Hi all! My name is Chelsea. I am currently enrolled in a class at The University of Pittsburgh that focuses on how different media work as narratives. For my final paper I wanted to write about how I thought live action role playing constitutes as a type of narrative even though it is not really well known to the public. The only problem that I have is the fact that I have never actually been a part of one and only know about them from a few documentaries that I’ve watched. I was wondering if anyone who is experienced in this matter would be interested in just telling me anything about the narrative potential that LARPing has to offer such as how you guys decide on plot lines to act out and how you choose your characters. Anything like that would be helpful. Thanks!
Please help me understand this!!!
- Thread starter chelsea
- Start date
Far as storytelling goes, LARPs tend to be -huge-.
The folks that write the plotlines for an event have to react to and deal with the effects of often dozens of free-willed player's characters (PC's) dealing with the characters they put into the game (Non-player characters, or NPC's for short). Those PC's in turn are effected by what the plot people put into the game, and nobody generally knows the exact results in advance.
It's effectively having a story that's written by everyone playing the game, each of which has one or more characters that are "writing" their own stories by participating. PC's generally pick characters they think would be fun to play- it IS a game, after all - someone who wants to run around and whomp monsters might start life off as a warrior, for example. Sometimes it's a character started to explore a part of the game's lore and story- gypsy tribes, or what it's like being a Sarr, or a dryad, or from a specific part of the game world. Some people will play multiple characters over time, whether because one of theirs ends from in-game death, retirement, or simply a desire to play something else.
The downloads on the Alliance site for the town's paper at http://nerohq.com/newsletters.php are a good way to see what the "main" narrative has been- and even that story is a small chunk of what has been literally more narratives than a couple of bookshelves could hold. Every character is a story, every event one larger story composed of smaller ones written by the Plot folks for players to play with, in, or against. And that's just one chapter's worth of "history". There was a LARP about Ashbury before this one (from 1991) that went it's own way with a few strategic renames of places and people (and is still going), and another one after Alliance itself formed from splitting away from another game, NERO.
The folks that write the plotlines for an event have to react to and deal with the effects of often dozens of free-willed player's characters (PC's) dealing with the characters they put into the game (Non-player characters, or NPC's for short). Those PC's in turn are effected by what the plot people put into the game, and nobody generally knows the exact results in advance.
It's effectively having a story that's written by everyone playing the game, each of which has one or more characters that are "writing" their own stories by participating. PC's generally pick characters they think would be fun to play- it IS a game, after all - someone who wants to run around and whomp monsters might start life off as a warrior, for example. Sometimes it's a character started to explore a part of the game's lore and story- gypsy tribes, or what it's like being a Sarr, or a dryad, or from a specific part of the game world. Some people will play multiple characters over time, whether because one of theirs ends from in-game death, retirement, or simply a desire to play something else.
The downloads on the Alliance site for the town's paper at http://nerohq.com/newsletters.php are a good way to see what the "main" narrative has been- and even that story is a small chunk of what has been literally more narratives than a couple of bookshelves could hold. Every character is a story, every event one larger story composed of smaller ones written by the Plot folks for players to play with, in, or against. And that's just one chapter's worth of "history". There was a LARP about Ashbury before this one (from 1991) that went it's own way with a few strategic renames of places and people (and is still going), and another one after Alliance itself formed from splitting away from another game, NERO.
jpariury
Paragon
There's probably a case to be made that LARPs continue and expand on the idea put forth by the old Choose Your Own Adventure, as well as bring closer to real life the concepts put forth in the 70s movie Westworld (minus the psychotic killer robots) and such. A lot of what I write is focused more on creating a world in which interesting things are happening, and letting the players interact with it in any way they so desire.
evi1r0n
Exemplar
A common misconception is that everyone who LARPs is the stereotypical uber-geek who doesn't know how to shower or move out of their mom's basement. This is often conveyed in some of the documentaries as the average LARPer. LARPers are often labeled as wierdos because of their choice of hobby. Out of game most of us are just average Americans. Some of us are unemployed and some of use are wealthy. Some of us are doctors, physicists, teachers, landscapers, writers, cops and hair dressers. Some of us are married, single or divorced. I guess what I am saying is LARPers are just average folk who share a creative and physical hobby that is not popular or widely understood. We all share this inner child (or whatever you want to call it) that just wants to play pretend even though we are not "supposed to," because be are too old. LARPing from an outsiders perspective seems odd but I ask you to watch a fantasy baseball meeting (if you are not into baseball) and not feel like it's a little geeky. LARP is just a hobby and I say to each their own. 
To Talen, thanks a lot for what you wrote. It was pretty helpful in understanding how the story works and how the characters are chosen.
jpariury, you said “A lot of what I write is focused more on creating a world in which interesting things are happening, and letting the players interact with it in any way they so desire.”Are you a writer for the story of some LARPing event, because if so I would be really interested in hearing more about that.
Evilr0n, I am completely with you. The point of my paper is to try to prove to people that LARPing is just as acceptable of a means of narrative as watching a movie or reading a book. I am just really interested in seeing how the form of media compares and contrasts to the more mainstream stuff that people are familiar with. I’m not trying to make fun of anybody on here. I am just genuinely curious as to how these events work.
Also if anyone at all is interested I have a lot more questions about the inner working of LARPing so if you want to help me out just let me know and I’ll ask away.
Thanks!
jpariury, you said “A lot of what I write is focused more on creating a world in which interesting things are happening, and letting the players interact with it in any way they so desire.”Are you a writer for the story of some LARPing event, because if so I would be really interested in hearing more about that.
Evilr0n, I am completely with you. The point of my paper is to try to prove to people that LARPing is just as acceptable of a means of narrative as watching a movie or reading a book. I am just really interested in seeing how the form of media compares and contrasts to the more mainstream stuff that people are familiar with. I’m not trying to make fun of anybody on here. I am just genuinely curious as to how these events work.
