YouTube Friday: Cuneiform Tablets

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).

 Enjoy!

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It's That Time of Year: Garage Sale

Jenn and I just hosted a garage sale this weekend. The weather was fantastic, the crowds were pretty decent and the takeaway was... well less than we hoped.

But it also reminded me that Garage Sales are magical places where people can get some pretty swanky stuff for LARP. 

With it still being fairly early in the LARP season, you may have a few weekends open where you can hit some sales to see what you can find. While most of these sales are filled with crap that isn't a lot of use to people in their day-to-day lives, you can get some really great stuff on account that everything is priced to move.

Some things I look for include:

Anything Fabric
Table cloths, drapes, tapestries, whatever.  If it's something that can be used for LARP, then great.  If not, the fabric itself might make it worthwhile.  And while I'm creeped out at the idea of wearing someone else's close from a garage sale, there may be something you can do with the fabric, since clothing normally goes for next to nothing.

Dining Sets
I'm not talking full ceramic plateware, but sets of glasses, bowls, etc.  That stuff is amazing at increasing the IG atmosphere, but most of us would balk at the prospect of buying a set for $100.  You might have a chance to get something great at a low cost!

Knick-Knacks
This is pretty much the cornerstone of the garage sale.  People have way too many trinkets and stuff filling up their house, and when they say "Enough is enough," these babies make their way to the table.  A lot of them are junk, but you can also find some real gems (not literally) that could be used as props or items at your game.  And again, for a low, low price.

What do you think?  Do you hit up garage sales in hopes of finding LARP treasures?  If so, what's the best treasure you've ever found?  

YouTube Friday: Organs

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?

Enjoy!

Canvas: The High Tech Tarp

Part of this post was spurned off of my recent search for tenting, and part of it came from Zoe's post on Inexpensive Interior Decorating at CollabNarration.

I don't know about you all, but I've seen enough plastic tarps used as walls to last a life time.

Don't get me wrong. Tarps have some pretty serious function and can be used for a number of things. And you can't beat the price, so I'm not suggesting that anyone throw out all their old tarps.

But I do want to suggest another option for walls and decor - Canvas Drop Cloths.

Canvas beats out tarps in almost every category. It's easier to fold. It's easy to dye. It takes paint well. It's easily molded. It doesn't make a lot of unnecessary noise.

However, there is one striking difference between the two. Plastic tarps are significantly less expensive. You can get two tarps for the price of one drop cloth, and that doesn't come with any grommets. And if you want your canvas to be water resilient, then you'll probably have to spend more. Fire resistant, and you're talking even more.

But man, can they ever look awesome!

So if you're trying to find a way to level up your game, getting some canvas for decor might be a great thing to try. You can make some really excellent, immersive props if make the leap.

You can find canvas painter's drop cloths at any major hardware store, and they come in some large sizes. If you're not worried about using your canvas to keep water out, you could easily go with a 6 oz (rarer) or 8 oz (common) to save money and weight. If you need to protect from water, you'll probably need to move up to 10 or 12 oz stuff.

You guys have any other good ideas for props used to decor/walls?

Props to the Propnomicon

I've always been amazed at the quality of props people can make. I mean, at least people who aren't me.

Mike, one of the staff members for Invictus, sent us a link to a super sweet blog called "The Propnomicon," where they show of some awesome Lovecraftian props, ranging from floating aliens in jars to massive monster skulls and the like.

If you consider yourself an artist of sorts when it comes to prop work, I highly recommend this blog.

5 Easy Crafts That Will Improve Your Look

As you’ve noticed, Ohio LARPers, it’s cold outside. That means we stay indoors more than usual, and wait until the season really goes into gear. But there are things you can do to keep up your LARP cred in the off season, as you might have read in previous posts. Some things require more crafting ability than others, but here are a few things that are cheap and can be done by anyone – and will make you look totally 1337! :)

1.) Be-Dazzle Your Documents – Chances are your character could be carrying some sort of paper. It could be your formal rituals, a noble writ, a mercenary company charter, or even a book of in-game notes. It’s easy to just print things out, or not have a copy of them at all, but try taking some time to create some cool-looking phys reps. Put things on a paper stock that is thematic to your character – sparkles for fae, natural fibers for nature types, even use transparencies for futuristic settings (paper making is fairly easy, if you want to get into a new craft). And don’t stop there – try using different colored inks and including sketches or other additions. With the scrapbooking boom, you can go to any craft store and get stuff to stick on paper; or to attach to your books and scroll cases. And wax seals are easy to find online.

