Referee Guidelines

General Reffing

We are all here to make sure players and other crew have fun, make sure you have fun also – working too hard and falling over from exhaustion is not big or clever!
Always be polite and professional
If you cannot help a player with their issue try to put them in touch with someone who can
Someone breaking the rules may be mistaken, if you think they are deliberately misunderstanding or ignoring the rules take their name or PID and refer them to the head of referees – do not directly accuse them of cheating.
If you disagree with another crew member then take the conversation behind the scenes rather than debate in front of players.
Empire is a plot heavy game with very little player on player combat. No ribbon or lammy does not always mean there is not a plot effect and there will be occasions when spirit of the rules is more important than the letter. The exception to this is lethal PvP where the rules should be followed as closely as possible
If it is not a problem then it is not a problem

Reffing the Anvil Field

(Graeme / Paul to provide)

Running Skirmishes/Quests

Players can volunteer to monster and get a ticket for one free drink at the PD bar, unless they are monstering in order to be able to play a battle
Players and crew who monster are people too – try to make their monstering experience enjoyable
Check with the plot writer or plot actuation in advance to make sure the relevant plot hook has gone out and that players are interested in it.
Statting and running the encounter is the refs responsibility, take care to discuss plot changes with the plot writer – recommended they either come on the encounter or are available on a radio
Monster room will costume and make up your monsters – make sure you keep them in the loop on any changes to the timings, written encounter sheet or what numbers and types of monster you need.
Before statting check player numbers with the Egregore (experience has shown initial estimates tend to be low), also keep the Egregore informed of any delays so they can manage the players IC
Nominate unit leaders and use these to relay your orders once they are IC
Most encounters will need one or more respawn refs, respawns should always be out of sight of players. Respawn points should have water
Send a player ref to the player party to act as primary communication point approx. 15 min before setting out. Player ref should attempt to identify IC unit leaders in the player party in case it becomes necessary to pass messages on
Contact First Aid approx 15 mins before setting out – give them an idea of player/monster numbers
Always ensure players know the time limit on the sentinel gate by briefing the Egregore or Civil Service person opening it
Avoid monsters charging players that are retreating towards the gate as it is a big choke point, avoid monster loitering at the gate in case there are surviving players in the woods trying to make a heroic run for the gate.
Try to get a ref to the gate when the players retreat as there are often lots of issues to deal with at this point
Make sure some refs stay with players after a combat to get any immediate feedback or deal with issues.

Combat Reffing

Safety is everyone's responsibility but refs have the ability to influence the safety of a combat through several methods
Direct monsters via unit leaders (if possible) to move combats away from hazardous areas or disperse dangerous formations such as crush doughnuts. If it is not possible to use monsters then consider making suggestions to player unit leaders.
Check the area for hazards and move debris if possible – note fallen players and healer stations count as debris, if need be move them to a safer place
Check your spacing from other refs and avoid clumping together – look for areas of combat with no refs and move to them
Watch the flow of combat to predict where it will move to, check that the retreating side are not moving towards a hazard and look for dangerous formations. Spotting these and dealing with them early avoids having to call Time freezes
Accusations of not taking blows or calls can be difficult to deal with unless you see it happen, you should make a judgement call as to whether it is worth spending time investigating such an incident or whether there are more pressing calls on your time.
Accusations of hard blows can usually be simply dealt with by cautioning the person in question. People who are tired or overwrought may need to be brought to the sidelines to recompose themselves but avoid getting drawn into a debate. If in doubt take their name or PID and refer to the head of refs
Picking up arrows is a courtesy not a requirement, if doing so hold them knock end down or hold the knocks in your hand – do not hold in the middle pointing the knocks towards players. Never take arrows into a crush line, place them by a tree for someone else to collect

Man Down

check that a someone has actually been hurt OC, they may just be roleplaying or someone may have inappropriately called man down IC
call man down, if not already called, but do not spread a man down call if you cannot locate the casualty

if need be get everyone in the immediate area to kneel and secure the area from combat call a medic via radio and let the lead ref know there is a man down ensuring you give both of them your location wait for the medic to assess the casualty and follow their direction as to whether combat can restart in the area or if the combat should be moved to a new location

when the casualty is treated or clear of the area, restart the combat with a “ 3, 2, 1, time in” call

Crush Lines

Crush lines and crush doughnuts usually need closer reffing than skirmish combat and may need more intrusive measures. *They are more common on open field battles but can occur in the woods
If the crush is too thick to see the gully from the sidelines then a ref should move to either end of the gully, crouching in the middle or using any available cover.
If the line is too long to see each side then more refs should move down the gully so they can see each other to ensure the whole length of the line is covered.
Move fallen players out of the crush to avoid them being trampled
If a crush line becomes a doughnut then a ref should try to get in the centre or otherwise gain a view of how crowded it is.
If the centre is getting too crowded then refs should puncture the outer ring and encourage the lines to peel back allow space for the centre to move into. Do this even if you have to ask players to move
Calling time freeze and expanding the outer and inner rings rarely works as they will normally immediately collapse back in unless the situation is changed.