Also if anyone at all is interested I have a lot more questions about the inner working of LARPing so if you want to help me out just let me know and I’ll ask away.
Thanks!
Mike Ventrella
Paragon
The problem is that many media who cover this tend to look for the unusual story, and the geek who is a social misfit makes for better TV than the well-adjusted married couple.
We had a story done by the G4 network last year that was pretty good, though. You can download it from itunes.
Otherwise, please post any questions here. I think the more specific your questions, the more answers you'll get, other than just "tell me about LARPing".
We had a story done by the G4 network last year that was pretty good, though. You can download it from itunes.
Otherwise, please post any questions here. I think the more specific your questions, the more answers you'll get, other than just "tell me about LARPing".
I agree with JP. One of the things I try to capture with the writting I do is a dynamic world, with a cast of millions all living every day and impacting the lives of those around them with decisions they make. Of course, this world has somewhat more schedualed peril and supernatural turmoil than we find the real world, but I think that's part of the point: the game allows us as players to make friends, experience growth, save the day (or sieze it for our own) in a way that's realistic enough to suspend disbelief but different enough that when we get home on Sunday we can set it aside, knowing that like Levar Burton, it'll be there next time, ready to welcome us back.
For staffers, of course, it's a good deal less poetic.
For staffers, of course, it's a good deal less poetic.
evi1r0n
Exemplar
One important thing players learn is to make their own fun. We have limited staff at events so a lot of the story evolves within the player base. Relationships grow and fall apart. Factions spring up. Plot teams often look at character backstories (written by the players) to help evolve the story around the players. In OR we submit downtime reports that tell what we would like to be doing between games. These stories can alter what the plot team does based on what the players want. I am not down playing how much work the plot teams put in by any means, I just wanted to show that player/plot team relationships have to have communication for the players to remain entertained and entwined in the story.
Here are some questions that I sent to another guy who said he was interested in helping me. I already know we talked about a few of these, but this is just the basic information that I'm really interested in. If anyone cares to answer any of them feel free. The more perspectives i get the better. Thank you guys a lot for responding. The more I understand how this works the better my paper will be and the easier it will be to convince people that LARPing is just as good of a means of narrative as anything else.
About the Story
1 Who gets to decide on the plot each time? I know you said you are on a story committee, does that mean that everyone who is not on that committee has no idea what the story is going to be until they get there?
2 How much of the story is decided before hand and how much of it just comes from the players themselves? When my class talked about dungeons and dragons we discussed how the dungeon master would lay down the backbone of the plot, but then due to the players’ actions the final result may be a completely different story from what the DM originally planned. Does this ever happen in LARPing?
3 Do the stories that you play out develop over time? Does the story normally pick up where it was left off or is there a brand new story every time you guys get together?
About the Characters
4 I want to know how people chose their characters, like are there a set number of races or clans or something like that, that you have to choose from, or do you just get to be whatever you want as long as it seems to fit in?
5 Do people normally make back stories for their character? Do their characters have goals and fears and emotions like that?
6 When you are playing your particular character do you really feel the emotions that they are going through or is it more like being an actor. For example if someone does something to make your character mad do you yourself actually get mad as well?
7 How attached do people get to the character they are playing? Do people often switch characters or is it more likely that a person will make their character and then just be that same one every time?
8 Have you ever played Online role playing games or table top role playing games? If so do you think the narrative potential is similar or very different?
About the Story
1 Who gets to decide on the plot each time? I know you said you are on a story committee, does that mean that everyone who is not on that committee has no idea what the story is going to be until they get there?
2 How much of the story is decided before hand and how much of it just comes from the players themselves? When my class talked about dungeons and dragons we discussed how the dungeon master would lay down the backbone of the plot, but then due to the players’ actions the final result may be a completely different story from what the DM originally planned. Does this ever happen in LARPing?
3 Do the stories that you play out develop over time? Does the story normally pick up where it was left off or is there a brand new story every time you guys get together?
About the Characters
4 I want to know how people chose their characters, like are there a set number of races or clans or something like that, that you have to choose from, or do you just get to be whatever you want as long as it seems to fit in?
5 Do people normally make back stories for their character? Do their characters have goals and fears and emotions like that?
6 When you are playing your particular character do you really feel the emotions that they are going through or is it more like being an actor. For example if someone does something to make your character mad do you yourself actually get mad as well?
7 How attached do people get to the character they are playing? Do people often switch characters or is it more likely that a person will make their character and then just be that same one every time?
8 Have you ever played Online role playing games or table top role playing games? If so do you think the narrative potential is similar or very different?
evi1r0n
Exemplar
We have plot teams the write the plot. Each chapter is it's own island or kingdom on the same planet so plots very based on the teams. The plot members write the story and create modules (short adventures that may or may not tie into the big plot) to run during events. The plot team controls NPCs (Non-Player Characters). NPCs are players who constantly change character. NPCs are used to set up the modules. For instance the module requires 6 skeletons ro guard a box. 6 NPCs play those skeletons the PCs (Player Character) must face. PCs play a single character for the entire event. These characters evolve over time within the plot team controlled world. The plot team will react to PC decisions and sometime what they planned for never occurs, in which case they have to make it up on the fly.
kittenpunk2
Adept
chelsea said:
I play a young healer who longs to know more about her oun kind yet hides how much of a child she is wile trying to help in anyway she can. there have been games where she would would get sad or mad or be unbleavibly happy, i do feal the emotions becuse wile i am at games i try to think the way she would not the way i would.
there was this one time where a NPC told her somthing that broke evrythign she beleaved in, im happy out of game that stuff to do with the plot path i what is comign to light... in game however i sould be cry like some one just told me my mom and dad where killed...
i tred to think a bout what she just hurd and how it would make her feal, i allso tryed to think fo what the equivalant thing would be in my real life and the tears came and did not stop for a good hour, it was some of the best RP i have had in a wile siting out in the cold night crying my eyes out with one fo 2 close freinds siting and talking with me.
