Category:LARP Gameplay



Simple and Effective SCARS/ORDER LARP Administration for Your Next Convention

The Live Action Role Playing Hobby has seen many incarnations over the years and now includes a myriad of varied activities involving all manner of mechanics or lack there of. Hand signals, dice, cards, foam swords, or simply cos-playing script less with no system at all have been used to little or great success depending on the people involved and the quality of the people administrating the environment that the LARP took place in. Great scenes of role-play between the great characters found at Conventions need some set up, some space to be experienced, and some boundaries to insure everyone’s safety. Rather than go through a long essay on the various systems and the history of the hobby I’m just going to say the following WILL work for any large LARP project of 50-500 people with varying levels of participation and general convention attendee enjoyment included in the plan. PLEASE STEAL THIS AND USE IT.

Step One
HAVE A PLAN, HAVE A TEAM

A preselected team of LARP Game Masters will need to be designated and tasked with the physical elements of the game and will essentially not participate as players but may still perform Non Player Character roles to help with storyline and help move things along while solving problems and making sure rules of safe conduct are followed. These people need to have at least 2 months of development time to give you a fun generalized plot for the weekend maybe more if wish to have something specific like a murder mystery.The team should be relative in size to the size of the event and projected participation. At least 1 Game Master for every 10 Storyline Interactive characters on the con floor in character at any time is recommended. Game Masters at Steampunk events are usually in costume like everyone else so they need to have a “Game Master” type character for their persona during their duties that will allow them to still be able to resolve disputes and move storyline along when role-play stalls. Most importantly if gone their personas will not be terribly missed and are not necessary for things to move along as they aren’t plot central characters. Whenever possible the ability to field GMs in T-shirts or other form of marker which clearly identify them to the playing staff for their questions and assistance is a bonus.

''EXAMPLE: The Steampunk Europa game crew travels in persona as the ENIGMA Men, Trans-dimensional legal enforcement agents who maintain law and order at mixed Reality events. In this capacity Game Master characters asking to see character sheets and resolving LARP issues appear to be enforcement Agents performing their duties and verifying permits. ''

Step Two
HAVE VARIBLE LEVELS OF INVOLVEMENT.

Everyone has different comfort zones and different levels of role-playing experience, including none. To better serve the fun of everyone and to make things move along more smoothly it’s best to run a big Convention LARP with a varying degree of participation to best accommodate the whole event and not create a bad experience for anyone. Each of these should have a colored badge, tag, or ribbon (I like the arm ribbon idea with Steampunk costuming) these levels of mass convention LARP game participation seem to work best:

Non player. Commonly known as “the norms” these are usually people not even in costume and just attending the event. DO NOT FREAK THESE PEOPLE OUT. The event will let the attendees know that there is cosplay/rolepay going on in certain areas. Respect those areas and don’t “scare the norms” as we used to say in my Vampire days by LARPing in public areas like the bathrooms or the check in desk of the hotel. These folks are identified by the fact that what ever the identifier is for participating in the LARP they don’t have one.

Speaking NPC. “Hey I have a cool persona and a neat costume but game mechanics and gaming kind of is beyond me I just want to talk to folks in character and be sorta in on the storyline.” These folks were a struggle for me as a Game Master at conventions early on but what they have to offer the LARP experience is a great resource. In any RPG video game you play there are shopkeepers and gate guards and alchemist and basically characters you must interact with to help you play the game by solving quests or buying items. These are Non- Player Characters and traditionally they cannot be killed or drug into your complex plots as they must be doing whatever it is they do. So our well costumed brethren Steampunks that are not to savvy or comfortable in game mechanics but still want to play may do so as this type of character. This is a great status for big story characters like Capt. Whitaker who are really busy at cons anyway with panels and such or for vendors that would love to do some role playing but are stuck in the vendors room. Plus folks that want to socialize and pal around in character but don’t have the time to learn the game system for playing can fill this role as just an “extra or a “cameo appearance”. These folks should have a ribbon too, make this one white.

Storyline Interactive Characters. These are the hard core role-players that want stats and a system and they want to roll dice, draw cards, or make funny hand signals at each other to decide the outcome of their daring adventures as they actively try to interact with the storyline and make things happen. For these folks a gaming system needs to be chosen for your event and a set of parameters set out to generate folks’ personas into characters under that system quickly at the event Friday night and in advance if possible. These folks get the red ribbons.

Step Three
HAVE YOUR AREA WORKED OUT, DIVIDE ACCORDINGLY.

With the full cooperation of the Convention planners designated LARP areas need to be selected during planning and designated as such in convention materials and websites. These areas are recommended:

Game Master Table area. Situated as either a hallway check in type space or simply set up in a conference room, large LARP coordination needs at least two six foot tables of admin space to run for large numbers. This area will receive a lot of traffic and attention if all goes right so you may need to set it up in a smaller conference room.

