Book a LASERBLITZ party
Insurance release form
Buy LASERBLITZ gear

ROLE-PLAYING GAMES
Many people like to "act out" their favorite heros or villains strategies using laser tag to keep score. There are two basic categories for the Role Playing games:

First-person shooter (a.k.a. Laser Quake, Laser Unreal or Laser Half-life)

Military scenarios

Concept for First-person shooter

A lasertag game where a player tries to go through a house while opponents try to tag him out, similar to the video game Doom, Quake, Unreal, Half-life, Duke Nukem, etc.

Number of players

1 player/solo, 2 or more cooperative, 2 or more competitive

The Player

Equipped with lasertag equipment, 10 hits, pinhole lens cover, 4 reloads, no max blast, no shields

Equipment

I prefer Laser challenge, V1, V2, PRO or any mix of these. To work well indoors and not have problems with the Infrared beam bouncing off walls and hitting hidden opponents and players hitting themselves, a pinhole cover needs to be added to each of the guns. The cover can easily be made by taking a piece of cardboard and making pinholes in it (2mm each, with one in the center and a grid around it, 9 for the pistol and 25 for the Firestorm) then taping it to the front of the barrel. If any player has a wide beam powerup, then the pinhole cover is removed, which allows that player to more easily hit targets even if hidden. I prefer the player to use the V2 vest and starts with a pistol and must fire it at single shot rate only. The pistols have only 4 reloads , but the rifles (Firestorm and EX-D) have 6 reloads and may fire in full automatic. The player may not use maxblast, shields or any pro codes until he finds the powerup that allows him to do so.

Opponents

Equipped with lasertag equipment of varying levels of power and special features. Example: Number of hits (1-10); maxblast (0, 1, 2 or 3); shield (0, 1, 2 or 3); reloads (0, 1, 2, or unlimited); reset (0, 1, 2 or unlimited) or have a wide beam gun. Opponents may be "tethered" and must stay in a certain area/room/floor, or they may be "free" and may go anywhere. A point system can be devised giving more points for eliminating more difficult opponents. See the list of Opponent types at the end. Any of these opponents may be modified to increase or decrease the difficulty, by adding or subtraction special features. Example: a Lieutenant with a wide beam or a General with a pistol

Powerups (special features)

These items may be picked up and used by the players. They are scattered randomly and/or placed in certain strategic locations. I recommend writing them down on 3 x 5 cards and placing them in easy to spot location, taping them to doors and walls or hiding them in boxes, closets or drawers. Examples: maxblast (0, 1, 2 or 3); shield (0, 1, 2 or 3); reloads (0, 1, 2, or unlimited); reset (0, 1, 2 or unlimited), extra pistol, extra machine gun (V1 EX-D or V2 Firestorm), PRO Vest, a wide beam gun (remove the pinhole cover for 1,2 or 3 minutes), a "real" shield that may be carried around, landmine/grenade/lasertrap, helpers (helpers are players with limited abilities that may be used as directed by the main player.), scanners (scanners allow the game master to tell you where opponents, powerups, prizes, land mines and booby traps are and how strong an opponent is. Scanners come in different strengths, one time use to unlimited use, opponents only, powerups only, prizes only, through the next wall only, the this floor only, whole building, etc.), a shoot back B.A.R.T. on a radio controlled car or whatever you can dream up.

Prizes

These can be points (1-999+), keys to open locked doors, clues to a puzzle.

Game Master

Walks behind player and makes sure he obeys the rules and keeps track of the score/powerup usage/time. He should have a map of opponents/powerups/prizes if the game being played allows a scanner device. He carries a pistol in Alien, Zombie, Jason/Michael, land mine and booby trap games. A camcorder would make an excellent addition and would probably require a game master assistant to run it.

Game Variations

In all the games, people takes turns being the "Player" and the "Opponents"

Gauntlet-Enter one door and exit at another. Player who gets through the fastest wins. Alternate version is Get the "Thing"-have the player finding certain objects before he can exit (prize, a key to open the exit, etc.)

Free the Hostage-Similar to gauntlet but must find the hostage. The hostage can be a helper, but usually has a handicap (only 5 hits, can’t run, blindfolded, etc.). Game over if the hostage gets tagged out.

Time Limit-Most points score before time runs out wins. Set reasonable times like 5-20 minutes, depending on the number of players.

Combat-2 players enter at different doors and who ever survives the longest wins. The players may shoot each other.

Levels-Devise progressively difficult levels and see who is able to achieve the highest level.

