HELARP

M

Mircadilly

Novice
Hello, hail, how-do?

I'm hoping that you might be able to helarp me. Sorry.

I have unfortunately never gotten - yet - to go to a Larp, and I adore the idea and the community and the creative love-fest that the whole thing is. I'm in Dublin, Ireland, and I will try to figure out somewhere and somewhen to go.

However, I'm actually more interested right now in finding out some basic concepts, because I'm always interested in trying to improve things and I already thought of introducing a larp-type game over here using role play and near-field-location technology (so think, if I hit you on your zombie head with my whack-a-zom-stick, a sensor in the weapon tip says 'hit', a sensor in the zombie's head gear says ' headshot' and said info is recorded and processed, without any human having to worry about whether they were right and remembering the info). Simple idea with lots of obstacles but that's always the case so I'm really interested in looking into it. Basically I love the idea of LARP, I really need to try it out, but I'm also excited by the idea of making the experience as real, as believable and fun, as possible. SO, on that note...

1. Do people always have to shout how many HP they take off a victim with each swing and remember it themselves, while also having to rely on the victim recording the same info, or a referee doing the same? Because this leaves a lot of room for human error and argument I would assume. Would anyone be interested in explaining the process or processes to me, as well as flaws you have identified and if there is anything being done to redress those flaws?

2. Has technology been embraced yet in any game features, that you know of? I saw that someone invented sensor-based lightsabers last year, but I don't see any results, and I can't imagine the community would be jumping to get the technology if it is limited in usage to a predetermined setup - so having 3 HP per person with 1 HP per strike for example, as it appeared to be on the Kickstarter video. Obviously any technology would have to be adaptable to each game, cheap and easy to hide.

Thank you very, very much.

I await your silence with wide eyed hope,

Nik
 
There are a LOT of different styles of LARP. Much of American boffer is often pretty loud- weapon calls ("2 normal! 2 normal!") with each swing, spell incants, etc. But there are systems like Dagohir which is on a limb system - get hit on the arm and lose your arm, etc (this is obviously more deadly, but it's more of a PvP/war game/sport than a LARP), so no one calls damage or effects. Then there are some of the European systems which I think are pretty silent too, but you'd have to look into those for more details.

In Alliance and related systems, you call the damage that your weapon does (eg "2 normal!") with each swing. You keep track of your hit points ("body") and armor points, subtracting each time you're hit. You do NOT keep track of how much you've hit your opponent for; you just keep track of your own body points. It's on the honor system. There's a lot of room for error and sometimes you have to just ballpark estimate where your body points are at (esp when playing an NPC and getting hit by 5 people at once).

Technology gets incorporated to greater or lesser extent for immersion and special effects but to my knowledge not for "touches" like in competition fencing or anything.

I am wondering what kind of game experience you're looking for or expecting? I know the trend in a lot of the European systems is much more "rules light" and free form, incorporating "yes and" a lot more to focus on the experience, story, roleplay, and characters. On the opposite end of the spectrum are the boffer sports like Amtgard and Dagohir, which are much more technique focused, combat oriented, and competitive - those would probably be the most interested in a points tracking technology if I had to guess, as accuracy matters most in a competition sport. Alliance and the other U.S. fantasy boffer LARPs fall somewhere in between.
 
Thank you so much Meirya for your thoughtful and swift reply, much obliged.

Personally I'll try anything and I try not to have expectations as much as possible, so I simply don't know what I'm looking for, just a fun experience with good people and creative imagination. That said, I can imagine that I'd get the most kick out of a good balance between free, story-led narrative and lots of pvp bashing, with as much 'suspended disbelief' as possible in the fighting (meaning as little shouting hp as possible and as much 'naturalism' as possible) ; I'd take what I could get though, and happily wonder if I could improve on it at some point, to myself. I love making games (I made an LOTR board game, which was funny, to me and my friends anyway!, and am trying to tie up a zombie board game, and have ideas for two larpy games and another idea for an electronic based board game, so sooner or later I simply want to try turning at least one of the ideas into a reality, so for me Larping is as much about research at it is an experience.)

I really appreciate the feedback. So what are your favourite elements of your type of LARP?
 
Honestly, I would be happiest in the Nordic free form style. I dislike combat PvP (stresses me out, high potential for drama/arguments/griefing among players, give me social PvP any day). I like character development, deep roleplay, and story. I like exploring a character's growth on a long term basis. I like heavy immersion.

Basically: I'm not the best person to ask. ;) Maybe one of the combat junkies or people who enjoy combat PvP will show up and share their thoughts and experiences.
 
Ah you say that (that you're not the person to ask) but actually you've been wonderfully helpful and just the person to ask... I am just like you, I love deep story and emotional investment, and can easily envisage issues with drama, arguments and the outcomes of ambiguous honour systems and chaotic fight systems. That's kind of why I'm already thinking about this potential for improvement of experience without even having gone to a LARP yet, coz I'd love a seamless experience where the fighting is part of it and you don't have to think about things like whether you can believe someone, whether you think you were mistreated, how many hp you have, and so on - I'd prefer a peaceful approach, great story, and if in need jam out an auld sword and smash the aggressor round the head, and move on with the mish. Wouldn't it be great to be able to focus entirely on plot and narrative and not have to worry about any of the junk that comes with current pvp?

