| 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
Kingdoms of Novitas takes place roughly monthly at Camp Kingsley in Ava, NY. We refer to these gatherings as an event.
Events are generally scheduled the first full weekend of the month. A current list of event dates can be found on our website. Most years events are held in March-June and August-December; some years the April event will be moved up a week to avoid conflict with Easter and 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 in-game actions only ever truly happen at an event. This is significant for things such as role-playing skill advancement, where only activity at an event counts for character 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 (1xp per hour).
- 7pm-9pm: Check-In.
- Players can pay for the event, get written 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 (1xp per hour), 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 accommodate everyone. 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 open at 7pm, please wait until that time to check-in.
You may see the logistics staff 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 or, for those who pre-registered online, will mark you as present. To pay by credit card on site, you'll need your own device to pay over paypal.
If you did not check your current 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.
Finally, you'll also let them know which PC 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 doing anything special, but if you wish to exchange a 10 or more you should make sure you use the pre-production form to make it easier on the logistics staff.
If you are using a character sheet printed with our online character sheet app or have it downloaded to your phone, you do not need to have it approved by staff. If you are using a handwritten sheet, they can be checked at this part of the process. 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 online character portal that is no longer necessary, as players can retrieve their sheets at any time. Players who haven't been around since before the portal 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 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 (GMs), 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 or 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 and generally second shifts and may play a PC for the remaining shifts if they wish. It is highly 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 shifts 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 are double day shifts that are back-to-back (and thus require 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. Characters with intense makeup requirements (Snow Goblins, Drakes, and Verdurans) will get preferential treatment when deciding back-to-back shifts. |
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'. There are 5 convergences during an event. Although the 6am convergence between 1st and 2nd shift is outside of the game hours, it still happens for purposes of power refreshing.
At this time:
- Players power point pools replenish
- Any spells with a duration of 'Game Day' expire.
- Abilities that can be used a certain number of times per 'Game Day' replenish
Effects which last the entire event last until the end of 4th shift.
When a Convergence happens, it is common practice to yell loudly 'Convergence!' as a way to notify everyone without a watch that it has happened. This is considered an out-of-game call.
References
Pre-Production
Are you lost and looking for the page with information relevant to your preproduction form? Click here for production, and here for crafting. |
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 make other in-game items. It can take logistics staff sometimes hours a month putting all of these orders together, so 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 preproduction. You don't need to wait for those reminders, simply send the form in at any time:
- Use this form to submit preproduction; this includes 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.
- To submit requests to update obsolete consumables and printed items (such as rituals or very old scrolls) 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.
Post Event Letters
After every event each player who attended may submit one Post Event Letter (PEL) summarizing what they did. The Game Masters use these as reference material to find out what happened with certain plots, or what players did for the event. You can submit your PEL at this link.
PELs are due the Sunday after each event. In exchange for writing one, players are awarded with 2 experience points. You must NPC or PC for at least one shift to qualify to write a PEL. Empty PELs will not qualify for experience points.
When you are an NPC keep in mind the GMs 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 them the records when things are calmer to understand what took place so they can grow a story from it.
General Guidelines for Writing PELS:
As an NPC
- Include details about plots you think players are likely to write Lore requests asking for more information, especially NPC names.
- Often Lore requests talk about an NPC they encountered by name, but if you named the NPC the GMs are stuck guessing at which plot the player is actually talking about.
- Put useful descriptors of PCs whose names you don't know or use their real-world name (if you know it).
- "Short person with a purple dress" is very generic and describes a lot of players or even an NPC; "red-haired faekin" or "Shauna's PC" is distinguishable and easier for GMs to identify.
- If a player did something interesting with you that you liked.
- If you think that a plot can have an interesting follow-up.
As a PC
- Be as factual as possible. Writing in a narrative format is not helpful.
- Put the real-world names of players who represented NPCs you mention, if you know them.
- Note any plots you encountered that you are likely to follow up on either in Lore or PIP.
- Bring up if you really liked a particular plot, even if you won't be following up on it.
- This makes it easier for GMs to know what plots the players on their shift like to interact with.
- Mention things that you did that you will be using as examples for Roleplay Skill advancements.
- Any inter-PC interactions that you think the GMs should know about.
What Should Not be in a PEL:
- Details about what fights you participated in, if that fight is unlikely to have a follow-up.
- If you were skeleton number 5 in a fight and died, you don't need mention it. If you were a Vlenoan Inquisitor and a PC group killed you and your followers, that is important and should be written down.
- Details about discussions you had with players that aren't relevant to plot.
- If you are in the inn taking a break and talk with someone about their family, that typically isn't important. If you are a PC's family member and talk with them about family as part of a PIP, then you would write that down.
- Anything that adds extra length without adding substance.
- Thieving something from another player as a PC, listing everything you sold at your merchant stall, or talking about every one-off plot you went on or encountered that had little impact on the shift are all examples of things that can be left out.
- If you don't think anything you did that qualifies as being noteworthy, say something to that effect. Completely blank PELs will not get experience.
- Example: "Fought as various creatures throughout the shift on a Bag of Tricks. I died a few times as expected. Nothing else of note."
If you are wondering if you should put something in a PEL, you can reach out to a member of Plot between games or ask a GM during event.
Categories: Out-of-Game Rules | Work Groups
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