Your Players Will be Bitches

No matter how much you explain the "Don't Be a Douchebag" rule to your players, they will still argue all of the time, and you will need to step in to settle their disagreements.

The first draft of the Goucher rules used to have a clause in the "Human Rules" that read:

Crying: You will probably die at some point and become a zombie. Some people look forward to this. Some people don’t. For those that don’t, you’ll probably have to get over it.

It's important that you stay objective, listen to the facts by both sides, and be a fair judge - obviously players will notice favoritism (either taking the side of a particular player or particular team) and then continue to argue your judgment.

Step 10: Moderate Disputes

Unless both sides agree on the facts and there is an obvious course of action, we suggest adopting a standard method of settling arguments such as a best-of-three "rock, paper, scissors," or a coin flip.

One method is to give humans "one chance." This gives the benefit of the doubt to humans (because they can only be tagged once, whereas zombies will have many more chances to tag) only in their FIRST complaint, with the understanding that the next time there is a dispute involving them, they will not argue it.

IMPORTANT: This won't work if you tell humans about it in advance - they will abuse the system. Just pull them aside quietly and offer them the deal - if they continue to be a bitch, use a coin flip.

Banning Players

In extreme cases you will have to ban a player from the game. If they ruin gameplay for everyone else, knowingly break the safety rules, or break school rules or the law, pull them aside and tell them that you are making them "deceased" - out of the game.

If you do this, you should mention it the next time you meet with school administrators - it's an example of how serious you are about protecting the school.

Next: Responding to a Game Ban