Edit: Updated the NERO SWV Event to show that they're using 9th Edition rules this weekend.
Last Week In LARP
Did you attend a LARP event last weekend? Let us know how it was in the comments!
This Week In LARP
We probably won't have any more snow. Eh, maybe more like a 60% of no more snow.
NERO
NERO SWV will be hosting a 2-day event this weekend starting on Friday, March 18th and ending Sunday, March 20th. The game will be held at Camp Chief Logan (WV) at the IG location of Haven. It is $40 to PC and is free to NPC. THIS EVENT WILL BE USING 9TH EDITION RULES.
OGRE will be hosting a 2-day event this weekend starting on Friday, March 18th and ending Sunday, March 20th. The game will be held at Chief Logan Reservation at the IG location of Starlen's Crossing. It is $40 to PC and is $10 to NPC. I believe this event will be using 8th Edition rules.
Note: Both of these Events are being held at camps with "Chief Logan" in the name. NERO SWV is being held at Camp Chief Logan in WV, and OGRE is being held at the Chief Logan Reservation in OH. Don't mix them up!
Dagorhir
Einherjar will be hosting their opening battle for the year this weekend on Sunday, March 20th at the Green Leaf Park picnic area in Medina. Weapon Check starts at Noon and fighting starts at 1:00 PM. It's $3 and minimum garb rules apply.
If you've got a game running this week and we didn't mention you, either drop a comment here or shoot an email to larp.plot.tips@gmail.com, and we'll add you as soon as possible!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
YouTube Friday: Airsoft
Alright, so this isn't exactly a LARP. However, I did just finish a weekend where I got to do an Airsoft LARP, so I'm in the mood for more airsoft.
I'm quite jealous of places like this where they have all that stuff to Airsoft in. It's the only reason I'm sad to live in a city/suburban area.
Anyways, these guys have some videos where they say they LARP, so I declare that it qualifies. Enjoy!
I'm quite jealous of places like this where they have all that stuff to Airsoft in. It's the only reason I'm sad to live in a city/suburban area.
Anyways, these guys have some videos where they say they LARP, so I declare that it qualifies. Enjoy!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Good Metagaming
This is an interesting topic that I don't talk about much, especially since I am more partial to numbers and rules than roleplay. We always talk about the evils of metagaming, but we never hear about how much it can enhance roleplay.
NOTE: I DO NOT CONDONE USING METAGAMING TO CHEAT AT GAMES. THAT IS UNCOOL.
Anyways, think of Metagaming as if you were a person reading a book, but also playing the character in the book. Literature is often filled with dramatic irony, which means that the reader knows more than the character, particularly regarding what's to come.
Now, as players we can react to metagame information in one of two ways - Good and Bad.
The more common, cheating kind of metagaming would use this information to get the character out of a jam. Information is exchanged between the player and the character, irony is eliminated and we're all cheated out of a story.
However, the good kind of metagaming would allow the player to shape his responses based on how his character would react, but ignore the information until the dramatic/tragic event has happened.
Usually when we're confronted with events and have to act quickly, we let the player take control, and if you are very different than your character, this can hinder the rich roleplaying experience. However, if you can form your character's response beforehand, then it's much easier to play as your character in situations like this.
Here's an example of good metagaming improving my experience at Exiles:
One of the guys was playing a skeleton, but was successfully able to hide it for a long time (long story). I knew OOG that he was a skeleton, which let determine how I was going to react when the truth came out well before it happened.
The best part about that is that the skeleton character had saved me from imminent death a number of times, but I already had my plan for when the truth came out. So we had some what of a showdown (where he annihilated us, as Skeletons are combat monsters) while basically everyone looked on.
Now, if I were confronted with that situation without knowing, I personally probably would have chosen a less PvP intensive path, just to prevent it from not being fun for that player to be outcast. As it turns out, we both really enjoyed the experience despite negative relationship between our characters.
So next time you find something out that you shouldn't know, take some time to ask yourself how your character would react to something like that, but continue playing ignorant until it comes up. It can really improve the experience.
NOTE: I DO NOT CONDONE USING METAGAMING TO CHEAT AT GAMES. THAT IS UNCOOL.
Anyways, think of Metagaming as if you were a person reading a book, but also playing the character in the book. Literature is often filled with dramatic irony, which means that the reader knows more than the character, particularly regarding what's to come.
Now, as players we can react to metagame information in one of two ways - Good and Bad.
