refresher course:
It’s everyone's first game!
We had a really nice winter break, but now it’s time to get back into the swing of things. So sit back, hold tight, and prepare to hear opening annoucements like you have never heard them before!
Today we’re going to talk about best practices for being a player in our game and a valued member of our community. I’m Amber, the Logistics Director and I’m here to get you set up to fulfill those pesky social contracts that come with playing a Zombie Larp in the woods with your pals.
keeping each other Healthy
We’re all survivors here, both in Bravado and the real world. The first social contract is to take care of yourself!
DR (larp, in general) takes a toll on your body and your mental health. Generally, you are exerting more physical energy, sleeping less, eating less, and drinking less just by the nature of the game. However, that means you have to take extra measures to ensure you are doing these things.
Drink water!
This seems obvious. But make sure you are trying to drink water even when you’re not thirsty. If it very hot or humid, you’ll need to replenish your fluids just as much as you do when it’s cold outside. Coldness makes us less thirsty, but it saps your hydration just as fast!
Consume calories!
Make sure that you are eating food! Eating meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is often not a reasonable expectation for a larp. Try to snack through out the day; good examples of snacks are jerky, meat and cheese trays, nuts, and hard boiled eggs!
DR:TX believes in traditional southern comfort, if you are hungry— someone will feed you! Just ask around before taking someone’s food from the fridge or kitchen area. Someone will give you food, and if you can’t find a snack; there are salty and sweet snacks in the medical room behind the post office.
sleep time!
It’s normal for sleep hours to be lacking at a larp, and that’s understandable; so we won’t try and tell you how to manage your sleep schedule/hygiene. However, if you feel tired— sit down. Don’t go on an away combat mod. Take a nap. You’re sleeping less, make sure that you’re making up with that with physical activities that you choose to engage in.
in sickness or in health!
No one wants to get sick when they come to larp! We share very close space together, and it’s almost impossible not to share germs. But we can mitigate some of the health risks by following these best practici’s.
Don’t Come To Game If You Feel Sick/Leave If You Start To Feel Sick- This is the most effective way to prevent the spread of illness which is simply not exposing others. If you have already paid for a ticket and cannot make it due to illness and the cost is a concern for you, we can talk about a refund or transferring that ticket to the next event. We want you to be well and to keep everyone else well too!
Stay Up To Date On Flu/Covid Vaccines- You can find out more information here from the World Heath Organization about how vaccines help your immune system and others. While we no long require proof of having a Covid vaccine or a negative test before attending, we do recommend following WHO and CDC recommendations for vacciations. DR:TX will be holding a vaccine drive to encourage people to participate in yearly vaccines. Email us proof of that you received your flu and/or Covid booster and we’ll give you 50 Caps!
Practice Good Hygiene- Make sure you are washing your hands with soap and water frequently. Here are some fun songs to sing while washing your head for the recommended time and also a list of when you should be washing your hands!
Don’t Share Food or Drink- I know this one is the hardest. We’re all friends and we’re all thirsty (HA!)! It’s easy to take a sip or water or hot brown when your friend offers it, but try not to! If you do, try to only share drinks with people in your intimate circle.
Cover Your Mouth When You Cough/Sneeze- Into your elbow! And if you cough into your hands, wash them as soon as possible.
Make Your Needs Known- If you have a medical condition that could be triggered by larp activity and you need someone to know how to respond in case of emergency please make sure the admin team knows about it. You can put this information in the form when you buy a ticket, or you can just find Amber/Ren at game and let us know what to look for!
Take Responsibility- Many of us take store bought brain chemicals to help us out! Make sure you are keeping up with those meds and make sure you know the side effects of those meds, because many of them can be exasperated by larping activities!
Know Your Body- Only you can respond to the way your body is feeling. Knowing when to take a break is really on you! So listen to your bodies needs, I assure you; it will communicate!
