July favorite moments and important things!

HalveElven

Newbie
thats another event and it was quite a fun one!
For those that want to do an IBGA here is the link! http://goo.gl/forms/jFXuflRnmb5bD14S2
Special notes on these, if you are doing one for your Lost March character then you submit one IBGA for that character to attention to the Lost Marches Plot team. if you want to do one for your Acarthian character then you can send in one for that character.

Here is the generic feedback for this month. http://goo.gl/forms/GtlxDY2PywpauzMt2
There will be a specific one out later for the Lost Marches Plot team.

All responses are due in by 2 weeks prior to the next event.

And dont forget to leave your favorite moments below!
 
oh man, SOOOO many awesome things, I'll edit this later, but for right now I want to say:

The dreaming hours, with the swarm and the stalker were AMAZING, the speaker announcing the Stalker was amazing and we found ourselves being quiet to try to hear where the growling of it had gone. And whenever we'd hear the swarm or stalker approach we'd start yelling to run to the earth circle. It was AMAZING! <3

Where to start... I suppose from the beginning,

The Zesh numbers were a bit smaller than we'd planned on them being for this game, but instead of being down at all about it we just looked at each other at lay on and said "We simply must get out there and work even harder to kick *** and look fabulous."

Nathanial: You sir, hats off to you, even when you had no earthly idea what I was trying to say to you, you still roleplayed it like a boss agreeing and holding on conversations with yourself at some points.

The Juren, where do I even begin here. There was an amazing level of dedication to roleplay at all points this weekend from all of you, I got to have motes extracted quite a few times, and seeing the expressions on faces when I told them I was not scared, then them trying to coach through further denial was funny, and very in character of them.

Whispurr: Thank you so much for the fun roleplay throughout the game and enjoying the catnip tea with me, as well as the wrestling for altoids in the tavern. I cannot wait to see what trouble we get into in the future <3

Feha: Oh man, Feha, you dealt with so much, and you were a champion of our roleplay constantly. From when Grunt told you that he may know where his tongue was, to our resurrection, to what happened toward the end of the game. You stayed in character more than anyone else I know. There will be more story with us, and I cannot wait to experience how our tale unfolds.

Vel: I didn't get to spend much time with you, though the time I did spend was the last fight, and a rite of unity. The rite was preformed spectacularly by Chris (I want to say that's your OOG name, I didn't know it IG and I'm bad with names) was astounding! Taking the time to explain through IN CHARACTER terms how the mechanics worked was wonderful and I hope it is a trend that catches on more.

Eld: Whoah, we did SO much together this weekend. Starting with Friday evening, Hillaria staying up late enough to "speak" with mysterious horned creatures in the woods (3am, you crazies!). Grabbing me the following morning for all kinds of things, digging up tongues, uncovering ancient secrets, going a bit crazy, paranoia room with all of us pointing weapons at each other. It was SOOOOO much fun(plus some other less savory stuff). Then breaking through someone's mind and rescuing them from a coma. Also, the dreaming hour, nuf said.

Watcher: It was so refreshing to get a chance to roleplay with you and wander around. Such a change from how we are with Puck and Anders, we actually tog to get into combat and kick some ***. I very much hope we get to play these characters together again someday.

Oneiromancer: When we were in the cave, and concluded the memory plot and were walking out, I have never been so scared and excited to roleplay something for fear of the Eld taking away my memories as well as the new secrets we shared. All of the various invites and talking to things made me feel a part of the family.

Carcosa: You were so stellar with the roleplay, your ability to stick to your accent was incredible to me. Our fighting together felt wonderful like we were an actual team who had been fighting side by side for ages.

Also I'd never forgive myself if I didn't thank the Plot team, seriously, I cannot point to a single example that stuck out to me because ALL of encounters I had. My back story was masterfully handled going deeper than I could digest within 2 games!!! The dreaming hours were a wonderful combination of challenge and combat (seriously, I want combat like this in New Acarthia all the time). Having Faction specific plot, with amazing rewards and rites to benefit everyone!?!? My mind was blown when I learned that there was this much going into it. I cannot even fathom how many sleepless nights there must have been. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU <3 <3
 
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What a great event! I feel so creatively energized and inspired by this. Surely this is among my favorite Alliance events so far, and just totally solid on many fronts!