2.) Customize Your Weapons – A few modifications can go a long way (as long as they’re safe). Add a colored grip to your boffer made of yarn or scraps of leather or fabric. Glue jewels or other additions to your hilt. If you’ve got patience, you can cut out designs in duct tape and just tape them right on to your weapon. Try painting, too. You can add a design to your hilt or even flames and other effects to the blade. And of course, with a shield you’ve got a blank canvas ready to go! If you use fabric covered boffers, fabric paint is easy to buy, or just get a unique fabric. LARPs that use guns allow for a lot of modification – paint your wood so that you have a pearl grip, add a few copper coils for the steampunk look, or maybe even some lights for sci-fi. And any weapon can look cooler by adding runes or symbols to it.

3.) Tech Your Gear – Add convenience to your costume by making some easy-access pouches or holders for scrolls, components, tags, potions, and other commonly used items. Strips of elastic or cord can be threaded through a cuff or other material and tied off to make an easy vial holder. You can tie it onto your wrist, or just hang it off your belt. Some people put plastic envelopes on the back of their shields to hold scrolls, etc – consider if you could benefit from that. Now’s the time to make some separate containers so you can stop digging through your main pouch for things! A fabric pouch is easy to make out of scraps, and you can sew it yourself. It doesn’t need to look super fabulous, as long as it makes your life easier.

4.) Jazz Up Your Jewelry – Still wearing plastic Mardi Gras beads to rep your magic items? Make a few more period items to use as your reps. Craft stores offer hemp, leather, and even chains in their jewelry making section. You can find beads and pendants of every kind, and they go on sale regularly. You can go to thrift and antique stores and get some costume jewelry. If the whole thing is a bit much, you can always take them apart and just use the parts you like. You can even paint things like buttons, or check out your hardware store. Try Ebay for lot sales of buttons and beads, and for things like watch gears. As a tip, LARP jewelry often works best when it’s a little bigger or brighter than what you’d normally wear – otherwise it just looks like your rl stuff. :)

5.) Add More Reps – Accessories are everything! If you have a character with a craft, gather up some things to put out at game to show what you do. I mentioned papers and inks, etc., for paper-related crafts. If you’re a potion maker, get some cheap glass bottles and jars and fill them with various substances. You can use spices from the grocery, bath products, or just colored water. You can even use these kinds of reps for in-game alchemy (it will also help you tell them apart at a glance!). Maybe your character tells fortunes – make your own cards, rune stones, or even bones out of things you can find at craft stores and a little paint. If you’re more modern, consider getting some old tools (or new ones) and modifying them or just painting them to carry around. Your character just hits things? What about repping combat trophies? It doesn't have to be icky (or it could be) - you could rep a tablet or other item where you mark how many kills you've made. You don’t need a whole box full of gear, unless you want it, but a few additions to carry with you can really round out your character.

Got more ideas for easy LARP crafts?

YouTube Friday: MP3 Experiment

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.

Enjoy!

Off-Season Kit Work

We're at the point in the season where people begin to start putting their gear away for the season. Due to all the holidays and winter weather (at least here in Ohio), numbers start to dwindle at events. So, if you're planning on putting your LARP stuff away for a few months, now is a great time to do some maintenance on your kit.

Weapons

Can you feel pipe? This may seem obvious, but it's something you need to check. Sometimes people have weapons that are borderline, but end up using them at events because they don't have a spare. Now is the time to be extra critical of your weapons. If there's any doubt that it's safe, it might be time for a rebuild.

Even if the rest of the weapon is fine, you should check and see if it would be worth replacing the tip of the weapon. Even in games without thrusting tips, most hits are along the top 6" to 8" of the weapon. Sometimes replacing that part is worthwhile, even if it hasn't yet become unsafe.

Sometimes the cloth covers on boffer weapons get pretty ragged after a season of play. It's fairly easy to make a new one for your weapon, and now is as good a time as any.

Unfortunately, if you use Duct Tape, if the tape goes south, there's not a lot you can do apart from a full rebuild. If it's starting to get too rigid or too dry, you might have some work to do.

Costume

In regards to Kit, is anything ripped or torn? Maybe it's something that's not critical now, but if left alone might cause a catastrophic failure in the costume. Now's the time to bust it out and do some stitch/patch work on your duds.

Are there any accessories that you've been meaning to make/buy? Now might be the time to give it a shot. Set a goal for the one or two things that you really want to try, and give it an honest go. You can't get better at prop/kit work without actual practice. Now's the time.

My goal is working on a new costume for Exiles. It might be biting off more than I can chew, but I'm going to give it a shot.

What's your off-season kit goal?

Represent

No, this isn't a post about gang affiliations. Instead, it's a post about immersion.

I have had this conversation a few times with Mickey (from Larpcast), and over time my opinion has been molded a fair amount. And it's something that isn't shared a lot in this region of the country.

You see, we tend to prefer high fantasy and rely on a lot of imagination in Ohio.

But while imagination is good, it's actually counter to game immersion.

