Rules and Game Play of Quidditch
IF YOU ARE APPLYING TO QUIDDITCH, RESPOND TO THIS POST WITH A COMMENT! Your application to join your House's team will not be considered complete until after you have commented here, to show that you have read and understand. Please do ask any questions; things that make sense to me may actually require much more elaboration. :-)
Community Membership
Only people who hold positions on their House team will be granted membership in this community. Anyone can comment to any public post. However, comments made by non-members will be screened initially and unscreened when it's confirmed that they will not interfere in normal operation of the community. (An example of interfering comments are ones by non-players made in a game post.) Comments are meant for questions and for applications, primarily.
You are welcome to friend the community, without applying for membership, if you would like to follow our doings but are not a on a House team.
POSITIONS
2-9 standing players per House.
Per team:
1 Seeker - Does a scavenger hunt
1 Keeper - Asks final trivia question
1 Beater - Asks two trivia questions prior to the goal question
3 Chasers - take turns answering trivia questions. Possession of the "Quaffle" is kept when the Beater's questions are answered correctly; goals are scored when the Keeper's question is answered correctly.
- Gameplay can continue normally with 1 or 2 Chasers.
When a team has no Beaters, the Keeper will ask the Beater questions. When a team has no Keeper, the Beaters will ask the final question. When both teams have enough available players for it to be possible, two Beaters may be assigned to play, and each Beater will ask one question prior to the Keeper question.
A House may put alternates on the team, who have no preferred position, to play when their House's usual player is unavailable.
DATES
There are three games per term, two-on-two (eg: Gryffindor and Ravenclaw play against Slytherin and Hufflepuff). Three games are the requirement for all possible team combinations to be played out.
At the start of the month, players vote on which days of the week and which times are generally best. This goes for four days. A poll with a short list of potential match times goes up, and voting on the best of those lasts for three days. Anyone who fails to vote in this poll will be last-priority when positions are assigned for the match.
Next the official match date is announced. Players who are available at that time comment to the post; comments will be screened. They say their house, and their preferred position and (if any) alternate positions; this is their reservation and their commitment to attend the game. Positions are assigned with the goal of each team having equal members (eg: Team A has 3 Gryffs and 3 Claws; Team B has 3 Slyths and 3 Puffs) with priority given on who reserves a position first. (This particular post will go up at different times of the day for each match so that people in all time zones have equal chance of reserving a position first.)
The post assigning positions to the available team members goes up as soon as the teams can be made. Gameplay can continue with as few as 3 people per team; this isn't ideal, and is a no-other-choice option. We aim for 6 players per team. Teams may continue to fill vacant positions up to 48 hours before the game's start time.
GAME PLAY
a. The coaches will provide the Seekers with the scavenger hunt, and asks ALL Chasers a tossup question. Any Chaser is allowed to answer, and whichever team answers first (and correctly) earns possession of the Quaffle. This is in the Game Post; answers go into comments.
b. Beater ask 2 questions, Keeper asks one. Beater questions are worth 6 points, Keeper questions worth 18. Chasers alternate in answering questions (if only two are available, the Chaser who answers the 2nd Beater also answers the Keeper; in this case, the Chaser who answers the first Beater question should alternate). Beater and Keepers are responsible for responding with whether the answer is correct or not so the game can continue.
Questions must be authorized by the coach (ie, possibilities currently). Keepers and Beaters are granted access to a master list of authorized questions in quidditchques 24 hours before the start of the game. The Beater and the Keeper are NOT allowed to rephrase the questions unless rephrasing is pre-approved by the coach more than 24 hours prior the start of the game.
Keepers and Beaters may make their own questions, but they must be submited to the Coach via email (possibilities @ livejournal.com) and approved before being used in game play. They are not approved until the Coach replies to your email stating which questions have been approved for use.
