Safety at Games
This page is part of the System Policies and Ethos and holds important information about safe behaviour and combat at Death Unto Darkness games.
Safety and Time In
OOC Calls
You must never use ANY of these calls for an IC purpose as they have distinct uses for indicating situations where there is a need to act out-of-game.
TIME IN! : Indicates that an area has become 'live' and in-character. Cease any disruptive OOC activities or leave the area if you must continue them; otherwise, assume the role of your character.
TIME FREEZE! : Indicates that you are to drop OOC immediately unless there is a personal safety reason to do so do not move from where you are, close your eyes and do your best to ignore anything going on around you.
TIME OUT! : Indicates that the game is pausing or ending. You should drop OOC and cease roleplaying.
SAFETY! : Is used to indicate that while nobody has been hurt there is an emerging safety-hazard and the game needs to be stopped for a Ref to intervene. Stay where you are unless you are in danger or told to move by a member of the game team. Once the danger is resolved Time in! will be called.
MAN DOWN! : Is used to indicate that someone is in need of OOC medical assistance. Stop what you are doing immediately and ensure other players and crew do so as well. Be aware of your surroundings, move to allow first aiders access to the individual(s), giving space where told to. Once the situation is resolved, Time In! will be called.
Sleeping Areas and Time In
Where possible at a normal event (10am-1am time in), we will try to provide an area of the site for players wishing to remain in-character beyond 1am without disturbing others. In these situations, if you go to sleep you will not be excluded from any plot by doing so. Should an event have a 24 Time In we will try where possible to provide a safe and quiet OOC sleeping area for those who require sleep, and endeavour to engage you in other ways to allow you to fully enjoy the event.
Contact and Touching
If you do not declare yourself ‘Non-Contact’ you are consenting to allowing yourself to be struck with LRP-safe props. However it is important that all participants are aware that consent to be struck by props is not consent to be touched with anything else, including hands. Should roleplay require you to come into physical contact with another person you must have their explicit consent to touch them before you do so. If you need to retrieve something from their character's person, and they do not wish to be touched, they can hand the prop to you while you mime searching away from their body.
You should never engage another person in unarmed combat unless you are specifically aware that that individual is comfortable with it and you confirm it with their positive consent before carrying out the RP. You will both be held responsible for any injury as a cause of your actions.
Combat Safety
Always Pull Your Blows. In melee combat, a blow should land with the minimum force required to indicate to someone they have been struck. If someone is hitting too hard, shout too hard at them or inform a Ref. A repeated failure to pull your blows is grounds for exclusion from combat. Repeated or extreme unsafe fighting will lead to you being removed from the event and potentially barred from future games.
This is a contact hobby, even with everyone trying to strike as safely as possible you can get hurt. Please do not engage in melee combat if you are uncomfortable with this. Certain people may be designated as ‘non-contact’ by their own request. These people will be indicated by the Refs at the start of an event and should NOT be attacked in a melee. Failure to observe this will be dealt with severely. Non-Contact individuals will state “Non-Com” and go to Subdued status if you engage them. The Game Team will do their best to ensure the safety of Non-Contact Individuals but cannot always guarantee safety from accidental blows from weapons.
Ranged combat is open to all but if you are being obviously engaged by a melee combatant and have chosen to be non-contact, please state ‘Non-Com’ to the individual and then go to the Subdued condition.
Where possible please avoid striking the head where other valid targets are presented. If your opponent is for example behind cover or a shield, these may be your only choices. In which case, take specific care and do not strike the face.
All weapons must be safety-checked by a Ref before Time In. This includes non-strike-safe firearm props that may have sharp edges or other safety hazards.
Prop Safety
The minimum length for a melee weapon should be seven inches (175mm) and care should be taken to ensure there is a good distance between the hand(s) holding the weapon and any striking surface as to avoid accidental blows with fists. Stab safe weaponry and flails are permitted, but will be approved on a case-by-case basis.
Weapons should be constructed from high-density closed cell foam, such as Plastazote or Evazote. Pipe lagging or upholstery foam would not be suitable as they are low-density, but can be used to ‘pad’ striking surfaces so long as the core construction is high-density foam. There should be a minimum of 12mm of foam between the core and any striking surface, but the ultimate test will be if the core can be felt through the foam.
Weapon cores should be fiberglass or carbon fiber and should be rigid, weapons should not ‘whip’ (unless they are flails). Any EL wire, gems or other hard elements of the weapon should be restricted to non-striking surfaces only.
Firearms props may be based around foam dart weapons or Realistic Imitation Firearms (RIFs), but actual firearms (deactivated or otherwise) are expressedly forbidden. Firearms props should at no point in game time be loaded with ammunition of any kind (any SFX should be electronically produced). If a firearm prop is going to be used in melee, the entire weapon should be made LRP-safe as per the rules above. Firearms props should not have any sharp edges that may damage players or melee weapon props.
If you are not using a LARP-safe prop you must move your weapon out of the way when engaged in melee combat. Props made of hard materials or not judged to be LARP-safe by the Game Team must be holstered or placed in a position where you can control their movement to prevent accidentally striking another participant. Charging melee combatants will always slow to give you time to do so; do not use this as a chance to retreat, be courteous.
Shields should follow similar guidelines to the above, but should not have a rigid core as part of their construction. Wooden/plastic shields (such as riot shields) are expressly forbidden, as all shields should be constructed primarily from foam.
Armour should be constructed from metal, foam, or plastic, and should not be constructed with any protruding sharp or hard elements. All edges should be rounded off for safety.
As with everything, the Death Unto Darkness team reserves the right to ban any prop from play if they feel it is unsafe. It is possible to construct a weapon within the best guidelines which is nevertheless entirely unsafe in practice. If you are making something and want assistance with construction, please talk to us in advance to avoid disappointment.
The Traffic Light System
There may be dark and sometimes disturbing imagery and themes used in the game, and we respect that some participants may find themselves affected by this. To this end you may use the ‘Traffic Light’ system to inform players, crew and refs of discomfort without needing to stop the game. You can read more about the themes you may encounter on the Game Themes page.
- Red should be used to indicate that you are extremely uncomfortable with the scene, and indicates to all participants to stop and move away from the subject matter being used/discussed.
- Amber indicates to others that you are affected by the subject matter and that they should be careful or back off from a subject to allow you to settle.
- Green can be used to indicate to others that you are comfortable and happy to move on with a subject.
If you are overwhelmed or completely unable to deal with a subject and need to bring an immediate end to it, you may call Stop the Game at any point. At this point all participants should cease roleplay to allow the participant in question to remove themselves from the play area and talk to a referee.