The Courting Murder game system was designed by David Collins, currently of Infinite Imaginations Inc (III). It's a game system utilizing minimal (if any) die rolling, concentrating instead on achieving character goals through role-playing and inginuity. David has been running games in this format long before the advent of 'LARPs' as a formal gaming genre, and he's been kind enough to allow us to use his rules to run our own Live-Action games. Note that there may be minor differences in how BYOV interprets these rules and how David Collins interprets them for his own games. Just because something is allowed in one doesn't mean it's allowed in the other.

So what are the rules of the Courting Murder system? The most important things to worry about: what's not allowed, and the Ghost Rules. I will also, however, say something about killing other characters, as that often becomes important, and about costumes and what's expected of players. Also very important is the final note about separating 'player knowledge' from 'character knowledge'.

1. What's Not Allowed
Some powers or actions may not be used on or against other players, due to their negative effects on game play. Note that some of these powers may be used on NPC's or inanimate objects, and clever players may find 'work-arounds' to accomplish nearly the same result. All spell casting is very obvious to anyone looking at the spellcaster.

• No form of Invisibility
  
• No Mind Reading
• No Clairvoyance
• No Clairaudience
• No Lip Reading
• No Picking Pockets (unless physically performed)
• No 'Instant Death' Spells
• No Contact Poisons

2. Ghost Rules
Anyone killed during game play immediately returns as a Ghost. The 'Powers-that-be' in each game take the word of a Ghost very seriously, particularly regarding who their killer was. A Ghost's word on such matters is acceptable as evidence in a court of law, or the nearest equivalent.

• A Ghost cannot pass through walls, doors, or most furniture. A Ghost can and will pass through items less than five inches thick-glasses, coins, paper, tapestries, etc.
• A Ghost cannot become invisible. Every other character can see and communicate with a Ghost. When they are not actively passing through items, it is very difficult to distinguish a Ghost from the living.
• A Ghost generally cannot leave the area of its death.
• Ghosts may possess willing living beings for up to twenty minutes. At the end of that time, The host must make a system shock roll (a die roll, I know...sorry) or die from the stress.

3. A Note About Murder
The Ghost Rules are in place to allow players to continue playing the game, even after their character has been killed. Because Ghosts can interact with all other characters (even physically via possession), 'dead' players can still achieve much of their goals in the average game.

However, this does not mean that it is easy to kill another character. In general, it should be assumed that the more obvious (i.e. less sneaky and devious) the murder attempt is, the less likely it will be to succeed. Walking up behind someone and stabbing them in the back, for instance, will likely result only in an injury to the victim (although perhaps a serious injury), while the wannabee murderer will be easily identified and detained by the authorities. The Ghost rules ensure that even a successful obvious attempt at murder will result in the identification and likely incarceration of the murderer.

Thus, the successful murder attempt will be one in which the Ghost is unable to identify the orchestrator of their demise. Note that this indicates that brute violence or, say, fireballs, are not the way to go. Poisons, arranged 'accidents', and of course getting someone else to do your dirty work for you are all more par for the course. In general, you can bet that obvious/unsubtle or poorly planned murder attempts will fail. The sneakier, the better.

4. Costumes and Behavior
Costumes and Accents
Costumes are not required for BYOV's Courting Murder games. Neither are accents, or the ability to 'act' well. You must, however, be able to speak in character. In other words, when speaking with other players, you will need to avoid saying things like "Okay, I tell you that I'm expected in court and that I have a message for the King." Playing the role 'in character' means that you need to act as if you are the character. Thus, what's expected is speaking in first person: "Actually, I'm expected in court. I have an important message for the King!"

Although costumes, accents, and acting are not required, they are certainly welcome, and can make the game more enjoyable for everyone. So feel free to dress in a suitable costume for the game you are playing in, and give your character whatever embellishments you think are appropriate, as long as they are in keeping with what's on the character sheet (e.g. please do not give the fierce Nordic warrior a Spanish accent, even if a Spanish accent is the only accent you can do).

Physical Violence
Physical violence, even mock physical violence, is not acceptable. Most of our games are written so that combat will not occur between characters--the whole point of the game is to achieve goals through role-playing, through character interaction, and not through combat. Thus, in most games, you will find that the authorities in question will be quick to put a stop to any violent activity. If some kind of combat happens to break out between two characters during a game, it will not be handled physically. Beyond handshakes, tapping on the shoulder, or general 'conversational' contact, any physical contact--including wrestling, punching, kicking, biting, etc--will be grounds for your removal from the game. Just use your common sense. Two 'long lost brothers' hugging is fine...two arch enemies grappling on the floor is not.

Staying In Character
Finally, it's helpful to other players if you try to stay in character as much as possible. It can be hard to stay in character trying to solve a puzzle when two people are standing nearby discussing the Exhibit Hall. This is not a strict 'rule', and out of character moments are to be expected every now and then. But try to limit them if at all possible.

Player Knowledge vs. Character Knowledge
This has a lot to do with the previous note about staying in character. When you are playing a character in a live-action game, it is very important that you not let any knowledge that you as a player have bleed over into the knowledge that your character has. What do we mean? It's best probably to give examples.

• Someone drops their character sheet, and in handing it back to them, you accidentally see that their character class is 'assassin', when they are supposed to be a mild mannered serving wench. You now have 'player knowledge' that your character would not have. It's up to you to try not to play your character as if you knew anything about that info at all.
• You know another player in the game, and you know that they are a very good role-player, can be very devious, and their characters are never what they appear to be. Regardless of what you as a player know, you need to treat that character as your own character would, and not be influenced by what you know of the player. If your character description says that you trust Bob Smith's character absolutely, even if you know that Bob is a damn sneaky guy and his characters are usually devious, evil people, you need to play your character without the influence of your biases about Bob the player.
• A player is in the hallway, talking out of character to a friend who's not in the game, telling the friend about his character. Do not listen in! Walk away so you aren't tempted. Anything you find out that way is player knowledge, not character knowledge, and shouldn't be used in the game. This is akin to someone in a card game accidentally holding their cards for everyone to see. They shouldn't be doing it, but if you want to be fair, you shouldn't be looking either.

5. Summary
This seems like a lot to learn, but in truth a lot of it is common sense. The most important things to know are what the forbidden powers are, and what the Ghost Rules are. And those will both be listed in the materials you are given during the game. The rest is either common sense or, in the case of murdering someone, can be picked up fairly easily on the fly. Good Luck, and we'll see you at the game!