Rule Book

Split into two sections, Game rules and Site rules. Please be aware that these are here for your safety and enjoyment of the game, so play fair. Persistent rules breakers will be ejected from the game, all monies forfeit. These will be recapped at the player briefing before the game, but please take the time to acquaint yourself with them. Should you have any queries, please ask one of the Game Team.

SITE RULES

• No Smoking in the building. Apart from the risk of setting the fire alarms off (which are hardwired to the local fire service) it’s also a condition of use with the School. There is a ‘smoking point’ out the back of the Dining Room by the doors. Please dispose of butts into a bucket or beer bottle that is left there for the purpose. In inclement weather sheltering in the gateway is suggested.

• Sleeping arrangements. There are three types of sleeping area, Male, Female and Mixed. Any player found in the room of the opposite sex will be Banned from the game. (IE, no girls in the boys room and vice versa). If you want to socialise, use a mixed room (providing people aren’t trying to sleep). We accept players under the age of 16, and they need clear space to get away from things.

• Booze. We operate a ‘dry’ period on the Saturday between breakfast and 8pm. The Game Team are firm believers in the fact that alcohol and weaponry don’t mix, so this is a safety call. Drinking times are between time in and midnight(ish) on the Friday, and 8pm till late on the Saturday. On that subject, if players can decant their tipple into a more period drinking vessel it will reduce the chances of a smashed bottle, sharp can and the like; Will also improve the ‘feel’ of the event by not having 21st century bottles lying about!
As a final thing, drinking is only permitted in the Dining Hall, again a condition from the School.

• Locked Doors. These are genuinely locked by the School. In game locked doors are marked by tags on the handles. If a door is genuinely locked, please do not try and gain entry.

• Cooking. The kitchen adjacent to the Dining room is available for use on a self cleaning basis. i.e. you clean up after yourself at the time. Be aware that it is an in game area, and that the cook might chase you out!

• Eating. Like drinking, only allowed in the Dining Hall.

• Use your common sense! We have a very good reputation with the School and don’t want to muck it up. Treat the place nice please!

• DON’T TAKE THE PISS!

GAME RULES

Mechanics
• Doors or hallways curtained off with cloth sheets are in game walls. Nothing exists beyond them. (Nothing to see here, move along now!)

• Labels on doors indicate locks or traps

• Labels on or in items or boxes indicate locks or traps

• Lock labels may have different shapes, which represent that different keys (or lockpicks) are required to open or close them

• Everyone speaks Avalonian (the Avalon language). Use of any 'mother tongue' in company is considered very impolite.

• Little coloured stickers don't exist. (Unless you are told they do as part of your skills)

• Going to the privy is an IN character action, you should not come out of character to leave the room.

Weapons

• Only LARP (latex/foam) weapons approved by the game team may be used. They will be marked as safe by the game team using a non-permanent and non harmful means.

• You require the MELEE skill to be able to attack with LARP weapons.

• Any firearms are to represent flintlocks, and must be capable of firing the plastic caps supplied by the game team (We use these http://www.sillyjokes.co.uk/p-jokes/surprise/detonator-caps.html) Ask the game team if you have any questions.

• Gunpowder is expensive in this time period, to simulate this the game team will issue caps to those with the firearms skill. You don’t' need to bring your own.

• Flintlocks take one minute to reload, role play this!

• Misfired caps are just that misfires! Your shot didn't go off, you'll have to reload it and try again!

• You can only cause damage to a target that is less than 10 metres away from you. It it's further away it will have no physical or in-game effect (Might startle people however....).

• Anyone using weapons in an unsafe manner will be asked to hand the weapons in for the remainder of the game. The idea is to have fun, not hurt people

Wounds

• Everyone starts the game with 5 minutes worth of 'Bleed time'. This will decrease during the game if you are injured.

• If shot or hit with a LARP weapon, you take a wound, and unless have a skill that allows otherwise - fall to the floor (carefully!- no real injuries please!) and start your Bleed time countdown.
As guns are represented by cap-firing flintlocks, it may not be obvious that 'you' were the (intended or accidental) target - so if you hear a gun go off, please check around you and verify who was supposed to be shot.

• Your countdown is only stopped if someone can administer first aid or medical skill to you. This will patch you up and you can continue playing, but your Bleed time is reduced by the time you spent on the floor unattended (IE: Time you were hit to the time first aid was applied)

• You cannot heal yourself on the floor, if hit you are stunned/incapacitated and cannot do anything.

• Some monsters may require more than 1 hit to activate their bleed timer.

Game calls

• Safety : Everyone Stop what you are doing - someone has been hurt, most commonly if someone has fallen and could get trampled. Wait for a Referee to call time-in before continuing
• Time In : Game start or continue - from this point on you should act In Character
• Time Out : Game stop, for instance at the end of a session. Nothing you do now will affect game play in a subsequent session
• Time Stop : Everyone should stop where they are, and remain quiet. They can see and hear what is happening around them, but cannot react to it. This will usually be to phys-rep a magical effect, or for referees to brief players or crew. The referees will call time-in to continue.
• Time Freeze : Everyone should stop where they are, and close their eyes and hum quietly to themselves, so they cannot see or hear what is happening around them. This will usually be to move people or props into position to phys rep a magical effect, a secret entrance etc. The referees will call time-in to continue

Skills

Your (new) character starts the game with two Skills, both rated as Basic level. You cannot as a new player start with one skill at Experienced level. Choose two of the skills below!

