Merit Points

**Merit Points** are earned by giving time or money to the game. They can be used to purchase additional Experience Points, extra success stones for resurrection, or in-play Scholars to be used by a character.

## Earning

Plot or staff members may temporarily increase the reward rate for items that are needed but the following are the standard rates.

### **Donating Money**

If you donate money to the game, purchase props that have been requested by the Plot team, or purchase game supplies requested by the Staff members you will receive 2 Merit Points for every dollar you spend. For purchased goods, you will need to provide a receipt and the cost will be rounded to the nearest dollar.

Also, if you choose to pay for your first event instead of playing for free, you will get the full 98 Merit Points that you can convert for that event to gain an additional 6 Experience Points. (Typically you would only get 70 Merit Points for donating $35 so you would be getting 28 Merit Points, or 2 Experience Point, completely free!)

### **Donating Time**

Many necessary functions of the game rely on volunteers who give their time to make sure the game is enjoyable for everyone else. Everyone is asked to contribute some time to the game every event in order to receive Experience Points. There are a number of ways to complete this required time. There are also additional jobs that do not fulfill the required time but do earn you extra rewards and are vital to the game's continuance. Below is a simple list of what the rewards are for each volunteer option.

* Monstering/Tavern Time: 3 Merit Points per 15 minutes
* Head Medic: 35 Merit Points per weekend
* Medic: 25 Merit Points per weekend
* Head of Plot (In Season): 5 XP plus 120 Merit Points
* Plot Member (In Season): 4 XP plus 60 Merit Points
* Accomplice Member (In Season): 3 XP plus 40 Merit Points
* Head of Plot (Out of Season): 35 Merit Points
* Plot Member (Out of Season): 25 Merit Points
* Intro Committee Member: 25 Merit Points per weekend
* Head of Cleanup Crew: 25 Merit Points per weekend
* Cleanup Crew Member: 20 Merit Points per weekend

Also, for work done away from events, you can earn 2 Merit Points every fifteen minutes.

The Plot Committee does need a supply of spell packets for their use and Monster Town's. Making spell packet will earn you 2 Merit Point for every 5 packets. (Which covers the time and the packet materials used.) The packets will need to be inspected for safety before the donation is accepted. Also, no character may receive more than 100 Merit Points each event for packet donations.

Recruiting Current players have always and will always be the best way to reach potential new players. Larps form a unique community that we are sure you will want to get your friends and/or family involved in but we also know that for some people sharing your geekier hobbies can be daunting so we offer you a little incentive.

When a new player creates their account on the web site, he/she will be asked how they learned about the game. For every player who names you as their recruiter you will receive 5 Merit Points and after he/she attends three events, you will receive an additional 15 Merit Points.

There may also be opportunities to host recruitment events or demonstrations in your area that will earn you Merit Points for your time and resources.

Additionally, there are three yearly contests! Each winner will get a reward of Merit Points and Scholars.

* Recruitment: The individual who recruited the most new players that played for at least three events.
* Costuming: The individual voted as having the most consistently impressive costuming for the year.
* Decorations: Four individuals who fairly consistently share a cabin and decorate it well.

## Spending

Unlike Experience Points, Merit Points are earned by you as a player and therefore can be used to affect any of your characters, if you have multiple. You may also give Merit Points away to other players.

### **Purchasing Experience Points**

Experience Points may only be purchased for one character per event month. The number of Experience Points that can be to be converted is dependent on the character's level. The number of Merit Points needed to purchase each Experience Point is also dependent on the character's level. The number of Experience Points that can be converted between one event and the next, or Max Conversion, will not change if the converted Experience Points move your character from one level to the next but the Merit Conversion Cost will change as your level increases.

**For example:** If a character begins his/her second game with 27 Experience points because he/she converted all the Merit Points he/she could after attending the first event, he/she would receive 5 Experience for attending the second event bringing his/her total to 32. The chart shows that this would still make the character second level so he/she can convert up to 6 more Experience Points.

After converting three points, the character would be third level. At this point, the Max Convert does not change to 5 because it has already been set for the month but converting the addition 3 points would now take 18 points apiece instead of 16.

### **Purchasing Scholars**

Between events, you may also convert your Merit Points into in play Scholars that your character can use just like the other coins he/she has earned. Each Merit Point spent will convert to 0.5 Scholars (5 Skulls). You may convert up to 5 Scholars each event month, which should be used by your active character.

### **Purchasing Success Stones**

Characters who resurrect more than three times must begin to draw stones from a bag to see if they can return or if they die permanently. The ratio begins with 9 possible successes and one possible failure. Each time a success stone is drawn, it is removed from the pool.

For example: If a character has died five times, he/she would normally have spent three lives and drawn two success stones. His/her bag would then have 7 possible successes and one possible failure.

Merit Points can be used to purchase success stones that are added back to a character's bag. The character can never have more than 9 possible success stones in the bag but can purchase additional stones in preparation for losing one.

For example: If a character has died three times and knows he/she has no more lives, he/she may decide to preemptively purchase an extra success stone. At the event, the character resurrects and must draw from the bag at which has a 9 to 1 ratio of successes to failures. The character draws a success stone but then resurrects again later that same event, he/she would still have a 9 to 1 ratio of successes to failures on the second draw. However, if he/she manages to draw another success but is forced to draw a third time before the end of the event, the ratio would then be 8 to 1.

Success stones may be purchased for 20 Merit Points apiece and are attributed to the player's active character. Extra success stones may not be transferred between characters.