there is also mean points where she snapped and yelled at some one for doing something stupid, personally i thought what they where doing was funny and cool but from her mind set they where disrespecting the dead so ya i played to character and yelled at them.
i will say when i started playing it was hard to decide what act to take or what to say or even how to react to the smallest things, mostly this is because you don't know whats in the rules or that u can do or your pushing your own social flaws on to what you have desired to play. in the end you grow with what your playing, how you play will develop the more you play, what you feel and how you react will develop backed off of the stuff you encounter and interact with.
there are a couple of ways you can look at creating somthing to play:
you can pick your race 1st then work with the strengths and weaknesses to deside what to play for your class.
or
you can do my perfumed method where you decide what you want to do, then pick the class that offers the skills to do it, then pick the race that alows you to use thows skills and plays on its stranthsw rather then fighting its weeknesse....
an example:
say u want to be an archer, lets say u want to be a rouge archer in order to use some of the skills they have and the prices to by the skills u want, siply baced of of the weapen you whant to use there are some races u can X out becuse thay are not able to use bow such as sar, and there are some races u might lean toward becuse of there afinity to use it, MEW, Elif, dryad
...
then u look at the way you want to play if u want to be a magic items hog you might not want a race that has a distaste of magic of one form or another, if you plan on being greedy you don't want a race like MWEs who are suppose to not value coin, if you plan on playing something with an honer code you may want to look at dark elves or high orcs/ogres or Sarr if your not playing an archer, because according to the book those races have instilled values that would fit the consent you want.
there are some cases where you want to go ageist the norm like playing a wilder kin caster, that race costs more to learn the prerequisites for learning spells, so your be as powerful as a 1st level human caster at level 3 as a wilder kin caster... but there might not be any wilder kin casters a round other then you there for making you stand out a bit if that what your going for...
But allso take in to mind who you hang out with in game will afect how you play *** well:
if you hang out with the assassins guild and people who mean it when they say they could kill you where you stand your going to end up adapting different social skills then if you spend time with the healers guild and doing missions to help rebuild the small farmers community out side the town wall.... emotions fallow in line the deeper you get in to the game.
sorry if that is a lot of information i dumped on you, mostly I'm trying to say there is a lot of things u can do, and lots of ways you can go a bout doing them, just get a hold of a book read the skills and races and classes and find what you want to play then ask some one that knows the ins and outs of the rules to help you right it up by way telling them how you want to act whats weapons u what to use what skills attract you and what skills or styles of play you dislike.
1 Who gets to decide on the plot each time? I know you said you are on a story committee, does that mean that everyone who is not on that committee has no idea what the story is going to be until they get there?
Each chapter has a plot team who writes for that chapter. The people who aren't on the plot team know only what they've learned in-game(Or that's the intention, anyway)
2 How much of the story is decided before hand and how much of it just comes from the players themselves? When my class talked about dungeons and dragons we discussed how the dungeon master would lay down the backbone of the plot, but then due to the players’ actions the final result may be a completely different story from what the DM originally planned. Does this ever happen in LARPing?
It really depends on the story. Some plots are like a train on a track, and some meander like a drunken mule. But even stories that have very strict guidelines can be completely de-railed by a players actions. As no battle-plan survives contact with the enemy, no plot survives contact with the players.
3 Do the stories that you play out develop over time? Does the story normally pick up where it was left off or is there a brand new story every time you guys get together?
Generally, plots are continuous within the same chapter. There are sometimes alternate settings or in-game locations that are not the same from game to game, but they are likely all part of a larger over-arching story that has many facets.
About the Characters
4 I want to know how people chose their characters, like are there a set number of races or clans or something like that, that you have to choose from, or do you just get to be whatever you want as long as it seems to fit in?
There are a set number of races(though some of these offer a great deal of customization) and classes, but the class system is more of a guideline and no class precludes you from buying skills that are generally associated with other classes if you're willing to work for it.
5 Do people normally make back stories for their character? Do their characters have goals and fears and emotions like that?
People often write back stories for characters, both to give them depth and for the chance to earn some extra XP. The character has a unique set of goals, motivations and emotions, and these can be very similar or very different from those of the player.
6 When you are playing your particular character do you really feel the emotions that they are going through or is it more like being an actor. For example if someone does something to make your character mad do you yourself actually get mad as well?
It can creep up on you, sometimes the player identifies something that would make their character mad(happy/sad/hungry/sleepy/dopey) and then they portray that emotion, other times the player is immersed enough in their characters mind-set that they don't need to identify these and then conclude what the appropriate reaction is, it just comes naturally.
7 How attached do people get to the character they are playing? Do people often switch characters or is it more likely that a person will make their character and then just be that same one every time?
It differs from person to person, though that likely is most closely related to how old the character is. If you've been playing the same character for ten years it's hard not to get attached, by the same token it's hard to get too busted up about a character you've played once.
8 Have you ever played Online role playing games or table top role playing games? If so do you think the narrative potential is similar or very different?
I think many LARPers share these interests as well, either because of their desire for RP, escapism, visual stimulus or because the social groups they're involved in frequently engage in these activities as well. I think the potential is similar but different. Online RPGs can offer a sandbox to play in but in the end the only possible paths are those the game designers were able to think of, true freedom isn't achievable in that medium. Table-top games offer more freedom of choice but can degrade into hours of time spent figuring out a twelve second combat, rolling dice and consulting spreadsheets. Not that we don't get hung up on rules questions or need to run and find a marshall when we find ourselves in a jam rules-wise, but that in a LARP(this LARP anyhow) ten seconds of combat is ten seconds of combat, not 45 minutes of random number generation.
