probably covered with some logos, copper charging coils or similar.

Scanners are the essential tools for every scientist on an away mission. These are the tricorders, sensors, etc that you see on many sci-fi series. In Orion Sphere, Scanners can be used in three ways.

• Examine – Analyses the properties of an object, and can give useful information in the field.
• Survey - Detects the presence and nature of unusual substances or energies in the immediate vicinity.
• Sample – Extracts samples of a phenomena into a portable form. Used to collect samples for research, or harvest exotic substances.

Physreps for science devices should ideally be styled in a manner appropriate to your faction, but in a pinch a phone with a tricorder app will fit the bill reasonably well. Maybe in a fancy phone case.

Artefacts are strange technological objects of unknown alien or ancient origin that conceal an array of strange powers. Artefacts can be researched by scientist characters to unlock various powerful abilities, learn more of their origins, or possibly even duplicate them. Artefacts could be something like a sphere that projects powerful waves of force, a gel that allows the person who inhales it to survive for hours in a vacuum, or a rod covered in glowing runes that allows the wielder to project feelings of intense terror.

Artefacts will be tied to certain specific physreps, which they must remain with. Artefact physreps remain property of the Game Team, and the physreps must be handed in with the lammie if the owners want to research or use the artefact between events. If you want to make an artefact physrep and see it used in the game, you will unfortunately need to donate it to the Game Team, as we can't guarantee that it won't be damaged or transferred in play. If you still want to make the cool thing, then contact us with your ideas and we can let you know how it fits in with the background, or suggest a few alterations that might allow us to incorporate it into the game better.

In-game currency takes the form of energy chits issued by the Galactic Energy Supplies megacorp. Chits are issued in denominations of 1, 10, 100, 1000 and 10000, each one being cut with a different pattern and in different colours. Energy chits are all 3cm diameter plastic discs, 3mm thick. Energy chits are issued by the Game Team.