Large Scene Area. This should be a ballroom or large lobby space. Over sized hallways can work if convention crowds are not too thick. These areas usually good for large scenes involving cool big name NPCs or just neat action scenes.

Small Scene areas. Small sitting areas, out of the way lobbies or even designated suites and hotel rooms can serve this purpose. Generally these will be for characters needing to have “insidious meetings” that other players could still “stumble upon” (GASP! INTRIGUE!)

OOC lounge/Area. Even if in character LARPing isn’t allowed throughout the entire convention there should still be clearly defined “out of character” areas where participants can drop their mask for a moment and relax or get in a quick “Hey I wanted to tell you something” real world conversation real quick. Players should make in character excuse for withdrawing for periods of time. It is often recommended that the OOC area be smoker friendly.

Step Four
WORK THE GM STATION, WORK THE FLOOR.

The deployment of your Game Master Personnel will be critical for your LARP success so make sure that you put due consideration into where and when you place these folks. The amount of Game Masters you have and their level of experience will also factor in to your deployment decisions. Here are the two options under this plan:

A. Game Master Table. This area and game master personnel make the mass LARP at convention possible because it allows the players and the event to both get what they want; a safe and exciting in character role-play without risk of safety. The best system for handling player actions with a game this large is to have “Scene Development” with the GM staff at the GM table or in private consultation. First the Game Master staff will already plan and hopefully rehearse the “Big Plot point scenes” to be role-played out at strategic point and places throughout the con weekend to move story along. As for players that arrive at the con and find that old frienemies are attending as well and want to have a scene then simply report to the GM table and work out your scene with the GM along with a good time and space to not freak the norms or piss off con security and set up the scene. If Storyline Interactive Players are involved in the scene then all of the dice rolls, card draws, hand signals, etc. can be worked out there, resolved, and the scene planned accordingly. In this manner you can also get your scene on the schedule and work it into your convention weekend when it’s convenient for you to role-play.

''Example: Bob wants to have some cool role-play go down with his buddy Ted who has a Order character who opposes Bob in the storyline. They didn’t have anything planned out ahead so they go see Jim at the GM table and ask for a small scene with their characters during the weekend that is in plot line. Jim gives them some story options, some times and some places where LARP is suppose to happen and if the sene they plan is a little sticky or could need assistance he dispatches a GM (an ENIGMA Man) to over see the scene. Bob is in panels until 3pm so Ted suggests they do it in the approved lobby area during dinner break at 5pm. At 5pm they are both in position, in costume, and ready to go into character and do their scene as discussed with the GMs, it’s cool and dramatic and everyone loves it. Once its over they move to the OOC lounge and give each other a hard time about their role play and crappy acting skills. ''

In addition this space is where Character Handout and development can be done as GMs work with con attendees to put their characters into the game system or receive a pre-made character from a selection.

B. Floor GMs. Another option if you have the staff to do it is to place Game Masters in the designated areas to adjudicate the scenes on the fly as they develop using the system and their judgment. This requires a more dedicated staff and the Game Master Table should still be deployed to ensure game quality and safe administration. If you put GMs roaming the floor they definitely need to be marked so players can spot them or stay in designated areas and patrol them like zones. In addition this requires more game mechanics and GMs to have knowledge of those mechanics while on foot and the ability to make game calls quickly and keep the role play going.

Step Five
ADAPT AND OVERCOME

Be willing to slow down or speed things up in the event storyline to accommodate the players and their style. Use the time over the weekend and just like you have places where LARP doesn’t happen you should have LARP free time zones like 3am – 1pm to allow folks to sleep and eat their breakfast and during the cool concerts. Plus there should be LARP free times and places for old friends just to hug, laugh, and talk. Crank up the RP when folks are bored and back off if they’re doing something else equally fun.

There will be problems; the players will find the loophole in the story line you planned. You will have someone do something very cool and unexpected. One of your NPC players will drop their secret clue in the bathroom. It happens, roll with it. LARP is trying to harness the imagination of multiple people simultaneously over a period of time. It’s a give and take activity.

Step Six
LISTEN AND LEARN, THEN GROW.

Either have a wrap up panel or just hand out a paper comment forms and get feedback from the players on what worked and what didn’t. Fix problems and develop an improved plan for the next LARP event. Make sure to work with the story points people enjoyed this time around and look at the ones that were missed and why. Make note of problems and successes made in execution and what could be done planning or personnel wise to fix the issue for next time. Even if the next LARP is happening at another con pass the information along so they have something to work from.

Conclusion
The current SCARS/ORDER storyline is a LARP and cos-play dream come true for Steampunks and the chance to connect multiple events with a joined storyline is unique in convention activities. This could only be a boon to our growing community of Steampunk hobbyist but in order to ensure that we have a shared joy and not a shared misery is to make sure proper planning provides the foundation for our mutual enjoyment.

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© Airship Isabella 2012