Each chapter has a plot team who writes for that chapter. The people who aren't on the plot team know only what they've learned in-game(Or that's the intention, anyway)
2 How much of the story is decided before hand and how much of it just comes from the players themselves? When my class talked about dungeons and dragons we discussed how the dungeon master would lay down the backbone of the plot, but then due to the players’ actions the final result may be a completely different story from what the DM originally planned. Does this ever happen in LARPing?
It really depends on the story. Some plots are like a train on a track, and some meander like a drunken mule. But even stories that have very strict guidelines can be completely de-railed by a players actions. As no battle-plan survives contact with the enemy, no plot survives contact with the players.
3 Do the stories that you play out develop over time? Does the story normally pick up where it was left off or is there a brand new story every time you guys get together?
Generally, plots are continuous within the same chapter. There are sometimes alternate settings or in-game locations that are not the same from game to game, but they are likely all part of a larger over-arching story that has many facets.
About the Characters
4 I want to know how people chose their characters, like are there a set number of races or clans or something like that, that you have to choose from, or do you just get to be whatever you want as long as it seems to fit in?
There are a set number of races(though some of these offer a great deal of customization) and classes, but the class system is more of a guideline and no class precludes you from buying skills that are generally associated with other classes if you're willing to work for it.
5 Do people normally make back stories for their character? Do their characters have goals and fears and emotions like that?
People often write back stories for characters, both to give them depth and for the chance to earn some extra XP. The character has a unique set of goals, motivations and emotions, and these can be very similar or very different from those of the player.
6 When you are playing your particular character do you really feel the emotions that they are going through or is it more like being an actor. For example if someone does something to make your character mad do you yourself actually get mad as well?
It can creep up on you, sometimes the player identifies something that would make their character mad(happy/sad/hungry/sleepy/dopey) and then they portray that emotion, other times the player is immersed enough in their characters mind-set that they don't need to identify these and then conclude what the appropriate reaction is, it just comes naturally.
7 How attached do people get to the character they are playing? Do people often switch characters or is it more likely that a person will make their character and then just be that same one every time?
It differs from person to person, though that likely is most closely related to how old the character is. If you've been playing the same character for ten years it's hard not to get attached, by the same token it's hard to get too busted up about a character you've played once.
8 Have you ever played Online role playing games or table top role playing games? If so do you think the narrative potential is similar or very different?
I think many LARPers share these interests as well, either because of their desire for RP, escapism, visual stimulus or because the social groups they're involved in frequently engage in these activities as well. I think the potential is similar but different. Online RPGs can offer a sandbox to play in but in the end the only possible paths are those the game designers were able to think of, true freedom isn't achievable in that medium. Table-top games offer more freedom of choice but can degrade into hours of time spent figuring out a twelve second combat, rolling dice and consulting spreadsheets. Not that we don't get hung up on rules questions or need to run and find a marshall when we find ourselves in a jam rules-wise, but that in a LARP(this LARP anyhow) ten seconds of combat is ten seconds of combat, not 45 minutes of random number generation.
kittenpunk2
Adept
1 Who gets to decide on the plot each time? I know you said you are on a story committee, does that mean that everyone who is not on that committee has no idea what the story is going to be until they get there?
Each chapter has a plot team , they integrate clues and escalate in to a story arch where each event is more like the next chapter of a book, offering more information and hits at where the story is going and how to deal with the threats or overcome the obstetrical, offering the players time to gather strength and supply to take on the resizing plot , threat, struggle, or conflict, mind you not all plots are combat driven however many plots will have at vary least some, some where in the story arch
2 How much of the story is decided before hand and how much of it just comes from the players themselves? When my class talked about dungeons and dragons we discussed how the dungeon master would lay down the backbone of the plot, but then due to the players’ actions the final result may be a completely different story from what the DM originally planned. Does this ever happen in LARPing?
yes and no, some times a story only has 2 ways to end, you do nothing or you do something, and no mater what that something is it will have X effect... and some times the plot team waits for the players to take there actions and then after the event or even during it, meat up talk about and decide what effects this set of actions will have on the story they have been setting up, and what consequences will result and show up the next day the next month the next event or reversely not happen because we where able to stop a key actions from taking place.
3 Do the stories that you play out develop over time? Does the story normally pick up where it was left off or is there a brand new story every time you guys get together?
in the chapter i play in theres normaly 3 large story archs going on, one begainign one in the develipment or midle and one near trewistion or the end. theres allsoum lack of beater words side quests or one event sotrys going on.
not all plots take a year or more to unfold, but then a gain not all plots can start and end in just one event.
also some story lines can be meant to last say a year and end up going on for 3 years weather because of actions taken by the players or lack there of, if a rummer is started a bout a couple of undead seen south of town and no one investigates it, that hand full can be a 40-60 or more in a month or 2 just because no one went and stopped who ever was testing making undead from dead cows the month before, and now we have a full necromancer plot going out of something meant to be a one fight mod.
About the Characters
4 I want to know how people chose their characters, like are there a set number of races or clans or something like that, that you have to choose from, or do you just get to be whatever you want as long as it seems to fit in?
Elifs(stone, dark normal,other), sarrs (cat people), wilder kin (animal people-not cats), fether people, high orcs, high ogres, mastic wood foke, dryads, dwarfs, hobbling, human, gypsy, more... as for classes, this system is more for regulating the amount of ability one can learn by making it cheaper for some one to learn ability that are related and more costly for ability that would be vary diffract from the skills they already have.. thus regulating the power levels of players of the same levels so no one path is ridiculously over used or powerful.
5 Do people normally make back stories for their character? Do their characters have goals and fears and emotions like that?
yes or so i have seen, if its put in when you start playing or soon there after you can get more EXP to send when you start to play, also customized plots will be pulled from back story's to allow players to get to have some personalized fun with in the world, mind you this can do harm but be incredibly fun. and is a grate way to look deeper at what drives the person you play at the event. or where they come from and what there history is.
