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Hey guys. I had a friend who came to his first event have some confusion with the flow of the event. I thought I'd give you all a quick rundown, so you know what to better expect. People tend to start showing up on Friday around 2pm. During the Summer months, we're not allowed to show up until 5pm. People start setting up their campsites, and helping cast set up the camp with props and such for service points. During most of the year, tents are set up for us. Just pick one and move on in. Announcements will be made if tents are not available. During the day, you're going to want to Check In. A table will be set up in the Tavern where a Staff member will be sitting. Inform them that you're new, and they'll set you up. Make sure you have your character background, or you'll miss out on 3 Character Points. It is FAR better to email your character background ahead of time however.Once things have settled down, probably around 8pm or so, Cast will begin the New Player Meeting. This is a mandatory meeting for all new players who have attended less than four events. It is mandatory. Mandatory means you have to be there. There, the cast or staff member running the meeting will go over the rules of the game. You have to go to this meeting. After that comes the General Meeting. Everyone should be at the general meeting, where they will cover some of the things covered in the New Player meeting, plus general announcements (what's going on in game, changes or updates made to the rules, etc.). After the General Meeting, brand new players (or players whose characters are brand new this event) will be asked to gather for the New Player module. You'll be sent on a small quest where you will likely engage in some light combat. We like baptism by fire. At some point, the horn will blow (You'll hear it, trust me). This signifies GAME ON. At that time, we are all considered to be exclusively in character. Remember that this game aims for a fully immersive roleplay experience. You ARE your character, now. There is no X-Box, there is no Aqua Teen Hunger Force, there is no Street Fighter. Typically, game runs until 4am, when another horn will blow. After 3am, it will be considered safe for you to go to bed. Before 3am, if you go to bed, you might be murdered in your sleep. It happens. When the horn blows, we are considered Out of Game. It'll be pretty Pavlovian after a while; you'll just "Shut Off" when the horn blows, say "Booyah, bed time," and go to bed. You'll get up probably around 8am, to get yourself dressed, brushed, bathed, and breakfast'd. The horn goes off at 9am, and we're back in game all day, until 3 or 4am Sunday morning. At 4pm Saturday, you'll hear the same horn. Don't be fooled; game is still on. This horn signifies the Skill Refresh. All mana/chords/piety/favor will be restored, as well as all PER PERIOD skills (slay, disable, parry, etc.), but NOT health or armor. This should not be considered an excuse to blow all your mana right before 4pm (WHO NEEDS HEALING?!) or drag your ass to a mod if it's 3:45 (Hold on, have to tie my shoes...). At some point during the event, you're going to be expected to do two hours of monster duty. There's a signup sheet during Check-In that you must sign. Monster duty is mandatory. Mandatory means you have to do it, or you will not receive credit for the event. Typically you'll be given orc masks (or zombie, gnoll, kobold, whatever), orc stats, weapons, and told to follow the nearest cast member and kill PCs willy-nilly. Everybody does monster duty. If you have a REAL DOCUMENTED MEDICAL PROBLEM with latex, please bring this documentation, or you will be forced to wear a latex mask. There's a thread about it in the OOG boards that goes further into detail. Monster duty is a lot of fun. Game starts again Sunday morning at 9am. Assume you're in game if the horn doesn't go off exactly at 9am. Game tends to end Sunday between 12 and 2pm. The horn sounds again. Everyone meets in the tavern for the end of event meeting, where we talk about the event, pat each other on the back, and more importantly, sign up for Clean Up Duty. Clean Up Duty is mandatory. Mandatory means you have to do it, or you won't get credit for the event. There will be a sign-up sheet that everyone rushes to get in line for. Do your job and nobody will get hurt. Make sure to clean up your campsite first (and get your food or whatever out of the guard house, and your stuff out of the tavern) and pack everything else up before you start clean up duty. It makes cleanup much, much smoother. Cleanup tends to end between 5:00 and 6:00pm. It ends earlier if you do your job, you slacker. After cleanup is over, we Check Out. You'll be given some worksheets. Everyone fills out an End of Event Worksheet. If you do scrollcraft, alchemy(or poisoncraft), or magic item attunement, there are worksheets for those also. Make sure to ask for them. Again you'll wait in line, stuff all your forms into your packet, and hand your packet back to whoever is doing check out. After check out is completely finished and Ranger Ron has given us the Okay, we are cleared to leave. Usually when we leave, many of us go to a nearby Diner for the next several hours and joke and tell stories about the event. We don't usually get out of the Diner until 10pm (or much later). The diner is optional, but it's a lot of fun. After the event is over and you're home, you're going to want to fill out a Post Event Letter (PEL). It's a form on the website that asks you some questions (How was your event, what are your character's goals, etc.). You get 3 Character Points for filling out this form, so don't miss it. You can access send it to mike and craig, both at realmsofadventure.net. Once you've filled out your Post Event Letter, you should consider a few things. If you're planning to come back, make sure to Pre-register. You can do so through Paypal via this page: https://realmsofadventure.net/Event_info/Event_registration.cfm Note that this page also includes "Character Point Buy-in." Yes, for just $10 a point, you can purchase an additional two character points per event that you can spend immediately. You can purchase no more than two character points per event. Additionally, you can turn in 150 service points for 1 character point, to an additional maximum of 2. That's 4 extra character points, and a maximum of 10 character points per event. Once you've done all that, you're going to want to do your update. The OOG boards has a thread all about updating. Just do what it says, and you should be absolutely fine. The last and most important thing is to then go and tell your non-LARPer friends how great an event you had, and try to get them to come. This part is mandatory. I hope this helps give people a better understanding of what goes on here. If anybody has any thoughts, any questions or anything to add, it'd be much appreciated.
