New Player - Introducing Foxglove

New Player Questions
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:wave: Hello everyone! My name is Julia (she/her), but you all can call me Foxglove :hibiscus:

I’m new to the LARP scene, but ever since I started playing table-top games like Dungeons & Dragons, my dream has been to join a LARPing community. However, I never felt the confidence to look for a group nor the desire to drive hours upon hours across the states to reach events. Finding Witchwood was like finding a double rainbow, and after delving into the lore, skimming the forums, and oogling the pinterest board, I think it’s safe to say I’m fascinated with it! I plan on hopefully making my debut with the second Spring event, if possible, as I feel like that will give the aptest preparation. :muscle:

I have a list of questions, for anyone that might be willing to take the time to answer one, some, or if possible all of them, that would be wonderful! :sparkles:

:question: Question 1: What is the vocabulary like IC? Is it medieval era speak or more close to modern? Is there unique slang to be found, like personalized takes on popular metaphors? Perhaps all different depending on who I talk to? Just curious as to what I could expect in terms of dialogue.

:question: Question 2: How mythical is the wildlife? I’m assuming things like deer are considered to exist, but what about dragons, etc? Do plants from our world remain the same? (I would assume so since the days of the week are named after various trees.)

:question: Question 3: For Lyra, is it possible to do hair ornaments instead of facial markings for racial identification? (ie feathers sprouting from one’s hair instead of their face.) Heavy makeup tends to irritate my face, and I’m unsure about wearing it all day.

:question: Question 4: How far in advance do I need to sign up for an event? And roughly, how much does it cost to pay for one person’s admittance? Within a typical event, are there other things I will need to pay for as well with USD?

:question: Question 5: What sort of characters work best for a newbie, and what sort of characters does the community tend to lack? I planned on having a druid designed for support and healing, but if anyone has other ideas I’d be more than happy to hear them, especially if there is an abundance of druids.

:question: Question 6: Is there a discord or other popular platform used for community communication aside from the forum?

:question: Question 7: This is probably a difficult question to answer but would anyone mind giving me a guess-timate on how much can I expect to die as a weaker (but not non-combative) character?

Overall, super excited and eager to participate, if a bit nervous. I’m looking forward to exploring Evren and all it has to offer. Gosh, I hope I did this right~! :blush:

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Player answering - so anything staff says has precedence over what I say:
Q1: Its modern, but there is distinctly chunks of game specific jargon and metaphors you’ll pick up pretty quick.
Q2: Plants remain the same, and then there are some more magical ones. Similar for wildlife. And then there are Gurtoss (carnivorous plant monsters) that probably count as both categories. :slight_smile:
Q3: I feel like you need some facial markings but they can be not intensive from a makeup perspective. This is not a full face make up, and its likely we can help you find something that works.
Q4: We have “BGS” - before game skills. If you have any of these, you want to sign up a couple weeks in advance to be able to submit them before the BGS deadline. Pre-covid, I’d say you could just show up day of, though if you want personal plot probably 2 weeks in advance is a good guideline so staff has time to meet and write it. During an event, you shouldn’t need USD and our event fee includes meals & snacks, though some folks bring additional snacks. I think its $80 for a weekend, but we have season pass discounts and a first time player discount. (I buy a season pass, so I don’t remember the per event fee.)
Q5: Honestly, any sort of character that would have you engaging with others while playing. Each header and each culture tends to have something going on specific to it, and pretty much all of the headers are well supported by staff.
Q6: We have a discord and use Facebook. I think this link should work for discord Witchwood Roleplaying but will expire after a week.
Q7: A lot depends on you. If you are good at situational awareness and don’t get unlucky, you probably won’t die unless you choose to put yourself in harms way because it seems like the right thing to do for your story. I’d recommend picking up a “Repose of Peace” (or 2) as they can go a long way to letting you get out of a bad situation.

Its a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing you in-game.