Please please please please please please run the Lost March as a second campaign of four weekend events a year!!!!

  • BGA: Got lots of cool info in my BGA which turned out to be not merely good conversation starters, but actually of practical application IG. Helped tie together a lot of disparate plot points for me.
  • Opening Ceremonies: It turns out that I really enjoy a crisp lay-on for game start after Opening that does not exceed 15 minutes. Just tell me the truly important stuff, and let's get started!
  • NPCs at Opening Ceremonies: I recognize that it's a small thing, but I felt heartened seeing all the NPCs there in their basic blacks, ready for rock 'n' roll. Seeing everyone in that basic NPC "uniform" gave me a sense that this crew really had its act together, and was eager for the game. It's a small detail that I appreciated. Also -- nice to be able to recognize the volunteers and praise them for their efforts even before the game starts.
  • BGA response encounter: I was so delighted to meet Derek Reed as a character in response to my BGA actions! I was flattered to have any game-time encounter in response to a BGA at all -- and I super enjoyed the opportunity of the storyline that Derek presented. That was really enjoyable content because it presented me with so many choices, and the chance to rope in other PCs as I pleased.
  • Field Battles: Field battles are one of the aspects of this style of LARP that I most adore. Both Lost March events had great structure in its battles, mixing up the setting or location or goals, and I'm really inspired by this! In particular, I really enjoyed that the two Stalker fights on Fri and Sat were each so different from one another because of the choice whether to defend a central location (tavern), or move in smaller groups. PCs certainly had a strong hand in this choice, but I could see also the Hand of Plot in action in particular through Zach as Sir Malcolm helping to suggest tactics for the town. Very well done. One other thing that I enjoyed so much was that the Dreaming Hour battles, and some others over these past two events were predicted as to time and severity in advance. The Dreaming Hour mechanic is great for that -- but other factors fed into certain other field battles. I loved being able to pace myself accordingly IG... although on that front, it's a testament to this great setting that I was out of all my spells except for 1 single Turn Undead fully 8 hours before Reset, and I went on more mods and felt incredibly busy and involved thereafter anyhow!
  • Sound Effects: The elegance of starting off the Dreaming Hour with all the NPCs simply screaming all at once is inspired! Recognizable, and so evocative when you hear that out in the darkness on site! It brings to one's goose bumps childhood fears of the monster under the bed -- no matter how bad *** you are, it just gives you the damn heebie-jeebies when you hear it! The Swarm effect with the chanting is nothing short of effing BRILLIANCE! That positively scared the stuffing out of me!! I went nowhere near that damn encounter; I have no idea what the effects were physically, or what The Swarm actually did -- but I was so entertained out peeing myself in fear somewhere else in the darkness just listening to it! And The Stalker -- Wow. I have no idea how loud that boom box with the growling really was at ground zero because I was pretty far away, and it seemed clear as a bell to me! I loved being able to hear and fear the approach of The Stalker at a great distance as the rumble of the growling grew louder through the darkness! Second awesomeness there for Paxton (I think) -- how professional and cool that he shouted the Killing Blow count at the absolute top of his lungs, and suuuuuper slowly! Great sportsmanship there to give the victim the very best fighting chance for interruption and rescue -- But also great for drama since I could hear some character getting killed from all the way across the site, and that definitely increased my fear of the monster! On the down side, I'm not sure where the idea came from to raise noise during the Beast field battle on Sunday, whether PCs came up with this on their own, or this was instructed/inspired by the storytelling staff. If the latter, I think this had the unfortunate effect of making it hard to hear calls in the battle. It was cool atmosphere leading into the fight, but maybe not the most advisable for during. Good experiment to try out and find out how it really goes, though.
  • Pacing: Rarely have I attended an event that was so action-packed as this one! There was always something going on! There was more going on than I felt that I could make time to discuss IG with other characters event to compare notes (and this is a good thing). I recognize there was a good ratio of lots of volunteers to a smaller number of PCs than many of our games see. I'd really like to pick Paxton's brain about scheduling and what that looked like in the orchestration backstage.
  • Variety of encounters: I saw traps, locks, codes, physical challenges, trade encounters, talk your way through or around it encounters, and good old fashioned standup fights.