Keepers need 20 questions at the start of the game; Beaters need a total of 60 questions, or 30 questions each.
c. Chasers have 4 minutes to answer; Beaters and the Keeper have 2 minutes to post a new question (if the previous answer was correct).
d. Coaches declare a switch in possession of the Quaffle, and the process continues for the other time. Repeat until Snitch is caught or two hours have passed, whichever is first.
e. Once the Seeker RETURNS with a fully-answered hunt and posts it as a new comment, game play CONTINUES. They may have questions wrong, and the other Seeker may return with all correct answers before there's time to correct it. SO CONTINUE GAME PLAY while the coaches check the answers. If all answers are correct, the game is called by the coaches and points are tallied! The Snitch is worth 90 points.
f. Game play may not exceed 2 hours, at the discretion of the Coaches (it can go either way here depending on start time, but you'll be warned in advance of the game ending). At this point, the Seeker with the most correct answer earns their team 90 points, and the points already earned are tallied up to produce a game-winner.
POINTS
All examples use Gryffinclaw vs Slytherpuff.
PENALTIES
Lateness
If someone has committed to play in a game and been assigned a position, but can no longer attend, they must notify the Coach 36 hours in advance of the game start time, so that attempts to find a substitute from their house can be made. If they do not notify 36 hours in advance, their house will lose 10 points off the GAME POINTS and their teammate house will earn 10 points. eg:
Team A wins with 230 points; Team B ends game with 150.
- One Gryffindor was a no-show
- Gryffindor gets 115 points - 10 penalty = 105 points; Ravenclaw gets 115 points + 10 bonus = 125 points
- Slytherin gets 75; Hufflepuff gets 75
This is to encourage players to honour their commitment to attend the games.
A player arriving late, but still within the first 30 minutes of gameplay will be allowed in at an appropriate break (eg: when Quaffle switches possession) without the points penalty. After the first 30 minutes have past, the penalty will be applied.
Time Limits in Game Play
Chasers have 4 minutes to answer questions. 'Possession' will switch to the other team after that time. For example, Team A's Chaser not answering in time results in Team A's Beaters having to ask questions; Team A's Chaser will lose the chance to score a goal. If Chasers are answering in a specified order within their team, they may break order to prevent going overtime.
Beaters and Keepers have 2 minutes to ask their question, after possession changes and after the answer to the previous question is declared as correct/incorrect. If a team's Beaters and/or Keeper ask after that time has passed, possession will not switch. However, their team will lose 5 points.
Beaters and Keepers who do not respond to answers with "Correct/incorrect" within 1 minute of the answer being posted will lose 5 points for their team. The Coach may respond with the "correct/incorrect" in such a case, after which game play should continue as normal with the next question being posted within 2 minutes.
Unauthorized Questions
Using an unauthorized question as a Beater or Keeper will lose your team the amount of points the question is worth. e.g., an unauthorized Beater question given by a Hufflepuff/Slytherin Beater will lose their team 8 points; an unauthorized Keeper question would lose their team 24 points.
If a question is declared unauthorized, the Beater/Keeper who asked it must ask another, authorized question within 2 minutes of the declaration. If they fail to do so, points will be awarded to the team who was asked the unauthorized question and the Quaffle will remain in their possession.
Forfeit
Each team must have three members to play. If less than three players arrive within 30 minutes of the scheduled start time, the game is forfeited to the other team. The forfeiting team will earn no points; the other team will earn 100 points, provided they did have at least three players arrive.
Cheating
Points lost for cheating are relative to the severity of the offense and how much it negatively impacted the other team. Cheating can take many forms, such as:
Frequently repeating cheaters may be removed from their House team at the Coach's discretion, provided a full account of the offenses is kept and provided to the player in question.
Updated: November 18, 2007
Community Membership
Only people who hold positions on their House team will be granted membership in this community. Anyone can comment to any public post. However, comments made by non-members will be screened initially and unscreened when it's confirmed that they will not interfere in normal operation of the community. (An example of interfering comments are ones by non-players made in a game post.) Comments are meant for questions and for applications, primarily.
You are welcome to friend the community, without applying for membership, if you would like to follow our doings but are not a on a House team.
POSITIONS
2-9 standing players per House.
Per team:
1 Seeker - Does a scavenger hunt
1 Keeper - Asks final trivia question
1 Beater - Asks two trivia questions prior to the goal question
3 Chasers - take turns answering trivia questions. Possession of the "Quaffle" is kept when the Beater's questions are answered correctly; goals are scored when the Keeper's question is answered correctly.
