Queen of Hearts Event Information
For many of the past few years the design of Queen of Hearts was focused on trying to encourage as many teams as possible to exist and to be competitive against each other. Generally we were successful at having three teams every year and generally it was because we implemented caps to keep team sizes smaller and more consistent. For the era we did this through, we are overall happy with how that format was received and how it was implemented. As times change, however, so must the format of the event in order to best serve the community.
One of the primary motivators for encouraging three or more teams was differentiation from similar events. For many years there were a couple other war-scale tournament events that almost always had two large teams competing for the whole weekend. Since that hasn’t been the case for the past few years we’d like to try to change things up and try to have only two teams for the next couple of years.
Please carefully read through the following pages to get a complete understanding of how Queen of Hearts will run this year. Some things will be very familiar but there are some significant changes as well.
Site Rules
❧ Alcohol and Drugs
Swift River is a dry site because of the way their alcohol licence works, and the site also does not permit marijuana because of their nature as a sportsman's club. If you bring alcohol or pot, even though it is legal in the state, you are risking our ability to use the site again. Therefore, anyone found drinking or using marijuana will be asked to leave. There is a zero tolerance policy on driking and marijuana and to further enforce this, anyone asked to leave site due to drinking or cannabis will also have 10 points subtracted from their team.
❧ BBQ Pit
BBQ Pit There is a Barbeque Pit that will be available for use. Bring your own everything, including charcoal.
❧ Cars
Cars and trucks will only be allowed on the roads and in the parking lot. Be prepared to carry all of your equipment to where you will be tenting (it's not far). Anyone that is unable to carry their equipment for medical reasons should contact us beforehand so we can arrange for you to have help.
❧ The Chest
Somewhere on site, released at some point, there will be a hoarde of goodies called 'The Chest'. If you are the lucky one who finds 'The Chest', please don't hoard its contents. We want to provide players with the treasure they so richly deserve, so please don't keep it all to yourself.
❧ Dogs
Dogs are allowed on site but you must clean up after them. Keep them far away from the pheasant cages.
❧ Kitchen
No one is permitted in the kitchen except for event staff (Rhiassans and Marshals). Please ask for permission before entering the kitchen for any reason other than a true emergency.
❧ Magic
We are not requiring the pre-registration of Magic Items, Weapons or spells. Make sure to check with the Magic Marshal when you get on-site.
❧ Medical Problems
Anyone with any pre-existing medical conditions should alert either the EMT or one of the Event Holders upon arriving on site. Anyone who is severely allergic, asthmatic, hypoglycemic, pregnant, or has any other condition that could have a bearing on your safety at our event should let us know so that we can better help you in the event an emergency arises.
❧ Missile Weapons
You are responsible for making sure you leave the event with the same number of arrows/bolts/beanbags you had when you set foot on-site. Please be responsible and don't leave missiles in the fields or woods.
❧ Night Quest Safety
When you are night questing, you must either stay in fields, clearings or roads (very wide paths) or stay on the cyalume-stick-lit paths.
❧ Pheasant Pens
In an area near the back of the site there is a very large pen where pheasants are raised for game. Scaring them causes them to fly up and be hurt by the cages. Please give the pen a wide berth especially if you have a dog on site.
❧ Sani-cans
Sani-cans will be provided. The septic system for the tavern building's toilets is not equipped to handle the number of people attending Queen of Hearts, and therefore the indoor toilets are off-limits to eventgoers. The bathrooms themselves (sinks, mirrors, and as space for changing) are available for use - just don't use the toilets.
❧ Shops
Shopkeepers are welcome to set up their shops, but must tell us beforehand. We will have a location set aside for shops.
❧ Smoking
Smoking will only be allowed in certain designated locations. This is a very serious safety concern, and anyone caught smoking anywhere but in the smoking areas will be asked to leave. Even if it's wet out.
❧ Tenting Area
There is NO running and NO fighting in the Tenting area.
❧ Trash
Trash cans will be available. Please use them, we don't want to spend hours cleaning up messy tenting sites.
Directions
❧ For GPS and Internet Map Users
The Address is: 79 Moore Road Belchertown, Massachusetts.
