New Player (Justin Anthony Pritchard)

[Samael230]

Hello everyone!

My name's Justin Anthony Pritchard; but please, call be Anthony. That's what everyone calls me.

I was born in California, raised in Washington, and am currently living in North Carolina, but will be moving back to Washington sometime around September-November. I'll be attending the first event possible after I get back and plan to play out my first few events as an NPC to get used to how everything is done. I've never LARPed before, though I have many years of tabletop gaming as a fairly solid role-playing base.

While I'm not shy, I am typically a man of few words (when speaking in person, that is), so it may take me a few events to acclimate to heavy speaking NPC roles, but before that time I'm sure that you can look forward to slaughtering me as a monster!

I googled the address for Alliance-Seattle on the main Alliance web site and it pointed to someones house, so I was wondering if that was where I needed to check in for an event or if that was this chapter's HQ. Also, if that is not where I need to go, then could someone give me the addresses to the place or places that events are most likely to be held during the winter?

I have a ton of other questions, but I'll hold off on asking them until I've read every page of the handbook and scoured the forums to see if anyone else has asked them already.

Thanks in advance for help with address/directions,

Anthony

 

[jpariury]

Howdy!

I'm JP, head of plot for Alliance Oregon, the neighbors to the south.

The first thing I think anyone looking to play should do is buy a rulebook. You can get it as a downloadable electronic version here for under seven bucks, and peruse through it. You can also purchase a hardcopy through our site. The rulebook has a good introduction to what a game might be like, tips on costuming and designing your character, as well as the nuts and bolts of how to play. Mike V (the owner of the whole shebang) has even posted up some sample pages in this post.

Seattle's next weekend event will be at Camp Sheppard, near Enumclaw, WA. I believe there is a game day event also planned for a week and a half from now.

Registering for an event as a "PC" is usually done online, though you could also probably snailmail someone the information - I suspect someone local can chime in on that regard. Registering as an "NPC" isn't necessary - they're always glad for the help - but you can always speak up on the boards here and say "Hey, I'll be NPCing at such-and-such event!". Checking in is usually done at the site that the event is hosted at, so if you were to attend the next event, you just show up at Camp Sheppard on the date of the event and we go "Yay!".

Matt, the head of plot in Seattle, has also posted up some very helpful information here and here.

Overall, check the schedule and you'll know where to go when.

-JP

 

[elliotbay]

To clarify what JP said, we don't have our own land to play on, so we rent out sites. So when we have an event, we meet up at the site we're using that time.

While you don't have to register beforehand as an NPC, we always appreciate knowing how many people are going to be there, so we know how much food to buy, and can plan our roles accordingly. When we get closer to the next event, we'll put a thread up asking NPCs to chime in if they're coming.

 

[Samael230]

Thanks for the link to the schedule, JP, I'll take a look at that when I finally get back to Washinton and have a chance to attend an event.

I'm one step ahead of ya on your other suggestion though, since I actually bought the E-book before I even sent in the e-mail to plot and logistics saying I'd like to join, as I wanted to do as much research as I possibly could before contacting anyone about prospectively signing up with Alliance-Seattle. Needless to say, I was impressed. Either my google-fu is weak or Alliance-Seattle truely is the most populous, well structured, and organized LARP group in Washinton.

Even if I wont be able to attend an event for a few months now, should I send in a character history concept to plot now, just to get it out of the way, or should I hold off until a little closer to the date of my first event?

Also, are there any threads on these forums that could inform me of the possible use of unconventional weapons (just about anything that isn't a bow, sword, or type of club)? For example, I have a yearning to attempt the crafting and implementation of a weapon that is essentially a cross between a tonfa and a cestus.

 

[Samael230]

To clarify what JP said, we don't have our own land to play on, so we rent out sites. So when we have an event, we meet up at the site we're using that time.

While you don't have to register beforehand as an NPC, we always appreciate knowing how many people are going to be there, so we know how much food to buy, and can plan our roles accordingly. When we get closer to the next event, we'll put a thread up asking NPCs to chime in if they're coming.

Good to know. I'll wait and do exactly that, elliotbay.

 

[Sarah]

Also, are there any threads on these forums that could inform me of the possible use of unconventional weapons (just about anything that isn't a bow, sword, or type of club)? For example, I have a yearning to attempt the crafting and implementation of a weapon that is essentially a cross between a tonfa and a cestus.

There's certainly precedent for making something unconventional and asking a marshal to look it over. As long as you understand that doing so carries the risk of the marshal saying no and you have to head back to the drawing board.

I can say that the tonfa/cestus idea is something you'd have a lot of trouble trying to pull off with the Alliance weapon construction guidelines. I'd personally advise looking at other alternative designs. Your mileage may vary, and the local/active Seattle and Oregon marshals are certainly welcome to chime in with their opinions/information/brain dump on the matter.

Hi, btw. I'm Sarah. I'm Logistics for the 3rd of the West Coast chapters down in the sunny San Francisco Bay area. You may or may not ever make it down to one of our events, but we do try to coordinate with Seattle and Oregon so that we don't have weekend events overlapping in case anyone wants to make the trek one way or the other.

 

[elliotbay]

Even if I wont be able to attend an event for a few months now, should I send in a character history concept to plot now, just to get it out of the way, or should I hold off until a little closer to the date of my first event?

You can send in your character history at any time, and getting it in sooner means we have more time to make comments and suggestions and give you more info. However, I suspect your experience NPCing would significantly inform your desired character concept, so I'd hold off on firmly declaring your character type until after you've NPC'd. The character experience you get while NPCing can be on a completely unformed character.

Also, are there any threads on these forums that could inform me of the possible use of unconventional weapons (just about anything that isn't a bow, sword, or type of club)? For example, I have a yearning to attempt the crafting and implementation of a weapon that is essentially a cross between a tonfa and a cestus.

Keep in mind that any weapon you make would have to fall into one of the categories listed in the rulebook, so we can know what kind of weapon tag you need, and what skill is needed to wield it. There have been threads in the Costuming and Props section of the main Alliance forums talking about alternative constructions methods, so you could look there for some techniques and support. I know Tonfas have been discussed at length, though, with the consensus being against them. As Sarah said, though, it's ultimately up to us local marshals whether it passes or not. If you post a design and pictures here, we might make comments on it, but in the end you always carry a risk until you get a marshal to fully inspect it. Looking at the cestus Wikipedia article, I'm having trouble seeing how that style could be modified into an Alliance-safe weapon, but we're open to what you have in mind.