The Four Rules: Perhaps the best place to start is the Four Rules. These are down and dirty rule of thumb type things. If you stick to them, you'll rarely find yourself far astray. Keep in mind that the Four Rules are a standard that you should hold yourself to and one which you should, gently, encourage others to reach. They are not an excuse to belittle someone else in order to inflate your ego. The Four Rules are enforced by Mr. Clue Pipe, Emerald Empire's loveable mascot. 1.Don't be a jerk. 2.Don't be a slob. 3.See rules 1 and 2. 4.Snacks. Snacks of course, means bring your own. There are few things as grumpy as a hungry and tired larper.

Things That Will Get You Yelled At: Endangering other players. Being disrespectful of people or gear. Twisting the wording of the rules against their intent. Ruining other people's time at an event.

Things That Will Get You Kicked Out: Use of drugs or alcohol on-site. Willful/Deliberate violence toward others outside the context of gameplay. Doling out excessive injuries. Repeated face shots. Miscellaneous illegal activities.

Things That Help You Earn Respect: High quality props or costuming. An enjoyable plot or story. Sharing knowledge or snacks with people. Helping out players. Generally being a nice & sociable person. Cleaning up after yourself. Taking personal responsibility.

Ways You Can Prevent Conflict with Another Player: Remember that players are not their characters. Playing a villain or breaking the law should make another player's event better, not worse. A five minute conversation after an event can prevent 5 months of animosity.

The TED Clause: If you are planning a moment of Truly Evil Dickery then you should talk to the other player and make sure there will be no hard feelings. Check in with them afterward to make sure everything's alright. If you feel like you've done so accidentally, you should check in as well. This can help to keep your reputation intact as well as preserve friendships. It's better to check in too often than to check in not enough.

Bleed: Emotions tend to cross the line between in-character and out-of-character. In some cases this is good, like a particularly epic experience leaving you feeling great for a few days. Sometimes, negative emotions or experiences cross over as well. Humans have emotions, and they pop up at unexpected times. Don't let this ruin things for yourself or other people. Be observant of yourself and take your own feelings and those of others into account. These aren't rational, and they can spring up over the silliest things. Be aware and be tolerant, respectful, and caring.

A Few Ways to Deal With Bleed: 1.Play it out. Whatever you're feeling might as well be part of what your character is feeling. Roll with it and work through your issue. 2.Go somewhere safe with somebody and talk it through out-of-character. This is usually best done in relative privacy. The staff are there to listen to you, so don't be afraid to go to them with your problems or hang-ups. 3.Set those feelings aside for later. You're an adult, or soon to be one. Remember that this is a game and treating it as more than that may ruin the experience for you and your friends.

For example: Skizzy the Lizard stabs Gretel the Red and steals her awesome sword. This angers and upsets Gretel immensely. Solution 1: She vows to take sweet revenge and get her sword back. She tracks him down, kicks his arse up between his ears, takes her sword back, and begins to feel better. Skizzy brought this on himself. Solution 2: Being really upset, Gretel pulls one of her friends aside and has a short talk with them about what she's feeling and what to do next. Solution 3: Gretel takes a deep breath, sets this aside for later, and borrows a sword so she can keep playing. In all cases, it's probably a good idea for Gretel's player to talk to Skizzy's player after the event if there are any unresolved issues.

GENERAL RULES 1.Minors 13 and under require a guardian or older relative to be in attendance. All minors require their parent or guardian's permission in order to attend. 2.No drugs, alcohol, or illegal behavior are allowed on the event site. 3.Be respectful and tolerant of others. This includes their personal space. Inappropriate touching will result in your expulsion from the event. Be aware that some skills involve touching the person they're being used on, usually involving a tap on the shoulder or the like. 4.Do not use, mess with, or grab someone elses gear without permission. 5.Theft of boffers, magical items, in-game money, and any other in-game prop is permitted. Return stolen boffers to their owner at the end of the event. Keep 'em on your person or within 5 feet of a trail. No burying stuff. Don't steal beanbags or other props needed to represent or use an ability. Stealing magical items or weapons is acceptable. 6.The event thrower has the last say on rules questions at an event, even if they're wrong. Call them aside to handle your questions in private. 7.Please respect the space so we can continue to bring events to you. Do not damage the facility or the surrounding areas or leave your trash on the ground. If you do make a mess, please clean up when you are done. 8.All live steel weaponry must remain sheathed and tied unless being used in a demonstration that has been approved by the event staff in a safe area.