I prefer Free the hostage/best time wins/2 story house/5 opponents (All are 3 hit no powerups/all are tethered until the hostage is freed from the hostage room/all tagged out opponents are reset when the hostage is freed/powerups are 2x maxblast, 2x shield, 4x reload, 1x reset/prize is a blue key to open the hostage room and red key to get out the front door to exit.

List of Opponents

MILITARY STYLE

Each player starts off as a Private

Players earn point through missions

Points may be spent on improving equipment, armor or increasing rank.

If a player "dies" in a mission he gets demoted to the next lower rank.

The "game" may last any length of time, from a few hours on a single day to a year or even "lifetime"

I recommend starting fresh every year (or season) and building points through the year at the clubs weekly or monthly games.

All players have 2 "hit points". Extra armor may be purchased to increase your number of hit points.

All players start off with a "standard issue weapon". This will vary with different Tag clubs based on available technology, but it should be the most basic, common and cheapest available.

The player with the highest rank is the Commander his team. If there are two players with the same rank then the commander is the player with the most points. If there is a tie, then they are co-commanders who split the points after a mission. At the biginning of the "game" all players start with equal rank, so there is no commander until some one achieves a rank. Commanders may spend their points to better equip their team members.

The basic unit of team organization is the squad.

How to earn points

The points are additive. For example the points awarded to he commander of a 5 man team that successfully completes a mission in which all team members live, including himself is 10 + 20 + 30 + (5 x 10) + 50 = 160

If only three of the team were "alive" at the end of the successful mission then the points awarded would be 10 + 20 + 30 + (3 x 10) = 90.

Each "living" member would get 10 + 20 = 30 and each "dead" member would get 20, and would start the next mission demoted in rank, but still have points towards his next rank or equipment.

Rank

(This chart is a rough draft and the numbers are approximations at best)

Equipment

(This chart is a rough draft and the numbers are approximations at best)

Description

Equipment purchased by a character is considered "owned" by the character and may be used in future scenarios, even if "damaged" in the previous game.

The Armor rating of different equipment is additive. A player with a Helmet, Body armor vest, Whole body cover-alls and Power armor back pack has 8 hit points (2 for his body + 1 + 1 + 2 + 2). He will also be very heavy burden to carry and hot if playing in the summer. If a player wearing armor takes a hit equal to his level of armor, he may remove it, as it is no longer protective. For example a player wearing a helmet take one hit, he may remove the helmet if he wants to.

Sample scenario game

Scenarios games are special because what happens in one part of the game affects the next part. This creates a "Christmas tree" pattern of branching possible outcomes. Usually the pattern is as follows; 1st even battle condition, next favor the defender slightly, next favor the defender more, etc., creating a progressively difficult task for the winner. Usually special props and rules can be added to make the games more fun and real. The following is an example that can be modified.

Commandos v Terrorists

1

Find Satellite debris, Hold this position for 5 minutes while removing plutonium power supply

if Commandos win go to 2A, if Terrorist win go to 2B

2A

Commandos try to get to Landing Zone with the plutonium

if C win go to 3A, if T win Go to 2B

2B

Terrorists try to get back to base with the plutonium

if C win Go to 2A, if T win 3B

3A

With the plutonium safe at their base Commandos try to destroy Terrorist Base

if C win then End of Game, if T win go to 4A

3B

Terrorist try to put plutonium into water supply guarded by Commandos

if C win Go to 2A, if T win then End of Game

4A

Terrorist infiltrate Commando base to steal plutonium. Terrorists must make it back to their base with the plutonium or eliminate all commandos to win.

if C win Go to 4A, if T win Go to 2B

Recommended playing field: medium sized wooded area about 2-4 acres, or 200 x 200 yards. It should also have at least one location that can be used as a base to defend.

For the 1st game get 3-5 identical small container (plastic eggs, etc.) to represent the satellite debris and each team should have a watch to time the removing of the plutonium from the satellite. Preferably a neutral person will hide the containers (one containing a piece of paper saying "Plutonium" and the others saying "debris") spread out along the middle of the playing field in easy to find locations. If a neutral person is not available then one member of the terrorists places the "plutonium" in a container and then one member of the commandos (without peeking into the containers) places them in the middle of the playing field. When the container with the "plutonium" is found, the 5 minutes countdown starts, and then that team must defend that site until 5 minutes has past. The "plutonium" can not be moved! If the site is overtaken by the opposing team then the watch is reset and the position must be held by them for 5 minutes.

