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Your First Event

Your First Event
Created: 8/27/24

Rules

Section: Gameplay

Summary: Information to registering for your first event.

Primary Topics: Summary of what to expect at your first event.

Going to a new place can be scary. Here's a breakdown of what to expect at your standard Novitas event.

Introduction

Welcome to Kingdoms of Novitas! We're glad that you are planning on joining us. This page explains what you can do ahead to make your life easier and what to expect over the weekend. If you have any questions, you can reach out to our Player Outreach Marshals Brandon Febles and Michael Maneri. You can also come introduce yourself on our Discord and get to know some of the other players before you arrive.

The FAQ Page on our website also has the answers to many common questions, and the Event Info page has all the information on when and where event is held, a how to get started video, and a printable packing list.

The New Player Booklet, which you will be given a copy of at check-in, can be found at this link.

Preregistration

Preregistration is possible by completing a waiver and emailing it to our Logistics Marshals Frank Tamburrino or Taylor Dean. Doing this ahead will give them a chance to put you into our check-in spreadsheet ahead and make for a smoother experience.

We will need your legal name on your waiver as we have to give a list of who is on-site to the ranger. If you have a different preferred name, let staff know at check-in and they will mark it down with your player information.

We are unable to take credit card payments at game, and cell phone reception can be hit or miss. If you do not plan on using cash at event, you can pay ahead using this page on our website or this paypal link (payments@kingdomsofnovitas.org). If your paypal name is not the same as your current name message logs staff ahead so they can mark you as paid or let check-in staff know when you arrive of the difference.

Parking

Parking in front of the Logistics Building is for loading and unloading only. When game is in progress all vehicles should be parked either in the main parking lot directly ahead of the entry driveway or parked at the A-Frames. There are typically cones in front of the Welcome Center denoting not to park in front of it, please do not park in the coned-off area.

The camp asks us to keep our maximum speed at 5 miles per hour, please do your best to stick to that limit.

Outside of game hours, cars can be driven to drop off or pick up items in Williams Cabin or to the Lean-tos. This should not be done during game hours, when snow is on the ground (it gets VERY icy), or if it is wet enough a vehicle will leave tracks. If cars cannot drive up the paths to these areas, they will be blocked off by staff.

Where to Stay

There are a variety of buildings on site for our usage. With all buildings be sure to close the door behind you to keep the seasonal weather and bugs out. All of the buildings have heat in the winter, but none of them are air conditioned. Buildings that are used in-game are always in-game during event hours. Reserving space in one of the A-Frames is recommended if you plan on sleeping during event hours.

Some players live locally and choose to commute to game, but most players stay on site for the weekend. Listed below are the cabins and areas that are available for lodging. If you have any questions about where to stay, reach out to our Player Outreach Marshals Brandon Febles and Michael Maneri.

Williams Lodge

Up until recently Williams Lodge was the location of the Spinning Jenny. It now serves as the location in-game for the Vargainen Embassy and the Town Hall. Beds are available here by reservation only. Speak to the Ops Marshal, Chris Soukup to reserve one.

Smith Cabin

Smith Cabin was previously the campsite's health lodge and store. With the addition of the Welcome Center, this was converted to a sleeping area with bunks and is now available for our use. It is located outside the Spinning Jenny, next to the props shed. This cabin is used by GMs for plots and cannot be claimed by groups as an encampment.

Beds are available here by reservation only. Speak to the Ops Marshal, Chris Soukup to reserve one.

A fridge and stove are present in the building. Speak to the Inn Marshal, Jordan Bellassai, about using them. If you do, you will be responsible for cleaning them.  

Harden Cabin

Harden Cabin was the original location of the Spinning Jenny, then the second location of the Slap & Tickle, before eventually becoming the location of the Glowing Coals. Currently, it serves to represent a variety of possible locations. The building should not be used by player characters in-game at this time except for during encounters. It is located inside the random encounter adventuring zone. Gamemasters will use this building during the game for random encounters that need a building to make sense. Treat the building as the same building on a single shift, but when the shift is over, give the gamemasters some freedom to write stories, and treat it as a different building located nearby.