  • Immersion: I heard very few exceptions of OOG chatter this weekend. All the players really brought their A game with keeping conversation in-character, even smalltalk in quieter moments. Although it was summertime, even the wilderkin kept their masks down over their face after brief breaks to cool down or eat. Everyone obviously put a lot of effort in to keep the immersion thick, and I certainly noticed and appreciate this!
  • Nomad's Curse: Lola put the Nomad Curse on another PC during this event. I won't name the PC here in the OOG forum, but I'd really like to offer my sincere thanks and admiration to that player for being such an excellent sportsman in the matter! That person was so classy about it OOG, offered some excellent ideas in logistical handling of Nomad's Curse which I will detail elsewhere in a thread about that, and rolled with it. I observed personally, and heard from many others about the consistent roleplay and presentation of the curse's effects, even in quiet settings while outside of the public eye. Big props to you on an OOG level for how you're handling that!
  • Rite of Purification: This rite involved the need for PCs to sacrifice something precious to them, either material or immaterial. All the PCs in the group there put such creative thought into their heartfelt offerings. I got a new view of characters in that group that Lola hadn't previously seen. I found the offerings to be really touching, and my character gained new respect for the others through that. Very nicely designed encounter to inspire that depth of thought going into roleplay!
  • Encounter direction and targeting: I saw so many cases where encounters were directed to characters outside of the limelight, or to individuals or small groups with interesting criteria, overall designed to make sure that largely every PC out there got into something special and cool in this big plotline. I loved watching all the Tetris pieces float together into the larger epic! At least from my vantagepoint, that seemed very well done; I can only hope that it was as successful in being widespread as it seemed to me.
  • Black Coins: Had some cool IG conversations with Leora, Vincent, "Warchester" Mark, and a few others about the nature of the Zesh Black Coins, and their possible origins. Of all the many story aspects in this engaging setting, the Black Coins were of the greatest interest to me. If you OH SUPER DUPER PLEASE run this as a continuing campaign in the future, that story would be #1 on my list of things I wanted to keep exploring. There was just so much to do, and not enough time to get into everything!
  • "Lost" BINGO: I had such fun keeping a running tally in the back of my mind about aspects of the TV show "Lost" that fed into inspiration for this campaign setting and its various aspects -- and done in the best possible way where you retained the flavor and mystery without outright using the same names or elements as a direct lift. Every time another connection sparked in my mind, it just tickled me!
  • Rite of Glory challenges: Banks, Watcher, and all The Eld running through to save us,not realizing we were on a mod -- the gutsiness and bravery of the characters who rushed into certain danger to help out just impressed me so much with their heroism!
  • Beast field battle on Sunday: The popup of The Beast was amusing, and I liked it -- but what I really dug were the physreps of the tentacles! That added so much drama and believably to the monster! I was super amused by how far they reached -- you thought you had everything under control, you're fighting, fighting -- WHOA! They can stretch out THAT much farther?? What??! Those, and the physrepped waves for the deep water really clarified matters that confused us previously in Bayenna, and was a great visual representation of what was going on. Also, I really liked having 2 NPCs represent the barnacle thingee -- Great idea to have Taylor cast the spells and Will do the fighting. Although I was not personally a melee fighter, at least in observation I found no confusion there, and I thought that blended really nicely, and made it excellently challenging. LOVED getting to use the totally stupid ability of Magic Remove Silence during that fight! Such a dumb little ability that just tickled me in its widespread moment of glory to go down the line and fix that for everybody! Sometimes it's really the little things that can be such fun!
  • Eld: With so very much from both of these events that I so obviously admired and enjoyed, my superlative favorite of the whole thing was Lola getting inducted into The Eld right at the end of the event on Sunday. There were some particularly touching moments with Doug, Dia, Josh, and Bria which are the sparks of interaction and emotional connection that I love about live-action roleplaying. Vincent's drama with the casting of the sand and the induction right was his usual level of delightful acting and flavor poured into the game!
I'll echo a statement that Jerilyn made on Facebook after her first event here in June, "Take me back to this magical place!" There's so much in this campaign setting and world that I want to explore further, find out what happens next! I really do hope that you'll pick it up either as a campaign setting, or even for brief 1- or 2-shot vacations there in the future.

