Gobstones Club Rules

Hello and welcome to the Gobstones Club! Gobstones is a magical game similar to marbles & petanque played by Muggles, except that the balls spit up (gob) a foul smelling liquid in the face of the opposing player when they loose a point! The version of Gobstones we will be playing this term is a variation of Classic, in which you must knock more gobstones from the circle than your opponent does.

House Teams: Each student will serve as a representative of their House and have the opportunity to participate in the Gobstones Tournament. There will be no set number of members on the team, and thus, NO TRYOUTS. Everyone gets to play if they wish to do so (even Mods and Quidditch team members) by choosing to answer for their House whenever a question is asked! Also, there are no ‘positions,’ so any person can answer any question at any time.

Tournament: The tournament consists of three matches, two preliminary and one final Championship match. The matches will be open in their own threads within Hogsmeade and will last for approximately 2-3 days, a shorter amount of time than last term in order to play them in Hogsmeade. The first two matches will run simultaneously in different threads during this Hogsmeade visit. The third will be played a short time after those matches conclude during another Hogsmeade trip.

Format & Scoring: These matches will be played using a question-answer format, similar to that used for Quidditch matches in the School RPG. 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), Muggle Studies, Potions, and Transfiguration.

Each match is divided into eight rounds. Each round consists of three questions of varying challenge levels – Easy, Moderate, and Difficult, and varying subjects, with some questions combining subjects. Each question will be asked to BOTH Houses simultaneously in a head-to-head situation. Each house gets ONE CHANCE ONLY to answer the question, so only one player (presumably, whoever gets there first and thinks they know the answer) should answer from each House. (Please do not post the same answer multiple times from different players of the same house. Answers from the same house posted 4 or more minutes apart will be penalized so make sure you refresh when necessary.) The first House to answer correctly will get their ball closer to the Jack Stone than their opponent and earn one point for that round.

If a house answers and the opposing house believes the answer to be incorrect, that opposing house has the opportunity to answer the question correctly (provided that they have not already given another answer.) If the first House is incorrect and the second House is correct, the ball belonging to the first house will be "knocked" out of the circle and out of play. The second house's ball will be considered closest to the jack stone, thus earning them one point for that question. If both houses get the question wrong on their first attempt, both stones will roll out of the circle, out of play, and there will be no score for that question.

The House with the most points (best out of three) for each round will win that round. Each subsequent round will be played the same way until 8 rounds have been completed. The house with the most won rounds will have rolled their gobstone closest to the jack stone and won the match. 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.

Example: Here is what a question from a round may look like:


Now say, Slytherin answered first with the following:

Since this answer is correct, my reply (as Club advisor) might look like this:

Responsibilities: All members on each team are expected to act with decorum both in the school RP and on the SS site. 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.

Infractions and Penalties: Editing your post is not allowed. If you are caught editing your answer to a question during a match, the opposing team will automatically be awarded the point for that question, regardless of their answer.

At the end of a narrow and dimly lit alleyway, Professor Shackleton stands looking anxiously for Gryffindors and Slytherins. She whispers to those who pass by, "Secret Gobstones Club match down the alley. If Cooper wants to disband my club and forbid them from the schools, I'll just have to hold them on neutral territory in Hogsmeade! Hurry! We don't want to draw unneccessary attention!"

After collecting a sufficient amount of students, Professor Shackleton explained, "Everyone come near the Gobstones circle. I've constructed us a new court for Gobstones. I apologize that it is in this rather small alley, but we needed a place somewhere off the beaten path. There have been some changes from last year - we're playing a different version of Gobstones this term, a variant of Classical in which the winning house will knock more Gobstones OUT of the circle than their opponent. Also, since there is a bit more risk in this term's matches, I will award 50 points to the House who wins the championship match! So good luck to all of you! Be sure to read the posted rules before playing! Have fun!"

Let's begin!

Gryffindor attempts to bump a Gobstone with one of their own, but misses ever so slightly.

The Heart's Desire/Soul Urge Number

Gryffindor: Heart's Desire/Soul Urge Number

Slytherin aims their Gobstone precisely and knocks one of the stones in the circle closer to the court's edge! Gryffindor tries to knock it back, but misses!

Gryffindor: M

Gryffindor makes contact this time and hits the stone right on the line! Next team to hit that stone will knock it off the court and win the round!

Berkanan

Gryffindor: birch tree

Both teams attempt to knock that stone out of the circle and both teams miss! Another set of tosses for each!

OOC: The correct answer was Lady's Mantle.

Tiwaz

Sowilo

Slythering attempts once more and slides their stone just by their target! What a near miss! Gryffindor's attempt is spot on and they knock the Gobstone out of the circle! The round goes to Gryffindor!

OOC: The correct answer was Lady's Mantle.

North Sea

North Sea.

Gryffindor and Slytherin aim for the same stone within the center of the circle. Slytherin's stone bumps Gryffindor's which bumps the Gobstone in the center closer toward the edge.

Scourgio

Scourgify