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Alright. If I can offer some pointers on “stuff you should bring.” This list will be very simple to help you out, but I know that everyone has their own needs for comfort. Just keep in mind that we're not truly “roughing it.” Your car will be on the other side of the tavern, you're free to leave whenever you want (provided you don't interrupt anyone's play on the way in or out) and McDonald's and a few convenience stores are pretty close by. Either way, you're gonna want these things regardless. Try to use common sense in determining how many of what you'll need for your group. Most of these things you can find in your house, I'd imagine, and anything you can't get can be found cheaply at Wal-Mart or the Dollar Store. These are the basics. You can travel light if you want but you'll probably regret it. I've added my own expert analysis but you can easily ignore them if you want. Camping Equipment - Sleeping Bags Pillows Bug Spray Flash lights or Lanterns - I checked the forecast for evening for every day next weekend, and they're predicting "Dark." Preferably electric lights, for use at your camp after-hours or behind closed doors. Tent - If you plan on sleeping on your own. Like I said, they're cheap, but this would be a one-time deal, since the camp puts their tents back up every year after April. Medical Supplies - A basic first-aid kit should probably be in everybody's camp at all times. I'm accident prone, I bring like four. Wal-Mart sells little mini ones for like 94 cents by the registers where they try to sell you stuff on impulse. Beyond that, I always bring a bottle of asperin or advil or tylenol, because I'm sore by the end of the second night. Obviously bring whatever you need to survive if you have medical conditions. No recreational pharmaceuticals, of course. Bring enough clothing as though you'd be gone for five days, not two. Socks are especially important; this sort of thing actually turns out to be very intense and involves a lot of hiking, walking, and running, through rain, snow, sleet, or hail, and you'll thank every one of your luck stars (and some you don't have) that you have fresh socks to change into every few hours. Concerning outerwear beyond your costuming, if you need clothing (I just wear a bigass robe and street clothes underneath, myself) I would advise you try to bring simple, simple things. Every player must perform two hours of cast duty, which means throwing on a latex mask, becoming an orc or a goblin and running around smashing good guys. Black pants and a black sweatshirt or light long-sleeve shirt if you have them are perfect, but as always, try to work within your means. Costuming and Props - Your Costume - Duh. Glow Sticks - You know, the kind ravers rave with. These are our main IN GAME light source. Mages, clerics, shamans, and bards can make them glow and you'll be happy you have one when you're in the dark. Makeup - Some costumes require very specific costuming, such as looking like a lizardman or a catman. Some people have very elaborate, very nice looking costumes. Bring whatever you need, don't be afraid to ask anybody if you can't create the image you're going for. Also, remember to bring spirit gum and spirit gum remover for elf ear tips, satyr horns, or any other prosthetic thing you plan to glue to your body. Boffer Weapons - The website has a guide to making your weapons to the letter. Take your time with them and test them out before you bring them. Of course, if something goes wrong, the nice people at the camp will do everything they can to help you out. Boffer Weapon Material - Just bring the raw material with you in the case of an emergency (lousy weapon, weapon denied) and make a new one. Also, your weapon might break or tear during game, so you'll want to repair it.Spell Packets - Spell Packets are remarkably easy to make. Directions should be on the website, but basically you take a five-inch swatch of cloth, fill it with a bit of birdseed, and tie close with some string. These little guys represent the spells you'll be casting (if you plan on bringing a spellcaster) so, probably a dozen would be a good start. But, if you're not interested in making them, just wait a few hours and pick up a dozen off the ground. Armour - Leather armour, chainmail, plate mail, whatever you got that you bought at the Ren Faire, wore it around all day, say "What the Hell am I gonna do with this NOW?" and tossed in your closet. Armour gives bonuses to your hit points, and any warrior will tell you that you'll need them! But some people