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Hi, staff answering! The above answers are all good.
Additionally:

  • Lyra facial markings can be as simple as e.g. the outline of a single feather drawn in eyeliner pencil. If that’s still a problem, we can try to work something out.
  • With the new-player discount, your first event is only $20!
  • As far as facebook, the main page is here and the discussion group is here.
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Thank you so much for your answers! :grin:

I’ve figured out my Lyra debacle with a meager design that should work just fine for me. I’m working out a character right now, is there anyone that I can email or message my idea to and get some feedback? I saw that there was a post from Bryan that was offering, but I was unsure if that was an old or out-of-date offer. :paperclip:

The discount for new-players is certainly good news! :tada:

Is the Facebook discussion group a more popular form of communication between players? I’ll see about joining it, as I’d love to get to know the community and its climate. The main page looks positively wonderful. :star_struck:

If I don’t have any BGS or personal plot, would it be possible for me to get in for the upcoming first-season event? I’m fine with missing it if not of course. I know it was mentioned it’s possible to sign up the day of, is that still the case? I would assume there is more paperwork/processing necessary because of COVID, would that prevent me?

Regardless, for either the first or second spring event, what should I expect from COVID-19 regulations? I’m vaccinated and up-to-date myself, but should I expect to mask while indoors or other safety precautions? :mask:

If there is a chance for me to join the first spring event: if there isn’t enough space within the cabins for me, should I plan on bringing my own canvas tent to sleep outdoors in? :tent: :herb:

Again, huge thanks, and if there is anywhere aside from the rulebook that I should check out for information, I’d be happy to follow any links that might be of use. :yellow_heart:

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When you submit a character backstory, it goes to staff to approve. They will provide commentary then. If you want to chat with staff & players for ideas, discord is a great place to find us – and I suspect Bryan would be willing to still provide that service. There are several of us players who are lore nerds who love helping out.

Lately, conversation has been more on Discord than Facebook, but announcements and reminders definitely go out to both.

We require up to date covid vaccination proven to our game director, and you should expect to be masked. We do a pre-game reminder for everyone of what our current protocols are.

I suspect you’d be fine to show up for first spring event, though that’s a question for @baniszew to say. We definitely have some folks tent camping. I’m not sure what cabin space looks like - again that’s a Beth question.

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Hi! I think you’ve been answered mostly already but I’d be happy to talk with you about druid stuff/support characters as Tess, a resident druid who is mostly support at this point I think. We also have a healers circle meeting at the game I can make sure you’re invited to. Never be afraid of talking to Tess, I can usually find people who could use some druid help at the game and can point you in their direction if you have nothing to do and want something to do.

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You can certainly register for the upcoming event. Staff won’t have time to think about much for personal plot, but we tend to use people’s first events as world-orientation anyway, so you should still have a fair amount to keep you busy.

You will need to either send me a copy of you COVID vaccination record or bring it with you. You can email me at this username at gmail.)

We do still have cabin space. Current lodging assignments are in the doc linked here:

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:bowing_woman: Thank you so much, JsterJ! With how I’ve designed my character, I’m certainly going to be on the lookout for groups that want a supportive follower. I’m aiming to be a friendly neighborhood druid with a lot to learn. :herb: :handshake:

:tada: That’s wonderful news, baniszew! I think that personal plot is best something I explore on my second event, I’m fine with not having a huge amount to do with the upcoming event as it will give, as you said, plenty of room for world orientation, introductions, and general learning of the game and Oak Harbor itself.

:identification_card: I plan on sending an image of my COVID vaccination record to you to have that settled ahead of time. Less to keep track of the day of. You should receive it shortly.

:question: For druids, I read that we receive staff-given wreaths. I have a small wreath made from thin artificial wooden sticks and artificial plants, woven together with a silver-colored wire to keep it from falling apart. Should I bring this as well and get it checked for approval, as an option to lessen the expenditure on the staff’s supplies? I can provide a photo for it in advance if that would be helpful.