- Gameplay can continue normally with 1 or 2 Chasers.
When a team has no Beaters, the Keeper will ask the Beater questions. When a team has no Keeper, the Beaters will ask the final question. When both teams have enough available players for it to be possible, two Beaters may be assigned to play, and each Beater will ask one question prior to the Keeper question.
A House may put alternates on the team, who have no preferred position, to play when their House's usual player is unavailable.
DATES
There are three games per term, two-on-two (eg: Gryffindor and Ravenclaw play against Slytherin and Hufflepuff). Three games are the requirement for all possible team combinations to be played out.
At the start of the month, players vote on which days of the week and which times are generally best. This goes for four days. A poll with a short list of potential match times goes up, and voting on the best of those lasts for three days. Anyone who fails to vote in this poll will be last-priority when positions are assigned for the match.
Next the official match date is announced. Players who are available at that time comment to the post; comments will be screened. They say their house, and their preferred position and (if any) alternate positions; this is their reservation and their commitment to attend the game. Positions are assigned with the goal of each team having equal members (eg: Team A has 3 Gryffs and 3 Claws; Team B has 3 Slyths and 3 Puffs) with priority given on who reserves a position first. (This particular post will go up at different times of the day for each match so that people in all time zones have equal chance of reserving a position first.)
The post assigning positions to the available team members goes up as soon as the teams can be made. Gameplay can continue with as few as 3 people per team; this isn't ideal, and is a no-other-choice option. We aim for 6 players per team. Teams may continue to fill vacant positions up to 48 hours before the game's start time.
GAME PLAY
a. The coaches will provide the Seekers with the scavenger hunt, and asks ALL Chasers a tossup question. Any Chaser is allowed to answer, and whichever team answers first (and correctly) earns possession of the Quaffle. This is in the Game Post; answers go into comments.
b. Beater ask 2 questions, Keeper asks one. Beater questions are worth 6 points, Keeper questions worth 18. Chasers alternate in answering questions (if only two are available, the Chaser who answers the 2nd Beater also answers the Keeper; in this case, the Chaser who answers the first Beater question should alternate). Beater and Keepers are responsible for responding with whether the answer is correct or not so the game can continue.
Questions must be authorized by the coach (ie, possibilities currently). Keepers and Beaters are granted access to a master list of authorized questions in quidditchques 24 hours before the start of the game. The Beater and the Keeper are NOT allowed to rephrase the questions unless rephrasing is pre-approved by the coach more than 24 hours prior the start of the game.
Keepers and Beaters may make their own questions, but they must be submited to the Coach via email (possibilities @ livejournal.com) and approved before being used in game play. They are not approved until the Coach replies to your email stating which questions have been approved for use.
Keepers need 20 questions at the start of the game; Beaters need a total of 60 questions, or 30 questions each.
c. Chasers have 4 minutes to answer; Beaters and the Keeper have 2 minutes to post a new question (if the previous answer was correct).
d. Coaches declare a switch in possession of the Quaffle, and the process continues for the other time. Repeat until Snitch is caught or two hours have passed, whichever is first.
e. Once the Seeker RETURNS with a fully-answered hunt and posts it as a new comment, game play CONTINUES. They may have questions wrong, and the other Seeker may return with all correct answers before there's time to correct it. SO CONTINUE GAME PLAY while the coaches check the answers. If all answers are correct, the game is called by the coaches and points are tallied! The Snitch is worth 90 points.
f. Game play may not exceed 2 hours, at the discretion of the Coaches (it can go either way here depending on start time, but you'll be warned in advance of the game ending). At this point, the Seeker with the most correct answer earns their team 90 points, and the points already earned are tallied up to produce a game-winner.
POINTS
All examples use Gryffinclaw vs Slytherpuff.
- Game points and Participation points are seperate.
- Game Points
Beater questions = 6; Keeper questions = 18; Snitch =90
-- all are totaled by team to determine the winning team. Each House gets half the game-score given to them as points.
example: Team A wins 210 points to 90.