The building sits at the end of the parking lot. Players are always welcome to sleep in this building on a first come, first served basis.

A fridge and stove are present in the building. Speak to the inn marshal, Jordan Bellassai, about using them. If you do, you will be responsible for cleaning them.

Evans Cabin

Evans Cabin was the original location of the Slap & Tickle up until 2020. The building sits in the Hooked Encounter Zone and should be not be used by player characters in-game to allow Gamemaster's to write hooked plots that require a building. Each encounter in this building could represent a different location as needed for narrative purposes. It sits down the road from Harden Cabin near one of the nicer bath facilities. Players are always welcome to sleep in this building on a first come, first served basis.

A fridge and stove are present in the building. Speak to the Inn Marshal, Jordan Bellassai, about using them. If you do, you will be responsible for cleaning them.

The A-Frames

There are three A-Frames located near the Ranger's house. They are named Apache, Pawnee and Sioux going from the nearest to the Ranger's house to farthest. You can get to them by driving past the Ranger's house when you first get to the site. Walking to them is possible, but the path is fairly steep. These buildings are available by reservation for players to sleep in. Speak to the Ops Marshal, Chris Soukup, regarding reservations. Parking is available at all times at the A-Frames.

A fridge and stove are present in each building, but they were not well cared for during 2020. Speak to the Inn Marshal, Jordan Bellassai, about using them. If you do, you will be responsible for cleaning them.

The A-frames have showers and bathrooms in them that are only available in the late Spring, Summer, and early Fall. The rest of the year the only facilities available there are two port-a-potties.

These buildings are only considered in play if the players staying there wish for them to be, and even then only if they are prepared to be in-game in advance (with people's out-of-game items hidden, etc). Plots are not sent there.

Lean-Tos

The lean-to's are available for players to sleep in, though this is not recommended in the colder months unless you know what to expect. Groups can also use these to set up encampments in. These can be claimed each event on a first come, first served basis.

The Ranger lean-tos are the group of lean-tos in the middle of the Maplewood Town Zone closest to the lake. On the north end of the Maplewood Town Zone closest to the ranger's house are the Seneca Lean-Tos.

The Oneida Lean-Tos was once referred to as 'Maplewood Proper' in the early days of using the site. After various plot developments this is no longer a central part of town and is now located in the hooked plot adventuring zone. People will still commonly use that name even though it isn't accurate any more.

Tents

Players are allowed to set up tents on site, but there are some restrictions on them.

  • Modern or otherwise non-period tents can be set up but must be broken down while the game is happening and for this reason are not recommended.
  • Check with the Props Marshal, Christina Mevec, if your tent is a canvas or otherwise period tent that you would like to leave up during event to be sure that it meets props requirements.
  • Check with the Ops Marshal, Chris Soukup regarding where it is ok to set up your tent during events. We need to make sure we don't lose prime encounter locations and need to make sure support ropes aren't tripping hazards.

Food and You

The game's inn, The Spinning Jenny, has food for coin available during every shift. Non-player characters eat for free. Dishes can be washed in the kitchen, and space is available in the kitchen to store your dishes when not in use. Please don't leave them out on the tables.

If you have any special dietary restrictions, you should bring your own food to ensure your needs are met. You can reach out to the Inn Marshal Jordan Bellassai with any concerns regarding food allergies. You may also want to bring additional food for the evening for after game is done or before it has started early in the morning.

Drinkable water is available on site, and the inn typically has soda available. No alcohol is permitted on site.

Standard Event Schedule

Friday

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
    • Everyone who isn't staff must be off the site by this time.
  • 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.

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.

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.

