Northwest LARPers Infractions List

v. 20091130.5 replaced at a vote on 2/1/14 by the heads of staff. The new version has more infractions spelled out.

Northwest LARPers Infractions List v. 20141140.50

Section 0: Intent of the Infraction list

Before we get started I want to give you the reader some guidance on using the Infraction List. First of all this document is meant to be used by staff to aid them in managing their departments. While it can be used with the Investigation Process the intent is to try to avoid the formal investigation process unless it is absolutely necessary. (See the Investigation Process here: viewtopic.php?f=59&t=979 )

We are a community of like minded gamers and my hope is that we can work things out most of the time. That said I want you the playership to be aware of the normal punishments staff can hand out so that if they exceed their authority you can make a complaint to the Executive Officers. On the flip side if some one is being a problem and the staff does not want to punish them appropriately the playership can attempt to do so through the Investigation Process.

Section 1: Definition of Terms

These are the meanings assigned the following terms unless otherwise noted in this document.

Investigator- The person empowered by the Executive Officers to look into the complaint based on the infraction list.

Private Warning: A private warning can be given by Private message, in person with no non-staff witnesses, in writing at event or by e-mail. Every attempt should be made to keep it between the staff member and the individual involved. It can be fairly informal. It will be entered in the Infraction Log at the staff members discretion if they believe it is warranted. (Minor Infraction)

Public Warning: A public warning can be given on the NW Larpers Forum, in front of other general playership at event as long as it does not overly break game, or in the game publications. This will almost never be done on a first offense and must be done by a head of staff or Executive Officer. (Minor Infraction)

Loss of Privileges: Examples- The loss of the ability to donate, NPC, be a volunteer, play restricted characters, tend firers, post on the forums or any other privilege granted by the organization implicitly or expressly. (Minor Infraction)

Asked to leave game: The player must leave the current event if it is safe. If it is not safe they cannot continue to participate in the game and must stay in out of game areas. (Major Infraction)

Suspension: Someone can be uninvited from game for one to three games. (2-6 months) (Major Infraction)

Banned: The individual is indefinitely removed from the playership. They may not have a forum account nor attend games or NW Larpers functions for at least a year. (Ban Infraction)

Staff- A member who is serving in a on going position where they are being compensated with XP.

Infractions Log Book: A book kept by the Executive Officers between games and at ST camp during game. It can be used to document private warnings or other staff actions taken at game.

Section 2: The Infractions Continuum

While all infractions will have a range of punishments based on a first time violation of the rules I think it is important and useful to list the full range of punishments that can be meted out. From smallest to largest. Note- these punishments are completely independent from any moderation on the NW Larpers Forums though such moderation may be relevant to any investigation and may count toward making the punishment harsher under these rules.

The range of punishments is as follows: (See Section One above for a definition of these words)

Private Warning (Minor Infraction) --> Public Warning (Minor Infraction) --> Loss of Privileges (Minor Infraction) --> Asked to leave game (Major Infraction) --> Suspension for one, two or three games (Major Infraction) --> Banned. The Investigation Process would be required to ban someone. Also of note: Three documented minor infractions can add up to a major one and two major infractions can lead to a banning subject to Executive Officer Review.

Section 3: Infractions by area with examples

There are several discrete kinds of infractions. Most violations are either: safety issues, forum issues, game rules issues, serious criminal offenses or failure to follow rules associated with a privilege. Here are some examples along with the range of punishments staff can hand out in a similar situation.

A safety issue would normally have the following result: Private Warning --> Public Warning --> Loss of Privileges. For example let's say that Frank S. keeps improperly building and/or maintaining fires. The first time they caused an issue they would be given a warning generally. If Frank kept doing things wrong after a warning or caused a fire though neglect or intentionally overbuilding the fire they might lose the privilege of building and/or maintaining fires.

Game rules violations are taken very seriously and would follow the following chart. Private Warning --> Public Warning --> Loss of Privileges --> Asked to leave game --> Suspension for one, two or three games --> Banned. The Investigation Process would be required to ban someone. This is a complicated area so I will give two examples.

Example 1: Jack Dan calls 2 damage when he can only do 1 by his mistaken belief that he had augment 1 by misreading the moon phase but stops doing so after being corrected by a rules team member. In this case there would be no further action as Jack after being warned corrected his behavior.

Example 2: Chet Cheatham is wearing plate armor and has had health levels and armor explained to him in the past by staff members after previous questionable incidents. Chet gets in a fight and has taken a total of 12 damage, 6 of which was absorbed by his armor and 6 of which was taken in health levels leaving him at 4 health with broken armor. He then goes into another fight without healing and without mending his armor and pretends that he is still at full health and is wearing full armor. He then takes another another 16 damage in that fight and claims he is at 2 health. This is cheating. In this example given the history Chet would likely be Suspended or banned after an investigation.