Here is another scenario game

Trans-Dimensional Arms Race

A scenario game for multiple frequencies of Laser tag

by Peter Montgomery, January 2000

The story goes that simultaneous battles were being fought on the same battle field at the same time by The Red and Blue armies in different dimensions. Due to some strange quirk of physics caused by the intense release of energy at the exact precise moment a rip in the space time continuum formed portals that allowed warriors from multiple dimensions to fall through and wind up in our peaceful little neck ‘o’ the woods. The portals split into several copies of itself and now none of the warriors know which is the original portal back to their respective worlds. The armies of their home dimensions are trying to resupply their comrades, but the new weapons keep falling into this dimension through random portals. Only by controlling ALL the portals can either side hope to get the weapons they need to win and eventually return to their home dimensions. If one side can get control of ALL the portals at once then they can return to their home dimensions, blow up the portals there and trap their enemy in the foreign dimension thus tipping the balance of the war in all the dimensions to their favor.

The Mission

Capture ALL the dimensional portals and hold for 5 minutes

The Enemy

Both sides will have equal numbers of each type of laser tag gear

The Troops and Equipment

Any combination of Laser Challenge, WoW Lazertag, Tiger Lazertag, Sega Lock-on, etc. The teams should split into squads that contain a mix of sensor types so that they can attack and defend against any enemy.

The Terrain

The playing field will have a base for each team about 10-20 feet from the back boundary. It will be marked by at least 3 bunkers (a piece of plywood or cardboard boxes big enough to hide several players behind) The playing field will have 9 dimensional portals in the following pattern. One 20-30 feet in front of each base, 3 along the mid-line of the field and 2 in the middle of each half of the field. See figure 1. The portals will be marked by a plastic plate on the ground, or some other similar method. There may be bunkers placed on the field in random locations. Bunkers must be more than 10 feet from a portal.

Time and Tags

The game has a 60 minute time limit. Each player is tagged out according to the number of tags required by his equipment. Players may go back to their team’s base, reset their sensors and return to the game. If the base has been destroyed by a bunker buster rocket, then players from that team may not reset and are out of the game when tagged out.

Special Features

During the game, at 10 minute intervals, the Gamemaster will roll two six-sided dice and depending on the outcome (2-12) he will place new weapons in a portal that may be picked up and used on a first come basis. The order of delivery new weapons will be least effective to most effective. In this specific game 1st will be short range grenades (Nerf balls 5-10 feet), medium range grenades (Nerf ballistic Balls 25-30 feet), Long range grenade launcher (Vortex Ring gun 50-70 feet), Medium range Bunker buster (Ram Rocket 50 feet), Long range bunker buster (Stomp Rocket 75-100 feet). If a grenade touches a player he is out and must return to base to get sensor reset. The grenades allow a player with one type of Laser tag gear to tag out a player of a different type. If a bunker buster rocket hits a bunker it is laid down by a referee or gamemaster or removed for the remainder of the game and any player behind it must return base to get sensor reset. If all 3 of the team base bunkers are hit, then no one from that team may get their sensors reset and will be out the game if tagged out.

Figure 1

Starship Troopers - Role Playing Game

(requires at least 8 players and is best with 12 or more)

Players are given roles and participate in combat to earn points.

Points can be traded in for upgrades such as better equipment or "special skills" that can improve combat performance.

Player with the highest points at the end of the game is the winner.

Roles

Drill Sergeant

Game master/referee

Mobile Infantry troopers

Earns 5 points for surviving a mission

Earns points for being on a squad that achieves victory conditions

No penalty for "dying", keeps points earned and may earn points for being on a squad that achieved victory conditions.

Squad leader

Earns double points for achieving victory conditions

Earns 2 points for each member of his squad who survives a mission

May use points to buy upgrades

If he dies in a mission (not boot camp) he loses all his points and his upgrades and becomes a Mobile Infantry trooper. The trooper with the highest point takes his place.

Non-Player Characters

Warrior Bug

If a player is physically tagged by a warrior bug he is "killed"

Eliminated with 10 tags or one grenade

Tank Bug

If a player is physically tagged by a warrior bug he is "killed"

Spews flames from mouth (water gun or "Nerf Firestorm"). If a player gets wet, then he is "killed"

May take down any barrier in his path

Must move at a walking pace, absolutely no running

Eliminated after 30 tags or 3 grenades or one Nuke

Butt Bug

Enormous bugs that fire explosive plasma out of their butts

No weapon Vs a trooper and moves very slowly

Brain Bug

No offensive weapon

Cannot move by himself, must be carried by other bugs, it take two warrior bugs literally holding his hands to move him. This threesome may only walk, no running.

