Code of Conduct

Darksteel Games (DSG) is dedicated to providing a harassment-free LARP experience for everyone, regardless of sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, body size, age, race, religion, or nationality.. We do not tolerate harassment of Hellcat Jive participants in any form. Sexually explicit language and imagery is not appropriate for any Hellcat Jive venue, including non-combat events.

This Code of Conduct applies to all Hellcat Jive spaces both offline and on, including our Facebook Page, Google Groups mailing lists for PCs and NPCs, and all in-person events. Some Hellcat Jive spaces may have additional rules in place, which will be made clearly available to participants. Participants are responsible for knowing and abiding by these rules.

Hellcat Jive participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from Hellcat Jive and other DSG events without a refund at the sole discretion of the DSG Staff. The following lists should be considered non-exclusive, but rather representative of our expectations for all participants, whether PC, NPC, or Staff. Any activity not listed below which creates a hostile or unsafe environment may be reported to and acted upon by DSG Staff. Please take note of items which include specific exceptions for In-Game actions; these exceptions are not absolute but are needed given the nature of Hellcat Jive as a combat LARP. Abuse of these exceptions to excuse malicious behavior otherwise disallowed by these rules will be treated as a violation of this Code of Conduct.

Participants are expected to:

• Treat everyone with respect
• Follow all game rules and safety guidelines
• Follow Campsite or other Event Space rules and insurance requirements with regards to alcohol, tobacco, and fire, as well as all other concerns communicated by DSG Staff during Pre-Game Briefing. DSG Events are Alcohol and Recreational Drug Free, Non-Smoking, and No Fires Allowed spaces
• Make use of the provided meta-game mechanics for opting out of content and checking in on other participants as needed to ensure their mental and emotional well-being
• Respect the use of these mechanics by other participants, refraining from pressuring others to interact with content they have bowed out of and backing off from intense roleplay if signaled to do so by the check-in mechanics.
• Refrain from engaging in harassment and other intentionally disruptive behaviors

Harassment includes, but is not limited to:

• Offensive comments related to sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, body size, age, race, religion, or nationality.
• Unwelcome comments regarding a person’s lifestyle choices and practices, including those related to food, health, parenting, drugs, and employment.
• Deliberate misgendering or use of ‘dead’ or rejected names.
• Gratuitous or off-topic sexual images or behaviour in spaces where they are not appropriate.
• Physical contact and descriptions of physical contact (eg, textual descriptions like “*hug*” or “*backrub*”) without consent or after a request to stop.
• You may: Strike another participant with an approved weapon prop, throwable, or blaster dart.
• All such tools are subject to the approval of Hellcat Jive Staff and must meet the standards for such props defined in the Hellcat Jive Rules [Current Version: Hellcat Jive Alpha Rulebook, “Combat Props”]
• All such combat activities shall be conducted in accordance with the Accelerant Core Rules and any additional rules defined by DSG for Hellcat Jive. Make sure to respect any indicators for non-Combat participants and remain respectful in your combat conduct.
• Threats of violence.
• Incitement of violence towards any individual, including encouraging a person to commit suicide or to engage in self-harm.
• You may: Intimidate or threaten, or incite others to threaten or commit, in-game violence on in-game participants. It should at all times remain clear that all such threats or provocations are In-Game and are being made for In-Game reasons.
• Deliberate intimidation, bullying, stalking, or following.
• You may: Follow or track in-game adversary characters (typically NPCs) as needed for in-character purposes.
• Photography, recording, and/or logging online activity for nefarious purposes.
• Sustained disruption of games, online discussion, or other events
• Unwelcome sexual attention
• Pattern of inappropriate social contact, such as making inappropriate requests for/assuming inappropriate levels of intimacy with others
• Continued one-on-one communication after requests to cease.
• Malicious revealing of an individual's personal information (eg, “outing” a person as transgender or queer, or sharing private contact information)
• Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviour.