Gryffindor 105; Ravenclaw 105; Hufflepuff 45; Slytherin 45 - Participation Points
15 points/player. These are distributed to each House; they do not affect Game Points, and therefore have no influence on who wins/loses.
example: In our first game, we had 4 Gryffs (60 pts), 3 Claws (45), 3 Puffs (45), 1 Snake (10)
Points totals for Houses: Gryffindor 165; Ravenclaw 150; Hufflepuff 90; Slytherin 45. [If there are no penalties/bonus points, that would be the points I hand in at the end of the month.] - Bonus/Penalties
Bonus points continue to be added to only that player's House; penalties continue to be taken only from that player's House.
example:
- An absent Hufflepuff loses Hufflepuff 10 points and gains Slytherin 10.
- Bonus points for a particularly awesome Puff only go to Hufflepuff, and Slytherin is unaffected.
- A cheating Ravenclaw loses points only for Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor is unaffected.
PENALTIES
Lateness
If someone has committed to play in a game and been assigned a position, but can no longer attend, they must notify the Coach 36 hours in advance of the game start time, so that attempts to find a substitute from their house can be made. If they do not notify 36 hours in advance, their house will lose 10 points off the GAME POINTS and their teammate house will earn 10 points. eg:
Team A wins with 230 points; Team B ends game with 150.
- One Gryffindor was a no-show
- Gryffindor gets 115 points - 10 penalty = 105 points; Ravenclaw gets 115 points + 10 bonus = 125 points
- Slytherin gets 75; Hufflepuff gets 75
This is to encourage players to honour their commitment to attend the games.
A player arriving late, but still within the first 30 minutes of gameplay will be allowed in at an appropriate break (eg: when Quaffle switches possession) without the points penalty. After the first 30 minutes have past, the penalty will be applied.
Time Limits in Game Play
Chasers have 4 minutes to answer questions. 'Possession' will switch to the other team after that time. For example, Team A's Chaser not answering in time results in Team A's Beaters having to ask questions; Team A's Chaser will lose the chance to score a goal. If Chasers are answering in a specified order within their team, they may break order to prevent going overtime.
Beaters and Keepers have 2 minutes to ask their question, after possession changes and after the answer to the previous question is declared as correct/incorrect. If a team's Beaters and/or Keeper ask after that time has passed, possession will not switch. However, their team will lose 5 points.
Beaters and Keepers who do not respond to answers with "Correct/incorrect" within 1 minute of the answer being posted will lose 5 points for their team. The Coach may respond with the "correct/incorrect" in such a case, after which game play should continue as normal with the next question being posted within 2 minutes.
Unauthorized Questions
Using an unauthorized question as a Beater or Keeper will lose your team the amount of points the question is worth. e.g., an unauthorized Beater question given by a Hufflepuff/Slytherin Beater will lose their team 8 points; an unauthorized Keeper question would lose their team 24 points.
If a question is declared unauthorized, the Beater/Keeper who asked it must ask another, authorized question within 2 minutes of the declaration. If they fail to do so, points will be awarded to the team who was asked the unauthorized question and the Quaffle will remain in their possession.
Forfeit
Each team must have three members to play. If less than three players arrive within 30 minutes of the scheduled start time, the game is forfeited to the other team. The forfeiting team will earn no points; the other team will earn 100 points, provided they did have at least three players arrive.
Cheating
Points lost for cheating are relative to the severity of the offense and how much it negatively impacted the other team. Cheating can take many forms, such as:
- Beaters/Keepers communicating questions and/or answers to the Chasers, either before or during game play
- Declaring a question wrong when it is actually correct
- Offering help to a Seeker
- A Seeker who seeks help, accepts an offer of help, or does not inform the coach if they receive an offer of help
- Chasers may communicate through instant messaging with their own team's Chasers during game play, under certain circumstances. All Chasers of both teams must be able to IM with their Chaser-teammates (ie: All Team A Chasers and all Team B Chasers may chat during the game ONLY when all of them are able). Indicate your willingness to IM, as well as any and all programs you're willing to use, when replying to the position-reserve post. A decision on whether or not IM is allowed among Chasers for that particular game will be decided then.
- Other offenses to be added here as needed, with a notification of the change posted to hh_quidditch
Frequently repeating cheaters may be removed from their House team at the Coach's discretion, provided a full account of the offenses is kept and provided to the player in question.
Updated: November 18, 2007