You see, immersion is the act of a person losing their self awareness based on perceived surroundings. You know, things that you see/hear/feel, not things that you imagine. So when someone says "you see a 9 foot troll," while it might help players with a good imagination to understand the situation a give an appropriate reaction, it doesn't help create the emotions (fear/joy/pride) that's normally associated with players who are immersed in the game.

I thought about this on a recent post where people were talking about roleplaying with animals. While I'm a staunch supporter of players resorting to RP in many situations, I simply don't care for extended use of NPCs as animals. Because they don't look, move, or act like animals (unless there's a particularly good costume). So while you are improving the imagination of the world, your actually harming immersion. Bringing things like this to the forefront just means it impacts the immersion of more players.

Just something to think about next time you send in an NPC to play something without actually looking like that creature.

National Day After Halloween Day

Hooray Everyone! I hope you had a fun and eventful Halloween. But don't worry. You didn't miss the important holiday.

The Day after Halloween.

Halloween is the one night where regular men and women can dress up as whatever fantasy creation they want to be, and they pay big bucks. Supposedly "normal" people litter their lawn with spooky (although sometimes cheesy) decorations. And now, the normal people want nothing to do with Halloween.

It's a LARPers dream.

So go forth and plunder all the Halloween stores for the upcoming LARP year! Make up, costuming, and accessories like rope lights could be on heavy discount, and you should take advantage of that.

I, however, am stuck in Phoenix. Someone get me some rope lights!

What are you hoping to plunder after Halloween?

Electronic Puzzles

One of the best things about playing a game with some form of technology (Steampunk/Modern/Post Apocalyptic) is that you can turn your riddles into electronic puzzles to be solved by the PCs. I used one at the last Exiles event and it worked well.

The big benefit of a puzzle like this is that you can have a trigger that doesn't need to be marshaled. You can simply use terminals for a key code or a 1 in x chance to pick the right answer (that's what I did). It's great for immersion and if done correctly, doesn't need a hands on marshal or a break in play.

Of course, I may be biased in favor of electronic puzzles. I am an Electrical Engineer after all.

The one I used had six terminals, one of which turned on a light bulb and played a pulsed buzz. The five wrong ones would simply play a constant buzz, so I would know from a distance what happened and could react accordingly. If I was at home, I'd include a picture of the prop, but alas, I'm in NY/NJ this week.

The Inside Man

I'm surprised I've never talked specifically about this topic, but the last event I was at gave me an idea. I'm going to get a sweet looking book, cut out the insides, and make a mount for my phone. Why?

Because I want to be able to give plot a heads up whenever people are doing things without having to go to monster camp.

I've always given praise to the games that utilize smartphones, but normally those games have a reason to allow the use of them IG. But what about using them in an OOG capacity to reduce logistics?

Now, when I say inside man, I don't mean playing an NPC that's interacting with the PCs. This is strictly a PC who keeps a way to contact plot on his person at any given time. They should only use this whenever they're out of sight of other players or in some other capacity, or go out of their way to make it look IG so texting doesn't break the immersion of others.

What do you think of this plan?

YouTube Friday: Dragon on Stilts

It's hard to find decent LARP videos these days. I sometimes feel like I've gone through all the good ones. There's a number of parodies that make fun of LARP, but in all honestly, the quality isn't really that good.

However, I did find this video of a guy fighting on jumping stilts. I always thought it would be neat to incorporate a pair of jumping stilts as a tool to use in certain situations, but the fact of the matter is that none of the games I play in use a flat field, and using those at the camps would be asking to get hurt.

Still, I would love to fight something like this.

Enjoy!

YouTube Friday: How to Make a Mask

Guess what? MOAR PROP STUFF!

This is a big roundabout adventure around me working that Sintra armor. I've been messing with it, and it really is a nice medium. However, I was wondering if there was a way for me to make it into a robotic mask, but I realized I would probably need to get a mold of my face.

Which led me to this little gem. This actually looks a lot easier than I once thought (not in a "your job is easy" way but in the way that I never thought it would be accessable). It's also not nearly as expensive as I once thought. The only thing stopping me at this point is that I have to wait for Christmas (to get gifts), and the fact that I'm not as artistic as I could be.

But either way, check out this 5 step instruction video on how to make masks.

Enjoy!

Favorite Prop

I have been on a kick lately about props. As such, I figure it's probably appropriate to ask the readers about their favorite prop that they've ever seen/made for a LARP game.

My Favorite Prop - Two and a half years ago, we had the season/town finale at Exiles. Devil's Perch just had the worst two days of it's life, between the deadly smallpox outbreak, brutal zombie assault, and crazy preacher with a bomb threatening to blow up the town.

That bomb prop was ridiculous. From what I've been told, it was a built-up version of an operation game (it was so well done I had no idea), with layer upon layer of metal pieces that had to be removed in a specific order to prevent it from going off. Each time it buzzed, a card was drawn from a deck to see the effect. If the Ace of spades was pulled, then it was good game for all the PCs (yes, they were prepared for a full town wipe).

