I. The Positions

There are no set positions in the Gobstones Club but rather each student can serve as a representative of their house and have the opportunity to participate in one (or any) of their house matches.

Who Can Play

Everyone gets the opportunity to play, if they wish to do so, regardless of age or experience. Moderators and administrators can also participate provided they are a sorted member in the school RPG.

Player Eligibility

All sorted students are eligible to represent their house in the Gobstones Matches. Students are encouraged to be active in the School RP, which includes attending classes and earning points (when possible) but failure to do so will not keep you from playing in the matches. However, a student must be listed in your profile if you plan on taking part in an RPed event like a Gobstones match.

II. The Game

Matches

The Gobstones tournament will consists of four matches, two preliminary, one Consolation and one Championship match. The matches will be open in their own threads and will last for approximately 2 weeks, which is plenty of time to allow for people in different time zones and with differing schedules to be involved. The preliminary matches will run one approximately simultaneously, with the consolation match occurring before the Championship match. All matches will conclude before finals week.

Preliminary Match I – 1st place from previous term VS 2nd place from previous term
Preliminary Match II – 3rd place from previous term VS 4th place from previous term
Consolation Match - the two houses with the least scoring (after match I & II)
Championship Match - the two Houses with the most scoring (after match I & II)

Format

These matches will be played using a question-answer format. Questions will be categorized by academic subjects that include: Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, Current Events (pertains to Hogwarts, A History for the School RPG), Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Divination, Flying and Quidditch, History of Magic (includes Harry's time at Hogwarts and anything prior), Herbology, Muggle Studies, Potions, and Transfiguration. All questions will be made from SS Canon content that was found and picked from the School RPG threads, lessons, and Archives.

Here's a sample question from a Slytherin vs Ravenclaw match:

Quote:

Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw
Subject: CoMC
Question 1
Difficulty: Easy (1 point)

Question: What color is a baby Unicorn?

SS school Wiki pages vs SS Archives:
It is advised that you please use the School RPG's vast archives of lessons and threads to find the answer to the questions in the matches. The Wikipedia pages can be edited by anyone and may give wrong or incomplete material, thus making it an unreliable source of information.

Jack Stone variant of the game::
The object of the match is to get your house stone closest to the Jack Stone in the center of the court to score points.

What makes a correct answer, one might ask? The first house to post the most complete answer wins the point. Be precise with spelling and write full names unless otherwise stated. Both British and American spelling will be counted. An example below:

Quote:

Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff
Subject: Charms
Question 1
Difficulty: Easy (1 point)

Question: Who invented the cheering charm?

Gryffindor's answer: Summerbee
Hufflepuff's answer: Felix Summerbee

Advisor: The point's are awarded to Hufflepuff for the most complete answer.

Scoring & House Points:

Each match is divided into five rounds. Each round consists of three questions of varying challenge levels – Easy (worth 1 point), Moderate (worth 2 points), and Difficult (worth 3 points), and varying subjects, with some questions combining subjects.

Each question will be asked to BOTH Houses simultaneously in a head-to-head situation. Only one student per house is required to answer the question, presumably whoever gets there first and thinks they know the answer. Keep in mind that there is no positions in the Gobstones team, only one person uses the shooter each turn, and so there is no need for more than one student to give an answer. And this helps to strengthen communication among housemates by cooperating and splitting the responsibility to answer in each match between themselves.

The first House to answer correctly will earn the points assigned for that question. If the first House is incorrect and the second House is correct, the second house will earn the point(s) for that question. If both houses get the question wrong on their first attempt, there will be no score for that question.

The House with the most points for each round will win that round. Each subsequent round will be played the same way until 8 rounds have been completed in the match.

In-case of a Tie

In the event of a tie, either within a round or between rounds, there will be a tie-breaker question or round of questions, respectively.

How long we wait for an answer to be posted to a question from both houses:

If a complete, correct answer has been posted, the advisors may post the next question regardless of whether the other house has responded or not. The advisors will wait a minimum of 8 hours before proceeding to post a new question. This is to prevent the matches from dragging on too long.

Gobstones Player of the Match:

After each match is finished the advisors will announce the player of the match and will award them 10 house points for their efforts in the match. A player in the match is the student with the most number of answers in the match. To be eligible all you need to do is answer the questions as they get posted in the matches.

If a tie occurs and there are two players with the same number of answers in the match, the one with more correct answers takes the title. If there is yet another tie, and there are two players with the same number of correct answers in the match, both of them get rewarded 10 house points.

The Viewing Area

This thread is provided as a place to RP your character watching a Gobstones match. You may RP supporting your team or other teams (your house or other three houses) and react to plays accordingly. This is not where Gobstones questions should be answered.

III. Infractions and Penalties

Sportsmanship

All members on each team are expected to act with decorum both on & off SS website. Any abuse or perceived unsportsmanlike conduct behavior by any member of a House (player or not) can result in House Point deduction, detention, banning from the Gobstones club, loss of the match, and/or expulsion from the site. So be nice kiddos, we don't want to do any of that.

Editing and/or Multiple Answers

No player should EVER edit their posts or post their answers more than once. This will automatically result in the opposing house getting the point. Grammar does NOT count overall (within reason), as long as the advisor knows what you meant or it is close. If there is concern or disagreement on an answer or question see the section on how to contest it with the advisors and staff.

If more than one student from the same house answer a question, the points go to the other house regardless of their answer. However, if the time gap between the two (or more) same-house answers is less than 5 minutes, then it won't be a penalty. Just be sure to refresh before you post because repeatedly posting answers together will have consequences.

Illegal Posting in the Match Thread

Five (5) house points will be deducted if someone other than one of the houses playing posts in the match thread. Repeat offenders will be placed in detention and/or banned from the Gobstones Club.

IV. Responsibilities and Question Disputing

As house leaders, Prefects should be promoting the Gobstones Club to their houses and making housemates aware of upcoming matches which includes rps and Common Room notices when possible.

Disputing a Question Process

As a student representing your house in the gobstones matches, it is your responsibility to communicate with the Advisor of that match should a situation arise, which may include, but not limited to, disputing a question. If you have a problem with how a situation was handled or that you believe a question was awarded to the other house wrongly, please follow the steps below:

1. Remain calm. There is no need to start an angry mob--it's not the end of the world.

2. Create a PM where you state clearly and politely what the problem is (include links to post when possible) and how you think this could be righted, (whether it be the correct answer you think or something similar), and send it to BOTH Gobstones advisors AS WELL AS a third member of staff (preferably Jessiqua, Charely Potter, kayquilz, hermionesclone because of their Head of House positions; School Admin Zoe, Cassirin or grangerfan8 will be contacted last if there is a stalemate. Your PM should be sent to all three people at once to ensure that the same thing has been said to everyone.

An announcement will be made letting players know if a question is being contested that way everyone knows why game-play has come to a stop.

If a question is thrown out, a new question of the same point worth and difficulty level will be added to make up for it.