6 When you are playing your particular character do you really feel the emotions that they are going through or is it more like being an actor. For example if someone does something to make your character mad do you yourself actually get mad as well?
yes allays i do at least now after havering played her for 2 years, i find i react as her even if i in real life would react and feel different a bout something, everything run kind of threw a filter subconsciously of this is what she would do or feel , and so i feel them i cry when she would cry i get mad and happy if she is, but at the same time i can turn it off if i just tell my self i need to go back to reality....
7 How attached do people get to the character they are playing? Do people often switch characters or is it more likely that a person will make their character and then just be that same one every time?
i would cry and be pissed if what i have played for the last 2 years was no longer an option but i would also have 5 other ideas of things i want to play just as badly, and have fun slipping in to them, and getting to have fun playing them...i do play the same one every event shes my 1st so she will always have a soft spot in my hart, i am new to LARP-ing and kind of have only been doing it 2-3 years but at the same time i am making another completely different PC to play when i cant play her because of personal plot or get tired and need a brake from playing her..
8 Have you ever played Online role playing games or table top role playing games? If so do you think the narrative potential is similar or very different?
yes i play D and D MMos of any denfrant types i have played in non combat larps and table top, d20 games console and computer RPGs and i read a lot of fanticy books and pick your path books where you have control of how the story progresses or ends. its a hobby of mine, but gameign is not 100% of my life, i study and go to callage i have 2 AAs i'm a fine artist and work on sales and shows, i havea family life and i live out on y out work and pay bills and in my free time i sow and make stuff for my cocal chapter and do mypart to suport my hobby, and wile if i did not have a chance to game in one way oranother i feal my life would be well less fun, it would not undefine who i am, it would siply change it, i would still be the student the sister the artist the feonsay the bread winner thecrative outdoors hippy who loves TV i just would not get to have fun and go on camping trips with freinds or get to chat the newest games with my buddys, onisty i like the ppl i have out with a lot fo them are gamers.
gamers get a tun of bad press, we are said to all be fat pasty white males who have nearer had sex are over the age of 40 and live with are mom and dads in a converted garage or basement or addict.. that cant hold a job and who have no friends, when this is not the case, the age range of my local chapter is from 15 to mid 40s we have husbands and wife's high schoolers collage students, all sorts of carer paths, sever overlapping social groups, cross over with other LARPS, we have men and women , signal engaged dating, independent working full time students, we have a player base that floats between 30 to 50 (witch is small for a chapter or so i have herd...)players at the average event, the average gamer now a days has friends obligations to family, stable relationships, a job! so we can afford are beloved hobby, gaming is not cheep... and well a well balanced life, the ability to escape your real life for 2 days a month lets the other 28 days not be as hellish as the bad economy a *** hole boss might make it seem, this all so allows a brake from obligations so you can refresh or maintain your relations ships at a health level, if your a sports fan would you not say that hour of watching your favorite teem play dose you more good then a nap, it takes your mind of life for a bit lets you relax and then when you have to toon back in to reality your better for your short brake from it. or at least that's my thoughts, and i thank you for the opportunity to share them with some one, even if its just one class room full of gamers and anti gamers wondering what all the buz is about something sadly portrayed in the media as lame or bad, when in fact its wonderful and fun! with care a 25 year old engaged average art student at a UC with 2 AA's the breadwinner of the house hold, an apartment renting stable family with a pet cat and plenty of friends gamer who wishes the world would change there perceptional of her hobby and open then harts and minds to see what a wonderful pass-time it can be, for people as average and no average as the prejudging ones who con dim it, Catherine T. Winslow
Each chapter has a plot team , they integrate clues and escalate in to a story arch where each event is more like the next chapter of a book, offering more information and hits at where the story is going and how to deal with the threats or overcome the obstetrical, offering the players time to gather strength and supply to take on the resizing plot , threat, struggle, or conflict, mind you not all plots are combat driven however many plots will have at vary least some, some where in the story arch
2 How much of the story is decided before hand and how much of it just comes from the players themselves? When my class talked about dungeons and dragons we discussed how the dungeon master would lay down the backbone of the plot, but then due to the players’ actions the final result may be a completely different story from what the DM originally planned. Does this ever happen in LARPing?
yes and no, some times a story only has 2 ways to end, you do nothing or you do something, and no mater what that something is it will have X effect... and some times the plot team waits for the players to take there actions and then after the event or even during it, meat up talk about and decide what effects this set of actions will have on the story they have been setting up, and what consequences will result and show up the next day the next month the next event or reversely not happen because we where able to stop a key actions from taking place.
3 Do the stories that you play out develop over time? Does the story normally pick up where it was left off or is there a brand new story every time you guys get together?
in the chapter i play in theres normaly 3 large story archs going on, one begainign one in the develipment or midle and one near trewistion or the end. theres allsoum lack of beater words side quests or one event sotrys going on.
not all plots take a year or more to unfold, but then a gain not all plots can start and end in just one event.
also some story lines can be meant to last say a year and end up going on for 3 years weather because of actions taken by the players or lack there of, if a rummer is started a bout a couple of undead seen south of town and no one investigates it, that hand full can be a 40-60 or more in a month or 2 just because no one went and stopped who ever was testing making undead from dead cows the month before, and now we have a full necromancer plot going out of something meant to be a one fight mod.
About the Characters
4 I want to know how people chose their characters, like are there a set number of races or clans or something like that, that you have to choose from, or do you just get to be whatever you want as long as it seems to fit in?
Elifs(stone, dark normal,other), sarrs (cat people), wilder kin (animal people-not cats), fether people, high orcs, high ogres, mastic wood foke, dryads, dwarfs, hobbling, human, gypsy, more... as for classes, this system is more for regulating the amount of ability one can learn by making it cheaper for some one to learn ability that are related and more costly for ability that would be vary diffract from the skills they already have.. thus regulating the power levels of players of the same levels so no one path is ridiculously over used or powerful.
