Core System Rules

Overview
Hive has a fairly relaxed ruleset, and tries not to limit the free action of a player character, within reason.

General Rules and Safety
General rules for the venue include not bringing your own drinks (water is allowed), do not leave out of the front or back doors wearing your kit (the police do not appreciate this), and ensure transport between the arena and safe-zone are as prompt as possible. The stairwell between the two, and the crew area are considered out of character, and we would appreciate no messing around on the stairwell.

There are first aiders on site, and should you need one, contact a ref immediately.

Weapons and Kit Safety
As we use foam and latex weapons for contact combat at Hive, any weapon used must pass crew weapon checks before each mission in the arena. We also ask that any player with a modified NERF blaster comes forwards and presents their weapon for inspection. Should the refs feel the modifications are too powerful, the weapon will be disallowed. This is not us being mean, this is to ensure safety and enjoyment all-round. A basic rule of thumb is, if the dart genuinely hurts on impact, it is not allowed.

Following these rules, we do not allow air pressure blasters such as Airzone, as we cannot ensure the safety of every shot, and a single over-pressured shot could create a sticky situation. It is best to avoid these by not showing up with pressure powered blasters.

For a list of currently allowed blasters, see the one handed and two handed ranged lists.

Combat Rules
In combat, there are a few rules to ensure maximum enjoyment.

First, pull your blows. Latex and foam may be squishy, but fiberglass isn't, and it can still hurt.

Second, no headshots. We do acknowledge that the inaccuracy of NERF darts do mean the occasional stray headshot, which cannot be avoided. For this reason, we advise wearing safety goggles during combat situations. We also ask that you do not deliberately aim for the head.

Third, all hits are global, and adhere to a 1-second grace period. This means that rapid weapon strikes within 1 second of the first of the set still only count for 1 hit. If you get hit with a call, you are expected to take the call or shout RESIST. If you do not, the other player or character may deem it that the call has not been used.

Fourth, if you see a character walking through a combat area with hand and weapon raised high, in such a way that it cannot be used offensively, that character is signalling that they are not in-combat, and are either moving out of the way (if downed), or may be a monster moving back to position for onslaught-style missions.

Fifth, do not pick up used darts. If you accidentally fire a dart, or if one jams in your blaster, it is considered spent, and should be dropped. Ammo that falls out of your pockets, bag, or other storage spaces are fine, so long as they have not been fired. You are permitted to take ammo out of dead NPC's weapons, but only their weapons, or the clip currently loaded. Do not take all the ammo that person has, as the crew still need ammo to use.

Downed
If your character loses all hits, you are considered to be downed. This means that you cannot act until you have been healed by a medic, or carried out. You may still make small movements, or roleplaying being injured, but do not move far from the spot where you went down. If you go down in the middle of the floor, you are permitted (and advised) to move to one side, so that you are not a tripping hazard. Other than this, please keep travelling distance while downed to a minimum.

When your character is revived, and you leave the combat area, contact a ref on the way down. They will give you a bead pull from a bag. There are several different colour beads which signify different things.
 * White - you are fine, no permanent injury sustained, but you may roleplay minor injuries.
 * Yellow - you sustain no injury, but a piece of equipment is damaged beyond repair. Hand one equipment card at random over to the ref, and stop using the physrep.
 * Green - same effect as yellow, but when you replace the bead, draw another.
 * Red - you suffer an injury. The ref will draw another bead to determine your injury. This will take your medic's skill level into account.
 * Black - you have died. Hand your equipment cards over to the ref. You may roleplay a deteriorating condition for a few moments before dying properly, for roleplay and impact effects.