LARP help
Posted by: S. H.
5/14/99 10:13 PM
Hi, I was wondering if anyone would have any advice, helpful hints,
and well just about anything about running a LARP. I am interested in
participating,
but it is looking like the only way for me to do that is to be at least
partially in charge. So ANY help would be greatly appreciated. I'm
still
very new to gaming in general, so no hint will be too small! Roka
Untitled Posted by: I. M. in response to LARP help
5/15/99 12:42 AMThere are two ways to start a LARP you can either create a story and characters for people to play, or you can create a storyline flexable enough to let people create their own characters. I've done both and which you choose depends on your own preferences. If you let people write their own character, it's best to approve them in advance. The next step is finding a place to play....
good luck
"Daytona"
Untitled Posted by: C. F. in response to LARP help
5/19/99 05:35 PMTwo smalls hints that helped tremendously for a friend of mine who runs a LARP:
1. Have at least 1 narrator for every 5 players
2. Make certain if you're gaming in a city area that you meet the local police first, so you won't have any issues with gamers running around......Good luck with the LARP!
-TwilightXylia
re: letting police know if outdoors in city Posted by: M. K. in response to Untitled by C. F.
9/4/99 01:55 AMI think that letting the cops know is a great idea. I've contacted my local police (I live in a small town though) about things I hold in my backyard that may raise a neighbours eyebrow or two, even though I don't technically break any by-laws or anything (not RPG related, per se, but can be just as frowned upon) and they have been very helpful and polite. Usually my concerns are just frivolous and they will be able to reassure you with what you can and cannot do.
-M.
Casting Posted by: A. M. in response to LARP help
5/20/99 12:57 PMAnother place to go for varied advice on LARPs is the sixdegrees group LARP Roundtable moderated by J. M. (who has been known to make occasional appearances here...). You'll find people there who've played in and run both one shots and campaigns and who favor lots of different styles of play.
My own experience is pretty much exclusively with one or two session games which have been written entirely by the GM. I've written a dozen or so scenarios and run most of them multiple times.
If you decide to write your own scenario, my strongest recommendation to you is to be *very* careful about casting. Some people simply aren't happy playing certain types of characters or aren't any good at them (I've been miscast myself, and it's a miserable experience for everybody involved).
A prime example of a casting problem comes from a game I ran many years ago. I wrote the character with a particular player in mind, and she had a blast, but in the second run the woman who played the character was bored and frustrated. The character was being magically held prisoner by an evil sorcerer and forced to be his mistress. She couldn't tell anyone about her situation or kill herself or harm the sorcerer. She was in love with the sorcerer's secretary and carrying the secretary's child.
Some players also, quite frankly, can't be trusted with certain types of roles. Some players will start killing other characters if they get bored, for example, while others will carry out of game likes and dislikes of other players with them to change how they interact with other people's characters.
Gaining Experience Posted by: T. W. in response to LARP help
5/20/99 03:17 PMDepending on where you live, you might want to play a larp yourself for a while as a PC, then ask the Plot people if they need help in running storylines. That way you can have the perspective of both the player and the gamemaster. Really the integral part of a good larp is good players, who really want the plotline to work. Get a theatre troupe together and call it an improv game---they'll prove very useful as an experimental group. :)
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