The more common, cheating kind of metagaming would use this information to get the character out of a jam. Information is exchanged between the player and the character, irony is eliminated and we're all cheated out of a story.
However, the good kind of metagaming would allow the player to shape his responses based on how his character would react, but ignore the information until the dramatic/tragic event has happened.
Usually when we're confronted with events and have to act quickly, we let the player take control, and if you are very different than your character, this can hinder the rich roleplaying experience. However, if you can form your character's response beforehand, then it's much easier to play as your character in situations like this.
Here's an example of good metagaming improving my experience at Exiles:
One of the guys was playing a skeleton, but was successfully able to hide it for a long time (long story). I knew OOG that he was a skeleton, which let determine how I was going to react when the truth came out well before it happened.
The best part about that is that the skeleton character had saved me from imminent death a number of times, but I already had my plan for when the truth came out. So we had some what of a showdown (where he annihilated us, as Skeletons are combat monsters) while basically everyone looked on.
Now, if I were confronted with that situation without knowing, I personally probably would have chosen a less PvP intensive path, just to prevent it from not being fun for that player to be outcast. As it turns out, we both really enjoyed the experience despite negative relationship between our characters.
So next time you find something out that you shouldn't know, take some time to ask yourself how your character would react to something like that, but continue playing ignorant until it comes up. It can really improve the experience.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
9th edition awesome
Bill and I were discussing the concept last night of a team of NERO characters designed to use the new yellow packet archery system to its fullest. Four characters, all with archery. Two earth scholars, one celestial templar and one fighter. The fighter and templar carry shields with stands that can act as portable packet cover. The fighter shoots big damage, the scholars are full on cantrip healers. The fighter and templar can both also fight sword and board but their profs are centralized on the bow. Command words are pre arranged for concentrated firing and defensive formations. People often gave a negative opinion of those of us who like the numbers behind the game, but seeing a group fight like this with matching costumes, you have to admit that would be pretty awesome.
I enjoy the idea of coming up with character groups that play together. I like considering the tactics that would be necessary to make them successful. Have any of you ever come up with a cool character group, numbers based or role play based?
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
NPC Exchange
In light of the recent Joint event of Exiles and Wastelands, I think it's a good time to talk about NPC exchanges in Cross-Gaming.
This tactic was first brought to my attention when reading about Accelerant, a system with many games with very similar rule sets. A lot of these games run in close proximity to one another, so the player pool is somewhat limited.
While many people are willing to play both games, there is still a significant portion of players that simply don't have the time, money, or interest in playing in two LARPs. Additionally, fighting for these players could end up hurting both games, as one of the largest problems for LARPs is a lack of NPCs.
So they developed the NPC Exchange.
Basically, I can NPC for one of the games and use the experience from that on my character in the other game.
The real benefit of this is that players only have to get costuming and such for one character, but they can enjoy both games. This also gives built in NPCs that don't really PC, so the issues around limiting the NPC information to prevent metagaming are not really a problem. Not to mention you would get more NPCs for your games, because players who only want credit in one game will have to NPC the other in order to get credit.
This really only works for smaller, more independent games, but could be utilized in larger games with enough checks and balances, and could go a long way to fixing some NPC issues that people have.
Would you NPC a second game to get experience for your primary game? Do you think this would break the experience system? Drop your opinions in the comments!
This tactic was first brought to my attention when reading about Accelerant, a system with many games with very similar rule sets. A lot of these games run in close proximity to one another, so the player pool is somewhat limited.
While many people are willing to play both games, there is still a significant portion of players that simply don't have the time, money, or interest in playing in two LARPs. Additionally, fighting for these players could end up hurting both games, as one of the largest problems for LARPs is a lack of NPCs.
So they developed the NPC Exchange.
Basically, I can NPC for one of the games and use the experience from that on my character in the other game.
The real benefit of this is that players only have to get costuming and such for one character, but they can enjoy both games. This also gives built in NPCs that don't really PC, so the issues around limiting the NPC information to prevent metagaming are not really a problem. Not to mention you would get more NPCs for your games, because players who only want credit in one game will have to NPC the other in order to get credit.
This really only works for smaller, more independent games, but could be utilized in larger games with enough checks and balances, and could go a long way to fixing some NPC issues that people have.
Would you NPC a second game to get experience for your primary game? Do you think this would break the experience system? Drop your opinions in the comments!
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