Need help with character construction

I'm not new to LARP, but definitely new to Alliance and was hoping to get some advice from the more experienced. Specifically I am interested in playing a female elf character (I identify as male), and am keen to get suggestions on how best to rep that in-game. Will it be detrimental that I am over six feet tall? What mannerisms might be common to the race beyond the basics the rule book goes into? What sort of costuming style should I consider? I use skirts as part of representing female characters, but is there anything specific I should look at considering both the setting and the race? Any other pointers on how to rep the character I want to play well?

If it helps, I live in Oregon and would likely be playing in that chapter. Thanks for any and all advice you can give me!
 
You've come to the right place! My name is Rick Raddue and I am the Alliance Oregon New Player Representative.

I am 6' 1" and I like to think it isn't detrimental at all. :D As for mannerisms and the like, if you contact our Plot Team at plot@allianceoregon.com they can send you our local race packet for elves and that might clear up some of that stuff for you. Costuming is whatever you'd like since elves do not have any particular costuming restrictions like Barbarians and Dryads do. A lot of people who play elves like to keep up with the flowing Rangery-type look but, again, the world is your oyster. There is nothing that is stopping you from playing an elf who wears full bulky plate armor and swings a giant two-handed hammer.
 
Hi there! I'm Evan, and I'm the Alliance Seattle New Player Representative! Rick's a good guy to talk to if you're planning on playing in Oregon, and I'll probably see you out there, too!

Please note that our system has virtually no gender mechanics within it that I am able to locate. There may be some RP ones (matriarchal/patriarchal societies), so as Rick said, definitely reach out to your Plot team so they can give you some assistance in developing the character you want to play in the world they've created.

Your height is a non-issue, as races do not have an inclination towards any specific height, for either gender. Even dwarves can be 6' tall. So don't worry about that. My recommendation? Review the races, get an idea of how you'd like to costume them, and then contact Plot for feedback if you feel you need it. :)
 
If you'd like to speak more outside of this forum, you can email me at newplayer@allianceoregon.com or you can add me as a friend on Facebook. You'll only find one Rick Raddue on there and it's definitely me.

I hope to hear from you soon!
 
Hey there! One of our former Plot members @jpariury actually played an NPC who was a female. He is 6'2"-6'4"? It is perfectly acceptable. If people make a mistake, just correct them politely, they didn't mean it in an offensive way. Soon, people will know the correction and not make that mistake.

You've come to a very accepting community across the board. We will be happy to have you here :)
 
As a marshal, I must say, elves may not use a two handed hammer. That it's a rules restriction to elves. They can use a hammer style polearm though. ;)
 
As a marshal, I must say, elves may not use a two handed hammer. That it's a rules restriction to elves. They can use a hammer style polearm though. ;)
This is absolutely correct.

Is there an emote that blushes? 'Cause I need it right now.

Edit: :oops:
 
For the female part, I strongly recommend looking up MtF passing tips. For example:

http://t-vox.org/index.php?title=MTF_passing_tips

Sometimes looking up FtM passing tips can be helpful too as a guide on what will make you seem more masculine (aka things to avoid).

These can be REALLY CHALLENGING without a lot of practice though. I'm FtN, genderqueer, and training my speech patterns out of the slight feminine up-tone at the end of sentences took a long time. Same with changing how I carry myself and how I walk. Now it's second nature, but I get the opposite problem: role playing a femme NPC and trying to use feminine-typed vocal patterns and feminine-typed body language is a hard shift for just an evening's role. (A full weekend might be easier.)

The elf part: There aren't any RP guidelines in the packets on how to play an elf as differentiated from a long lived human with pointy ears other than "think in a geologic time scale and take your time with things" though your local elf packet may have more and is worth a read. It's pretty up to you! I personally think some of the more inhuman elves in Lord of the Rings movies are a great place to look for movement and mannerisms (Galadriel and Thranduil coming most prominently to mind).

Elves are drawn more androgynous-feminine in popular culture so I think you'll get a lot of mileage simply out of the more feminine presentation. (I played a male dark elf for a while and that was a challenge because the style of dress and elvish androgyny didn't masculinize enough to be easily recognizable. Probably should have used facial hair.)
 
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Much as it's kind of cliche, I'd watch some classic Kurosawa to get the tight mindset for male dark elf. Reserved emotional response, gruff, almost aggressive speech, and the wide boxy movements of Kabuki theatre are good inspirations.
 
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