Sock sock shoe shoe
Recently there was a debate on the proper way to put on your shoes. Are you a put your socks on first and then your shoes? Or a put one sock on and then a shoe and then repeat the process? Let us know in the comments of this post on FB and we’ll give you 10 CAPS!
In all seriousness, feet maintenance is important for larp.
Wear Comfy Shoes- Make sure your shoes are comfy enough to wear for long periods of time! You can add insoles to help with this, but no one is going to be happy if their feet hurt!
Wear Safe Shoes- There are a lot of rocks on our site that have the nefarious intention to murder you. I promise you’ll trip at least twice during an event, and when you do; you want good shoes that support your ankles. Most of our players use some kind of hiking or military boot!
Break Your Shoes In- Make sure you have broke your shoes in before you wear them to a weekend long even. Breaking in a new pair of boots for the first time at a larp event is not a good time, I speak from experience.
CHANGE YOUR SOCKS!- No seriously, this is one of the most useful pieces of advice veterans give new players. No one wants trench foot, and sweat socks are the recipe for that. Also a fresh pair of socks is just a tiny source of dopamine and we’re here for those happy brain chemicals.
keeping each other safe
There are certain procedures that we have for DR:TX to respond to medical/safety emergencies. Some of them are best practices from emergency response directives and some of the are requirements for our site. We’re going to go over them so you know exactly what you need to do if there is an emergency.
safety hold!
The first thing that you will hear if there is an emergency is someone will yell, “SAFETY HOLD.” If you hear this all game play stops, and staff or guides will respond appropriately. If there is no staff present then a responsible player should follow these steps.
emergency response:
Is someone unconscious and unresponsive - their eyes are closed; they do not respond to verbal commands or their name?
Can someone not move without overwhelming pain?
Is someone not breathing?
Is there no pulse?
Is there bleeding that does not stop with application of pressure?
Are they having a severe allergic reaction and are rapidly progressing?
Have they been bitten by a venomous creature, like a snake, that can progress quickly?
IF THE ANSWER TO ANY OF THESE IS YES; DIAL 911 IMMEDIATELY AND FOLLOW THE DISPATCHEERS INSTRUCTIONS.
Then contact Amber or Jonathan by whatever means possible. Do not leave the person alone by themselves to contact Amber or Jonathan.
non-emergency response
Guides know how to respond to non-emergency safety/medical needs. If there is not a staff member present, send a responsible player to find a guide or admin staff immediately. There are also staff members that have certain certifications that might respond to handle specific emergencies.
While waiting for a staff member to come and take over, here are some of the things that you can do to address the situation:
Transport the person to Logistics or Med Room - The person should be transported to Logistics or the Med Room in Kiva for further attention. If the person cannot walk unassisted, it is best to radio/call/send for trained personnel. If none are available, simply accept volunteers to help support the injured individual. While in the Logistics/Med Room, the person can be kept warm and be allowed to take any time needed to calm down. Basic first aid care can be applied according to need and knowledge
Do not accept an entire crowd - at maximum 4-6 people are needed to carry a person who cannot walk at all. More likely, one or two helpers are sufficient. Ask anyone that is not needed to leave once the player is safe and secure.
Never let a player walk anywhere alone.
Notify Jonathan and Amber
Continue to assess the situation - If further medical attention is required, the staff at Logistics can coordinate to arrange for transport to the nearest urgent care clinic or emergency department, as appropriate.
mental health emergency!
If there are no staff present when a mental health emergency occurs:
Call a Safety Hold- Move the person away from the crowd or have a guide/responsible play to move the crowd to another area of the camp to continue.
Sometimes it is difficult for someone in distress to articulate what is wrong. Be gentle and ask them if they would like to leave the scene. If they are non-verbal ask yes or no questions and ask them to shake their heads yes or no. Explain that you are only asking questions to assess the crisis and determine if you need more assistance or if space and quiet is sufficient.
Take the person to a safe and private place, if they are willing to go, and send someone for a trained guide or staff person if possible (Amber and Barbara are both trained in mental health first aid).
