Calls

Calls are how we communicate things like starting and stopping the game. The three most important ones are:

• Time In: We are now playing the game. Behave as your character would.
• Time Out: We have stopped playing the game. Behave as you would.
• Man Down: Someone is injured OOC and needs a First Aider. Characters should never say this phrase IC. If you hear a Man Down call and other people haven’t, shout Time Out so you don’t confuse the First Aider.

There are some other calls for temporarily pausing the game to let special effects happen:

• Time Freeze: Something is happening instantaneously. Close your eyes and ignore everything around you until Time In is called.
• Time Stop: Something is happening very fast. You remain aware of your soundings but can’t do more than turn a little or slightly adjust your stance.
• Narrative Time Stop: Something is happening that the GMs need to describe to the group as a whole, such as a landscape feature that cannot be completely phys-repped.

If someone is wearing a high-vis jacket or has a finger in the air, they are not there IC.

The woods are used by members of the public. We always stop and get out of their way. If you hear Time Out Walker/Jogger/Cyclist, then stop playing the game and move completely off the path. For cyclists you will need to do this especially quickly.

If someone calls Time Out Glasses then stop what you are doing, do not move and look very carefully before you put your feet down. Someone’s glasses have fallen off and they need to find them before they get trodden on.

If there’s a call of Time Out Battleboard then find the person looking after your battleboard after marking where you were standing and wait to give an update. Chatting is allowed, but keep it reasonably quiet and pay attention for your turn. Once you’ve given your update, return to where you were standing and wait for Time In to be called again.

There’s also the special call of Time Faff. This means that, for some reason, the next encounter isn’t ready yet and the GM needs more time to set up. You stay Time In but either find excuses for the group to stop moving (healing, passing around information) or simply pretend that you’re continuing to walk while really staying still. If it’s going to be a long Faff the GM may suggest calling a Time Out Battleboard instead, or the players can ask the GM to let them call Time Out Battleboard if it’s useful for them to do so.

While not official, you may also sometimes hear a call of Tick. Sometimes people want to do something that would require multiple Time Freezes or Time Stops. To speed things up, they will call Tick. You can take one step, make one swing, or say two words before you have to freeze again.