| Site Index > Rules > Out of Game > Events |
| Events | |
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| Term Name: | Event
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| Description: | The (roughly) monthly gathering where the game takes place
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| Rule Type: | Out-of-Game |
Each month (except in winter and July) the game takes place at Camp Kingsley. Each gathering is known as an event. This page details how events work.
Monthly Gatherings
Novitas takes place roughly monthly at Camp Kingsley. We refer to these gatherings each as one event. Events are generally scheduled the first full weekend of the month. Most years events are held in March, April, May, June, August, September, October, November, and December each year. Some years the April event will be moved up a week to avoid conflict with Easter. Due to the Boy Scouts having an event for themselves in October (preventing us from using the site) that event is nearly always a week earlier.
Events are where the game actually takes place. While the community can be very active during the downtime, the game only ever truly happens during an event. This is significant for things such as role-playing skill advancement, we only ever count activity at an event for role-playing skill advancement.
A Standard Event Timeline
- 3pm: Staff Arrival.
- Only Staff can arrive at Camp Kingsley to begin set up at this time.
- 4pm: Site Opens.
- Camp Kingsley is now open to everyone to arrive.
- 4pm-6pm: Set up.
- Props are brought out of the props shed. Help is greatly appreciated and experience is given for helping.
- 7pm-9pm: Check-In.
- Players can pay for the event, get character sheets approved and collect their pre-produced items.
- Players arriving after 9pm are still able to check-in, but will need to be patient as the person assigned to late check-in's may be out playing a non-player character.
- 9pm-2am: 1st Shift.
- Food is available at the inn for all players.
Saturday
- 2am-10am: Nothing Scheduled.
- Sleep, socialize, do what you will.
- No food is provided by game during this time.
- 10am-3pm: 2nd Shift.
- Food is available at the inn for all players.
- 3pm-8pm: 3rd Shift.
- Food is available at the inn for all players.
- 8pm-1am: 4th Shift.
- Food is available at the inn for all players.
Sunday
- 1am-8am: Nothing Scheduled.
- Sleep, socialize, do what you will.
- No food is provided by the game during this time.
- 8am-10am: Clean-up.
- Be sure to clean-up your personal belongings before helping with general game clean-up.
- Some players arrive earlier than this, others arrive later. Experience is awarded for this and help is greatly appreciated. The more people involved the faster it goes.
- 11am: Site Closes
- 11am-1pm: Lunch Off-Site
- Players still around typically go get lunch somewhere nearby after an event.
- Nicky Doodles in Rome, NY is the current popular destination when it is open (April-October).
- For the cold weather months we have not found a location large enough to accomodate everyone. So generally smaller groups go to different locations by preference.
- Players still around typically go get lunch somewhere nearby after an event.
Check-In
Each event all players attending need to check-in at the logistics desk in the logistics building. This will typically open at 7pm, please wait until that time to check-in.
You may see the logistics marshal or second behind the desk prior to 7pm. The time before 7pm is one of the best chances they have to get work done on-site with all the things stored there. When people ask if they are ready to start check-in every few minutes, it makes getting that work done much more challenging. |
When check-in begins someone at one of the computers will take cash payment (to pay by credit card on site you'll need your own device to pay over paypal) or for those who pre-registered online, will mark you as present. If you did not check your current total experience online before the event they will let you know how much your current character has. Cash donations can also be turned in at this time. Prop donations should be given to the Props Marshal so they can approve the donation, and know to give you experience for it. If you are using a character sheet printed with our online character sheet app you can have that sheet approved at this time. Handwritten sheets need to be approved at another stop. Finally you'll also let them know which player character you are playing for the event.
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If you think your total amount of experience is incorrect, talk to the Logistics Marshal only if you aren't sure where your experience came from. If you know what experience is missing you'll want to talk to the Marshal responsible for that aspect of the game. For example if you didn't get experience for a prop donation, you should talk to the Props Marshal, the Logistics Marshal can't help you with that. |
After you have checked in you can proceed down the table to pick up any pre-produced items you may have ordered (and pay for them if necessary). You can also exchange out-of-date consumables or rituals at this time. If you are only exchanging one or two items this does not require pre-production, but if you wish to exchange a large number (10 or more) you should make sure you use the pre-production to make it easier on the Logistics staff.
If you are using a handwritten character sheet the last thing you'll need to do is have that sheet approved (if you've updated it since the last time it was approved). Never update an approved sheet. Instead take a new sheet, fill that out with any changes, then take both the new and the old sheet to the person checking character sheets. They will verify you filled it out correctly and mark your new sheet as approved.
In the past older character sheets were archived in case they got lost. With the that is no longer necessary. Players who haven't been around since before the was set up can speak to logistics, who have scanned old sheets that were in the archive to keep in case they are ever needed. |
Shifts
The game is broken up into 4 'shifts'. Each shift takes place over the course of 5 hours. 1st shift is from 9pm on Friday to 2am on Saturday. 2nd shift is from 10am to 3pm on Saturday. 3rd shift is from 3pm to 8pm on Saturday. 4th shift is from 8pm on Saturday to 1am on Sunday.