Long March campaign team, and ALL the NPCs and volunteers who helped out -- as well as all the regular Acarthia staffers who supported these events and helped out -- thank you so very much for a real highlight among my years of LARP memories. These two events were such a treat!

Love & Kisses,
Trace
 
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OK, I'm going to start a tally here, but I know I'm going to have to keep adding:
Merry Christmas: The delight on Paxton's face when we all confirmed he got to be the Stalker. Four year old opening the Big Box under the tree for sure.
Lyriana: Absolutely my favorite part of the game, even though it was really hard on Cassie (SORRY). Katherine reacted so well. Cassie pulled that off SO HARD and the army tromping down the stairs to protect Balthazar from his wife (ex-wife?) was absolutely priceless. Talking to Kaeizik (amazeballs) and Zakiyah (powerhouse) was so tense, I was ready for everything to just go to immediate hell.
Nhul: Such delicious contempt. I already said sorry to Kirun for telling him he wasn't "real" Eld. It was so much fun to play the paradox of an elder of a group of mad immigrants who treasured mad-immigrant purity.
Idea Tennis: Just before the Saturday Dreaming Hour, Jesse, Mike and I played a little idea tennis: knocking an idea back and forth and watching the mud fall off it with each hit. We made some of the best decisions of the game in a space of about 20 minutes, and it was fun to have Jesse in on a game that Mike and I are so used to playing by ourselves.
360 degrees of Monster: Waiting for PCs as the Thelodain Ghost on the shore, I got to hear the Stalker move through Meeker, down the back path and all the way back around, doing an almost full lap around me. I heard the Killing Blow, and the cries of Carly begging for help. She was so fantastic, and when she was given the part she just threw herself in. "I've got to braid my hair" and BOOM, I knew we had a rockstar on our hands.
Breaking Feha: Nissa is the kind of person who role-plays down to her bones, and trying to snap her mind like a twig was so much fun. She didn't break.
Holy Dungeon Denizens, Batman: Tiny cute bats in the door of one of the dungeon rooms. It really seemed like it wondered briefly whether all the banging and yelling (and opening of their door/home) was worth getting up for and decided that sleep was an infinitely better option.
My Peeps: I had the absolute best experience to wrap up these two events. Everyone had left site except Izzy, Billy, Nissa and I and we were cleaning up the kitchen. These three people have been supporting my games and helping me out for a year or two shy of two decades. They are the best, and I get choked up every time I think about it. I am so grateful to have them, and to have known them all for so long. Thanks guys.

Thank you everyone for making this event what it was.
 
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Still processing quite a bit but I did want to share one thing. When the Juren were getting ready for the final Rite of Travel, it was a bit like the end of Summer Camp. Everyone was saying goodbye...giving hugs. It was a bit like "see you next summer". These people on the island at this time shared an experience that will be theirs and no one else's. Only they understand how special the last two months were. I'm envious and jealous of all of the players/characters that got to experience this bond. :)
 
Many, many thanks to the Plot team, and the Props masters!! This has been one of the best games I've had. The setting, the meta-plot, the immersion, has been awesome! Thanks to all the players as well, the level of RP, costuming and immersion was exactly what I look for in a LARP! A couple of highlights for me:

  • Resurrection of a Lost Faction - Being on the ground level of discovering and reviving a Faction that had been lost to history. This was a great meta-plot that really came together and make disparate plot elements come together.
  • Conversations of a Beast - finally getting to discover the missing pieces of what the hell was going on! Talking directly with the entity know as the Beast, (or Bill to some of you ;) ) and getting its perspective.
  • Rite of the Cipher - Keeping a cool head and deciphering a hard cipher in the middle of combat. Yes that means literally people swinging swords over my head while trying to make sense of a code! Such a great challenge. Thanks so much to Nissa for the jumping off point of decoding that cipher!
  • The Beginning of New Chapter - So I got to play a character that I hadn't played in a few years. While the games were completely different, which also means the various goals of the character were equally different, it was still great to dust off the personality and play him once again. So many changes for the character to now go off and explore, looking forward to seeing how it plays out for him.
 
