Code of Conduct

nzLARPS
#21

For reference purposes and stuff, I wrote the material below when I was thinking about running a live combat campaign down in Wellington. (Er, this is currently on hold, sorry.)
People are welcome to raid this for material or use it as a talking point for a code of conduct.

[quote][size=150]Health and Safety[/size]
Mythos is a game that will have large portions taking place outside in reserves on uneven ground, and will include live combat (with padded weapons) that is an essentially uncontrolled chaotic activity. We will remove and mitigate risks as much as we can, but there will always be some that cannot be eliminated. We are all responsible for our own and each other’s safety.

Caution:If you see someone in a hazardous situation, for instance, they may be about to walk backwards down a slope, call out Caution and the nature of the hazard. Give them a moment to get to safer ground, then resume play. Also use this call if you feel that you are in a hazardous position, or that someone is fighting unsafely.

Timeout:If someone has become injured, stop play immediately and call Timeout. If you hear this call, stop play and wait until a first aider has been called and the injured person has been removed from the play area.

There will be a first aid kit kept in the crew area, along with an incident register. Please log any incidents, including close calls. People with first aid training will be pointed out to players and crew in the pregame briefing.

Basic Combat Safety:When we fight with larp weapons, we are trying to let people know that they’ve been tagged, not actually hurt them. All weapons brought into the game will need to pass a safety check (//TODO need some details about specifications), and we reserve the right to refuse use of particular weapons deemed unsafe. Do not grapple or fistfight. Always pull your hits, and avoid aiming at the head, neck or groin area of your opponent. Hits to these areas do not count against your hitpoint total. (Please note, we have observed a tactic occasionally used in other live combat games of leading with one’s head to avoid losing hitpoints. Don’t do this - it’s an invitation to a concussion or eye injury.) Avoid thrusts, particularly with long weapons, as they can develop substantial force which the weapon padding is insufficient to counter. Also with long weapons, avoid aiming high as it is easier to inadvertently hit someone in the head than with short weapons. If you are using a shield, be careful about raising your shield straight up as this has been known to direct otherwise safe blows into people’s faces - it’s a better tactic to rotate your shield so that an incoming strike is diverted away from your head. (//TODO more commentary here?) Avoid combat on unsafe ground, such as narrow paths or slopes (note that running to unsafe ground to get out of a combat you are engaged in is against the spirit of the game.) Also, when you strike, with each hit you need to withdraw your weapon by at least 90 degress before striking again (or leave about 1 second between blows). Fast taps that use only your wrist do not count against someone’s hitpoint total.

If you feel that someone is fighting unsafely, please call Caution and advise them of the issue. If they do not change their behaviour, please discuss this with a GM.

Basic Health:Please drink lots of water. We are not kidding - larps are high energy events and you’ll dehydrate if you don’t pay attention to your fluid intake. We will provide drinking water, at the very least at a station in the crew area, but we recommend bringing an in character water bottle with you. Also wear sunscreen at outside games, and make sure that you eat enough to keep your energy levels up.

Please advise the GMs if you have any health issues that may affect you during the game, including diet restrictions, any other allergies, and their severity. Bring any medication that you normally take, or may need to deal with a sudden health issue.

We also recommend wearing solid footwear with a good tread and preferably ankle support to outside games. Also, wear multiple layers so that you can adjust to changing temperatures. At games in the colder months of the year, please wear a layer of polyprop or other thermal underwear next to your skin.

[size=150]Spirit of the Game[/size]
Mythos runs on warm fuzzy feelings and people knowing that they’re appreciated. We highly value good spirited behaviour.

Some examples of good spirit are:

  • looking out for your own and other people’s safety
  • telling people when they’ve done something that you think is cool or kind
  • drawing out people who are shy or new to larping
  • proactively asking if people need help
  • resolving OOC disputes gracefully
  • doing things that make other people look cool (don’t worry, they’ll do the same for you)
  • honouring the intent of the rules
  • keeping the site tidy during the game.
    Note: helping to clean and pack out the site after the game is not optional.

Some examples of poor spirit are:

  • acting in an unsafe fashion
  • disrupting the game with OOC issues
  • trying to bully other participants
  • trying to find loopholes in the rules, or breaking them outright.

If you are unsure how the rules should be interpreted in a particular case, give equal weight to these three principles: What is the intent of the rules? What is the interpretation that is least advantageous to your character? What interpretation will have the most interesting story effect? If you have lost count of your hitpoints, assume you have taken many hits and are close to incapacitation or actually incapacitated. If you have a dispute with someone, take them to the side of the play area and discuss it quietly. If you can’t reach agreement in a couple of minutes, ask a GM to make a ruling. A GM’s ruling is final.

