COVID Rules At Events

Enacted on June 12th, 2021
Lasts until further notice

Definitions

For the purposes of this Standing Policy, “attendees” shall refer to any in-person attendee of an event, including but not limited to EHs, staff, players, and spectators. If the event is held in a location open to the public, passing members of the public are not attendees unless they substantially engage with regular attendees. Attendees are to keep clear of non-attendee individuals to the best of their ability.

Additionally, “regulations” shall refer to any and all federal, state, county, and local laws, regulations, guidelines, policies, etc. relating to personal health and safety in the COVID-19 pandemic, which are in effect when a gathering takes place, and which are applicable to the nature and location(s) of the event. This definition is expanded when referring to attendees traveling between jurisdictions prior to, during, or after a gathering to include the relevant regulations for travel in said jurisdictions and for the full duration of their travel.

• If melee combat is involved, this includes regulations for “Higher Risk” sports and recreational activities.
• If food or drinks are involved, this includes regulations for food service.
• If indoor facilities are involved, this includes regulations for indoor gatherings and recreation.

Finally, “event protocols” shall refer to any procedures put in place at an event to comply with relevant regulations and/or further ensure the health and safety of attendees.

For Events and Attendees

Every Realms Event must comply with regulations, at a bare minimum. The EH or designated staff is personally responsible for ensuring compliance.

An EH is within their rights to enact and enforce stricter event protocols than are required by regulations. Any event must have advertisements that list or link to any event protocols by at least 2-weeks prior to the event.

Event protocols can be adjusted as needed by EHs up to 72 hours prior to the event, as regulations change. EHs must state in their event protocols whether they will enforce a one-warning or zero tolerance policy for attendees who fail to comply with event protocols or this Standing Policy.

Each attendee is personally responsible for knowing and following all event protocols for an event, and all travel regulations applicable to their circumstances. In the case of a minor, their parent, guardian, or a designated chaperone at the gathering is also personally responsible for their compliance. Any failures to follow regulations and event protocols must be reported to an EH or their designated staff member. With the conclusion of the event, all such reports must be passed along to the CRB by the gathering’s EH.

When any attendee arrives on site, an EH for that event or their designated staff member must verify the attendee understands and is equipped to follow all event protocols. If so, the attendee will sign a form stating that they understand, have followed, and will continue to follow all regulations and event protocols. No attendee is allowed to participate in or spectate the event until said form is signed. If any attendee is unable or unwilling to follow any required regulations or event protocols, they are not allowed to attend the event and must leave the site. Any such attendee’s failure to leave the site promptly must be reported to the CRB.

The following criteria each prevent someone from attending a Realms event:

• The person has tested positive for COVID-19 in the 10 days before the event.
• The person is required to self-quarantine or self-isolate during the event under local health guidelines or as directed by a medical professional.
• The person suspects they have COVID-19 based on any of the following symptoms in the 14 days prior to the event: fever (> 100.4F) or feeling feverish, new cough, difficulty breathing, excessive fatigue, unexpected muscle aches or body aches, new loss of smell or taste, sore throat, and diarrhea or vomiting.

Contact Tracing

Enacted on June 12th, 2021
Lasts until further notice

Every EH is personally responsible for keeping a list of names and email addresses or phone numbers for any and all attendees at their event, for at least 14 days after the event’s conclusion. Email addresses and phone numbers are solely for official reasons such as contacting attendees in the case of a positive COVID test or reporting to the CRB.

Any individual who tests positive for COVID-19 within 5 days of leaving an event must inform the EH(s) that they have tested positive. The EH(s) must notify the attendees with their listed contact information of their event within 24 hours as well as keep any information about the reporter and their circumstances confidential.

Minimum Attendance

Enacted on June 12th, 2021
Lasts until further notice

While this policy is in place, the minimum number of attendees for a legal event is 20 people.

EH Privileges and Administration

Enacted on June 12th, 2021
Lasts until further notice

While this policy is in place, no status relating to being an Event Holder (including EHC attendance, EHC voting, and membership in the EH mailing list) expires, and the statuses can only be removed by punitive action or personal choice.

For the purpose of magic item backing only, any EH that currently has a magic item on the list is considered to have received credit for holding an event each year that this standing policy has been in place.

EHCs may be held virtually, rather than in person. Similarly, Players’ Meetings may be held virtually, at each of which Players’ Representatives will be elected to attend the subsequent EHC.

EHs who held a legal event after 2019 must have attended at least 6 or 1/4 of events (including their own, rounded up) in that year, whichever is fewer, to gain eligibility to vote (if they were not already eligible to vote).

Require COVID-19 Vaccination or Recent Negative Test

Enacted on February 26th, 2022
Lasts until further notice

During registration or at sign-in, people at Realms Events (including attendees, staff, and event holders) must either present evidence of being currently vaccinated against COVID-19 (as defined by the CDC) or evidence of a negative result from a COVID-19 test they took in the 5 days before the Realms Event’s start.

Change to Armor Rules

Enacted on February 26th, 2022
Lasts until further notice

While this policy is in place, the text of 3.3: Armor is replaced by:

3.3: Armor

Types of Armor

You may always wear garb taking the appearance of armor, but your PC will only be able to call armor based on their restriction. Armor allows a PC to take blows without taking injuries. There are two kinds of armor: heavy and light. Heavy armor will absorb two blows per hit location before you have to take the shot. Light armor will absorb one blow per hit location.

Armor must allow you to feel blows through it and it must look like it would fit in a medieval or fantasy setting.

Calling Your Armor

Armor protects by hit location, so if you have more than one piece of armor on a hit location, it is all considered damaged when you are struck there. On the other hand, if one piece of armor covers more than one hit location, it is treated as separate hit locations. The armor hit locations are divided up by the hit locations for taking wounds and kills. As long as you are wearing garb that looks like armor as described above, and it covers 75% of the location you are armoring, you may call the appropriate kind of armor on that location.

Light armor allows you to call out “Armor 1” on that hit location and the next blow will do damage. If you are wearing heavy armor you can call out “Armor 1” and then “Armor 2” before the hit location takes damage. When you call your armor, you must also indicate the hit location where the armor was damaged. This helps your opponent to know where they hit you, and saying it aloud also helps you to remember where your armor is damaged.

Allow 2021 Complaint Submissions to Become Infraction Reports

Enacted on February 26th, 2022
Lasts until the EHC in 2023

Any person who submitted a complaint in 2021 that has not yet been adjudicated by the Event Holders may choose to change the complaint to an infraction.

Official Facebook Group

Enacted on February 26th, 2022
Lasts until further notice

The EHC will create an elected group of 5 people to come up with a proposal for a new Facebook group to be sent to the Event Holders mailing list within the next month. The EHs then are given a week to give a yes/no vote on implementing the proposal. EHs should understand that a “yes” vote accepts the plan as proposed by the elected Facebook mods, and a “no” vote scuttles the entire project. Changes can always be made at the next EHC. If the EHs decide to accept the plan, the group will then act as moderators for the facebook group until the next EHC.

The people elected to this position are Becky Baron, Alex Cannamela, Sara Jessop, Nataliya Kostenko, and Emily Murphy.