DSG prioritizes marginalized people’s safety over privileged people’s comfort. DSG Staff reserves the right not to act on complaints regarding:

• ‘Reverse’ -isms, including ‘reverse racism,’ ‘reverse sexism,’ and ‘cisphobia’
• Reasonable communication of boundaries, such as “leave me alone,” “go away,” or “I’m not discussing this with you.”
• Communicating in a ‘tone’ you don’t find congenial
• Criticizing racist, sexist, cissexist, or otherwise oppressive behavior or assumptions

Enforcement

Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.

If a participant engages in harassing behaviour, DSG Staff retain the right to take any actions necessary to keep the event safe and inclusive for all participants. This includes warning the offender, or a temporary or permanent ban from Hellcat Jive with no refund of any kind.

DSG Staff may take action to address anything designed to, or with the clear impact of, disrupting the event or making the environment hostile for any participants.

Participants are expected to follow these rules at all Hellcat Jive activities and associated venues.

Reporting

If you are being harassed by a participant of Hellcat Jive, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact the Hellcat Jive Staff. If the person who is harassing you is a staff member, they will recuse themselves from handling your incident. We will respond as promptly as we can.

Hellcat Jive Staff can be located at Monster Camp or another designated location during game events, or contacted through email (staff@hellcatjive.com).

This Code of Conduct applies to DSG and Hellcat Jive spaces, but if you are being harassed by a participant in Hellcat Jive outside our spaces, we still want to know about it. We will take all good-faith reports of harassment perpetrated by Hellcat Jive participants, especially Hellcat Jive Staff, seriously. This includes harassment outside our spaces and harassment that took place at any point in time. DSG reserves the right to exclude people from Hellcat Jive based on their past behavior, including behavior outside Hellcat Jive spaces and behavior towards people who are not participants in Hellcat Jive. In particular, if DSG receives report that a Hellcat Jive participant has exhibited problematic behavior at another event in the Accelerant/LARP community, Hellcat Jive Staff will speak to the staff of the event and the individual in question as needed to understand the incident(s) and take appropriate action based on the policies outlined here.

We will respect confidentiality requests for the purpose of protecting victims of harassment. We will not name harassment victims without their explicit consent. At our discretion, we may publicly name a person about whom we’ve received harassment complaints, or privately warn third parties about them, if we believe that doing so will increase the safety of Hellcat Jive participants or the general public.

You can report harassment by:

• Contacting a staff member in person, one of whom will always be available in Monster Camp or some other location designated by Staff at Pre-Game Briefing.
• Emailing staff@hellcatjive.com which will be continuously monitored throughout all events and is routinely checked between events.

When taking a harassment report in person, our Staff will ensure you are safe and cannot be overheard. They may involve other Staff to ensure your report is managed properly. Once safe, we'll ask you to tell us about what happened. This can be upsetting, but we'll handle it as respectfully as possible, and you can bring someone to support you.

Reports submitted by email will not be shared outside of Hellcat Jive Staff without your explicit consent and then only to the extent necessary to complete our review process. You are welcome to include on CC anyone you wish to have support you in the process. We will conduct any follow-up email conversations as respectfully as possible and at no time will you be asked or required to speak about your report in person.

No matter how you submit your report, you will never be asked to confront anyone directly, and we won't tell anyone who you are without your explicit consent. Our team will be happy to help you contact local law enforcement or local support services as you may request.

Quick Resources:

Staff Email: Staff@hellcatjive.com

[Local law enforcement]

Dublin, NH Police:

(603) 563-8411

[Local sexual assault hotline]

NH State Sexual Assault Hotline:

1-800-277-5570

Monadnock Center for Violence Prevention:

1-888-511-6287 (crisis line)

603-352-3782 (Keene office)

12 Court Street, Keene, NH 03431-3402

[Local emergency and non-emergency medical (e.g., urgent care, day clinic)]

Local Urgent Care:

ConvenientMD Urgent Care Keene

(603) 499-7484

351 Winchester St, Keene, NH 03431

Local Emergency Care:

Cheshire Medical Center (Dartmouth-Hitchcock)

(603) 354-5400

580-590 Court St, Keene, NH 03431