Today's post comes from the Nordic LARP wiki that I linked to on Wednesday. For those of you who are not in the know (like me), Nordic LARP is actually a style of LARP, rather than a place where things happen. Perhaps this video, "Introduction to Nordic LARP" by Johanna Koljonen will give you a little more insight into how Nordic LARPs work.
Today features yet another kids show featuring the topic of LARP. The dorky kid has a battle and tries to get his friends to go, but they think it's too nerdy for them. Ultimately, they show up and help their friend, and at the end of it all, they're not ashamed of LARPing.
While the LARP is not really well developed and they do the normal thing and make everything look as bad as possible, it ends the same way as many other forms of media, with the cool people thinking it was actually fun.
Today's YouTube video was brought to my attention by Mike, one of the Invictus staff members, who found it on the Propnomicon Blog.
I'm pretty excited about this, as it's a chance to play with resin and clay to make some sweet props. I might have some pictures that I'll use from results of this process, but I don't want to put them out yet (because *SPOILER ALERT* they're for this weekend's plot).
I usually try to find a video that's topical for the holiday at hand, so today's video was found by searching YouTube for "Easter LARP." And this is the gem I found.
Now, don't get me wrong. The first part of this video was a little hard to swallow. There's lots of anachronistic stuff like the cargo shorts or the Elmer Fudd references.
But I really want people to listen to what Scott is saying. He hits all my favorite topics, like how plot should be making the game fun for the players and fun for the NPCs as well, how players and plot should be meeting to form the story, and how it really is a community.
They really seem to have their heads in the right place, and I applaud the team over at Shards of Orn for that.
Now that it looks like the dust has mostly settled in the whole NERO International thing, I think it's ok to put this out there.
Some things were said by both parties, and I think it's important to view it from the other person's shoes to see what kinds of things you should apologize for.
So here's my apology for rocking too hard.
Enjoy!
PS: Did you guys notice the Skyrim reference in the video?
Sometimes, you just want to have a gruesome module. You know, the kind that invokes realistic fear and horror in the characters. And nothing can do it quite as well as organs.
I'm really on a kick about cheap props, and I figure this one shouldn't be too hard to pull off. And can you imagine having something like that beating heart on a module? Or better yet, on an NPC?
Here's another video from the LARPers TV show that Three Hat Productions is trying to put together.
Seriously, if you want to see a TV show like this, I suggest you donate $10 through their Indiegogo page. They've only got a little more than 2 weeks left to raise $4,000!
Let me introduce you to 2.8 Hours Later. It's a zombie survival game, with no weapons or anything. You just have to survive. It takes place in a town and lasts for about 3 hours (hence the 2.8 hours later), and after the event everyone gets together and drinks some beer.
Why, oh why can't we have games like this in the US?
So this video is a player capture montage from the run in Bristol. For a general overview of the game, feel free to visit their website and watch the videos there.
After a week of tense and frustrating NERO drama, it's nice to be able to unwind by wailing on your friends in a nice, friendly game of Jugger.
Here's a documentary made about the Irish Juggers out there. Pretty entertaining. I still really want to play more Jugger. Hopefully I can make it down to Marietta and play with the Jugger Ohio guys.
Heads up thought, there is some obscene language, but it's not too bad.
Today's video comes from a indie project to make a show about LARPers. I don't have a lot of details regarding the show itself, but here is the email I received from Will Sampson, one of the creators of the show.
Hi there,
I wanted to reach out to you for your support in getting the word out on a television pilot my roomates and I are assembling. We would love it if you could post a link to our Indiegogo page on your blog. We would be happy to answer any questions or conduct an interview for your site. We also have some exclusive material I could send your way should your site choose to support us.
Thank you!
Will Sampson
After having a further discussion with Will, the show is going to be shot as a documentary fiction, ala "Parks and Recreation" and "The Office." Their goals seem to be in-line with what I would like to see in a LARP show, so I'm definitely excited about this project. So if you're interested in seeing something like this, stop over at their Indiegogo page and contribute!
Because it's Friday, I've got to throw up a video. This is a documentary from Brighton University about LARP, and despite the less professional quality of the video, I think that the people in the video sound like average, everyday people who happen to LARP. I love content like this.
Enjoy!
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So I've promised to talk about the pros of the Nature Playtest from WAR/NCN. So here we go!
1. Straight Forward Goal A lot of playtests don't have a clear goal when they're submitted. Goals are important, because it lets everyone start on the same page. If someone submitted a playtest with a goal to improve production skills and in the text unbalanced melee combat, I would know that I could change the melee combat part without affecting the goal of the playtest. Additionally, if someone submitted a playtest to make hoblings better, I know that I could drop the playtest right away, as the goal of the playtest doesn't fit the balance goals of NERO.
Nature magic had the goal of adding another school of magic for two reasons. First, it added additional variety to magic in the game. Second, it targeted some common fantasy archtypes that didn't really exist in the game at the time. This is why the animal spells were adopted into the core rules by National.
2. Balance Undertaking a new school is tough. There's so many things you have to worry about. How many takedowns are in the school? Does it obsolete something? Are there worthwhile spells to cast at every level? Is the formal magic worth it? What about Cantrips?
