Health & Safety Guidelines

Hi everyone!

Here are the basic out of play health and safety rules that Mythic has in place.

Wear shoes — preferably shoes with good ankle and arch support, that don’t rub your feet raw, that are immersive, and that you can spend up to eighteen hours a day wearing without hating yourself on Monday. Barefoot is not allowed because of the risk of ticks, ants, rattlesnakes, and puncture wounds.
Shower daily — you will feel better, your cabin mates won’t real life murder you, and the monsters won’t smell you coming.
Alcohol is not allowed on site — mixing something that inhibits one’s decision making abilities with combat is a recipe for disaster. If you can’t make it three days without an alcoholic drink, please speak with me or a trusted healthcare professional privately. There are community resources available to you.
Illegal drugs are not allowed on site — this should be obvious.
Medical Marijuana — according to Senate Bill 8A, medical marijuana use is not allowed “On the grounds of a preschool, primary school, or secondary school.” Camp Geneva shares its grounds with a preschool, therefor medical marijuana cannot legally be used. Any objections, discussions, or “what if I”s can be addressed with Gary Von Oesen.
The use of tobacco products AND VAPING is limited to three designated areas — use of tobacco and vape pens outside of designated areas will cause you to lose a life. These are: The dugout/hutch next to the auditorium, the covered area by the lake, and the pavilion with the grill outside the gym.
Communicable diseases — Do not attend a Mythic event if you don’t feel well, have a fever, cold or flu like symptoms, vomiting or diarrhea, or any other contagious illness not listed here. If you are severely immunocompromised due to a new onset or chronic illness, we strongly encourage you to stay home. Mythic intends on being here for at least another decade or three. We would like for you to be as well.
Medical history forms — all players must fill out a medical history form in order to play. This form must be updated once a year or when you have a major change. These forms are kept in locked boxes to which only the medics, not even the GMs, just the medics, have the code. We only access these forms if you are not able to communicate and we have to call the paramedics.
Liability waiver — all players must sign a liability waiver once a year in order to play. When you sign your liability waiver, you must also present your government issued picture ID. This is how we know that you are who you say you are and are over the age of 18. This form is located in the same locked box as your medical history form.
Pregnancy — You are orange banded from the time I find out you are pregnant until the baby is born. If you are not high risk:
1. After 20 weeks, I strongly recommend bringing a copy of your records from your doctor’s office and keeping them with you. Many offices have an app now that stores your records on your phone. Make sure that at least one other person can access your phone and those records.
2. After 34 weeks (or sooner), you get to stay home from Mythic and wait for baby.
If you are high risk:
1. Winnie Palmer Hospital is a level 3C (or five, depends on which designations you are using), but it's an hour away, and so are all the hospitals capable of delivering a baby that is less than 37 weeks. Do not tempt fate. If you are at high risk for a preterm delivery; if you have medical complications such as pre-eclampsia (some times called PIH); if your doctor puts you on bed rest or tells you that you have to deliver at a hospital with a NICU, stay home for your safety and the safety of the baby. We love you to see you, but we love you healthy more.
2. After delivery: You can return to Mythic when you have been cleared to return to normal activity (usually six weeks). Take the time to enjoy your baby and get used to being a new parent, whether it is your first time or your tenth time as a new parent!
Covid Specific Requirements:
1. Masks —
  1. We are mask optional.
  2. Per the CDC’s online article on “How to Select, Wear, and Clean Your Mask” (updated August 13, 2021), “Choose masks that have two or more layers of washable, breathable fabric, that completely cover your nose and mouth, and that fit snugly against the sides of your face and don’t have gaps. Do not choose masks that are made of a fabric that makes it hard to breathe, for example vinyl, have exhalation valves or vents, which allow virus particles to escape, or are intended for healthcare workers, including N95 respirators or surgical masks” (due to scarcity in some parts of the country). Personally, I am happy if you are wearing an actual medical grade mask.
  3. If you choose to wear a mask, please choose plain masks with no logos, characters, etc on them. Try to disguise them to a degree of period appropriateness.
  4. Bring extra masks. A wet or dirty mask is the same as no mask at all — especially if you are wearing a surgical mask or N95. Those are meant to be disposable. And waterboarding yourself with a wet mask is no fun at all.
  5. If someone asks you to put your mask on, please do so. We have players with medical conditions that put them at greater risk for everything from Amebiasis to impetigo to Zika, so please be respectful of that.
  6. Do NOT NOT NOT wear a mask with exhalation valves like those found in hardware stores in the painting section. Those are great at preventing the breathing in of paint particles, sawdust, etc but do NOT prevent the spread of viruses. If your mask has openings in it (like the Crimson Chain mask covers) wear it over your Mickey Mouse/She-Ra/Grogu/whatever mask.
2. I try very hard to not fill buildings to capacity, both because of CDC guidelines for shared spaces and because we are adults with stuff.
Take breaks — rest in the a/c, go off-site for for a meal or mental health break, SLEEP. If you start to get overwhelmed or exhausted, take a break for your own mental (and physical) health!
