Carnage Con went off without a hitch this year. I arrived at Lake Morey at noon on Friday. Checked in, and got set up for my first game. I ran a 10th level module for D&D 3.5, bring your own Character. I ran from the hip, using an old campaign world that I was familiar with. Got three players and we had a blast. I ran this game 3 times over the weekend. Different group every time. Different situation every time. It's interesting to see how different people approach gaming. I had a group of 30 somethings who were all zap kapow throughout the adventure. They maintained the pace just fine on their own, and I got to throw sick shit at them. Everything from a Giant football game, to an elaborate demon trap where they rescue the succubus. She later almost ate them.
The second group I ran for I sent into the sewers after a goblin thieve's guild. They weren't so spry, but they chugged through the myriad of traps and rounds and rounds of goblin archery like a bunch of champs. One of them, the cat person, died toward the end and got reincarnated as a rhino. From Cat person to Rhino. Epic. Then they ran into the beholder, a mere gauth, and one of them ran away. It all went downhill from there.
The final group was a mother and son team, and some deep one kid from somewhere unsavory. He didn't communicate with me, the other two players, or himself. His character died too right at the end. They ended up on the top of a roof with three vrocks completing their dance of ruin. They ran and leapt off the roof Die Hard style. I was pretty proud.
I also ran a Labrynth Lord pick up game on Saturday. It was pretty fun. 3 newish players trying to figure out how to weaponize a potion that inflates pigs into balloons (thanks Zach). There was a couple there and he was pretty whipped.
The only game I played all weekend was a Dark Heresy game. There's something wrong with a game system that doesn't respect bullets. When you can put 7 rounds of accurate shooting into a dude and nothing comes of it what the fucks the point? Oh but that guy with the chainsword? He's cutting limbs off like nothing. Someone at GW needs to watch some Mythbusters or Deadliest Warrior or something to see how much damage bullets ACTUALLY do to stuff compared to choppy things. Just sayin.
All in all a blast of a weekend. Got two free buffet's. Some fancy dice with dice inside of them. And ate some winning BBQ brisket. Shazam.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
The problems with running a good LARP quest
One of the problems that you run into in a LARP that you don't generally run into around the table is the afflictio of too many Main characters. In every gaming group most of the people at the table are main characters. Some players like to hang back and crush monsters, or work the puzzles, or just listen to some good narration. There are ways to get them into the main stream and spot light, but it's not necessarily their thing. In a LARP you've got a whole field of players, and with rare exception, every one wants to be the hero.
If you've ever listened to a bunch of people's booring fucking origin stories this is pretty evident. They are rare half vampire/werewolf hybrids from space who trained at kung fu monestaries for centuries even though they don't really fight very well. Get ten of these guys together and leave them to their own devices and hilarity ensues.
One of the easiest ways to deal with it is not to deal with it. You write the quest without considering anyone's background or perspective. You pointedly ignore any self centered drama. This works great for the quest, but does it satisfy the players? Deep down probably not, and those poor emo kids are going to feel some ennui about the whole thing.
Another technique is to stoke them up about their hero hood and get a high 5, then pointedly ignore it. This will accomplish the same thing questwize but will trick most players into thinking their special little snowflake was properly considered in the grand scheme of things.
Or you can cater to everyone individually. This is exhausting. In large groups you can just cater to the leaders, and get by pretty swell. Someone might blog about it later, or write an indie song, but in generall it won't effect your Quest at all.
One of the lessons I've learned from some of the high end pay to play LARPS, like Nero, or Steam and Cinders is not to worry about it. Just work on the setting, get out of the way of the players, provide opportunities to role play, use funny voices, and let the players handle that demographic all by themselves. Quiet players will rise to the front when warrented, and support the mains the rest of the time. Leaders will lead, followers will follow. You need a good staff for this, so take some extra time and educate your minions before the quest begins. Pay attention to what the players are doing. Make adjustments based on their needs, and things should turn out ok.
Do not throw a fit because your precious main bad guy isn't the prettiest.
If you've ever listened to a bunch of people's booring fucking origin stories this is pretty evident. They are rare half vampire/werewolf hybrids from space who trained at kung fu monestaries for centuries even though they don't really fight very well. Get ten of these guys together and leave them to their own devices and hilarity ensues.
One of the easiest ways to deal with it is not to deal with it. You write the quest without considering anyone's background or perspective. You pointedly ignore any self centered drama. This works great for the quest, but does it satisfy the players? Deep down probably not, and those poor emo kids are going to feel some ennui about the whole thing.