• First Aid: Your character has knowledge of Physik, the workings of the human body. You can apply first aid to wounded characters. When you do that you will stop their bleed timer.
• Constitution: You are a tough person. You get an extra 2 minutes on top of your current 5 minutes of bleed time, a total of 7 minutes bleed time now!
• Firearms: You can maintain, and load flintlock pistols (or similar one handed firearm). You will be issued with black power and ball. It will take you 1 minute to reload a fired (or misfired) pistol. In the event of the cap not going off, the pistol has misfired and you will need to reload it.
• Melee: You are capable of using a melee weapon to cause physical harm to another.
• Magic: (you cannot buy this skill as a downtime action, your character was born with magic, you can still advance it though.) There are three forms of magic in the game, you will be assigned one randomly at character generation if you take magic. You have 40 points of ‘essence’ (Magical fuel tank if you will) as a Basic Level user.
• Combat Magic: For 10 essence points your character can cast a fireball. This has the same effect as a melee strike IF it hits someone. The fireball is red in colour. A phys rep for the fireball will be issued to you by the Game Team.
• Medical Magic: For 4 essence points you can determine the remaining time left on a players bleed timer. If you spend 12 essence points you can replenish your own bleed timer to give 60 seconds back.
• Detect Magic: Items marked with a RED sticky dot are magical. If you handle or touch such an item it will ‘tingle’ in your hand, or feel ‘warm’ to touch. You will know that said item is magical in some way. It will cost you 1 essence point to realise this however.
• ESP: You get weird feelings and thoughts, the game team will brief you further.
• Lucky: You are immune to the first melee strike, and the first non magical trap that affect you. After that any strike or trap will affect you.
• Lock Picks: You may unlock blue coded locks. Green coded locks are unpickable and all doors are unbreakable. Unlocking a blue lock will take you 2 minutes. If a door with a blue coded lock on it has the lock tags on, you may remove them after roleplaying unlocking the door. Turn the Tag over to the ‘UNLOCKED’ side when you have unlocked them.
• Ancient Languages: You can understand a randomly chosen language that isn’t in common use.

Character Development

After every event attended, you will earn a downtime for your character. This can be used to help further your character’s skills and make them better! You have two ways in which to spend your earned Downtime action.
• Develop a NEW skill (up to a limit of three skills)
• Increase a current skill up to Experienced level

Characters are limited to a total of three skills, but all of those three can be increased to Experienced level.

We also encourage written downtimes that recount the actions of your character during the time between events, these downtimes may result in an in game action (whether for good or ill).

Experienced Level effects:
• First Aid: In addition to stopping the bleed time counter, your character now has enough skill to replace 30 seconds of time onto the wounded person’s bleed time counter, if you’re fast enough you can actually negate the time they spent on the floor. You cannot increase their time above the time they started out with when they were hit last. For example; If their timer started with 2 minutes left when they were hit, you can only heal them back to 2 minutes if you get there within 30 seconds.
• Constitution: Your toughness is such that you can still crawl whilst injured. For the first 5 minutes of your bleed time you can crawl away and do not lose consciousness. You are incapable of any offensive/defensive action. After the first 5 minutes of bleed time are gone, (ie in the last two minutes) you fall unconscious due to blood loss. If you are struck again whilst crawling, you fall unconscious.
• Firearms: Your reload time for a pistol is now 30 seconds, and you can also use two handed weapons such as rifles, muskets and blunderbusses. Reload time for a two handed weapon is 45 seconds. You’re still totally confused by cannon and the like though! Powder and ball is still issued to you.
• Melee: You have the skill in your arms to be able to hit someone not to kill, but merely to stun them. Call out ‘STUN’ on a strike, if you hit the person they are unconscious for 30 seconds. Their bleed timer does not start.
• Magic: (You cannot acquire this skill as a downtime action). Your skills in your character’s field of magic will increase. You cannot develop a skill in a new area, but can advance your current area. You now have 60 essence points to spend.
• Combat Magic: For 15 essence points your character can cast a stronger fireball. This has the same effect as a melee strike IF it hits someone and counts as two hits. The fireball is yellow in colour and will lay unconscious its target even if the target has Experienced level Constitution. A phys rep for the fireball will be issued to you by the Game Team. This replaces the earlier Red fireball.
• Medical Magic: For 4 essence points you can determine the remaining time left on a players bleed timer. If you spend 10 essence points you can replenish your own bleed timer to give 60 seconds back. 15 points will allow you to replenish another players timer by 45 seconds.
• Detect Magic: Items marked with a RED sticky dot are magical. If you handle or touch such an item it will ‘tingle’ in your hand, or feel ‘warm’ to touch. You will know that said item is magical in some way. It will cost you 1 essence point to realise this however. If you spend 8 points, you can determine if someone (with green eyes) is a magic user or not (Find GT to check). Magical traps will now no longer work against you (automatic)

• ESP: You are even more sensitive to feelings and thoughts, the game team will brief you further.
• Lucky: You are now immune to three strikes, be it from melee, firearm or non magical trap. If when starting the game a random pick with the REF might mean you will gain an extra free strike to a total of 4.
• Lock Picks: You may both unlock and LOCK blue coded locks. Green coded locks are still unpickable. Unlocking a blue lock will take you 1 minute, not 2 minutes as previously. It will take you 2 minutes to lock a blue lock. If a door with a blue coded lock on it has the lock tags removed, you may replace them after roleplaying relocking the door.
Ancient Languages: You now speak two languages, in addition to your old one you may speak another randomly chosen