Staff and NPC FAQs

You can find a full copy of the rules in the Documents section of our Mailing List.

Staff players are players who participate in the game under the direction of the plot persons who run the events. Staff players are given roles to help maintain the atmosphere and plot of the game. The term “Staff” includes all plot staff as well as NPC, or non-player character, staff members. “Plot Staff” members are those players who attend regular weekly meetings and have additional responsibilities including, but not limited to, producing and executing plot and logistics. “NPC Staff” members, or NPCs, are those players who attend events and are assigned to a Plot Staff member for roles.

Can I Play Madrigal?

You must be 18 or older to play Madrigal. You must also be familiar with at least the first two chapters of the core rulebook so you will have some idea how to respond to the various game effects we use. Players who arrive without any knowledge of the rulebook will be taken aside until they have some familiarity of the rules, so please download and read through this material before you arrive. You must also have a valid and current Madrigal membership.

How Do I Register For Events?

You can inform us you intend to play by sending email to madrigalregistration@accelerantgames.com. You can send Membership payments via the Registration page, or mail to the following address:

Madrigal Registration
170 Salem Street
Lawrence, MA 01843

Why Should I Pre-register For Events?

Staff members who pre-register are more likely to get good roles. We have, in the past, filled our staff sleeping areas, and pre-registering guarantees you sleeping space (this should be less of a problem at the new campsite, but it is an excellent idea nonetheless).

How Do I Check In?

When you arrive at the campsite, those with an up to date membership and insurance waiver can proceed directly to the Staff Camp. If you do not have an up to date membership, you should proceed to the check-in area that will be marked with signs. You will have to sign a waiver and bring your account up to date. Once you reach the Staff Camp you will be given a sleeping assignment. If you are not pre-registered, then the check-in staff will check to see if there is room at the event for you. If there is, you are welcome to participate. If not, you can play as a staff but you will have to commute to the game or provide your own sleeping arrangements by tenting.

Parking occurs in the first wooded lot before you get to the site proper - there will be signs, and staff members to direct you. If you arrive before the start of game and have a lot of gear to move, you are more than welcome to pull up into the site, but you should move your car to the lot by 10pm on Weekend Events or 7pm on Adventure Nights. Do not drive anywhere but the dirt roads on the site. Drive slowly.

Out of Game Staff opening at Monster Camp is mandatory for all staff. It occurs at Staff Camp at 10:30pm on Friday night. Out Of Game opening is mandatory for staff as well as players. Out of Game opening occurs at 11pm at the "White Court Temple".

What If I Show Up After Game Starts?

Game starts at 11pm on Fridays of Weekend Events, and at 7pm on Wednesday Adventure Nights. We cannot accept new-to-Madrigal staff players once game has begun - we do not have the resources to properly debrief and instruct new staff players once the game begins. Once game starts it is our goal to prevent the game flow from being interrupted for any reason. It is for this reason that we strongly suggest that you arrive before game starts.

If this is impossible, we ask that you come to the game in costume so you don't disrupt the flow of the game. Once you have checked in, you will be asked to move into your cabin in game. Staff players who arrive late enter game in costume as spirits and proceed to the Staff Camp. Staff, who are pre-approved to do so, may enter game as a farmer and proceed to the Staff Camp. This way you are never interrupting the flow of the game for other players as you arrive.

When traveling as a Spirit, walk slowly with your head tilted down and hands folded. If you are spoken to or attacked you should simply reply “Spirit” and continue walking. You are In Game at all times, except while using designated out-of-game staff areas or the bathroom facilities. You should make every attempt to enter and leave the game area as a character during game play. Many of our staff develop simple characters such as a local farmer or caravan guard to help move around, off or onto the site when not cast in a role. If you get killed, you may walk to the parking lot instead of death. Simply becoming a spirit and walking off the site is not acceptable.

How Do I Check Out?

At the end of the event you should check out at Monster Camp.

What Happens During a First Event?

At the beginning of your first event you will attend the new player orientation with an assigned role. This is an in-game orientation and your role will be to attend the orientation and return to the Monster Camp when it is done. There may be special instructions for you during this time.

How Do I Write a Summary Letter?