A good way to approach a game is to think of ways that you can make it fun for everybody else, with everybody else thinking of ways to make it fun for you. If you display a large amount of poor spirited behaviour despite warnings, you may be asked to leave the game or not attend future events.[/quote]

#22

Something about the difference of in-character sexual liasons / flirtations not being an invitation for OOC stuff. And then if someone says “No” to respect that.

Yes I know that it should go without saying, I just recall reading something similar in an introductory thing for SCA years ago, and was comforted by it.
I’m not meaning to imply anything about the current game attendees, but as Lucy said, there are a lot of new young people, who have been brought up in a different age/culture to what I was (which has happened since Dave left NZ), and I would rather that this and and the other “unspoken rules” were outlined somewhere. Better be safe than sorry.

#23

We have ACC for that. The value of such statements for us isn’t legal protection, but making sure players know what they are getting into.

#24

I’m not sure if this belongs here, but:

Could some of the experienced GMs think about hashing out a suggested game preparation timeline for the new kids?

Ie. Venue arranged (x time) before the game
Character sheets sent out (x time) before the game
Props sorted by…

Just, when do they aim to have this stuff done by to ease potential problems?

While I didn’t get my Chimera characters at “the freaking last minute” last year, I talked with several players who did, and their frustration was palpable. I s’pect a suggested preparation timeline for the GMs might have helped.

#25

legal-dictionary.thefreedictiona … t+superior

This is common law - I assume it applies here.
Under common law a GM could be considered an employee of NZLARPS - as could any cooks at events (they do get a ‘gift’).

If there are any items which could be considerd ‘payment’ be it filling up a car to get to the event or not having to pay for food when everyone else does / benefits of being a GM compaired to a paying customer (player) then this may come into play.

At which point we (NZLARPS) can actually be prosecuted under common law.

A CoC that protects us in anyway - is better than none. I would rather have somthing that protects the voluntieer comittie members and not need it than not have it and need it at a later date.

In the linked point futher up in this thread - the Committie was found liable for the actions of an event runner due to a lack of defined guidelines in dealing with minors.
I hope that the need for this is no longer fought against and we can perhaps talk about a social CoC for games now.

#26

[quote=“Xcerus”]This is common law - I assume it applies here.

At which point we (NZLARPS) can actually be prosecuted under common law.[/quote]
Common law only exists until such time as it is superceded by statute. Furthermore, each common-law jurisdiction has developed their own common law, so it may not be the case that common law in one jurisdiction extends to another (although it may be considered by the judiciary).

For example, the test for an employer/employee relationship is more complex than “did x receive consideration from y in return for services rendered”, and our law in Aotearoa has been cognisant of the status of koha (donations) for some time (e.g. that it is a normal aspect of our culture).

It seems that we may need a Health & Safety manual in addition to a CoC. In terms of framing H&S rules, I would prefer to do so from risk identification and mitigation from the perspective of participants, not the Society. i.e. not “how do we cover our arses from litigation”, but “how to we mitigate the risks associated with holding a larp”.

#27

OK, I think most comments here have been in favour of some sort of code, so I return to Mike’s original point, of what should be in it.

Is this the place to raise the issue of alcohol (and drugs) at games. There was a discussion after Kapcon in Wellington, where the difference of culture between the cities/gaming groups, and alcohol was raised. There seems to be a trend of more alcohol being consumed at (mostly weekend) larps than previously. I don’t mean to come across as puritanical about it here, just raise the issue as a point to be considered.

Again, with the influx of under 20’s, who are not necessarily experienced in drinking. What is the legal drinking age these days? If we are trying to be open to younger players and there being alcohol freely handed out by other attendees, is that A Good Thing?

Surely the point of attending a larp is to roleplay, to engage with the plot/setting the GMs have spent a lot of time and energy creating. I think it is Not A Good Thing to over-indulge to the point where one is disrespectful of other attendees (by being loud whilst they are trying to sleep), or being so hungover that one is late and not engaging in the roleplaying the following morning.

“If you are roleplaying a drunk, you don’t need to be drunk.” or “Adreneline (often with the help of caffeine) is enough of a boost to roleplay with”.

Also where is the code going to be put/used? An obvious point is the website, but I would suggest it be something small enough that can be handed out to newbies at the game. To me this would indicate a style of writing along the line of “10 golden rules”.

#28

And having sex in a manner that disturbs other players. Yes, this has actually happened - way back in the Mordavia days, a couple of teenagers got involved in one of the bunk rooms in the upper building, when there were other people in the same bunkroom, and who knows who else who had to listen, because there aren’t any doors in those rooms, just curtains. I have never been so glad to be crew and in one of the rooms with a lockable door… (To my knowledge, the people involved were over 16, but, y’know, pretty young and inexperienced.)

#29

Quite apart from potentially impairing roleplaying performance, its also a safety issue. Drunk people plus larp weapons equals accident waiting to happen.

We don’t need to be puritanical about it; just a note that people drinking should do so responsibly.