Definitely an invigorating module, and probably one of the best modules I've been on in my 11 years of LARPing.

What's your favorite prop?

One Great Prop

One thing that I've found to be more and more valuable as a plot person is the level of immersion that can be generated from quality props. Now, I've always known that a module that's filled with quality props is better than one with no props.

But did you know that one spectacular prop can really drive a module home in terms of immersion?

Running a game takes time behind the scenes. If you try and do props for everything, you're either going to go insane working up props or the quality of the props is going to suffer.

Instead, pick one major prop that will be the focus of a module. This could be a costume, an item, the scenery, or even a monologue of some sort. Just make it look as professional and realistic as possible.

This one prop sets the mood for the entire module. If you make your prop creepy and scary, the players will focus on it and be creeped out. If you intend to make it humorous, the players will focus on the comedic value of the module. If you intend for something to be serious or dramatic, your focus will help push that home.

Often I see modules that try to do too many things at once, prop wise. You don't want the PCs to be distracted from the fear and intrigue that comes with a (fake) blood covered book filled with strange runes by the NPC who's costume is flashy and ironic. Pick a style and run with it.

So next time you sit down to write a module, pick a theme and ask yourself what one prop could really evoke that feeling from your players. Focus on making that prop as strong as it can be before you worry about the other props on that module.

YouTube Friday: Sintra Armor

One of the persona's I'm investigating playing in Exiles requires some pretty intense costuming, which includes a fair amount of armor that you can't take off. Since we play the game during the summer, I'm trying to find lightweight and cool alternatives to make the costume. And I was told to look into Sintra.

Sintra is the brand name for PVC board, which has a pretty unique and ideal quality for armor. Basically, it is malleable whenever it's hot, and is rigid when it cools back down. This allows for you to custom fit it on the body (or on a mold). Additionally, it's quite thin and it's pretty light, which helps us dramatically. My only concern is whether it will hold up or not under LARPing conditions, but we'll only know if we try.

If you're interested in using it like I was, you'll probably find a bunch of videos on YouTube about making Mandalorian armor, because everyone wants to be a Fett.

Anyways, here's the most helpful video I've found on the subject so far. Mad props for showing the use of rub and buff to make it look metallic.

Enjoy!

Trap Trigger - Pressure Plate

Alright, now that I've used them I have no problem talking about the design I made for a pressure plate trap trigger.

It uses the basic pressure plate concept, where there are two solid pieces with some sort of material that compresses in between. The trigger itself was a dog toy squeaker, but there are a number of electrical triggers that could also be used on something like this.

The reason we use two solid pieces is to allow for uniform compression when any part is stepped on. In the past we just used the squeakers, but they're awfully small and easy to lose. This trap basically created a 4" x 4" squeaker trap.

For the two outer pieces, I used the backing for an electrical outlet box. For the inner piece, I used the standard blue camp foam which I attached with tape and spray adhesive. I had to cut out a shape to allow for the squeaker and a path for the air/sound to escape. I taped it up with black gaffer's tape, and used that as the hinge between the top and bottom.

After all was said and done, the trigger cost about $1.50 - $2.00 to make (not including the squeaker), but has nice heft, is easy to set up, and is small enough to be hard to find, and is simple to disarm. All things I like to have in a LARP trap.

I'll try and get some pictures later so you can see the results.

Prop Magic: Glo Away

For those of you who were at the Exiles event last weekend, you might already know about my favorite new prop trick that I used on the mimic mod.

Glo Away by Plaid

This stuff is not that expensive and it glows like nobody's business. This paint was originally made for kids to have fun with at sleepovers, but isn't that really what a LARP is? It's non-toxic and can be washed off with soap and water. I had a module where I was supposed to have a weird looking blur face, and when the white makeup didn't show up in the black light, I just put some of this on my face. It really showed up well and freaked some people out.

I can just imagine putting it on a black shirt to rep bones for a skeleton (it glows kind of green though), filling test tubes with it for that freaky glowing liquid effect, or doing any number of other jobs with it.

Go get some!

Traps in LARP

Most games utilize traps in some form or another, but it's often a difficult task to perform. Usually, the set up for a trap is too time consuming or complex to be worthwhile. Additionally, a lot of games make it difficult for the player to utilize traps (they just encounter them, instead).

I'm in the process of making a very simple trigger for a trap, and I'm hoping that it makes it easier to set up, so we can use traps more often.

So, as a question, how does your game handle traps?

- Are they a rare occurrence or are they frequently used?

- Do PCs get to use them often, or are they just another encounter that the players have to beat?

- Do you use realistic traps with realistic ways of disarming it, or do you have simulated triggers with puzzles the players have to solve?

I'm just interested in seeing how traps work in various games. Drop your opinions in the comments!