Event Preparation & Character Mechanics

1. Event Setup & On-Site Guidelines

Camping

Attendees are encouraged to camp during weekend or multi-day events, which may occasionally include an additional fee. All campers must follow local, state, and federal guidelines and laws. Modern or "mundane" tents are permitted, but participants are strongly encouraged to make their campsite or tent look historical, fantastical, magical, or "period-appropriate". All campers are required to clean up after themselves. Specific details about camping options will be provided prior to each weekend event.  

Orientations and Inspections

After completing the check-in process, participants must complete mandatory orientations and gear inspections before heading out into play:

• Player Orientation: Required for all players, this session covers basic rules and guidelines shortly after check-in. A separate NPC orientation usually follows.  

  
  

• Fighter Orientation: Mandatory for any NPC or player character planning to participate in combat (such as encounters, battles, or duels).  

  
  

• Inspections: Mandatory for all player characters and NPCs engaging in combat (as well as townsfolk wishing to duel). Conducted by a Guard or Loremaster, inspections verify weapon safety and appropriateness for your character's culture and class with marked damage amounts, armor safety and assignment of your Armor Point Rating (APR) with a visible belt ribbon, and that you understand how your abilities and magic items work.  

  
  

2. Core Game Principles & Balancing

Specific Beats General

As a general rule, if a specific rule contradicts a general rule, the specific rule always

supersedes. For example, the Hoplite class ability Enduring Spirit overrides the general rule stating that a character dies upon reaching 0 HP.  

Party Size and Scaling

Questing parties outside of town operate best with 2 to 5 players, with 3 players considered the standard scale for monster difficulty. Groups or households larger than 5 players will be asked to divide into multiple parties, with monster power and numbers scaling up for parties of 4 or 5. For groups smaller than 3 players, administration may choose to weaken monsters at their discretion.  

3. Playing Your Character: Terminology & Rules

Character & Equipment Restrictions

Your class determines the heaviest armor you can wear, rated by your Armor Protection Rating (APR) from 1 (light) to 3 (heavy), with 2 representing medium armor. Administration will provide a belt ribbon during inspection, which must be prominently displayed and never hidden. Each class features a specific list of permitted weapons balanced for history, theme, and playability. Guards will mark weapon damage levels during inspection, and these visible tape marks must be clearly shown at all times.  

Understanding Abilities

Every culture and class grants unique abilities, some usable multiple times and others restricted to a single use. Abilities requiring physical representations (such as spell packets, ribbons, flags, sashes, or tape) must be approved at check-in. If an ability does not have a physical representation, players must track it mentally and carry appropriate phys-reps when required. Spells are a specific sub-category of abilities utilized exclusively by "magical" classes.  

Renewal of Abilities

Once used, abilities must be renewed, or they will automatically refresh at dawn the following day (unless specified otherwise). Many abilities can be refreshed actively through pre-designated NPCs or at specific locations, usually for a cost in in-game currency, quest rewards, or labor. Other abilities cannot be refreshed early by NPCs or locations and must wait out their natural time interval, such as dawn for "per day" abilities or the next event for "per event" abilities.  

Ability Time Settings

Abilities function under different time settings. Always on effects are constantly active without a drop-off, such as baseline permissions to use weapons, shields, armor, or specific passive class and cultural traits. Per day abilities have a restricted number of uses constrained within a single in-game day running from dawn to the next dawn. Per event abilities are highly powerful narrative items limited to a single use between arriving at an event and checking out. For instance, if a Mage has a spell usable 6 times per day, they start with 6 spell packets. Throwing a packet counts as a "use" regardless of whether it hits, misses, hits an invalid target, or targets someone immune. You should retrieve your packets, but cannot reuse them until your abilities are renewed or reset at dawn.  

Doubling Up on Abilities

If a chosen culture and class share the same weapon proficiency or passive ability, they generally stack or grant a bonus. For instance, if a Dwarven character who can already use a one-handed hammer selects the Battle Cleric class, they receive a +1 damage bonus with that weapon. Non-combat overlaps are usually detailed in class or culture descriptions, and administration should be contacted if any special interaction is unclear.