believe that armour makes you feel like a hero and encourages stupid people to run headlong into battle, so perhaps the best armour is no armour at all. Prop Bandages - If you happen to have "bandage" then you need these. Long strips of cloth to tie around bleeding adventurers, ten or twelve would probably be best. Notepad and Pencil - Try to find something that looks simple and old-timey. Journals at Borders do the job well, but my first notebook was bought at the dollar store and we spent fifteen minutes rubbing off the embossed letters on the cover. Again, for spellcasters, you'll need a spellbook, but information is invaluable (I've discovered this myself intimately) so you'll want to keep important notes on things you're learning, storyline you're involved in, whatever. Beyond that, a pencil works, but a pen never needs to be sharpened, and most people are pretty good at not caring that your pens are obviously out of game. Food and Drink - Water - Bring lots and lots of water. Gallons of water are like 45 cents at your local supermarket, and they provide all sorts of uses, from cleaning things off to hydrating you and keeping you "alive" or something stupid like that. I always bring four gallons to ROA and only use one or two, but I imagine I'd rather have too much than not enough. Once again, this stuff is intense, and on a nice April morning with gnolls waking up you and your buddies, you're gonna be running and working all day, and you're gonna need it. Drink mixes work well in this sort of situation, I like Kool-Aid myself, but that's up to your preference. Non-perishable snack type foods - Granola bars, cereal bars, anything you can eat that you like that doesn't look terribly out of game (motorcycle-shaped fruit snacks should probably be avoided). I personally bring a bag or two of dried fruit and beef jerky; they're really tasty, basically good for you, and can remain remarkably in-game. Cooler - For your perishable foods. You might want to put ice in it, available for like 2 bucks a bag at most gas station convenience stores. Perishable foods - This is all up to your discretion of course, I'm just offering examples, but you should probably bring a cooler of real food. Bread and cold cuts and fruit are pretty standard, but if you want ice cream and you think it won't melt, that's up to you. Stuff that's really greasy should probably be avoided, heartburn sucks when running around all day, but that's just me. Hygiene Supples - Towels - Bring these anyway. If it rains, you'll thank me. Shower Slippers - If you plan on taking a shower. They tell me that the shower facilities at this camp are excellent. Cleaning Stuff - Soap, Shampoo, Cloth. You've been washing your filthy body for years, I shouldn't have to go into detail. Toothpaste and Toothbrush - Just because you're playing a barbarian doesn't mean you need to smell like one. Deoderant - See above.Money - The event for walking in the door is $55 a person, $45 if you pre-register two weeks before the event, but obviously it's a bit late for that.. Beyond that, have enough money to buy your food, open a tab for the hot dinner on Saturday, and on Sunday nights after game we go to a diner and party all night and tell our stories and joke. It's a really nice end to the event, but dinner ain't free. Money is very good to have, so bring what you can. Liability Waiver - The form is on the website, but you'll need a form signed that says your parents are okay with you hanging out with fifty-something weirdos for a weekend. It just says that in the event that you happen to kill yourself or hurt yourself real bad, it's not our fault. This is only if you're under 18. Garbage Bags - You filthy animal. Clean up after yourself.
I have to say these were two of the most helpful posts I read before my first game. I actually coppied it and made it into a check list along with the list given by Mike on the Header under about ROA.Following these instructions made my first event a success and very enjoyable.Thanks Arthur and Mike!
Might wanna update it since some is no longer accurate (5pm arrival due to camp etc).Also since the what to bring is mostly a rehashing, I recommend a link instead of rewriting the items.
Last month, we were actually done with set-up around 5:30. The main thing that we were missing was PEOPLE! Now, I know that people work and don't get out of work until the night time, and then they have to get to the camp. However, if you can get to the campsite as soon as possible, that would be awesome. Thanks guys! - Joe
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