Serious Criminal offenses are not tolerated. Asked to leave game --> Suspension for one, two or three games --> Banned. For example Jim Bob is fighting with his boffer and Jill gets hit in the head on accident. She kicks him in the groin intentionally and seriously in response. In this example Jill would be asked to leave game at the very least.

Failure to follow rules associated with a privilege is a good way to lose that privilege. Private Warning --> Public Warning --> Loss of Privileges. For example Atlas Actorson is given explicit instructions by ST camp for how he is to play the Great Feniris. Instead Atlas runs from all battles and says that wraiths are the wolves new gods. In this example ST camp would likely forbid Atlas from NPC'ing from that point on. They could also suspend his privileges for a set period.

Dereliction of Duty (Staff) It covers just not performing ones job after warnings. Private Warning --> Public Warning --> Loss of Privileges. It may lead to loss of the ability to serve on staff. For more intentional rule breaking look at another rule. For example Ken Kenderson is on Deco and Safety and he sees a dangerously built fire. He walks on without taking any action. He then leaves game unexcused and does not help with tear down again. These are both Dereliction of Duty. This would lead to him likely being fired from his position and would in addition put a offense on his record.

Ad hominem (personal) attacks on Staff This will not be tolerated. Public Warning --> Loss of Privileges --> Asked to leave game --> Suspension for one, two or three games. For example Sylvia Sharp is at check-in. She berates a member of the staff for making a simple math mistake, swears at them and accuses them of trying to cheat her. This is going too far and in this example Sylvia would be asked to leave game.

Avoiding Check-in/Character Guides is not wise and can get you in trouble. Private Warning --> Public Warning --> Loss of Privileges --> Asked to leave game. Not paying for event is not fair to everyone else and not being prepared is much the same. For example Ferris Faker wants to try Shadow Accord but does not want to pay for it. He shows up at game and snags a blank character sheet. He fills it out but does not pay, talk to the Character guides or go through check in. He is discovered on Saturday night. In this situation since Ferris did it on purpose he would likely be asked to leave game or at the very least get a public warning and have to pay.

Lying to Character Guides about your concept or trying to play a restricted class without permission could lose you the right to play one. Private Warning --> Public Warning --> Loss of Privileges. For example Sara Slippery tells character guides that she is going to play a unrestricted cub but she plans to play an elder. She puts more on her character sheet after getting it approved and goes into game trying to play a restricted elder character. She is discovered by one of the Character Guides when they hear that she is playing a elder poorly. In this case Sara would lose the right to play a restricted character, her current character and would likely get a public warning.

Poor Sportsperson-ship is a catch all category for anyone who is intentionally making trouble out of game to other members of the community. Private Warning --> Public Warning --> Loss of Privileges. For example Jack Jackson has a problem with a group of players who he thinks killed his character for a poor reason. He tries to make them look bad out of game by starting a whispering campaign against them and every new character he makes hates them. In this case Jack would get a warning but if he kept at it all his minor offense warnings might add up to a major offense penalty.

Egregious Breaking of Game is continuing to constantly break game or doing so in a very disruptive way. Private Warning --> Public Warning --> Asked to leave game. It is not asking for legitimate rules clarifications or to report a medical emergency. For example Clara Catperson breaks game to show everyone in a room a cat video on her smart phone. This would get her a public warning. If she kept breaking game with that cat video she would likely be asked to leave.

White Knight/representing others without their express public permission is mostly a forum infraction but could happen before or after an event. Please encourage others to bring up their concerns with staff directly either in private or in public or use Dear Abbot. Private Warning --> Public Warning --> Loss of Privileges. For example Eager Everett is trying to win a argument on the forum regarding a new staff policy. He claims to represent others who are not active on the forum: "Other people who don't ever visit the forum agree with me but I can't tell you who they are but I feel I must represent them." This kind of exchange is not very helpful and can lead to unproductive arguments. In this case Everett would get a private warning but if he kept at it may lose the privilege of having a forum account.

Forum issues are largely not covered in this document and I would encourage everyone to be familiar with the rules on the forum. One can lose ones ability to have a forum account and still be able to come to game as an extreme example.

Section 4: Other related guidelines

When possible someone should be given the benefit of the doubt. All players are encouraged to correct simple mistakes by others but should summon a staff member if the person is not understanding or seems to be willfully bending or breaking rules or being unsafe. If there is a serious incident players can invoke the Investigation Process but this should be reserved for the more extreme cases. For more details, see that process.

Asking for clarifications on rules and how to do things safely will never be frowned on. We are all here to help and have a good time. Part of that is understanding the rules and ways to be safe at game.