One of the tools of communication Madrigal uses is the summary letter. All players are encouraged to submit summary letters after each event they attend. Summary letters also earn you character points if they are submitted within one week of an adventure night and within two weeks of an adventure weekend.

The best way to submit a summary letter is through the forms on the Madrigal website. If you have trouble submitting the forms, you can submit the summary letter by sending an email to madrigalpel@accelerantgames.com. Embed the information right in the body of the message so there are no formatting or attachment problems. Although players without Internet access can mail us summary letters, we prefer if they are submitted on the Internet, as this makes it easier for us to distribute the information to the appropriate staff.

For players who attended as staff, the subject of your letter should say "Summary Letter: Staff" and the date of the event. You should answer the following questions:

- Which NPCs did you play and which plots were you involved with?
- Which roles were your favorite?
- Did any of your NPCs have unfinished business or goals?
- Which PCs were particularly memorable or enjoyable?
- Which roles would you like to play again at a future event?
- Do you have any other comments about the game?
- Did you assist with Clean-Up? If so, please include what you did for clean-up:

Our goal is to use the answers to these questions to run a more enjoyable game. You should try to answer the questions with brevity, and follow up the answers with any in game commentary you wish to include. We enjoy in game journals and views and commentary and try to read it all, but this should be included after the answers to these questions.

How Do I Make Sure My CP Gets Sent To The Accelerant Game I Play?

If you have NPC'd for Madrigal, you will need to make sure that your Accelerant-participating LARP campaign knows this, so that you will receive credit for the CP you earned! Click here to notify your game!

What Should I Bring to the Game?

Because our game system is predominately human, we rely heavily on costume and character behavioral changes to distinguish characters. Playing several dominant characters within a weekend event becomes a challenge to both the Plot and NPC staff. We recommend bringing your own distinct costuming if possible. We do have a costuming section at Monster Camp that contains cloaks, hats, shirts and robes. You are always welcome to ask the Monster desk if they can outfit you appropriately for a role.

Staff are expected to provide the basic weapons that they will be using during the weekend. Although Madrigal will provide special weapons for special roles, it is left to the players to provide the weapons they will feel comfortable using for the majority of their roles.

Staff are expected to provide the basic costume elements for themselves that will be used during the weekend. This includes one all-black outfit and all-weather shoes. We recommend wearing sturdy hiking boots or combat boots that have mid to high ankle support. We also recommend bringing black gloves, a black mantle and any black fleece pullovers you may have during the colder months. You should also bring lots of black socks. We do not allow clothing with designs or decals. We strongly recommend leaving all expensive watches and jewelry at home.

Other items to bring include the following:
- Black shoes WITH ankle support
- Weapons (and shields)
- Spell Packets (there can never be enough)
- Black clothing
- Extra socks
- Gloves
- Toilet paper
- Toiletries
- Towel
- Bug spray
- Sleeping bag and Pillow
- Blanket
- Water (many small water bottles seem to work better than the gallons)
- Food
- Small Flashlight with colored light filter cover
- Did I mention socks?

These items are good to bring if you have them:
- Belts
- Pouches
- Costuming
- Elf ears
- Horns
- Props
- Makeup
- Makeup remover

What Happens at Staff Camp?

Plot Staff shares the responsibility of the Monster Camp desk shifts for the weekend events. There will be one member of Plot Staff assigned to the desk at a time. Many of these shifts will have one or more staff members who are in training. Please be courteous and patient as the monster desk shift is probably the most complicated and stressful job.

The Staff Camp desk (or Monster Desk) will assign you roles if you have any available time. Monster desk will also provide you with stats, treasure, costuming and any props you may require. Feel free to ask any questions to the person at monster desk. If that person cannot immediately give you an answer, they will at least know how to obtain one.

Monster Camp is located very close to the water, and close to player cabins. As a courtesy to our players we request the minimum amount of noise at any given time. We recommend that you utilize your assigned housing as a lounge to relax and unwind. Please be courteous to players who may be walking around your buildings and keep noise to a non-intrusive level.

