SWATT is based in a medieval setting, however most costume that is "obviously from history" can be appropriate. It is also a fantasy setting, so there is significant leeway in what can be used. (For those who knew him, my Enclave character Picadilly was kitted in some of the kit I wore as an aerokin in a different TT system.) Any kit that would be appropriate for PD's Empire should be appropriate for SWATT. For events which occur outside, it is reccommended that you use some good waterproof footwear.
While this leaves a wide range of things as appropriate, some things should be explicitly avoided, including:
- T-shirts, even turned inside-out
- Jeans (particularly blue jeans)
- Baseball caps or other clearly modern headwear (caps, Bowler hats, top hats, wooly hats are generally fine.)
- Sunglasses
- Clothing with any obvious logos
- All footwear is acceptable but you may wish to avoid white trainers
Plain shirts and trousers are reccommended as quite safe for both male and female characters, though many other options are possible. At minimum, a plain baselayer which armoury kit can be worn over is acceptable. There will be some clothing kit available to borrow from the armoury, but there is no guarantee it will fit you or be appropriate for your character. This kit will also be required to ensure monsters and NPCs have their own kit, so may not always be available.
Charity shops make excellent sources of appropriate kit, and we plan to organise charity-shop crawls around town to help people find appropriate kit for their characters. We will also be compiling a list of places to aquire good kit cheaply around town.
Weapons and armour
The vast majority of LARP-safe weapons are useable at SWATT events. Some classes and abilities require a specific weapon to be useable (for example, bow use in wilderness obviously requiers a bow, or the backstab ability in subterfuge normally requires a dagger of 18'' or less.) Weapons will be available to use from the society armoury. Most weapons currently in the armoury are on loan from society members, but in time we hope to have society-owned phys-reps for use, starting with whatever there is greatest demand for. In any case, please treat armoury weapons with the same care and respect that you would use if you owned them. It may also be possible to borrow phys-reps not normally kept in the armoury, such as shields, by request. Please ask the refs if you'd like to borrow something that you don't see in the armoury.
There are 4 types of armour in SWATT: Leather, Studded Leather, Chainmail and Platemail. It should geneally be obvious from the phys-rep what kind of armour someone is wearing. There will be some leather and studded leather available to borrow from the armoury (though this will occasionally be required by monsters), and it may be possible to borrow plate or chainmail on request from the refs or other society members.