Breaking the Stigma: Public Service

On Friday, I talked about the ways that we can breakthrough to mainstream just like our video game cousins. I believe that the biggest hurdle we have as LARPers is the shame normally associated with our hobby. I figured it might be worth it to do a few posts on ways that we can work towards breaking that stigma.

Of course, this won't be an overnight thing. Hell, it may never break the stigma of LARPing on a national level. However, it could be very easy to break the stigma on a local level, which would help drum up support from local businesses as well as increase the playerbase.

So the first thing we can do? Public service!

LARP groups have access to one of the largest pools of free labor I've ever seen. I could easily get 10 people to help me for 4-5 hours in a soup kitchen if I offered enough imaginary points/experience/treasure/titles to those players.

Some groups (like Alliance Ohio) already do this on a much smaller level. Alliance Ohio holds service days for Lewis Arboretum where they do some work on the camp, and give experience to those who show up. This is great, and I encourage all LARP groups to do this. But this only improves our standing with the camp staff. We need to do more in the public eye in order to change this stigma.

Players: Try and arrange a group in your area to do some public service, and let the owners of your game know. Ask if they'll "sponsor" your work with character experience or some other kind of service reward. Dress alike, and ideally get shirts that show that you are a LARP group and the name of the group. Take plenty of pictures of what you do as proof of the work, as well as good PR for your game's site.

Owners: Support the players that come to you with proposals of public service. Work with them to publicize the public service. See about helping them get shirts, or even design a shirt for your organization (make sure it says LARP on there somewhere).

Hell, if we all wanted to band together in this project, we could get one basic shirt design with a spot for your particular group's logo. That way we could do joint service events and all the groups involved would get credit.

Just food for thought.

Anyone have any stories of public service within your LARP group?
Feel free to drop them in the comments.

Anyone got an idea for a public service shirt design?
Send it to me in an email at larp.plot.tips@gmail.com.

Zombies for Charity

Michael Conley, owner of NorthCoast NERO, has thrown down the gauntlet. A while back, he came up with a very basic ruleset for a modern day zombie apocalypse LARP, and he's looking to run the game again. In fact, he wants to run the game and donate proceeds to a combination of The Humane Society, The Food Bank, and The Red Cross Blood Drive.

Problem is, a zombie game without zombies is no fun. He needs zombies. In fact, he needs to know he has 50 zombies before the end of August, or he's not even going to run the game. And this is where you come in.

The rules for this game are incredibly simple.

- Melee Weapons do 1 point of damage
- Guns do 10 points of damage
- Each PC chooses a class - Soldier, Survivor, Doctor, or Opportunist
- Each class has a number of hit points, a number of lives (renewable), and 2-3 easy to use skills
- Zombies just keep popping as directed with plot, and they have only a few skills to worry about.

That's it. So what does that mean?

This game is a Transistion LARP.

So have you got a friend who's been telling you that he'd come LARP with you, but seems overwhelmed by the rules?
Here's their chance.

Maybe they're just not sure they want to take the plunge with something fantasy, but a gritty survival horror might be more of their style?
This game has (nerf) guns.

Maybe the fact that it's for a good cause would make them more likely to try it?
Tell them that they hate puppies if they don't play.

Do they always talk about how they'd survive the zombie apocalypse.
Tell them to put their money where their mouth is.

So, we're calling all cars on this one. Get everyone you can manage - your family, your friends, and possibly your co-workers - to come and either PC or be a zombie. Mike says that norms can play good zombies, but I've got a better idea. Let's all let the norms play the game as survivors, and let's be zombies for them and show them how much fun it can be to LARP.

Here is the full rule set.
Here is the thread where you should preregister.

If you're not familiar with the NCN boards, you must register with your real name, first and last, and it takes a little time for the moderator to approve your account. Hell, if you're too lazy to sign up and still want to LARP, drop something in the comments or shoot me an email at larp.plot.tips@gmail.com, and I'll preregister you.

Make me proud, bring some new players, and I will come and be a zombie with you.