The Harmer Green Site Options

[JulianW]

Just wanted to say a few things about the Harmer Green site.

Whilst the woods around it are still as cool to use as ever, there seem to be a few new problems with the site.

1) The big firepit area seems to have been cleared away

2) The central area is broadly a sea of mud currently (although this may improve with warmer weather later in the year.) - seems like there are less trees within the compound too.

3) The normal monster hut seemed to inaccessible / unusable - the poor monsters had to use one of the toilet blocks as their setting room / kit store / place to chill out (lovely)

I don't know if the second hut is unusable because it is storing building materials & will eventually be available again but not having it is a big pain for the ref & monsters.

4) There is a bloody caravan parked in the central area (yes inside the fort) - really spoils the IC atmosphere.

On the up side
a) they have replaced the rubbish old cooker with a shiny new one and cleaned up the kitchen a bit

b) put a cover over the seating section just outside the hut - this does double the size of the area you have to socialise whilst keeping out of the rain. (lets the party shelter a bit

c) seem to have improved the furniture inside a bit.

It may be that the caravan being there & the hut unavailable is only whilst the building work is going on, but right now the net effect of their 'improvements' is to make the site worse value for money for our purposes. I certainly wouldn't recommend booking any more adventures there than are already planned until they confirm the building work is finished.

Julian

2) The central area is broadly a sea of mud currently (although this may improve with warmer weather later in the year.)

Julian

Have a look at the first 2 or 3 pictures that Webdale has added to the gallery for evidence - the gate to the compound is currently a huge puddle, and given that there are a few concrete paving stones there to use as stepping stones I suspect this is not a one-off caused by the bad weather this weekend.

Anyone playing the Order of Stars dungeon is well advised to invest in a pair of hiking boots, biker boots or similar because ordinary boots are not going to be destroyed.


Lucy

[Webof]

I have to agree, currently this site is a mess, its not pleasant to play there as a monster or a player i would guess.

They really need to free up that second building so that the crew do not have to sit on toilets if they want to sit down and chill out.

Also the caravan just ruins any form of IC façade that can be put over the collection of buildings and courtyard. They could do with putting some gravel or something down in the entrance area or some of the more used parts of the courtyard as at the moment it is a sea with 3 paths that make fighting almost impossible and seeing as fighting in the house is a bit of a no-go then all in all nights and defenders will be a bit lame.

Kudos to Paul for making the most of a bad situation i know a lot of people were looking at the mess when we got there saying we should cancel and we didnt and it seems everyone had a good time, even the toilet monster crew.

Dave

[OxMatt]

For me as a player, the two main problems were the caravan and the mud (which could actually have been pretty dangerous in the night). I don't have enough experience of the site to know if the former problem will improve during the summer.

However, with a 'non player' hat on, I really don't think we should be asking monsters to endure some of the conditions that they did this weekend. I would certainly have been unhappy, and I'm not too much of a whinger normally! So unless there is a change in the monster accomodation (or it is possible to provide big tents and heaters or something outside the fort) it would be unwise to continue to use the site in its current state.

Cheers,

Matt

Just been through the photo's and OH MY GOD YOU PPL LOOKED COLD!!!!

Glad you had a good time despite the probs - many thanks for the heads up on the conditions though.

Aside from the caravan, and bearing in mind that we'll have some tents for the monsters, how much of the site's conditions do you think are down to the weather? I only say this coz ...well...it was snowing...

Clearly, my cat will have to be sacrificed to the gods before the OoS event though...just in case...

B

[Christine]

Actually the snow made things better, because it covered up some of the mud. If there is any rain at all it is going to be hideously muddy and somewhat dangerous (as well as making the lives of anyone who falls over in it unhappy). In decent weather this might not be a problem.

The caravan is just rubbish, as is the absence of any decent monster accomodation, it really is too much to ask of the monsters / ref that they have to hang out in the toilets!

I don't know when the work is expected to be finished and it would be useful to know this, as I wouldn't want to do another long event there if the site stays in its current state.

With that said, I hope you have better weather than we did (not hard ) and that it all goes well next week!

Christine

[Bruno]

Being warmer will help Bruce, but the mud isn't going to go away barring a month long heatwave or a lot of construction type work to fill holes, scatter gravel, etc. And I expect the caravan will be there. Less cold is good though, and tents will be more bearable. Good luck

[sonof]

Aside from it being a toilet using the gents as a briefly area isn't so bad. It wasn't freezing cold if people remembered to close the door, and had space to hang stuff and keep kit.
It does mean all the players have to use the ladies but that isn't a problem really.

The problem is the mud. I would definately suggest having a spare pair of boots in case they don't dry over night.

Son of

Just been through the photo's and OH MY GOD YOU PPL LOOKED COLD!!!!

Glad you had a good time despite the probs - many thanks for the heads up on the conditions though.

Aside from the caravan, and bearing in mind that we'll have some tents for the monsters, how much of the site's conditions do you think are down to the weather? I only say this coz ...well...it was snowing...

Clearly, my cat will have to be sacrificed to the gods before the OoS event though...just in case...

B

The cold was not too bad if you wrapped up warm - hats & gloves are a big help. Spending points on enough DAC to not need metal armour paid off pretty well too. It is important to bring plenty of extra costume for extra layers and to have dry stuff to change into. Several pairs of extra socks are a good investment too.

Which reminds me - realised when packing the car that with all the extra costume, the need to bring own bedding and kitchen stuff*, spare boots, plus the usual clobber, you end up trying to cram in vast amounts of kit - just squeezed three people plus kit into my car & it's pretty large.

Tolerance of monsters slumping then putting their hand in the air when dead is a good thing, as is players being given an ok to stagger a bit to fall a tree / drier spot / other PC to collapse on when they are knocked out somehow.

Fighting in the snow was actually great fun. Especially as the opposition included frost elves and bugbears.

Julian

* NB - whilst there's a nice stove now, there are no pots & pans provided.*

[Jasper]

Just been through the photo's and OH MY GOD YOU PPL LOOKED COLD!!!!

Glad you had a good time despite the probs - many thanks for the heads up on the conditions though.

Aside from the caravan, and bearing in mind that we'll have some tents for the monsters, how much of the site's conditions do you think are down to the weather? I only say this coz ...well...it was snowing...

Clearly, my cat will have to be sacrificed to the gods before the OoS event though...just in case...

B

The inside of the compoound has always, always turned to a sea of mud at the first sign of trouble. I fully expect it to be like that in april (we might get lucky if it doesn't rain that week).

As long as it isn't unseasonably cold, like this weekend, the tent plan should be fine (as long as we have a big one for briefing/sitting around in).

The loss of the campfire area inside the compound is a blow as when it's dry it a really cool place for non-combat related section. I think that disappeared a while ago though - I think the logs had just rotted through.

The paving stones have actually improved but the gate area is basically a massive puddle.

You could maybe disguise the caravan with a tarp or two. But it is rubbish.

The smaller hut that we used to have access to and people have refered to as the monster hut is full of what appears to be the former warden's office, presumably being stored there as it used to be in her house. This is a pain in the arse.

The woodlands is massive and untouched and if it's not siberian weather it's always a good idea to get all the use you can out of it.

All in all it's a pretty good summer site.


J