5 Do people normally make back stories for their character? Do their characters have goals and fears and emotions like that?
yes or so i have seen, if its put in when you start playing or soon there after you can get more EXP to send when you start to play, also customized plots will be pulled from back story's to allow players to get to have some personalized fun with in the world, mind you this can do harm but be incredibly fun. and is a grate way to look deeper at what drives the person you play at the event. or where they come from and what there history is.
6 When you are playing your particular character do you really feel the emotions that they are going through or is it more like being an actor. For example if someone does something to make your character mad do you yourself actually get mad as well?
yes allays i do at least now after havering played her for 2 years, i find i react as her even if i in real life would react and feel different a bout something, everything run kind of threw a filter subconsciously of this is what she would do or feel , and so i feel them i cry when she would cry i get mad and happy if she is, but at the same time i can turn it off if i just tell my self i need to go back to reality....
7 How attached do people get to the character they are playing? Do people often switch characters or is it more likely that a person will make their character and then just be that same one every time?
i would cry and be pissed if what i have played for the last 2 years was no longer an option but i would also have 5 other ideas of things i want to play just as badly, and have fun slipping in to them, and getting to have fun playing them...i do play the same one every event shes my 1st so she will always have a soft spot in my hart, i am new to LARP-ing and kind of have only been doing it 2-3 years but at the same time i am making another completely different PC to play when i cant play her because of personal plot or get tired and need a brake from playing her..
8 Have you ever played Online role playing games or table top role playing games? If so do you think the narrative potential is similar or very different?
yes i play D and D MMos of any denfrant types i have played in non combat larps and table top, d20 games console and computer RPGs and i read a lot of fanticy books and pick your path books where you have control of how the story progresses or ends. its a hobby of mine, but gameign is not 100% of my life, i study and go to callage i have 2 AAs i'm a fine artist and work on sales and shows, i havea family life and i live out on y out work and pay bills and in my free time i sow and make stuff for my cocal chapter and do mypart to suport my hobby, and wile if i did not have a chance to game in one way oranother i feal my life would be well less fun, it would not undefine who i am, it would siply change it, i would still be the student the sister the artist the feonsay the bread winner thecrative outdoors hippy who loves TV i just would not get to have fun and go on camping trips with freinds or get to chat the newest games with my buddys, onisty i like the ppl i have out with a lot fo them are gamers.
gamers get a tun of bad press, we are said to all be fat pasty white males who have nearer had sex are over the age of 40 and live with are mom and dads in a converted garage or basement or addict.. that cant hold a job and who have no friends, when this is not the case, the age range of my local chapter is from 15 to mid 40s we have husbands and wife's high schoolers collage students, all sorts of carer paths, sever overlapping social groups, cross over with other LARPS, we have men and women , signal engaged dating, independent working full time students, we have a player base that floats between 30 to 50 (witch is small for a chapter or so i have herd...)players at the average event, the average gamer now a days has friends obligations to family, stable relationships, a job! so we can afford are beloved hobby, gaming is not cheep... and well a well balanced life, the ability to escape your real life for 2 days a month lets the other 28 days not be as hellish as the bad economy a *** hole boss might make it seem, this all so allows a brake from obligations so you can refresh or maintain your relations ships at a health level, if your a sports fan would you not say that hour of watching your favorite teem play dose you more good then a nap, it takes your mind of life for a bit lets you relax and then when you have to toon back in to reality your better for your short brake from it. or at least that's my thoughts, and i thank you for the opportunity to share them with some one, even if its just one class room full of gamers and anti gamers wondering what all the buz is about something sadly portrayed in the media as lame or bad, when in fact its wonderful and fun! with care a 25 year old engaged average art student at a UC with 2 AA's the breadwinner of the house hold, an apartment renting stable family with a pet cat and plenty of friends gamer who wishes the world would change there perceptional of her hobby and open then harts and minds to see what a wonderful pass-time it can be, for people as average and no average as the prejudging ones who con dim it, Catherine T. Winslow
Mike Ventrella
Paragon
You might want to get our Rule Book. It contains a lot of advice, and answers many of these questions. 
http://alliancelarp.com/books.php
There's a downloadable version, too, that's cheaper!
http://alliancelarp.com/books.php
There's a downloadable version, too, that's cheaper!
Mike Ventrella
Paragon
Lunchbond said:
??? How do you get extra XP for writing a character history?
Thank you guys a lot for answering my questions. I just spent like an hour copying and color coding them. lol. Its good to have multiple different responses. You can never get the whole story from just one person. Also if there is anything that I didn't ask about, but that you still think is important please tell me. Thank you!!!
Hey, it's me again. Obviously. Anyway i was just looking at what a guy from another LARPing group sent me and he was talking about how his group doesn't use experience and how some groups have chacter sheets that they carry around to prove that they can do certain skill moves. Also he told me about how his his group uses magic. I was just wondering if anyone could tell me if you guys also do this and how it works if you do.
jpariury
Paragon
You submit a history, receive 30 gobbies, and immediately buy a gobbie blanket.Fearless Leader said:
I am the current head writer (what we would call "the head plot") for the Oregon chapter of the Alliance game.chelsea said:
The way my team works is that I set up the general framework for an event (i.e. our most recent event was "young noble is on a quest in a newly-discovered island adventure, accompanied by a robust community of adventurers, plus some support personnel - soldiers, farmers, etc.), then we brainstorm and start filling in some of the details of what should be discovered about the island (i.e. what sorts of people and creatures might already exist on the island, how might they interact with a new body of people coming into the area, etc.). We try and keep an eye on different ways players may wish their own characters to interact with the world (politics, battles, morality, etc.) and come up with as many ways as we can to provide opportunities for them to do so. Prior to an event, we meet with our dedicated NPCs (non-players characters, people who have pledged their time and effort to helping us make that world come alive) and give them an outline of what we intend to have occur at the event, and see if they have any ideas that they might wish to contribute towards the backstory or great ways to work out the technical details of presenting the experiences we want to present.