Map coordinates are: 42˚ 14' 23" N, 72˚ 20' 43" W
❧ Old Fashioned Directions
Find your way to the intersection of Rte. 202 and Rte 9 in Belchertown, Massachusetts.
Take 202 South into downtown Belchertown.
Go straight through the set of lights; you'll find yourself on Rte 181.
Follow 181 until you turn onto Cold Springs Road on the left (immediately after a pink sign on the left that reads "Angle Cuts Etc.")
Follow Cold Springs Road, bearing left at the fork that is the intersection with Michael Sears Road, until you find the entrance to the Swift River Sportsmen's Club, which will be on the right.
Drive all the way down to the end of the road to the gravel parking lot.
Running a Team
❧ Banner and Heraldry
Your team must have a banner/standard that is at least 24” x 24” and is somehow mounted on a pole that can be held aloft over the battlefield. Your team’s three true supporters (see below) must be in somewhat matching heraldry. Other members of your team may also be in matching heraldry but you’ll only be evaluated based on that of the true supporters.
❧ True Supporters
In order to run for Queen you need three True Supporters. This is a group of individuals who work together to keep the team functioning at its most productive levels. These three people should be as prepared as possible to execute their roles as described below. Doing so involves numerous different responsibilities that are divided as follows:
General: The general is responsible for leading their team on the battlefield. This individual usually decides a strategy for the war maneuvers, positions people within the ranks of the army, and has overall control of the flow of battle to best pursue victory. When starting a war maneuver, the general may be called upon in order to make overall decisions for their team. A general is also responsible for managing the honor and sportsmanship of the team, making sure that all combatants are being their best selves at all times.
Senechal: The seneschal is responsible for making sure that the team is where it is supposed to be when it is supposed to be there. When the marshalling staff sounds the horn in order to communicate directions, the seneschal is expected to respond promptly. Making sure teams take the field when they’re supposed to and individuals are reporting where they need to be are the main functions of the senechal, along with distributing playing cards from the marshals to the members of the team and other basic organizational tasks.
Provost: Returning this year is the provost role. The provost is responsible for knowing all of the rules for every tournament as written on these pages and making sure that all of the members of their team know the rules of a war maneuver before it starts. Questions about tournament rules should be directed from members of the team to their team’s provost and only the provost should take those questions to the marshaling staff. In short, any communication that comes from teams and any queries they have always go through the provost.
❧ Team Caps and Composition
There are no team caps this year. A maximum of two teams will be allowed to be registered. A team is considered registered when the team’s Queen and all three true supporters have sent in a paid pre-reg for the event. The first two teams to complete this pre-reg requirement will be the two teams for the event.
Although there is no limit to team sizes, the staff would greatly appreciate if some effort is made between the two teams to coordinate their relative strength so that the weekend will be more fun for everyone.
❧ Basic Tournament Rules
All tournaments are live steel unless told otherwise by a Marshal. Because of the magic of the Solar Powered Resurrection Point, at the conclusion of a tournament and the word of the marshaling staff, dead combatants are returned to life. Being returned to life in this manor does not repair armor or restore spells.
Armor may be worn in all war maneuvers unless you are told otherwise by a marshal. Repair spells will be required to fix armor, as it is not instantly repaired by the magic of the land. Rumor has it that someone freely donating a Mystic Forge to everyone in the tournament may change that. I guess we'll have to see if it works.
Each team may enter each tournament once. As individuals win tournaments, they will be given playing cards representing their contribution to their team. These cards are worth points towards becoming Queen of Hearts and allow the possessors to initially compete in the culminating tournament of the weekend: Queen's War. Cards are not stealable items. If anyone is caught stealing cards, they risk disqualifying their entrant for Queen of Hearts, and may be asked to leave the event. See the rules of Queen's War for more details.
❧ Event Honorific Awards
Everyone who puts forth the effort to throw a Queen of Hearts Team is a vital part of the tradition that has kept this event going for over two decades. As such, the staff of Queen of Hearts has decided that more needs to be done to honor the effort put in by the teams and individuals who make Queen of Hearts so successful year after year. To help us approach that goal, we have come up with a set of honorifics that will be presented to teams and individuals as a part of our yearly awards ceremony. These awards are not worth points for your team, but they are a way of recognizing those who truly stand out and showing our appreciation to all of you who put passion and effort into this event every year.
