Depends on the game. The one I play has a character card (think large index card size) that lists the stats of the character (whether it's a PC or a monster). The honor system is used for taking your hits (the person hitting will call the damage/effect). There are marshals for resolving any disputes, but 99% of the time they're not needed except in REALLY large-scale circumstances, or to describe something to a group of players ("you see X number of orcs here, but there's at least five times that making their way through the woods your way" = we have seven NPC players as orcs, they'll recycle and come back in for a total of 35 or so attackers.).

There's speed restrictions in hitting folks (that's the "machinegunning" in the article), but your spellcasting? Say the verbal, chuck a small object (like a small beanbag, nerf ball, or other harmless-if-it-skull-clocks-you object). If it hits, you hit. Same thing with those boffer swords. If the other guy has some sort of special defense, they'll respond in kind to the hit+call.

But big fights can get downright noisy- you can tell it was a hard, long battle when you can barely talk afterwards!

That sounds crazy fun actually! Thanks for the info.