Payment Policy
1) We will be opening Registration for events significantly earlier than previously--likely around the 4-5-weeks-ahead-of-time mark. Registration will run for 1 week, and will then close. Everyone must register if they wish to participate, regardless of whether they have previously purchased a pass or not. Please note that we will be putting a player cap in place. While it is unlikely that the cap will be a bother to anyone, it is extremely important that people register for events. Our is not a First Come, First Served system, so there is no need to camp out when registration is announced, but we sincerely ask that people register in a timely fashion.
2) If paid by Check or Paypal up to 2 weeks before game, events cost $95.00, regardless of payment method. Checks will not be accepted after that date, though Paypal will be accepted up to 1 week before game. Paying for an event between 2 weeks and 1 week ahead of time sets the event price at $100.00. If you would like to pay by check, or if you absolutely cannot come up with funds at least 1 week before game, please send us an e-mail at staff at hellcatjive dot com.
3) If you have paid for an event and later discover you cannot attend, we will issue a full refund of monies received provided we are given notice at least 1 full week before the event in question. If we receive notice within a week of an upcoming event, you will have the option to either apply the funds to the next Hellcat Jive event you can attend, or convert the entrance price into a donation for CP.
4) We are restructuring passes. "Season Passes" will cost the same as, and, with proper registration, allow attendance at 2 events. Season Passes allow access to Callings under the guidelines set out in the rulebook (e.g., only at character creation or at your Free Rebuild after your first full event). "Annual Passes" will cost the same as 4 events, and with proper registration will allow attendance to same. Annual Passes count as Season Passes for the purposes of Callings. If you purchased a Season Pass at the recent role play event (and therefore at a more expensive rate), you count as having an Annual Pass, and you have the option of receiving the difference in cost as a monetary refund or as CP, just e-mail us and let us know what you'd like to do.
5) Regarding upgraded cabins: the cost will remain the same, $20 per person per night (or $40 for the weekend). Part of the registration process will allow people to select whether they would like to spring for upgraded cabins, and if they would, if they consider it more important to be with their team or to be in an upgraded cabin--sometimes teams are divided as to whether they want to try for upgraded accommodations. We'll do our best to make everyone as happy as possible, but we ask that people be understanding of the difficulties involved with coordinating housing for such a large group with so many factors in play.
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
Staff Members
Jacob
Jacob is the founder and owner of Darksteel Games. The creator and lead GM of Lost Eidolons and Occam's Razor, Jacob believes that easy wins aren't satisfying, that Clark Ashton Smith is the true (unappreciated) master of cosmic horror, and that a strong and supportive community that fosters the safety and dignity of all members is a vital component of any game worth its salt.
Apparently he resides with a swamp demon, a non-euclidean cat, and a rare crested batpig.
Katie
A swamp demon in a human suit, Katie spends most of her time with her nose buried in books and her head in the clouds. She loves video games, good scotch, and fine cheeses. When she is not striving to use the lens of communal storytelling to explore the many facets of human emotion, you may likely find her composing inappropriate poetry, or engaging in musical shenanigans.
Katie lives with a many-toed feline, a batpig, and her amazing partner, The Eldritch Horror, in an apartment full of her crafting catastrophes (or as she prefers to call them "works in progress”).
Deeg
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Skye
Something something robots.
(Supplementary Notation Provided by Fellow Staff: Skye is an incredibly talented crafter and routinely makes award-winning weapons and armor. Skye staffed Occam’s Razor, and is the owner and driving force behind Stellar Front. He once “won larping” when he ran an encounter involving kaiju. Note that that is a direct quote from a player with decades of larping experience, not something Skye would ever say.)
Vespa
Still a Larping newb in many ways, staff member Vespa is excited and nervous for her first time as part of a game staff. Coming from a background of theater and cosplay, Vespa feels she's found a fit in the Larping community and is looking forward to seeing what she can bring to the table in Hellcat.
Viar
Totally-real-human and not-at-all-robot Michael is coming to you live in the skies, broadcasting from a secret bunker just outside conventional reality and bringing you shenanigans, flight plans, toggle switches, and improbably impromptu incidents of inimitable intrigue.
Junior Staff Members
Kyia
Kyia is the backbone of this family dammit!
