Crafting the Essence of Death and Nature: Pieter’s LARP Druid Staff Project

Today, we embark on yet another exciting project journey from Pieter of Arcana that started with a familiar question: “Could you make something new for me?” And as always, the enthusiastic response was, “Sure, if you can describe what you would like, it will spark an idea.”


So here we are, with a raw sketch and a brief in hand, ready to jump into the creation of a unique LARP Druid Staff. The brainchild of the talented Pieter, this staff is envisioned to embody the essence of the All Father, encapsulating themes of death, decay, and autumn. Picture a dark, mysterious staff that, despite its ominous aura, maintains a distinctive connection to the natural world.

The foundation of this project lies in a sketch—a rough representation of the idea’s potential. Remember, in the world of creativity, it’s the idea that counts. Alongside the sketch, there’s a brief description guiding the design process.


The vision is clear from the sketch, a staff that is both dark and recognizably wooden. The challenge? To infuse the staff with the essence of the All Father, creating an object that breathes the very spirit of death and decay. Adding an element of the Were Bear introduces an intriguing twist. Claw marks adorn the sketch, leaving a mysterious tale in their wake.


The aim is to maintain a height of 180 cm for the staff, ensuring a commanding presence on the LARP battlefield. Imagine wielding this mystical creation, a tangible connection to the forces of nature and the mysteries of the All Father.

To enhance the mystique, Pieter envisions the staff featuring a recognizable sickle—a symbol of harvest, death, and the cyclical nature of life. To push the boundaries further, he contemplates the inclusion of subtle traces of blood, adding an element of grim reality to the fantastical design.

Pieter’s Airbrushed Metallic Blades

Pieter from Arcana is back at it again: these swords were shaped using a belt sander with 80 grit. He notes that this left the surface to coarse and looking a bit pitted. Higher grit sandpaper might leave the surface smoother, and heat treating the foam could potentially get rid of the last bumps, but Pieter hasn’t tested that theory yet.

The swords are first painted with black latex and then sealed using plastidip. After this sealing, the swords were primed for any available kind of paint. In this case Pieter airbrushed heavily diluted silver and bronze metallic model paint. Then the swords were sealed again with plastidip.

Ready for battle
Ready for battle

Another view of the sword
Another view of the sword

Leather frog!
Leather frog!

Matching sidearm!
Matching sidearm!

The airbushed blades
The airbushed blades

Electroluminescent Wire

Want to see something cool? Pieter of Arcana in the Netherlands shares a successful experiment in Electroluminescent Wire on a larp weapon.

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Inspired by this illustration, this sword is 1.5m long, with two AAA batteries in the handle and a converter housed near the crossguard.

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When powered on, the neon string lights up.

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And finally, a quick video. We’d never seen this done before, it looks like a really neat way to improve a weapon for a fantasy/scifi game. Thanks for sharing your creations, Pieter!

If you’ve got something new or interesting in the world of foamsmithing, write in to contact@foamsmithing.com – we’d love to hear about it!

Why PVC Sucks

John and I were having a discussion regarding different core materials for javelins. A lot of people, including me, have argued for a long time that PVC is completely useless as a core material for boffer weapons. Not “bad” or “substandard” but completely worthless, put it with lead pipes and cardboard tubes, nobody should ever use it again. Continue reading “Why PVC Sucks”