Difference between revisions of "Tickets"

Revision as of 15:23, 17 March 2014

Grand Tribunal Cheltenham prides itself in providing value-for-money; a great weekend of gaming for a very low price. We don't make a profit.

Buy now

Your PayPal receipt is your ticket - you will receive nothing further. If you fail to receive your PayPal receipt by email within 12 hours, check your spam folder then please contact CJ.

Buy 3 get 4 Troupe Deal

We want you to bring your whole gang - everyone you regularly game with. Plus, save some petrol money and pollution by bringing a full car. So, if you buy 3 tickets, you will get the 4th free.

Local grog deal and Unwaged

If you're local - if you live in Gloucestershire - then you will be able to buy a ticket for a heavily discounted price. This is because we get a discount on the venue hire if we can justify the event as serving the local community, and because we expect you to muck in and help out for at least half an hour before and after the Saturday and Sunday sessions. Traditionally locals are classified as "Grogs" on this site, and during the event are happy to provide local expertise and help visitors in any way they can.

Unwaged players also get a heavy discount. We're not going to be specific about exactly what unwaged means. It generally means you don't have a lot of money. You might be unemployed, or on maternity leave, or just generally going through a tough patch financially. See our Ethos page for more information.

Carers, age limit, children

If you have a carer or other personal assistant to help with disability issues, then that assistant does not need a ticket unless they want to reserve their own place to play in a game.

Carers are welcome to play in games which have spare places unoccupied by ticket-holders, but you'll need to wait until just before the game starts to be sure. If you want to be sure of reserving a place in a game, the carer will need a ticket - we suggest a discounted Local Grog ticket, since a carer will be doing a lot of helping out, even if they're not local.

We think the lower age limit is 16 to play. If you're still in full-time education, training or apprenticeship, please buy an Unwaged ticket.

We have no specific facilities or arrangements for children. There is rarely any adult-specific content to any of the games, but you should not be offended by the occasional bawdy side plot or mild swearing of the kind you might expect from a medieval tavern ballad, or gore of the type common in medieval history or folklore. Most games would rate no more than PG if they were movies, occasionally rising to 15.

If you want to bring your own children who are too young to play... it's not recommended. They'll be bored and/or need your attention during games. The venue is not designed to be child-proof, there will be hot drinks, kettles, heavy sports equipment, open doors to the street and other child safety issues. There are plenty of registered childminders and creches in town. Organiser Andrew Oakley is a local father of three and may be able to make suggestions.

Babies are welcome, and by "baby" we mean an infant who is too young to walk. Breastfeeding is acceptable anywhere at any time, but if you want privacy we can arrange that pretty much immediately - there are several spare rooms we can close off access to at short notice. There aren't any comfy armchairs though. There isn't a bottle/babyfood warmer in the kitchen but there are several kettles and possibly a microwave. Talk to Andrew Oakley who is grand magus of all things parental. He has twins. And another one. God help him.

What's officially included

Your ticket includes:

• Access to the venue on Saturday and Sunday, including 2 large gaming halls, 1 comfy gaming lounge, kitchen and loos
• The ability to reserve your place on games; sign up using the mailing list or sign up here on the wiki
• No additional cost for any games

Unofficial extras

Our ticket prices are deliberately low so everyone can participate regardless of income. The following extras will probably be available for no additional cost. Donations towards these little niceties are optional; nobody will be shaking a tin or pressuring you into donating (see Ethos), so please give your donation directly to AndrewO at the venue. If ticket sales are particularly high, then donations will be refused.

• Tea, coffee and squash at the venue

There will be tea and coffee making facilities at the venue. There will be some cups, tea bags, instant coffee, milk, sugar and squash concentrate. There will also be some washing up liquid and some tea-towels.

• Doughnuts

There will be doughnuts. It will be Saturday morning. Some people may call this "breakfast".

• Stationery

ArM5 character sheets, lined paper, pencils, erasers, stapler, name badges, paperclips, scissors, sticky-back-plastic, here's some I made earlier. But not dice, although you will probably be able to borrow dice from your Story Guide.

• Limited internet access and printing at the venue

Most likely this will be limited to a netbook with a 3G dongle and a basic black-and-white A4 inkjet printer.

• Bulk printing in advance

Story Guides may order bulk printing in advance, double-sided A4 colour laser.

• Lifts for those with limited mobility

If you have limited mobility (e.g. you're pregnant or use a walking stick or wheelchair) then we will arrange a car to take you to/from Cheltenham's main public transport hubs. Contact Andrew Oakley or discuss this on the mailing list. You might also like to see our disability policy.

What's not included at all

Well, anything not listed above, really. For example:

• Restaurant food, pub drinks, take-away food

We usually go to a restaurant on the Friday evening (typically a Chinese, cost around £10-£20 per head inc. drinks), followed by a pub function room. You'll need to pay for your own food and drinks there. Both the restaurant and the pub are optional; you can do both, just one, or neither.

You can bring your own food and drink to the venue on Saturday and Sunday (no alcohol). See the Venue page for details of nearby supermarkets, take-aways and convenience stores. There will be an opportunity to order a take-away and have it delivered to the venue on Saturday evening. In 2012 it was £4 for small fish & chips.

On Sunday morning, a few of us might meet up for breakfast at a cheap café. Optional, budget yourself £3-£5 if you want to come along.

• Raffle

We usually have a charity raffle on Saturday evening. It's entirely optional. In 2012 it was £1 per ticket.

• Accommodation

You're responsible for arranging your own accommodation. See the Venue section for some hotel suggestions. Cheltenham has everything from cheap motels with special offers, to five star hotels. Book early enough and you might get a twin room for £40 at a chain motel or B&B. If you are absolutely, totally skint then you can always ask nicely on the mailing list if you can sleep on a local attendee's sofa.

• Dice, costumes and props

Story Guides might lend you some dice for their games only. There's also usually a live-action roleplay to break the ice on Saturday morning; costumes and props are optional. If you ask nicely on the mailing list and you'll almost certainly be able to borrow a cloak from someone, which is all a magus needs, right? Some folk do make quite an effort with their costume, others refuse to wear one at all.

• Transport and parking

You're responsible for getting yourself to and from the venue. Have a look at transport options. National Express coaches and Megabus can be very cheap. There are several local buses serving the venue, again see the transport page. If you're skint consider asking for a lift from other major towns using the mailing list. Also see "Lifts for those with limited mobility" in the section above.

There is free on-street parking around the venue but we have no control over availability. It's never been a big problem. We also have a list of car parks rated by convenience and security if you want to just dump your car somewhere safe all weekend.