Another technique is to stoke them up about their hero hood and get a high 5, then pointedly ignore it. This will accomplish the same thing questwize but will trick most players into thinking their special little snowflake was properly considered in the grand scheme of things.
Or you can cater to everyone individually. This is exhausting. In large groups you can just cater to the leaders, and get by pretty swell. Someone might blog about it later, or write an indie song, but in generall it won't effect your Quest at all.
One of the lessons I've learned from some of the high end pay to play LARPS, like Nero, or Steam and Cinders is not to worry about it. Just work on the setting, get out of the way of the players, provide opportunities to role play, use funny voices, and let the players handle that demographic all by themselves. Quiet players will rise to the front when warrented, and support the mains the rest of the time. Leaders will lead, followers will follow. You need a good staff for this, so take some extra time and educate your minions before the quest begins. Pay attention to what the players are doing. Make adjustments based on their needs, and things should turn out ok.
Do not throw a fit because your precious main bad guy isn't the prettiest.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Labyrinth Lord with hipsters
I just ran a game of Labyrinth Lord with some friends of mine. Holy crap that was fun. The system got right the fuck out of my way and let me run a fun game. The PCs inspected some stone pylons that erupted through the ground and fought some goblins, because every good D&D games starts with goblin fights right? Then some stirges and a trip home for some oil to wipe out the stirge nest.
Good times.
Good times.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Cults cults cults.
I'm part of a preparedness network here in Manchester. One of the things we like to do is reach out to other preppers and share resources, bulk deals, skills, etc...On a not so recent trip to Concord we met up with a group called 2012 and beyond. The lady who runs the group immediately began talking about multidimensional invasions and a death star. It was pretty wild. For the record I went with Survival John who's a devout and true Christian. At one point the Christian and the Atheist slowly turn to each other and decide this lady is bonkers. Check out their site, Wacky Space Friends. Read through it if you like, but it's not easy. I visited their site thinking I could use this wild amazing story in a RPG I was running, but the site isn't laid out very well. You probably have to go to their special school in order to understand it properly. That's how they get you of course. Long boring marathon indoctrination sessions where they wear you down voluntarily. The scary thing is how this poor conditioned woman would absolutely defend this fiction as science. She even claimed to be, herself, a physicist, and said that the aliens shared new kinds of science that backed up their claims.
The story in a nut shell (as far as I got before getting bored by the horrible layout) is that aliens found metal tablets of some kind on earth 200k + years ago and formed a guardianship over the information. They select "speakers" before conception to teach this info to humans in modern time. There are several other alien races that are naughty and try to usurp our spiritual resources. I can't figure out why though.
I plan on revisiting this woman's group in 2013 and asking her what the new story is though. Bear in mind that through the entire meet and greet John and I were nothing but polite and friendly. We did not insult, or belittle this woman. We offered to share our knowledge and skills towards any preps that don't involve our spiritual essences. Hopefully she'll meet with us again, and I'll post about it at that time.
The story in a nut shell (as far as I got before getting bored by the horrible layout) is that aliens found metal tablets of some kind on earth 200k + years ago and formed a guardianship over the information. They select "speakers" before conception to teach this info to humans in modern time. There are several other alien races that are naughty and try to usurp our spiritual resources. I can't figure out why though.
I plan on revisiting this woman's group in 2013 and asking her what the new story is though. Bear in mind that through the entire meet and greet John and I were nothing but polite and friendly. We did not insult, or belittle this woman. We offered to share our knowledge and skills towards any preps that don't involve our spiritual essences. Hopefully she'll meet with us again, and I'll post about it at that time.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Retro gaming, and some political advice
I just picked up a copy of Labrynth Lord (Which you can find here Goblinoid Games) And I'm dying to run it. I have a GURPS Supers game running toward a conclusion, so I think it'll be next. What is so attractive about such an antiquated system?
1) Relative simplicity. Lucky for me a lot of the gamers in my gaming group are new gamers. They haven't played hard core 3.5 or something all encompassing. LL uses classic rules that are easy to pick up, and get out of the way of the RP.
2) Nostalgia. For me especially. These rules are based on the original D&D basic and advanced rules, with some sensible twists. It's like that scene in Ratatouille at the end where the crotchety food critic takes a bite and is blown back into his childhood. I love it when that happens. Maybe I'll wear diapers while we play.