RULES OF PLAY 1.The spirit of the rules is more important than the specific wording. If a new exploitation or interpretation of a rule/ability would make the game less fun or fair for someone else: don't do it. 2.You call your own hits. Be aware of any hits you may have taken and do not call other people's hits for them. This game uses lightest touch rules. If the weapon grazes your body, you are hit. People wearing heavy armor or who are really distracted may not notice light taps so hit them a little harder. 3.Weapons have striking surfaces. For example, pointy bits hurt, whether they’re used to stab or slash. Unpadded surfaces, such as handles shouldn't be used to hit people. Really. 4.A hit to the limb injures the limb. If it was an arm, it should be tucked behind your back or held close to your chest. If it was a leg, hop on the other one or go down to your knees. 5.If a dead arm is hit, the blow transfers to the torso. If a dead leg is hit, it damages the other leg. 6.A hit to your head or torso (front or back) kills you. You should fall over dead and act the part. If you are dead for about 15 minutes, you wake back up shell-shocked and horribly injured, meaning you can't fight, use abilities, or talk loudly until you get healed. (This is commonly referred to as the “Die Hard” clause.) 7.Any strike that hits multiple parts of the body (simultaneously or consecutively) counts as a hit to all parts struck. 8.All shots to the head (and breasts for women) are to be made lightly. Don't destroy peoples groins. 9.To discourage aiming for the face, face shots do not count. Say “Face,” take a quick breath, and continue combat. If you keep aiming for the face we will take your weapon away or kick you out. 10.If you are hit by a weapon or spell you are immune to call out “Immune!” This is pretty rare. 11.Wearing armor protects you from getting hurt. If your armor is hit, it blocks the hit but gets damaged. If you're wearing 4 point plate-mail and you get hit in the armor call out “Armor 4!” The next hit is “Armor 3!” and so on, until you run out of armor and the next hit kills you. “Armor 1!” is your last point of armor in a given area. Your armor is counted separately, so if that gauntlet on your arm gets damaged, your helmet or breastplate are fine. 12.If you're wearing armor it should be visible. 13.If you take a particularly gnarly hit and feel the need to sit out for a while to cool off, please do so. You're doing the right thing and should be congratulated for it. 14.No grabbing other people's weapons, striking, or slamming into people. Slapping a weapon out of the way or blocking with a forearm is acceptable. 15.People marked by a white armband are non-combatants. Don't hit them. 16.If you don't know what the spell that just hit you does, it instantly kills you. 17.For abilities that list a number of times they can be used per day, a day starts and ends at midnight. 18.If you are confused or concerned that someone may be cheating please talk to a staff member about it. 19.An encounter is a period of time where two or more characters are trying to fight or kill each other.

Important Game Bits to Know Hold: Call out “Hold!” and take a knee if someone has been injured or is about to be injured. Repeat the call if you hear it. Because this is run-to-the-hospital levels of serious business, never use this to ask a rules question. Call someone aside to ask rules questions of during downtime. Drag: Touch someone's corpse and say “Drag” to make someone follow you at a walk. If you break contact they are to fall back to the ground. Search: You can touch someone's corpse and say “Search [an article of clothing or pouch]” to make them turn over all the in-game items on or in that bit of clothing. Armor: If someone calls out “Armor!” that means their armor absorbed your hit. If you keep hitting them, they will eventually die. Immune: If someone says “Immune!” whatever you just did didn't work. You can't affect them with whatever it was. The game talks about calls, yells, shouting. It's all the same thing. It boils down to communicating to another person that something is happening so they can play along. Whispering your calls or spell verbals is counter-productive and dumb. Don't do it. Ever.