I always think about writing up my favorite moments, but I often get caught up in the weird spiral of "I can't write them ALL down... therefore I shall write NONE of them!"

So... I'm just going to go for it:

First... a long one:
  • Friday night (technically Saturday morning)... Mandi and I go out as mean (weak) kobold thieves. Our goal is to steal **** from the PCs... and maybe jump one if we find someone by themselves. Mike comes along as a Rogue Marshal. We first go to the Meeker's Bluff cabins where the Eld have a campfire going and are on high alert. Mike goes in and pretends to be checking on their Fire Marshal agreement ("You can't ALL be Fire Marshal") and notes which cabins they are using and which have Wards/Locks. He comes back and tells us Cabins 4 and 5 are not warded... so we head in... sneaking, sneaking, sneaking. We go around behind the cabins, moving very slowly... but the grass is dry and tall and SO LOUD! At some point Watcher (Ian) peeps around a corner and spots me, but when I dodge out into the trees a little way he ends up hounding Mandi until she leaves the area (providing an excellent distraction). So I continue to sneak, sneak, sneak. I get to the back of a cabin and try the door... DAMN it has been latched by the little hook-eye thing. So I grab a twig and I manage to find where the hook is placed and I manage to unhook it and get the door open. I'm feeling like a master-thief at I slip inside, trying not to make the incredibly loud boards creak too much. I turn on my tiny little light... and discover I am IN THE WRONG GODDAMN CABIN. I miscounted... I'm in Cabin 3 and there is only one bunk taken, clearly by an NPC (turns out it was Billy's). ARG!
    Ok... I go back out, do so more freakin' amazing sneaking feeling totally exposed as I go across the biggest gap between cabins, which is right across from the campfire. I get to the actual Cabin 4 and find the back door unlatched (whew). Right about then some Zesh come over from Lyra and cause minor commotion "WHO GOES THERE?!" which gives me a chance to slip inside. Then some Zesh and Eld folk decide they need to talk in private. "Lets talk in a cabin, for privacy" they say. **** **** ****! I can't risk the tiny light so I grope around a bit. There is clearly a lot of STUFF in here. On top of the nearest bunk there is a a period-style satchel and I think "Yahtzee!" and sling it over my shoulder. I grope around in front of the bunk and find another small pack. Both of these feel like they have "interesting things" in them... not just clothes. There is some clinking, some "potion-shaped" stuff. Right as the PCs decide they need to go to a cabin I am recklessly lunging toward the back door and I get outside and close the door to Cabin 4 softly just exactly as they ... enter Cabin 5!
    At this point my heart is pounding and as far as I am concerned I am a goddamned ninja-kobold-god! I manage to sneak past the rest of Meeker, avoiding the Eld that is patrolling with a light and I finally make it to where Mike and Mandi have been waiting for me for probably 20 minutes in the dark (those are some good people right there, they were only a little mad). So I am gloating and bouncing with glee as we go off a small distance to see what I got. We crouch down in the dark and pull out the light and we find... a bag full of make-up and skin-care stuff in one satchel (lipstick feels JUST LIKE a potion) and a coinpurse (as in quarters and pennies) and power cords and such in the other. I go from a ninja-god to an witless failed-thief in the space of about 30 seconds. /sigh
    Then Mike makes the "walk of shame" as he tromps back past the Eld at their campfire with an armload of stuff... stomps into Cabin 4 and delivers back to its rightful place the stuff that, it turns out, doesn't even belong to a PC. I'm just hoping ti gave the PCs gatehered there at least a few moments of "WTF?!?"
    So... long story short: Sorry, Karlee, for stealing your toiletries. #SadKoboldIsSad
A few others:
  • Sunday morning Cassie and I got to be NPCs for the Rite of Glory mod that John ran. In one part it was the three of us playing beefy nasties (200 BP, swing 6, 2 phases, 2 resist magics) and facing off against a team of 8-9 players with an average level of 10 (I believe Cassie or John called them "The A-TEAM"). They were on their game, with excellent casters, great backpacking and healers that managed to teleport around the combat without me getting a claw on them. Twas a good fight! But... THEN... the last part of the Rite was an unwinnable fight in which they had to show their tenacity in the face of insurmountable opposition. So Cassie and I went back in with the same stats as above... but swinging 20 normal... and infinite pops. The point was that they had to fight as hard as they could to the bitter end, and holy crap did they ever. Cassie and I were whirling dervishes of punishment, but even as PCs fell to our claws at a tremendous rate the PCs kept putting each other back on their feet. The damn nimble healers and casters were everywhere! I had a moment where I realized that if I didn't start literally sprinting across the battle it was going to take several more pops before we could beat them all down. It was one of those times when I think (and hope) everyone on the field (PCs and NPCs) were working at their absolute maximum and having the time of their lives. I know that Cassie and I came back panting and drenched with sweat... but grinning like idiots.
  • A bit later at the big final fight I played one of the long tentacles. When it became clear that the PCs were not particularly interested in beating us down I backed up a bit to try to lull them into thinking my tether was shorter than it was. Then, in my only glorious moment of that fight I leaped forward to the actual reach of my tether and delivered 5 shots of "6 massive" to Baron Morningtide. Twas good...
  • And, on a smaller, more personal note... Owen and I played a pair of Zesh in a mod on Saturday morning. Owen has been hesitant to play roles where he has to talk a lot with PCs (which I understand), so in this mod I was there to help him remember things and such. But when the mod was almost over he pulled me aside and said "I didn't know talking with the PCs would be this much fun! I wanna do MORE of this!" So let me throw out an extra-huge thank-you to all the wonderful people in our game. You have welcomed Owen with such warmth and care and it makes the whole game feel even more wonderful.
 