Each shift is run by a different group of Game Masters each of whom will tell different stories unique to their shift. Players are each assigned shifts by Logistics so that they can see those stories unfold over the course of the year.
While shifts are running, food is available for all players at the inn.
Role-playing can occur outside of the time shifts are occurring, but combat (or other conflict requiring rules) may not. Encounters not completed by 2am on Saturday morning, and 1am Sunday morning (the end of 1st and 4th shifts respectively) are effectively over unless the players involved want to role-play dialog afterwards. Non-player characters are welcome to end such encounters when they wish after these times, for example if they want to go to bed, or are otherwise ready to get out-of-game.
Some players also get up early on Saturday morning to get additional role-playing in.
Items may be exchanged outside of shifts as long as this is not used as a method of keeping items from entering play.
Shift Balance
Players can play a character on one shift for each shift they play a non-player character. New players are expected to play a NPC on their first shift and generally second shifts and may play a PC for the remaining shifts if they wish (though it is often recommended that new players NPC their entire first event). Afterwards players should contact Logistics to be assigned shifts to play on a regular basis. This is to maintain 'Shift Balance', ensuring we don't have too many PCs or NPCs on any given shift. Groups are given special preference for 'Shift Balance' to ensure they can play together on their shifts. Each year in the winter 'Shift Balance' is redone to allow players to interact with different people and to make sure no one is stuck on one particular combination if they don't want to be.
2nd and 3rd shift are the two shifts that have daylight and as such each player who wishes to have a daylight shift will get at least one of those shifts.
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Volunteers who want double night shifts (1st and 4th) are greatly appreciated and help us stagger assignments so that not everyone is assigned to 1&2 or 3&4. 2&4 is an unpopular combination, which makes giving out 1&3 difficult as well, so most players are assigned to either 1&2, 3&4, 1&4, or 2&3. Because 2&3 is double day shifts that are back to back (less changing) it is exceedingly popular and incredibly hard to give to players, it generally only gets assigned to one person for each person who volunteers for 1&4. |
Convergence
Every 6 hours starting at Midnight Friday Night there is a 'Convergence' in game. From a narrative perspective this is the leylines pulsing with energy, recharging magical abilities and some items. We call the time between two convergences one 'Game Day'.
At this time players power point pools replenish, also any spells with a duration of 'Game Day' expire. Effects which last the entire event last until the end of 4th shift. Abilities that can be used a certain number of times per 'Game Day' replenish at convergence as well.
When a onvergence happens it is common practice to yell loudly 'Convergence!' as a way to notify everyone without a watch that it has happened.
References
Pre-Production
Every month dozens of players attend events, and sometimes as many as half of them will want to create new magic items, produce potions, and other in-game items. It can take logistics staff sometimes hours a month putting all of these orders together. We use the pre-production system to help make that job a lot easier on them.
Each month logistics staff members will post reminders to turn in pre-production. You don't need to wait for those reminders, simply use the links on these links at any time.
Use this form to submit preproduction.
To submit requests to update obsolete consumables and printed items (such as rituals) use this form.
By doing this logistics staff has everything they need to make and gather in one single place making the job much easier.
Use the preproduction form for: Crafting new items, altering props with tinkering, producing new consumables, creating valuable items, turning in runes, exchanging items with merchant, or to let us know that you'll need items for being a high ranking druid or merchant.
Post Event Letters
After each event each player who attended may submit one Post Event Letter (PEL) summarizing what they did at the event. The Game Masters use these as reference material to find out what happened with certain plots or what player's did for the event.
When you are an NPC keep in mind the GM's don't know exactly what happened, and in the middle of running a shift are not going to remember all the details of anything you report. A good PEL gives us the records when things are calmer to understand what took place so we can grow a story from it. When you write a PEL be sure to include details about plots you think players are likely to write Lore requests asking for more information. Often Lore requests talk about an NPC they encountered by name, but if you named the NPC, the Game Masters are stuck guessing at which plot the Player is actually talking about.
Details about what fights you participated in (if that fight is unlikely to have a followup) are not useful in a PEL. We want these to be good for reference so anything that adds extra length without adding substance is undesirable.
Please keep PEL's as factual as possible. Writing in a narrative format is not helpful for the GMs.
As a player include anything that GM's might need to know about what happened, if you know the real world names of any major NPC's you encountered this can be helpful later as often everyone forgets this kind of detail months down the road when we really need to figure that out.
PELs are due the Sunday after each event.
In exchange for writing a PEL player's are awarded with 2 experience points. You must NPC or PC for at least one shift to qualify to write a PEL.
You can submit a PEL using this form.
Categories: Out-of-Game Rules | Work Groups
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