New Player Introduction

At 9pm on Friday night, new players will all meet outside logistics with someone from Player Outreach for the New Player Introduction, affectionally referred to as the "Newbie Speech". This will cover important safety topics and the basics of combat. You will also be "hit calibrated" by being given a standard NPC weapon and then hit a more experienced player, who will tell you if you are hitting too hard or too soft.

Your First Plot

After the new player introduction, you will be brought on a plot with someone from Player Outreach acting as the lead NPC. They will bring you on a basic plot, usually "New Adventurers to Town", so that you have an idea of the layout around logs and how PCs and NPCs interact. Your lead NPC is there to give direction and answer questions. Don't be afraid of messing up interacting with PCs, your lead NPC is there to help smooth things over and give feedback if things go wrong.

Roleplaying Basics

A non-player character or "NPC" is any character that is not a "player character". These characters are sent out during events by game masters to populate the world. Common examples include townsfolk, bandits, and monsters.

During each shift the game masters running that shift will organize what we call plots and assign players to be the non-player characters needed to bring these plots to life. Often roles are referred to as being "Combat" or "Non-Combat", but these are just broad terms indicating what they are aimming for. A plot aiming at combat will sometimes be solved through roleplaying, and a non-combat plot can always get attacked.

When you've been assigned a role, you'll then gather any necessary garb from the NPC totes in logistics, garb specifically available for players to use when playing NPCs. Then if you need any make-up done you can get that from people working at the make-up desk. Finally you'll return to the GM to get any loot, get assigned stats, and final instructions.

From there you'll go out into play and interact with the PC's based on the instructions you were given. For most plots we try to keep these as instructions as simple as possible. "A group of orcs are searching for easy prey, approach town from the North and attack anyone you see." or "You're a bard desperate for new material, attempt to hire players to give you inspiration."

Plots that require very complex dialog or detailed interactions will generally be run by the GM's themselves (with the GM's playing an npc in the group) or built up over many events so that players don't have to memorize a book to play an NPC before going out on a plot.

You may not use any of your player character's identifiable garb or other numbered possessions while working as a npc. This could create a situation where you have lootable items that shouldn't be looted, and this should never happen. You also want your player character's garb to be easily recognizable as belonging to that character.

When you are on shift as a non-player character you are allowed (and encouraged) to have a tote of your own NPC garb stashed in the logistics building. When you are done with your NPC shift you'll need to remove that tote to create space in the building. A table under the front awning is the recommended location to stack out of use totes.

After a player has been part of the game long enough (around a year) it is expected that they start bringing some amount of personal npc garb with them to improve their costuming options. Weapon props are especially useful for the well prepared non-player character to bring.

Always make sure that before you leave the logistics building that you have any required costuming or make-up for the character you are playing. Most often this means that if you are playing a creature that wears a mask or is painted, that you have covered any exposed skin. While you are working as an npc you are expected to do any reasonable task asked of you by the game master, failure to do so could result in you not earning experience for the shift.

What we mean by this is that if you are extremely tired, melting in the heat, freezing in the cold, have been painted too many times in one weekend, or otherwise take issue with a plot, communicate with the game master about it and they can let you recover or find other ways to send you out. However, if you are simply trying to avoid going out as an NPC, you're hurting the fun of the players of a shift, and that is bad for everyone. When you are out there playing a character you'll also want stories to be happening for you to interact with, help do the same for the players in game while you are NPCing.

Even if you don't enjoy something or are bad at it, you can help by participating. Not being good at fighting doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't do it. Your presence will add something to an encounter and could lead to all kinds of different outcomes that bring fun to the game.

PC and NPC Shifts

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.

More Information

Our Discord is a great source of New Player information, and a great way to talk to other players before coming to your first event.

If you have any questions about preregistering or check-in, you can reach out to our Logistics Marshals Frank Tamburrino or Taylor Dean.

If you have any questions about the mechanics of game, where to sleep, or how to get started, you can reach out to our Player Outreach Marshals Brandon Febles and Michael Maneri.

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Page last modified on October 23, 2024, at 10:20 PM
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