Most often you will find your roles varied and challenging at Madrigal, but once in a while you may become bored or frustrated. Since the plot staff will be single-mindedly focused on the event and timeline, it is often extremely difficult for us to detect any problems that may be concerning our staff. Please let the monster desk know immediately if any problems or concerns arise so that we can guarantee the best experience for all our staff. Our goal is to provide an exciting and challenging role-playing experience while you staff a Madrigal event. Your desires may change over time as well, you may want a heavy fighting role to begin with and then wish to switch to an intense role-playing role, or vice versa. The monster desk is designed to handle all your needs to make your weekend with us pleasurable.

At some point you may be asked to either grab something out of the props trailer or you may need costuming for an upcoming role. Only the active monster desk person and certain Plot Staff members are allowed to enter the trailer or the back rooms. We have an astounding amount of props, lighting and costuming in a very small area. Feel free to ask the monster desk to retrieve or place your objects back into the correct position. When utilizing costuming for a specific role, the monster desk person can retrieve costume pieces for you. Once your role is finished you should return the pieces promptly to the desk. This way the maximum amount of staff can use the costuming to the best of our abilities.

If you are interested in becoming a monster desk person and taking one shift during weekend events, please inform a campaign staff person. They will have additional information. As always if you do not understand or have questions about anything at all, feel free to ask the monster desk.

What Is Expected of Staff?

At Madrigal you are expected to be in game at all times when you are outside the bathrooms and staff areas. We try to maintain a serious atmosphere. Characters who are portrayed with silly or flagrantly out-of-game characteristics will not be tolerated. We try to give every character a purpose within the game world. Every encounter, whether you’re playing a Black Sun Barbarian or a Fire Toad, will have a set of goals and usual behavior.

We want the staff to have fun and to provide fun for the players. Everything you do in game can have profound impact on the game. It is your job to populate this world and maintain an atmosphere that provides a suspension of disbelief and provides the players with fun. Stay in-game and in costume at all times. Don’t push masks up on your head. Don’t talk to other staff in an out-of-game manner while you are outside staff areas. It is your job to watch the signs from the players. Are they bored? Are they frustrated? Are they having fun? Try to keep the story that is being told in the forefront of your mind. Ask yourself if you would find this fun as a player. There is a very fine line between an encounter that is challenging or frustrating.

Try to remember that having the stats to crush a group of players is not always the correct response. More often it is the threat of violence that thrills the player than the actual thrashing they may eventually receive. It is your cool head and restraint when appropriate that makes Madrigal so fun to play.

One of the greatest challenges at a live action event is the interaction between players and staff. There will be a time where you believe you see a player incorrectly react to a combat or roleplaying encounter. Do not argue about rules or accuse players of cheating. Arguing about hits or rules on the field is inappropriate. Madrigal maintains an in-game atmosphere at all times. Bring up the problem to plot staff immediately following the encounter, once you have returned to Monster Camp. In addition, you should do your best to defer to the players benefit at all times, even if you believe the player is incorrect.

Players at Madrigal are in game at all times, so thanking the players in an out-of-game manner after fights or other encounters is inappropriate. There is time for that after the event. Stay in game. As quickly and quietly as you can, exit the encounter in the appropriate manner. This is extremely important as the players may be morning the loss of a loved one or may be attempting to resolve a highly stressful situation. If you are killed as your role, stay down for the full five minutes. Many creatures that serve darkness will only remain down for one minute. Try to remember to ask your staff leader for every encounter what the down time is since it is easy for us to forget what the count should be for blood tribes, undead, and other minions of darkness. Once your down time is up, rise slowly with your weapons tucked under your arm or hanging loosely by your sides, keep your head bowed and walk in a slow manner to your regrouping encounter point or Monster Camp.

You may learn things in monster camp or while playing a role that the players have yet to discover. All staff are required to keep what is learned as a staff character secret. We ask all staff to be cautious while in monster camp because the person next to you may play Madrigal as a character at some point. We are gracious to all our players who volunteer to staff Madrigal on occasion and we would not want them to unduly learn a big game secret and spoil their fun. As well, there is a great companionship felt by all at the end of every event when the game ends and the players wish to express their heartfelt thanks for your wonderful performances. Please be reasonably modest and let the players have their moment in the spotlight. Remember that anything a player learns out of game they know in game. So even though you might want to give them the behind-the-scenes story about the Hyena raid, please refrain where possible.