There are several roles in combat reffing, if you have not been assigned a role then choose a role appropriate to the situation around you

Lead ref – the ref in overall charge of the combat
Respawn ref – a ref collecting dead monsters and sending them back in as directed by the lead ref. In large combats there may be one per monster unit
Player ref – a ref that sticks with the player party from start to finish to deal with queries and keep the lead ref informed if the players do anything unexpected. In large combats there may be one per player unit.
Battle ref – refs that move with the combat (normally on the monster side) to keep an eye on general safety issues,

Plot ref – if the encounter has a complex plot elements the one or more refs may be briefed and assigned to deal with these

Creature ref – a ref assigned to a large creature suit to spot for them, make calls as required and act as respawn control.
Battle manager/overview ref – a ref assigned to stand back watch the battle flow, assisting the lead ref with ref and monster dispersal as required.
Do not be scared to call time freeze if there is an immediate danger or no other way of controlling a situation. Avoiding the situation is best, but a time freeze is better than a man down.

Radio Guidelines

When transmitting
- consider what you are going to say, make it concise
- wait for conversation on the channel to clear – only break into another conversation if it is urgent
- push and hold the transmit button then pause (it may take a second for the mike to activate)
- state your name, deliver your message then pause
- release the button
Never swear on the radio and do not make personal comments, radio is not the place to have 'sensitive' discussions.
Pick up a channel guide when collecting your radio
If you expect a long conversation invite the other person to switch to one of the conversation channels
Take care you do not accidentally lean on the transmit button on either headset or handset as this can lead to you ‘voxing’ with stops other people using the channel. If someone is accidentally 'voxing' they cannot hear anything on the channel, if this happens you need to check each other rather than call for them to stop.

2 Handed Weapon Guidelines

Care should be taken with backswings to avoid hitting those behind and to the side
Pole weapons should be held at the grips or two handholds approx a shoulder’s width apart
Some polearms have a stab safe tip but then a solid foam blade next to it e.g. halberd – these should never be thrust at the head
Head shots in general from any 2 handed weapon can land heavily and are to be avoided where possible. Tower shields make this difficult sometimes and ideally someone with a tower shield should wear a sturdy helm as their head is often the only viable target

Archery Guidelines

Reduce pull for close targets – rules say under 10’ and crossbows cannot be used at less than 10’
Lob shots or high arcing shots are unlikely to be safe as they could hit anywhere and have a high chance of bounce back (i.e. bouncing knock end first)
Shooting past someone to hit another target runs risk of hitting the former in an unintended location
Shots should be aimed at chest
Archery in the dark, in high wind or in the rain is not likely to be safe

Checking arrows
- Check the soft foam striking surface is attached, dry and clear from debris
- Check the head is firmly attached to the shaft
- Check flights are attached and knock is not loose or cracked
- Check shaft is not split or cracked by rolling with a slight flex (away from face)
- Arrows should be checked before re-firing, exercise judgement on this point as checking them and placing in the quiver to be fired later is acceptable as is having a separate competent person checking arrows for several archers.

Rules Summary

Add Hugh's cheat sheet and FAQs for rituals and bondings (Graeme or Paul to supply?)

Sentinel Gate

The gate can only be opened when there is a plot slot for a quests, skirmish or battle (IC it requires complex astronomantic calculations to align etc)
The gate can only be opened by an Egregore or a member of the Civil Service (not by players)
An open generally gate allows sight and sound but there are occasions when both are blocked i.e. if the player time in immediately on passing through then it is transparent, if they are timed in in another location in the woods then not.
Magically animated constructs such as Husks cannot pass through the gate, inert materials can only pass through if carried by a person and there is an approx. weight limit of what a single person can carry e.g. loosed arrows and spears cannot pass, a dead body being carried can.
It can take several minutes to open the gate, and a similar amount of time to close it prematurely.

Egregores, Civil Servants and anyone with detect magic can sense roughly for how long a gate they have passed through will remain open.

Under normal circumstances a gate can be held open for anywhere from half an hour to ninety minutes; beyond that it begins to consume additional energy and may close spontaneously. There are three types of tunnel that can be opened:
A battle-tunnel allows a large number of people from more than one Nation to pass through.
A skirmish-tunnel allows a large number of people from one or more Nations to pass through to an area.
A quest-tunnel allows a small number of people, rarely more than around thirty or so, to pass through regardless of their

Nationalities

Passing through the gate creates a mystic resonance in the body that means that a given person can pass through one battle-tunnel and one skirmish-tunnel each event. Any number of quest-tunnels can be used.
Normally only Imperial citizens can pass through the Sentinel Gate. Barbarians and foreigners are unable to pass through the gateway in either direction unless they have a plotted ritual effect or item to allow it
Typically the portal will switch to retuning only mode after a period of time – to discourage player reinforcements
The return gate remains open for a short time after the Anvil gate closes but is highly unstable. Anyone passing through it is at refs discretion and should receive a magical trauma card
Occasionally a closed or returning only portal may be forced back open for a few minutes at refs discretion but will be highly unstable (magical trauma cards all round) e.g. if there is time and a very good reason to allow a rescue mission

Glossary

Choke point – a place that forces players to pack tightly together to pass e.g. the sentinel gate, a narrow path etc
Crush line or Crush – two lines of densely packed combatants that are relatively stationary
Crush doughnut – a crush line that wraps completely around the central group. This can become OC dangerous if the centre becomes too tightly packed
Gully – the gap between two sides of a crush line
Contact – two groups of combatants are in visual contact
Lead Ref – the referee in charge of a given combat
Hazard – a danger that cannot be moved e.g. barbed wire fence, ditch etc
Debris – a danger that can be moved e.g. fallen branch, dying character etc
Sentinel Gate – A large portal that allows players to transport to and from the quest / skirmish / battle location