Do not crowd them, but ensure that they are not alone. You may want to also have another person with you, to fetch assistance as needed and to ensure that there is a witness to anything that happens if the person is very upset.
If they cannot be calmed, then provide a way for them to be safely escorted off site, or contact Emergency Services. If they have someone they trust who can stay with them, facilitate that.
Alert Amber and Jonathan as soon as possible.
WEATHER OR ON-SITE EMERGENCIES
It is up to Jonathan and Amber to determine if a game needs to be canceled for safety reasons. This may include inclement weather or a local threat in the area. Every attempt should be made to contact the players as early as possible before the game about this decision.
n the event that a game needs to be canceled mid-event, players should assemble at Logistics. At that location, game staff will be able to check off what players are accounted for against the game check-in lists.
Assembling at a fallback location will also allow game staff to reassess the situation in a safe environment.
In the event of a Tornado threat, players should seek shelter in interior, windowless rooms where possible.
Fire Emergencies
In the event of fire, there is a fire extinguisher in all buildings with a fireplace. Each outside of a building should have a bucket of water or sand next to it as well.
If it can be contained with water or fire extinguisher, do so and contact Amber or Jonathan.
If the fire cannot be contained, call 911.
Staff should station themselves at the road entrance and every major road/trail junction to guide emergency responders to the site.
Do not engage in or encourage heroics - It is better to lose possessions than to have injuries.
clean up, Clean up! everybody do your share!
Camp Clean up is a social contract that we all participate in. We have a great relationship with the Girl Scout camp and it’s our mission to leave the location cleaner than when we arrived. To do this, we’ve created a procedure in which everyone shares that responsibility and I’m going to go over it here.
After closing announcements you will all depart and clean up the space in which you were sleeping. The space in which you are sleeping doesn’t just mean your bed or your cabin, it means the area in which you are sleeping. Each sleep space has an area that you are also responsible for cleaning. The sleeping areas are grouped like this, if you sleep in one of these spaces you should help your friends clean these areas as quickly as possible (this includes tenting in these areas):
The General Story/Kiva
Dusthouse/Wikiup/Depot
Dogrun/Wigwam
The Dive/Hopi
Tent City/Tiwa
A guide will be assigned to each of these places to ensure that they are clean. These are the things that they will be looking for:
Free of trash, take the trash bags to the dumpster
Remove personal items and load them in your vehicle in the parking lot
Sweep Open Air Cabins
Sweep and Mop Temp Controlled Buildings (Kiva, Depot, Dusthouse, Wigwam)
Prop Mattresses up against the beds in open air cabins, the mattresses should be on the inside of the bed so they do not collect rain water.
Once your sleeping area is done, the guide assigned to your space will sign off on your sheet. Together with everyone who slept in the same area, you you will come to the front steps of Kiva/General Store where there will be an Amber or designated look alike to give you your camp cleanup and take your sheets.
The camp cleanup will be a designated path in which you and your pals will walk with a trash bag and make sure that we have picked up all props and trash. We’ll switch up these cleaning paths as much as we possibly can so that one area doesn’t get the same path every game. Once you have done your camp area walkthrough you are free to leave. If you stayed off site or were car camping; you will be responsible for meeting with our Truck/Setting’s team to help them with special clean ups. They can be found to the left of the bell after closing announcements. They will tell you what they need assistance with.
If you signed up for a Special Clean Up Shift on the database, you should also check in with the Truck/Settings team to get your instructions. These individuals should pack their things quickly and load them up and then pack up their assigned area so it can be loaded on the truck. New players should not sign up for this cleaning shift because it requires knowledge of the site and props. If you are a new player and you sleep off site or in your car make sure the Truck/Settings know that you are new so they can assign you to help with appropriate tasks.
the end
We go over this in every opening/closing announcements, but we do it very breifly. It is our hope that longer explanations will help us all remember to take care of ourselves and help others along the way.
See you soon for spooks, my pals!