That's a pretty fair assessment of how LARP events that I write for work out. In a table-top game like Dungeons and Dragons, you generally have a smaller group of PCs (player-characters) to work with and as the game-runner, every action the character perform is filtered through you, so your efforts in storytelling tend to be a bit more focused. With the Alliance LARP, about 75-95% of the game experience occurs away from the eyes of the writing staff, and so what constitutes "the story" as an experience for an individual player can vary wildly, based on what actions they took on.
Generally speaking, each individual chapter is responsible for a land, or collection of lands, of their own. I prefer to run events that occur in a persistent world, but I have occasionally written one-off events that only have a loose connection to other events. For instance, in Seattle, I wrote an event that occurred in the pre-established kingdom that Seattle uses, but as an event, it little to no interaction with the long-term storyline that the plot team had been working on. Much like how, in written fiction, there is the "core storyline" to say, the Dragonlance stories (originally written and conceived by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman), but their are assorted short stories that simply occur "in the world of Dragonlance". For the continuous storylines, we run events in "semi-real-time". So if an event ended on January 12, and our next event was scheduled for January 24, 12 days will have passed in the game world. The Oregon chapter allows players to submit "downtime actions", short narratives of what their characters would be pursuing and doing in the interim period between the events, and our writing staff would respond with some information or results of that narrative that allows the players to better understand their characters for the next event.
The Alliance Rulebook provides a specific set of races that players may choose from to base their character, and each chapter is responsible for constructing the "local lore" of those races. For instance, the rulebook gives broad-stroke definitions of what it means to play a "barbarian" - you must be superstitious, you should not trust Celestial magic, and so on. The Oregon chapter would issue a local handbook that says "if you are a barbarian from our lands, these are the tribes you may choose from" and so on.
Yes and yes, for the most part. There are players who don't concern themselves with such matters, but we try to discourage those kinds of play. There are a number of venues where that style of play is better suited, Alliance LARP really doesn't want to be one.
These answers vary both from player to player, but also from time to time within the same person. Imagine asking "do baseball game attendees get mad when their team loses, or upset when their favorite athlete is injured?" - you'd get a wide variety of answers depending on the level of fandom. At the same time, for a LARP, you can only bring your own life experiences to the table. Every concept you play is run through the filter of your own life experiences. So, in a really broadstroke answer, I'd say that it tends to work out this way: if they play long-enough, players tend to portray three different characters - the idealized ego, the counterego, and the hyperbolized ego. When they play those roles,
The Idealized Ego character is the you you might wish you could be. Maybe you wish you were more heroic in real-life, or more in control of the politics around you. Your Idealized Ego character would then feed in to that bit of fantasy. Player frustration here would generally occur when that fantasy fails to be met within the game experience (i.e. you try and become a noble, but your idea of what a noble should be and what the writing team's idea don't match in any meaningful way, so you tend to feel thwarted and frustrated when your character is thwarted and frustrated).
The Counter Ego character is the you that you find undesirable in real-life. Maybe it means you play a backstabby and vindictive character. Maybe it means you play a super-flirty and promiscuous. Frustration and burnout here occur when other players assume that because your character is a certain way, you are that way.
The Hyperbolized Ego is a character who takes one aspect that is true to you, but is taken to an exaggerated extreme. For instance, let's say you tend to enjoy using big words and perceive yourself as "nerdy". You might then opt to play some super-cerebral character who analyzes every nuance of a situation and collects books and writes critical analyses of events as they unfold.
For some players, each of these character types manifest as individual characters. Sometimes, these can manifest as certain moments in a single character's history. In my opinion, it's often, but not necessarily predominantly, an unconscious decision on the part of the player.
I have played one on-line "roleplaying game" (Kingdom of Loathing), but I do not play it as a roleplaying game, if that makes sense. The format does not really lend itself much to role-playing in general, and lacks the narrative potential of what I consider to make a roleplaying game (events are entirely scripted, and there is no significant choice in how to interact with the world). I used to play a great many tabletop roleplaying games, however, over time my enjoyment of them has reduced significantly. Sitting around a table talking about what my character wants to do is thin entertainment compared to actually trying to do those things, and in my experience, tend to get bogged down in a numbers game or issue of knowing more rules than the other players. Imagine, for instance, having the experience of playing baseball broken down into a comparative numbers and dice-rolling competition. You could do it, I suppose, and might even have fun doing it, but the experience of it is significantly different, and I suspect the amount of crossover enjoyment would be a small subset of the group of participants in either camp.
kittenpunk2
Adept
chelsea said:
we do have chacter sheets, you have to have it on you at all time, it has somthing on it called a life tag, if you die you need to have this to hand in to staff, it allso says what skills you have and spells and helth.
as for spells and we get small tags at each game to show what spells we can use, each time we use a spell in game by saying a set of words and throwing a small packet a 7 inch cloth filed with bird seed and tied off with a rubber band, mind you if your throw misses your spell missed.... anyhow when your done with that fight you go threw your spell tags and hand in or rip up the corresponding tags for the spells you just got done using. this game uses a lot of tags. small peaces of paper that represent in game items. some tags are used for potions some for weapons and scrolls, such tags are in game, other tags are out of game, such as a life tag or a spell tag or a race or class skill tag, when your in game and say use a potion u rip up the tag for the potion,u just drank, if you give a way the position you give a way the tag...
other tags like the spell tag are out of game where as you cant give a way your spells and they do not represent a tangible item, simply an ability you have for the day.
also as far as thong u might like or need to know a bout, lets cover magic items:
there are a couple of things for magic items u got to know 1st, there are different types of magic items, ones you can only use in your local chapter, and ones that can go to and be used in any chapter.