Sleep — there is nothing wrong with sleeping at night or a midday nap. A set of sheets or a few blankets tucked into the top bunk to hang over your bottom bunk both serves as a guard against airborne particles (and bugs) at night (or whenever you sleep) and curtains around a bed are definitely period appropriate!
Eat — whether you bring your own from home, or go to one of the many restaurants within a fifteen minute drive of Camp Geneva, or eat at our amazing tavern replacing the calories that you are burning is important!
Hydrate — water, not coffee, not tea, not Red Bull or Monster, is your friend. Caffeine is a diuretic (it makes you pee), and you are already sweating off a ton of water. If you find your clothes saturated with sweat, add some Gatorade or Powerade to the mix, not every bottle/ cup of water, but every other or every third.
Med-lyte, Tri-Or-Al, and other electrolyte pills and powders are MEDICINE. If you are relying on this things to get you through an event, you need to rest and drink and eat more.
Orange bands — Being orange banded or medically out of combat means that you can still roleplay although you have a disability or medical condition that makes combat difficult or impossible for you.
1. Fate of the Party: A person who is orange banded cannot fight, cast, heal, or taunt while their party is under attack. Once the attack is over (the monsters are dead or have left), the orange banded person is either dead (if their party is dead), can start healing (if at least one person is alive), or run for help (if it at least one person is alive).
2. Orange bands are provided by the medics. If you are given an orange band, only a
3. A medic can “un orange band” you. You cannot remove it during an event, put it back on, remove it, etc at your convenience. If you have been orange banded by a medic due to an injury/etc, you have to be cleared by a medic before you can resume combat. Orange bands will be signed out to the player and must be returned at the end of the event.
Medics — All our medics are RNs, LPNs, paramedics, or EMTs. We are required to do continuing education in our field every year, and some of us have advanced certifications in our specialty or get certifications outside our specialty. We wear armbands to designate that we are medic crew, and if you have an emergency you can approach any one of us at any time for help. The verbal to summon a medic is “Medic” yelled really loudly followed by the location. We also call 911 really well.
Boo-boo boxes and first aid kits — Blue boo-boo boxes containing common over the counter medications, bandaids, hydrocortisone cream, Benadryl, and anti-sting wipes are located in the tavern, monster town, and the infirmary. First aid kits containing everything that it’s in a boo-boo box plus burn cream, tweezers for splinters, antibacterial cream, and a few other things are located in the tavern, monster town, the center of town, and the infirmary. Depending on how many buildings we have access to during an event, more first aid kits may be placed. If a box is out of something, please inform any medic so it can be replaced. Do not block access to the box with your belongings.
The great outdoors
1. Ants, ticks, no-see-ums, spiders, chiggers, mosquitoes, scorpions, all manner of biting and stinging things — they were here first and (with any luck) will not go home with us. Bring insect repellent — the EPA has a wonderful list of approved insect repellents including active ingredients (ranging from all natural plant oils to lab created chemicals), what they are effective against, and how long they last for the average person. If you know that you are sensitive to certain insect bites, bring Benadryl and whatever you use to treat them. If you are allergic to certain insect bites, bring your epi-pen and notify a medic if you are stung or bitten.
2. Alligators, bats, bears, birds, boars, opossums, raccoons, rattlesnakes — like the insects, they animals were here first and this is their home. Watch where you step. Stepping in scat is gross, but stepping on something with venom is worse.
3. Sunscreen — sun screen before bug spray, just like shoes before corset.
4. The ground and other obstacles — it may be actively trying to kill you. Be aware of wildlife, uneven ground, sticks, holes, steps, clotheslines, porches, and other people. Your character may be able to phase around those things but you can’t. Be aware of where you step and the location of things and other people. We treat far more ankles and knees due to missteps than to combat.
Allergies — much like pollen and ants, it is impossible for us to provide an allergen free environment. Luckily, Camp Geneva allows us to bring grills and small coolers and cook outside.
Cooking — please do most of your cooking outside using the front porches and grills. No one wants to sleep with the odors of yesterday’s fish fry in their noses. Do not leave any appliances unattended. This includes grills. Do not leave any grills smoldering. All fires must be put out completely.
Campfires/cookfires — this site does allow campfires. Before setting a campfire, make sure the area is clear of all debris, you are using a designated area, and you have the ability to put the campfire out. No campfire is ever to be left unattended. If you have to go to the bathroom, get someone else to watch it. All campfires must be extinguished when/if no one is able to watch it. Your fire is your responsibility. Mythic reserves the right to prohibit campfires/cookfires at any time due to any reason.
Swimming — you swim at your own risk. No lifeguard is on duty and no lifeguard will be on duty. Swim only in designated areas. Mythic reserves the right to prohibit swimming at any time due to any reason.
Ziplines, archery course, ropes course, paint ball course, gun range, climbing wall, weird thing in the lake, and other areas similar to this — at this moment in time, we are not allowing these areas to be used without a safety marshal and a GM present.
Other people — The people who care for the park live on site. Please be respectful as this is their home.
As always, our goal is to leave the camp cleaner and better than when we found it. Let that continue to be our reputation!