Other than a handful of mechanics (most of which I mentioned in the earlier post), the system was actually pretty balanced (before the last revision). And that's after having played with it in one form or another for almost 4 of the 11 years I've been playing.
3. Completion Some playtests don't handle all the collateral damage they create. They tend to have glaring errors that leaving gaping holes in the rules that are up for interpretation. As a whole, Nature Magic is complete. It covers battle, cantrip, and formal magic. The new effects that are used are included in the playtest. There's very little that is up to interpretation.
Don't get me wrong, Nature still has a way to go before it could become a National Playtest. It's under a particularly high amount of scrutiny, due to the fact that it adds a lot of effects and is a new build purchased skill, rather than a playtest that modifies an already existing skill. But hopefully people can take away some lessons from this when writing playtests for 9th edition.
And yes, we'll be setting a way for people to submit playtests. We just have to get it through the proper channels.
This video was shared by the Grand Expidition UK on facebook. They're a group that gets people from the UK to attend the two big European games (Conquest of Mythodea and Drachenfest).
This particular video was uploaded by Corridor Digital, who has a bunch of videos where they act out video games in real life. And this one is no different. As an added benefit, there are two possible endings!
One of the goals we have for this year is to design a simplified Airsoft LARP. There will be some form of advancement, but it's just a way to be in-character while airsofting. Should be totally fun.
So today's video is a short Airsoft game run in Germany. Love it.
BTW, we don't endorse playing without a full face mask when using any kind of gas/electric airsoft guns with > 300 fps.
I received this video from Brad, one of our readers. Brad writes:
I know you are always on the lookout for LARP videos so I wanted to send you one. There is a place in minneapolis, MN called the Soap Factory. It is an artistic organization. They sponsored a LARP earlier this year - they ran it as an art project. They converted their space into a tavern, outdoor space, and caverns and ran a LARP there. It was run using the Alliance rules set and the southern minnesota Alliance chapter marshalled the event. It was called the Corporate Wizard in the Land of LARP. It was a little anachronistic but not as bad as you might think. Here is a post-event video they put together. They put a lot of effort into scenery and costuming. They also have a Facebook group which has a lot of pictures from the event. It was open to the public - people could walk in and watch the event and they ran some modules in a nearby park. The head of the Soap Factory calls it a "performance piece" utilizing LARP but really it's just a LARP with good costuming and props.
I thought it was especially interesting that most of the players in this "LARP" didn't really know the rules for what they were doing, but they had fun with it anyways. To me, that's so far from the norm that I can barely wrap my mind around it.
Alright. So this has nothing to do with LARP. Honestly, I just posted this video because my Pandora station has started playing the Epic Rap Battles of History and I love the Slap Chop Guy.
And it just so happens that there's a pretty decent sale for LARPers in Ohio that is available for a limited time only from NERO Cincinnati. Here's the email I received from Eric.
Everyone loves a sale right?
First! Starting tonight (whenever I get it loaded (probably around 9ish)) you'll be able to prepay for ANY game in 2012 for $5 off per day! This deal will only last until Sunday (12/4)Saturday (12/10) and then will be back to the normal price. These are also only available via the paypal option on our page. Oh, it stacks with our normal $5 discount for prepaying. So you are only paying $35 to go play for a weekend. Oh, and yes...it does apply to next year's 10 day.
Second! Starting today through the 10th of December we will be running a 25% off on all weapons, armor, and everything else we sell from epic armoury. See this http://www.epicarmoury.com/catalogue/index.html for the products (you'll have to price conversion) and then take 25%. Contact gm@nerocincinnati.com for what we have instock, how to order, or any other questions. Normal shipping rates will apply. *All orders placed before December 10th will be shipped out by the 16th and therefore we can not guarantee (we will try) that they will be in by Christmas.* Please remember all sales are final.
Third! In honor of Glen's Birthday and how much we love our vendors! If you buy anything from our vendors Glen, Brian, Dragon's Hoard, Sword and Rose, or Tunky's Costuming between now and the 15th of December we'll give you an additional $5 off your next game. Make sure to get a copy of the receipt and have them sign AND date it. Then bring that to the next game and BOOM $5 back. *Purchase must be over $10. You can use one coupon per event, but only one coupon per person per merchant will be accepted (they will be marked on all your character sheets). But if you buy something from all 5 of the merchants that gives you five "5 dollar off coupons" to use through out 2012*
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all the Nero Cincinnati staff and thank you for your continued support.
Alright, maybe this one isn't so LARP-centric. But it's pretty boss, and really made me think.
We've always talked about ways to disseminate information to the players and to deal with the narration that breaks immersion. Well, MP3 players are pretty ubiquitous now, so it's not much of a stretch to assume that 95% of the players have an MP3 player, and you could probably provide one for the other 5% if needed.
Now, as long as you can keep the headphones from breaking immersion, you could use this to represent some loud noise that players should be able to hear everywhere, or as some omnipotent bad guy who can talk into people's thoughts (Cthulhu anyone?) It could really cause some dramatic moments.
The big problem is making sure players don't listen to the MP3 ahead of time, but in games with a lot of trust between the players and the staff, you should be able to pull this off.
And even if you can't pull it off at LARP, I think it would be tons of fun to take part in one of these MP3 Experiments.
