Code of Conduct
All members of the Witchwood community, including players and staff, must follow these guidelines:
- Treat everyone with respect.
- Follow the rules of safety.
- Do not threaten or intimidate people out-of-game.
- Do not harass participants, make them feel unsafe, or contribute to a hostile environment.
- If asked to stop any harassing behavior, comply immediately. “Clarify” or “Caution” may be used to clarify that a request is out-of-game.
- Do not sexually harass anyone, in-game or out-of-game. This includes public sexual behavior, sexual comments, and all forms of sexual assault.
- Do not physically assault others except as described by the combat rules of the game.
- Do not verbally assault anyone out-of-game.
- Do not discriminate or make jokes on the basis of out-of-game characteristics such as race, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, disability, national origin, citizenship, or religious beliefs.
- Follow camp rules and insurance stipulations in regards to alcohol, tobacco, and fire. Do not smoke except in designated areas; do not litter with cigarette butts; do not consume alcohol at events where it is prohibited; etc.
- Do not have fires outside of established fireplaces or fire rings without the approval of a fire marshal. All fires must be attended, and a fire extinguisher, fire blanket, large quantity of water, or other means of fire suppression approved by a fire marshal must be readily on hand.
- Do not cheat. Follow and uphold the spirit and letter of the games rules to the best of your ability. If you feel the rules should be amended, contact the Rules Committee.
- Griefing, hazing, and trolling are not permitted. Do not use in-game antagonism as a method of harassment, or to carry over out-of-game grudges. In-game actions taken against others in apparent bad faith will be referred to the Conduct Committee.
- Make a good-faith effort to uphold requests made by community members to keep them uninvolved in plots whose themes relate to their phobias, past traumas, or other similarly sensitive topics.
The Code of Conduct is not all-inclusive. Any action which creates an unsafe or hostile environment or which precludes fair game, even if not explicitly delineated in the code, may be considered a violation.
Procedure for Code Violations
If you feel there has been a breach of the Code of Conduct, send a complaint to the Conduct Committee (conduct@witchwoodroleplaying.com).
The Conduct Committee will determine if the Code of Conduct has been violated. They will appoint 3 individuals to investigate. They will preserve, over the course of the investigation, the anonymity of both the person who filed the complaint and the target. If preserving anonymity is not possible, they will alert the relevant parties to their intended course of investigation and receive consent from those persons before breaking anonymity.
- A first violation will result in a written warning. The Board of Trustees will privately present 2 copies of the warning, containing a brief summary of the violation, to the target of the complaint at or by the start of the next Witchwood event. The violator will sign in acknowledgment of their receipt of the warning. 1 copy of the warning will remain on file with the Conduct Committee.
- A second violation of the Code of Conduct will result in the suspension of the individual from 1 Witchwood event.
- A third violation will result in the violator being banned from all Witchwood Roleplaying events for life.
- Serious offenses may bypass these 3 strikes, at the discretion of the Board of Trustees.
Mark of the Red Feather
If you are being harassed (or experience similar out-of-game problems), people who wear a red feather pin (player or staff) are available to help/advise/listen.
If you are interested in wearing a red feather pin, speak with the Ombudsman (customerservice@witchwoodroleplaying.com) – pins will also be available from the staff center. If you wear one, you are promising to be understanding and not fall victim to bystander apathy – some basic training is available at events.