Derrick
Did you know the American Cockroach can run almost 4mph? that's 50 body lengths per second which the equivalent of a human being able to move 210 mph (ShortRootByFun$
Now let's talk about wasps next.....
Petrov's Bears: The Drop
Excerpt from the article “Traitors or entrepreneurs?: a look at extra-national mercenary groups” by J.J.Johansen, written during his time embedded with “Petrov’s Bears” mercenary troop.
The background growl of the transport plane’s engines is broken by a warning buzzer. The red lights on either side of the rear door turn on, casting a glow over the crowded compartment. Petrov, massive in his armor, stands up and detaches from the rack along the wall.
“Alright folks, five minutes ‘til drop!” As he walks down the center of the compartment towards the back of the plane the rest of his squad starts to get out of their seats. Jackie is the next to leave their rack, a hiss of pneumatics and the whine of hydraulics following in their wake.
“Kit check,” Petrov yells and the squad starts to check each other’s parachutes and harnesses.
Charles “Doc” Croaker takes one last look at his medical kit, making sure it is secured and safe on his chest. Croaker joined the Bears 4 years ago after running away from a failed life in Falls. He lost his medical license after trying an untested procedure to save a patient—it didn’t work. After the news of a promising young doctor’s fall from grace got out, the mob came knocking at his door and made him a job offer he couldn’t refuse. After years of patching up goons and mobsters at all hours of the night, Croaker managed an escape to Domus Alba. Petrov quickly offered him a (slightly) more respectable job. He’s kept the Bears healthy and ready for missions ever since.
Petrov takes out his heavy pistol and checks that it’s loaded before locking it back into its holster. Many of the other mercenaries follow suit, making sure they’re ready for action when they land.
Leo “Lunk” Larkin pulls his auto rifle down from the locker overhead as his loader helps him do his final weapons check. Lunk was never a great shot, so when he joined the Bears they gave him a Thatcher Auto Rifle—he’s carried it ever since. His old life was in the Alden military, where he accidentally shot his squad leader during a training drill. He was thrown into the stockade for manslaughter. Larkin broke out and secured transport to Domus Alba, where he joined the Bears. Manslaughter aside, Lunk is a kind, jovial guy. Great for moral, and his covering fire is a godsend.
Another buzzer goes off and the light changes to yellow. “One minute to drop kids! Line up and click in!” Petrov bellows out over the sound of hydraulics as the rear door begins to open. The sound of the wind rushing by the plane drowns out any chatter and landscape rushing by shows just how low to the ground the transport plane really is. The plane starts to gain altitude in its final approach.
Petrov and Jackie’s suits come out of the torpor of idle as they ignite their armor’s turbine engines. Jackie checks that their drogue chute line is securely clipped in and lightly fires the suit’s retro thrusters. Jaquine “Jackie” D’fantasmi is relatively new to the Bears but is a skilled armor jockey and criminal. Jackie was working as an aircraft mechanic in Elenzio for an “import/export” company. After a few too many shipments came up short, Jackie’s thieving side hustle was found out and they stowed away on one of the other airships at the aerodrome. It took almost the entire trip back to Domus alba for the Bears to realize that Jackie was on their ship. Instead of throwing them off the ship, Petrov offered Jackie a job. Petrov wouldn’t trust them with his wallet, but as long as Jackie gets paid and can run their primero games they stay in line.
A more aggressive Buzzer goes off that can be heard over the roar of the wind as the lights finally turn green and Petrov hops off the end of the rear door ramp.
Petrov’s drogue chute opens as he drops below of the ramp, stabilizing his fall and keeping him upright. At 200 ft he pulls the throttle of his retro thrusters as the ground quickly comes up to meet him. The thrusters strain to slow the heavy suit of armor as it streaks down from the air trying to defy gravity. As Petrov gets to the tree line he switches his suit to full burn and braces his legs for landing. He lands hard but the shock absorbers take the majority of the force. He looks over and sees the flash of light of Jackie’s retro thrusters several hundred feet away and the gently falling forms of the rest of his squad drifting to the ground far more pleasantly. Petrov begins to run towards the rest of the Bears are going to land as a shot glances off his armor, they had a job to do.