next is what can go on a magic items, most all spells form both the earth or celestial tree... think cleric and mage...from most games use other odd things that can go on magic items are some skill ablitys, and magic or arcana armor, or damage increasing augmentation, so that say if u put it on a dagger you can have a +2 dagger swing for 3 rather then 1 if your in to that sort of thing,i personally like magic itesm that do ice damage spells and earth healing spells, becuse i playa healer who feals shes not goodanuff and whos faveric color is blue...
evry one picks magic items that atract them dinfrantly... its not allways the same, for me its a disitiosn of whats useful and what eliment healigns usful and i have anifinity for ice...
for this it might be...
what can i resale for the most coin
(people by sale make find resale items some times, and often magic items can cost a tun to make and sale for even more, and when u find one on a monster, it can often cost u vary little in comparison to making it, so some people bid to take whats found rather then a cut of the loot for that fight, then resale it later or keep it no mater what it dose just because it was cheaper to get a magic item by way finding it then having one costume made.)
or what do i want just so my rival will not get it...(i play a mastic wood foke, we as a race hate dominate spells, i have seen other MWE's bid on items with such spells in it just to make sertan no one can use them.)
or what do i want to make me more powerful. (items that give skills or damage +'s to weapons )
or what do i want to protect me (precast spells things that protect you from the 1st hit or spell that hits you there for negating its damage taken, or magic/arcane armor so you don't have to run around in real chain male or the like.)
magic items don't have to be small but most the time end up being so.
weather a necklace, ring, bracelet, hat, belt, rope, weapon, shield, armor,shinny crystal, river rock, fingering, little box pen, broach,feather,pendant,book,or most anything elis, you have to remember to get its benefit your going to need to have it on you, so a small book that slides in to your bag still takes up more room then a small ring that is in your bag or on your finger, see why they tend to be small...
side note you can have magic items like spells cast on you rather then an item, such as arcana armor, this way if you die when you rez you still have your armor with you...
now on to how magic items are cept track of, a #/letter code is put in to a data base on the items creation, a corresponding tag is applied to the items, and a tag saying what the items dose and as well with this tracking # code on it is given to the owner of the items, upon some one identifying the items in game.
this tag is out of game, wile the items is in game, if some one stills the tag they have nothing, if some one stills the items your tag is nothing...
if you loss the tag u can get a new one, if you loss the items u are **** out of luck.
magic items last 1 year to 5 years, if you find a magic items on a moister its likely a one year magic items, if you make one your going to hold off casting it till you can find a scrolls and the items needed to make it a 5 year long item...
magic items spells refresh when your memorized spells would refresh at logistics only.
I play a healer, shes a earth caster (cleric), i have arcane armor cast on my soul (so i don't have to run around in heavy armor and can where a dress!), i have a handful of magic items most lasting 5 years (extra healing, life and ice spells!), I have 2 things stuck to me so when i die they rez with me (so i don't loss everything if i die), and i have a bunch of tags i have to keep track of for this(i keep a small book on me with all my out of game tags in for quick reference, it is also so that way they do not get lost or damaged between games too)
OK now time for guilds houses and groups
a guild is like a business weather for profit or not for profit, a guild can be people of a line of work, or a set of skills.
guilds:
the mercenary guild will help you find jobs they pay you, and take a cut for setting you up with the job.
the healers gild will gather potions and hand them out in time of need off only donated coin, we also have the job of razing you if you die!
the assassins gild will give you information on your target and hit orders...
the celestial guild will identify items and cast words for you for coin
every chapters got different guilds doing different things in different ways...
houses:
in order for it to be a house rather then a group you have to have it run or backed/supported by a nodal or some one with title! so a lord a knight a lady,a baron or a dame will do fine, past that a house is harder to get in to then a group, often you have to know some one already in it prove your self worthy and it can end up being a life time commitment or from what i have seen. houses are often more reorganized or respected then just a group would be(see groups for more on what the benefits are)
Groups:
groups of players will offend work together to save up find make or other wise gather supply and or magic items, they go out and fight together share loot and work on goals, joining a group means you will haves set of people u watch out for, and who watch out for you, it will also mean you have allies to help you find items or who you can trade with if u find something they are looking for, it also means you have a sort of make shift family where if u need some one to help push a plot your interested in they will likely help, such groups can be brought together off of singularity and differences, such as players of a like Level will group up to offer a balance of skills, also players of unalike level will group up to ofter support and protection to those below them in ability, weather because of alike race or RL being friends, or a hundred other resones.
First of all I want to thank you for your continued responses.
+ After reading Catherine’s (kittenpunk2) latest response I am slightly confused about how your fights go down. If anyone would be interested in explaining to me how your combat works I would be very happy to learn about it. Do certain weapons do more damage than others?
+ Another thing that was brought to my mind by her is your nobles/knights? How does someone get to have these types of titles?
+ Also, as far as the weapons and tags go: another guy I talked to from another group told me that they don’t do anything like that. If someone in group wants to use magic they just yell the spell. He told me that they don’t carry around sheets either. He said that they believe the sheets detract from the narratives kind of like how dice rolling does in table top games. For them if you can do it in real life your character can do it. Do you guys think that this would allow you to focus more on the story instead of the logistics, or do you think that this type of system would just be more chaotic?
+ After reading Catherine’s (kittenpunk2) latest response I am slightly confused about how your fights go down. If anyone would be interested in explaining to me how your combat works I would be very happy to learn about it. Do certain weapons do more damage than others?
+ Another thing that was brought to my mind by her is your nobles/knights? How does someone get to have these types of titles?
+ Also, as far as the weapons and tags go: another guy I talked to from another group told me that they don’t do anything like that. If someone in group wants to use magic they just yell the spell. He told me that they don’t carry around sheets either. He said that they believe the sheets detract from the narratives kind of like how dice rolling does in table top games. For them if you can do it in real life your character can do it. Do you guys think that this would allow you to focus more on the story instead of the logistics, or do you think that this type of system would just be more chaotic?