If anybody else ends up reading this and feels they might not have anything to add, do please weigh in, as it all helps and I am very grateful.

Cheers Meirya
 
Howdy, Meirya.

I know very little about the specifics involved in their mechanics, but I do know that Arcane LARP is trying to incorporate technological elements into their magic system. Arcane LARP is (/was?) a high end, ultra detailed LARP that included real OOG and IG goods (out of game and in game), crazy high costuming standards, and about a $100 monthly cost to play. I saw this very cool video where some lights on a gauntlet would change with the flick of a wrist and these colors would correspond to IG effects and would discharge on impact. It was all very, very cool.

Here is a link to their website, but I couldn't find that video again.
http://www.arcaneportal.com/#!medira/c1tl2
 
Wow! Thanks Laff - and I'm Nik or Mirc or whatever ya like, except Meirya, coz that's this very helpful member's name, not mine (also Meirya you too have a gender-ambiguous name, like myself, and character avatars there! Good stuff).

Arcane looks extremely high spec doesn't it! Their inhouse sculptor is apparently the source for the amazing artfulness to the costuming. The NPC costumes look incredible, or perversely, well, credible.

Thanks very much for putting me on to them.
 
You tend more towards character arcs and story-driven rp do you Mike? Do you chop and change themes and genres or stick to a particular type of fantasy? Just wondering now. I'm enjoying the opportunity to talk to good folk from the Larpwelt
 
Oh and how many people do there tend to be at events you guys go to? Do you love it? Have you one character or a few? I ask a lot of questions! If you don't want to answer, don't mind me.
 
Mircadilly, the 'shouting numbers' bit of the Alliance LARP is a direct artifact of the style of game we are. At the heart of the Alliance system, we're working on the basic mechanics of any tabletop RPG. It's a game of character progression. Therefore the shouting, because character progression requires characters to become able to both do more damage and have more ability to take damage over time. It also serves as a control on attack speeds, as the requirement for a clear and complete statement of damage before striking means that one can only strike blows so quickly.

It's far from perfect (and I agree it looks a bit silly from a spectator's view) but it works, and it would require extensive reworking of our system to change as pretty much everything else is mechanically based around the combat system.

As far as settings and themes go, we have an interesting situation with the Alliance. Genre wise we're solidly high fantasy. The basics of the setting as far as the available player races and what abilities are in the rules are set across the game by the rulebook. However, we have 17 individual chapters scattered across the entire US, each with its own plot team running a setting within the greater world of Fortannis, separated by mists that prevent armies and the like from invading other realms. Hence each chapter tends to have its own flavor so far as what themes are used depending on what the local players and plot team enjoy most.
 
Cool that sounds awesome, thanks very much for the feedback Muir. Yeah I wouldn't go expecting to urge changes in incumbent systems, but I do love the idea of 'extensive reworking' and starting from scratch with a focus on tech-supported verisimilitude (appearing true), myself! Watched tons of larp vids yesterday, Conquest looks amazing, if difficult with the language barrier, and nordic larp is going to some inspiring lengths. I love the diversity of style and form across the larpscape
 
Be sure to watch the Discovery documentary on us. There's a link on the HQ page: http://alliancehq.com/

And then be sure to download the Rule Book for free as well (in case you haven't already) because that should give you a better idea of what the game is like; the book is not just the rules -- there are huge advice sections: http://alliancehq.com/rule-book/
 
That was brilliant thanks Mike. Lovely, lovely people and great craic, it seems. I love it. Have yet to see a documentary about larping that isn't from the perspective of 'us normals and them larpers' though. Maybe I should do one e_e
 
I was just about four pages into the rule book and caught myself in the middle of a longwinded daydream there about a big auld larping adventure. I think I'm hooked and I haven't even been. Class.


Also, sorry for taking up message board space talking to myself!



And I'm very sorry to read about John Finnegan, he sounds inspirational and I am grateful to hear of him, thank you.
 
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Mircadilly said:
"So you're not dead... that's cool" hahahaha


... ah boo the booze is fake :(
Click to expand...

One of the positive aspects about Alliance is the broad range of ages that can play it, even if that results in family-friendly requirements. You'd be surprised at how many of our current players started when they were kids.

It's pretty amazing. :)
 
Mircadilly said:
"So you're not dead... that's cool" hahahaha


... ah boo the booze is fake :(
Click to expand...

Yeah, we tend to have a lot of underage players, not to mention that we're a 24/7 game so there's really no good time to have someone at less than their best since a fight can break out whenever. :)
 
I'm Irish, I need a constant infusion of beer to be at my best :D

That's fantastic though, I could see from the doc, I was thinking to myself how amazing it would have been to go to something like that when I was seven, say, or even 14 when I read LOTR for the first time. It'll be a huge part of someone's life if they started it early I'm sure.
 
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