Equipment

Each trooper use one lasertag gun and one grenade

Squad leaders get 2 grenades and long range gun

Nuke-provided by the Drill sergeant for specific missions

Upgrades can only be bought for missions (all are single use), Squad leaders may give upgrades to his squad members to improve their chance of a successful mission

Extra grenades can be bought for 3 points each, maximum 3 per player per game

Grenade launcher 15 points (comes with 3 grenades)

Med kit - allows a player to reset sensor, but only if not completely tagged out,

20 points

Game sequence

Boot camp

All players start out with no points

Points are earned by passing tests and winning contests

Test #1 Grenade toss

Players are given 3 grenades and must hit 3 man sized targets (2 x 4 barrier)

#1 10 feet away = 1 point

#2 15 feet away = 2 points

#3 20 feet away = 3 points

Test # 2 Grenade launcher test

Players are given 3 grenades and must hit 3 man sized targets (2 x 4 barrier)

#1 30 feet away = 1 point

#2 40 feet away = 2 points

#3 50 feet away = 3 points

Nuke launcher test

Players are given 3 nukes and must hit a cave opening sized target (hula hoop)

#1 30 feet away = 1 point

#2 40 feet away = 2 points

#3 50 feet away = 3 points

Written test

Players must take a test of 5 basic strategy questions one point for each correct answer

The 2 players with the most points become squad leaders

Squad versus squad scrimmage

The two squad leaders take turns choosing squad members

The teams face each other a game of capture the flag using base flag rules and a 15 minute time limit

Winning team receives 5 points to each team member, the winning squad leaders get 10

All players that "live" receive another 5 points

After the game the Drill Sergeant chooses 2 players with the highest scores to become squad leaders

Squad training/live fire training

The 4 squad leaders take turns choosing squad members

Each squad has 3 minutes to complete a short course that manned by 3 members of another squad who act like mechanical soldiers. The mech soldiers may not move, they fire at the attacking squad from where they are positioned by the Drill Sergeant.

100 points for each mech soldier eliminated

100 points for getting all squad members to the rally point before 3 minutes is up

10 points are subtracted for each tag scored on any of the squad members

The squad’s total score is divided evenly to all squad members

The squad leader of the highest scoring squad gets 10 extra points

Missions

Mission #1 Nuke the Butt Bug

Your squad has just landed on a bug planet and Butt bugs are devastating the fleet in orbit. Your squad must fight through a wall of protective warrior bugs and fire a nuke to destroy a Butt bug

This mission is easy and is a chance for the squad to practice their teamwork and earn some points. One squad is used as the warrior bugs and form a perimeter around the Butt Bug. The Butt bug is a player who stands in the middle of the warrior bugs and fires a rocket launcher into the air repeatedly. Each squad takes it turn trying to get within Nuke range and hit the Butt bug.

10 minute time limit. No extra points for killing warrior bugs 5 points for mission success, 5 points for surviving the mission

Mission # 2 Hold the fort

While waiting for reinforcements your squad must hold a fort and survive and attack by warrior bugs and a Tank bug.

This mission is much harder (the troopers were not able to hold it in the movie)

A fort is constructed from the barriers and each squad takes a turn trying to hold it while the other 3 squads play the role of the warrior bugs who rush the fort. One payer is the Tank bug. If a bug is killed he may return to the "home cave", reset his sensor and re-enter the game. The squad leader may call for an "EVAC" (evacuation) if he thinks they can not hold the fort, then the Drill Sergeant stops the clock and all troopers alive at that time get survival points.

15 Minute time limit. 1 point to each player for each minute the fort is held. No extra points for killing warrior bugs 5 extra points for mission success, 5 points for surviving the mission. Hint: this is a good time to stock up on grenades.

Mission #3 Capture the Brain bug

The bugs have retreated to their caves and command has ordered squads in to find and capture the brain bug. If you are unable to capture the brain bug you may Nuke him, but that would disappoint your superior officers

Your squad starts in the center of the playing field where a dropship has landed and there are 3 "cave openings" before you. You must search the caves, find the Brain bug and return him to the dropship. There is one squad in each cave playing the role of warrior bugs and the brain bug is in one of the caves. Your squad is given 3 nukes. If you decide that the Brain bug is not in one of the caves you may fire a nuke from the safety of the drop ship and kill all the warrior bugs inside that cave. If you can not find the Brain bug, or the warrior bugs have him too well defended you may retreat to the dropship and Nuke the cave.

15 minute time limit. 10 points each team member for finding the Brain Bug and 50 points each for bringing him to the dropship. Warning: the Brain bug is played by one of the opposing Squad leaders with the highest score of the three and he may try very hard get his warrior bugs to kill off a squad leader who has more points than him.

End of the game

The player with the most points at the end of the game wins. Although the squad leaders have the best chance at winning, they also risk losing it all every mission if they "die". Also if the squad leaders all die in the final mission, the trooper with the highest points is the winner.