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:wave: Hello again, I have some more questions I thought I’d toss on this thread. Thank you all for your patience with me! :yellow_heart:

:question: I have a friend that might be interested in coming with me as a second new player, but he’s busy on Friday (22nd) with something he cannot get-around or reschedule, I was wondering if it is possible for him to join the event on Saturday (23rd) instead so that he can attend part of the event? It’s understandable if not, but I thought I would ask on his behalf. :date:

:question: Is there anywhere I can find an itinerary for the event set up, soft stops (last I read they are at 2 AM), and the end of the event entirely? I could have sworn I saw one, but now I can’t seem to find it. :hourglass_flowing_sand:

:question: I’m interested in helping out where I can, and while I am on a monetary budget, I read that one way that I could help is to aid with set-up and take-down. Is that something I can still sign up for? And if so, how much earlier/later should I expect to arrive/leave? If not, are there other ways as well that I can help? Unfortunately, I do not have a CORI form (yet) so I cannot offer to help with taking shifts at the daycare, except with keeping the care-sitters company, if that doesn’t require a CORI form. (Please note, I do not want any form of compensation like CP, I just want to help out if an extra pair of hands is needed- if extra help is not needed, then that’s just as well!) :broom: :raised_hands:

:question: For sleeping arrangements, is there someone I should contact in particular to get a spot in one of the cabins? If there are any cabins already planning on doing IC that are open to having a new player, that would be wonderful.

:question: In addition, asking for a friend, is it fine to sleep off-site during the soft-stops if one is uncomfortable with sleeping on-site?

:question: @baniszew I wanted to confirm that my COVID vaccination record reached you. If not, what is the exact email address? I might have entered it wrong. :sweat_smile:

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The wreath you already have sounds good. We’ll give it a look just to make sure, either via photo or when you check in.

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We have had players who just played Saturdays, so its definitely possible for your friend to miss Friday night. It will mean they’ll miss the new player intro scene.

Game generally starts 9-10pm on Friday and soft stops at 2am. It starts again at 9am on Saturday with another soft stop at 2am. Sunday starts at 9am and runs until generally noon-1pm depending on what close story is happening.

Setup & Cleanup can generally be signed up for when you are on site. When you show up the building we use as a staff center is pretty obvious (its the big building straight ahead as you cross over the bridge). Once you have your stuff settled, go there, sign-in and ask how you can help.

BethB did the cabin assignments and can probably set you up with one when you get her your covid record.

Sleeping off-site is permitted if your friend prefers, but they I expect they’d enjoy the experience of being on-site more once they have are comfortable with the sleeping arrangements. The cabins are rustic, but they have power.

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Another new player arriving on Saturday would be fine.
We usually do an in-game “bring all the new settlers in together from the ship” on Friday night, so he might miss out on that, but otherwise it’s fine.

Rough schedule is:
2 or 3 pm on Friday: The first people show up for set-up.
People trickle in and can continue to help set up until 8 or 9, whenever we’re done.
(I would suggest waiting until 4 or 5 to show up if you haven’t helped with set-up before, so that there is a critical mass of people who know where stuff goes to give directions.)
Somewhere in the 6-7 range, we get to a point where people can formally check-in and receive their character packets.

There’s a pre-game meeting of everyone, 9-9:30 ish.
Game starts shortly after the meeting, around 10.
Soft stop-starts at 2am. After this time, you can keep playing, but staff will stop sending out plots / monsters.

Soft stop ends at 9am on Saturday.
Breakfast tends to start at 8:30 on Saturday, so that people can go look for alchemy/herbalism components in the woods as soon as soft-stop ends.
(You are allowed to hunt for them on Friday before 2am, it’s just harder in the dark.)

The 2am to 9am soft stop is the same the next night. (But honestly, staff gets tired and probably won’t send much out after 1am.)

On Sunday, the game ends around noon so we can all clean up.
Clean up ends anywhere between 3 and 5, depending how many people stay to help.

Now that you’re registered, I’ll put you in a cabin. Probably the one with the other new players.
Sleeping off-site is fine. Just don’t bring cars across the bridge during game-times.

-Beth

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