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Traveling has put me behind on this, but wanted to put at least some thoughts down while stuck in the car for a few hours:

-Thank you to everyone that engaged with Nathanial in regards to the mini-Beast in his head. I think someone from every faction touched on it at some point. I'm still not sure on Nathanial's next step after all we learned.
-Taking part in a town battle where the town got thrashed. Plot told us it was coming through various means, and goodness did they bring it.
-The huge variety in nightmare creatures. You never knew what was around the next bend during the dreaming hour.
-Getting to say goodbye to people IG on Sunday. I wasn't expecting to have it touch me in the feels a bit.

Will add more as I can.
 
Took a couple days to recover, but here we go!

  • Thank you to the Lost March Plot! I can't thank any of you enough for giving me the opportunity/curse of playing the Oneiromancer. You all did such an incredible job and I sincerely hope I get to NPC for all of you again! As always you all manage to write wonderfully in depth characters that are a blast to play!
  • To my wonderful, suicidal, quirky Eld. Thank you for playing with me, the amount of tense moments and belly laughs I got to share with all of you was something I'll remember for a very long time. If not them then us! Good luck to my fledglings headed for the weird land of New Acarthia!
  • Juren, the encounters we had throughout the weekend were fantastic and frustrating and I hate-love you all so much. Major thanks to Mac for always keeping up the air of pity whenever he spoke to me. And a huuuge thank you to Hannah, Will and Cassie for bridging the gap between the Eld and the Juren by agreeing that the Oneiromancer is terrible at his job. I'm sorry you have to Ikea the Proxar back together.
  • Saturday night was extremely stressful for me, but looking back it was probably one of my favorite parts of the weekend. The Zesh basically giving us the middle finger and saying they'll murder anything that comes out of the lagoon? Well that's okay at least I still have the Acarthian noble support! Oh, they're mad at us too. Whoops.
  • Grunt getting his memories back was a wonderful moment for me! Thank you buddy, your roleplay ability is incredible as always.
  • swarm swarm swarm swarm SWARM SWARM SWARM SWARM
So many wonderful moments this weekend I wish I could cover them all, really just a huge thank you to everyone. You all put a huge amount of work and effort into your characters and costumes, and you made the weekend full and exciting all the time.
 
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