Best General, Best Senechal, and Best Provost will all be decided upon by the event staff and recognized during the closing ceremonies.
❧ Team Honorific Awards
Team with the best Pageantry: Beyond the garb of the queen, beyond the creation of a team banner, there are sometimes teams who truly demonstrate that they exist to bring accolades and honor to their queen. Pageantry can partially be about the props and physical things that you have that increase the visual impact of your team, but it is also about the attitude of respect and reverence for the individual that you are fighting in the name of.
Team with the best Camaraderie: This award is for the team that demonstrates the strength of the bonds that keep them together. More times than not, a Queen of Hearts team bridges the gaps between groups and nations and causes different types of people to be united in the same goal. Even if a team only consists of a single group, it is one of the rare occasions where every person in that group is working together towards a common goal. To overcome the disparity that exists between groups and individuals and unite in purpose is a difficult goal. This award honors the team that does so most effectively.
Team with the best Spirit: This award is for the team that best encompasses the spirit of friendly competition, respect for themselves and their opponents, and the proven ability to endure with high morale and a positive attitude no matter what difficulties they have to face. This is the type of team that makes it rewarding to throw Queen of Hearts every year, to bear witness to the strength of character that they bring to the field.
❧ Team Given Individual Awards
For each of the following set of awards, members of the marshaling staff will consult with some or all of the true supporters on each of the teams (individually). Together they will compare what they have seen throughout the weekend, and a member of each team will be awarded the following based on their overall contributions.
Most Inspirational: There are moments throughout the weekend for every Queen of Hearts team where stress and weariness take their toll on the morale of a team. But regardless, there are always those who can overcome those limitations, who brush off the tension and push themselves forward through the difficult moments, inspiring their teammates, even their opponents, to do the same. One such person on each team will be dubbed most inspirational.
Team Tactician: The war maneuvers at Queen of Hearts each have their setups, their rules, and their conventions. Many competitors know the rules for all of the tournaments, but a select few ponder over them, analyze their every facet, think through each scenario to plan how their team can be most successful. Generals often lead the charge and shout the orders, but behind the generals are those who advised them with their calculations and their predictions to help find victory for their team. One such person on each team will be dubbed team tactician.
Team MVP: There are dozens upon dozens of factors, both subtle and great, that contribute to making a Queen of Hearts team successful. There are those who give the best of themselves in combat, there are those who work for months on the planning and preparation, there are those whose support is absolutely critical to everyone making it through weekend intact. Everyone on a Queen of Hearts team is valuable, but this award is meant to honor the one person on the team who worked their hardest and gave most profoundly toward the goal of making their team successful.
Magic Guidelines
❧ Basics
All magic must be checked in with the Magic Marshal before it is used in any tournaments. No spellcaster may break restriction in any tournament, even if it is "limited".
❧ Interventions and Divine Aids
Interventions and Divine Aids must be marshaled in such a way as to make them worthy of the power of each of their respective circles, but also not be so powerful that they unbalance the fight in an unfair way. As such, the following is a list of powers that you can expect to receive for using each of those spells in tournaments. You may attempt to ask for a different boon that you believe to be equivalent in strength to what is listed below, but if the marshal will fail your spell if they believe you are asking for something too powerful.
❧ Intervention
❧ Divine Aid
❧ Regional Magic
For every regional slot you have you may pick any other spell that could have been legally learned in that slot and have that spell for the duration of the event.
❧ Magic Item Powers and Magic Item Check In
You must check any magic weapons or items with the magic marshal before they can be used.
Any magic weapons that are JUST magic weapons will work, you can swing magic in tournaments because some spells specifically interact with magic weapons. Magic weapons that can swing magic and have other powers will be approved for the purposes of swinging magic in the tournaments only, their other powers cannot be used in tournaments. Any items or weapons that are used without approval by the Magic Marshal, or outside accordance with the Magic Marshal's regulations will be removed from play for the duration of the event.
Although magic items apart from swinging magic with swords will not function in tournaments, there is still likely to be a night quest that more of their powers can be used on. Check in these magic item powers with the official head of the night quest (which will be announced on Saturday of the event) and not at event registration.