(Drug use of course offends venues. So do it somewhere else, please, not at the game)

#30

[quote=“IdiotSavant”](Drug use of course offends venues. So do it somewhere else, please, not at the game)[/quote]Drug use, of course (of the sort I assume you’re referring to) is illegal and thus should not need to be covered by a Code of Conduct.

#31

Sadly, some players do need the reminder not to shit in our nest.

#32

Yeah, the problem with drugs is that some larpers might feel that smoking dope at a game is no big deal, but they could get caught by the wardens and get us banned from a venue - which would suck massively if it was a venue we use regularly. It’s actually an easy mistake to make without considering the possible consequences to the community as a whole. Same with underage drinking. So even though it’s obvious it needs saying.

I had a bit of culture shock in the UK at Maelstrom. In the evening, almost everyone I saw got heavily drunk. However, much of this drinking happened after midnight, which is a time-out period there, which mitigated it a bit.

#33

There’s no official drinking age per se, but you need to be 18+ (and in possession of suitable ID) to buy alcohol. It’s also illegal to buy alcohol for (and, I believe supply alcohol to) minors without their parents giving permission.

#34

It would be useful to include a reference to illegal substance use to:

a) remind partakers that they are endangering our relationship with venue management
b) get them to consider not bringing their substance, or, if they are going to indulge anyway, be discrete to the point that no one else notices.

A benefit of having this would be that if there was an issue at a venue, we could point to our CoC as evidence that we have a policy around this.

The same thing applies to alcohol at non-alcohol-allowed venues. I have seen events where people took alcohol anyway, and they behaved discretely and responsibly and there were (to my knowledge) no problems.

#35

[quote=“Mike Curtis”]b) get them to consider not bringing their substance, or, if they are going to indulge anyway, be discrete to the point that no one else notices.

A benefit of having this would be that if there was an issue at a venue, we could point to our CoC as evidence that we have a policy around this.[/quote]

Advising people to “be discrete” would concern venue managers, not calm them. Any such written drugs policy needs to clearly advise against drugs at hired venues, without any nudgey-winkey clauses.

#36

Mike started a project to write a guide to running larps, anyone can view the private forum by adding themselves to this group:

memberlist.php?mode=group&g=2172

It’s somewhat dormant, but with a bit of input that can change quickly enough.

#37

When I was in the boy scouts, the scout leaders always used to go off site before they did anything illegal.

#38

Well, there’s a good role model, right there!

**

I personally would be pretty pissed if I learned people were doing drugs inside a larp I was attending. It’s not something I approve of in general, and it would be shitty for larp’s public image.

#39

[quote=“Ryan Paddy”][quote=“Mike Curtis”]b) get them to consider not bringing their substance, or, if they are going to indulge anyway, be discrete to the point that no one else notices.

A benefit of having this would be that if there was an issue at a venue, we could point to our CoC as evidence that we have a policy around this.[/quote]

Advising people to “be discrete” would concern venue managers, not calm them. Any such written drugs policy needs to clearly advise against drugs at hired venues, without any nudgey-winkey clauses.[/quote]
I didn’t say we would advise them to be discrete, I cited it as a consequence of them actually taking the time to think about the ramifications of getting caught. Like this: “Wow, we could stuff everything up if we get caught. Hmmm, let’s not brazenly spark up a joint in the Inn, then…”

So, yeah, any such clauses would be quite direct about the fact that we do not want illicit substance use because it could put our relationship with venue managers in jeopardy.

Quite. And let’s not forget that lots of randoms wander through venues such as Motu Moana, and I’ve come across randoms smoking dope there too.

I assume you are cool with caffeine, sugar, and alcohol. You can disapprove of drug use if wish, but history teaches us that recreational substance use is a time-honoured aspect of human culture. You can buy into the War On Drugs ™, but the reality is that plenty of large-scale events have been held under the auspices of the event being illicit substance-related. From underground raves (MDMA, LSD, speed, psyilocibin, mescalin) to stadium rock concerts (LSD, speed, cannabis, cocaine) to reggae concerts (cannabis). They all manage to soldier on, despite the fact that a proportion (sometimes a majority) of their attendees use illicit substances.

#40

I assume you are cool with caffeine, sugar, and alcohol. You can disapprove of drug use if wish, but history teaches us that recreational substance use is a time-honoured aspect of human culture. You can buy into the War On Drugs ™, but the reality is that plenty of large-scale events have been held under the auspices of the event being illicit substance-related. From underground raves (MDMA, LSD, speed, psyilocibin, mescalin) to stadium rock concerts (LSD, speed, cannabis, cocaine) to reggae concerts (cannabis). They all manage to soldier on, despite the fact that a proportion (sometimes a majority) of their attendees use illicit substances.[/quote]
I do not approve of many drugs due to the negative impact on internal organs (not going to go into which ones)

However - drugs have been legalised by governements to quell a population:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars

What makes you think they don’t still do it?