3) Power Gamer resistant. One of the players in my GURPS supers game can copy all of his friends powers. In order to make the game challenging for HIM I have to up the ante for everyone. This is a pain in the ass, and it's really hard to do in LL. In fact the level system in LL makes things really easy to scale for the entire group.
4) The downloadable Character Sheets are just friggin awesome. There are pillars on either side of the info, a troll in the upper right corner. A place for a character sketch. A CHARACTER SKETCH! When was the last time you made a character sketch for no other reason than there's a spot on your sheet to do so?
So yeah. I'm totally rocking this game next. And yes Zach, I'm ripping off your Giga Dungeon Idea for a setting.
And now, as promised, political advice. Stop electing the same assholes who lie to you every week. Stop checking R or D on your voting documents. Stop hiring professional Politicians. None of you are politicians. Why would you want a politician to represent you? Politicians lie to you so that you will elect them. They prey on our short attention spans. Their only job skill is getting elected. Hire people who do what you do. Vote in good local reps who actually represent human beings. End of rant.
1) Relative simplicity. Lucky for me a lot of the gamers in my gaming group are new gamers. They haven't played hard core 3.5 or something all encompassing. LL uses classic rules that are easy to pick up, and get out of the way of the RP.
2) Nostalgia. For me especially. These rules are based on the original D&D basic and advanced rules, with some sensible twists. It's like that scene in Ratatouille at the end where the crotchety food critic takes a bite and is blown back into his childhood. I love it when that happens. Maybe I'll wear diapers while we play.
3) Power Gamer resistant. One of the players in my GURPS supers game can copy all of his friends powers. In order to make the game challenging for HIM I have to up the ante for everyone. This is a pain in the ass, and it's really hard to do in LL. In fact the level system in LL makes things really easy to scale for the entire group.
4) The downloadable Character Sheets are just friggin awesome. There are pillars on either side of the info, a troll in the upper right corner. A place for a character sketch. A CHARACTER SKETCH! When was the last time you made a character sketch for no other reason than there's a spot on your sheet to do so?
So yeah. I'm totally rocking this game next. And yes Zach, I'm ripping off your Giga Dungeon Idea for a setting.
And now, as promised, political advice. Stop electing the same assholes who lie to you every week. Stop checking R or D on your voting documents. Stop hiring professional Politicians. None of you are politicians. Why would you want a politician to represent you? Politicians lie to you so that you will elect them. They prey on our short attention spans. Their only job skill is getting elected. Hire people who do what you do. Vote in good local reps who actually represent human beings. End of rant.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Trip back to Amtgard
Today I went back to Amtgard for the day. I've taken a couple of months off, and it seems to have cleared the BS out of the game, for me anyways. I like this pace. I show up, kick some ass, and go hang out with peeps elsewhere. This makes me wonder if more LARPers should do this at their games. Hanging out in Nashua, I see a lot of people hashing out in character stuff over coffee at Denny's, or even out at a bar. I don't get it, I mean, there are movies about giant robots that you could be talking about. It's healthy to unplug. It's good for you to get out of the game for a while, then when you get back in, your perspective is clearer. You remember how to have fun.
There's stress in a LARP. In no other type of game are you under the pressures that a LARP puts on you, especially a boffer LARP. YOU are the character in a LARP. There's no miniature to rep you, no character sheet, except maybe in Nero or something, but you're still repping that sheet. When people picture your character, no matter weather your a half turtle demon, or space vampire, they're going to picture you, in your LARP outfit. The things your character does in a LARP will reflect directly on you. Failure can't be blamed on a bad roll, you have to own it, because it was you who didn't measure up to the situation. Of course, it works the other way. Winners are revered out of game, kind of like great athletes. What all this ads up to is pressure. Kids who LARP can be really hard on themselves for in game stuff. Because actual live people appear to be counting on your abilities. Over time players loose that "just having fun" feeling, and start doing work.
Don't get me wrong. Having people count on you is good for your self esteem, and is in itself fun. You have to know when and how the scales tip over into work. When that happens taking a break for a few weeks can reboot the whole situation, get you back into the fun of the game, and make things feel as righteously silly as dressing up like a warrior, and swinging a padded sword is supposed to be. So take a look at your game. Are you stressing out about a big battle. Maybe you can take a break. Your LARP friends will understand, and if they don't, maybe they need to take a break with you.
There's stress in a LARP. In no other type of game are you under the pressures that a LARP puts on you, especially a boffer LARP. YOU are the character in a LARP. There's no miniature to rep you, no character sheet, except maybe in Nero or something, but you're still repping that sheet. When people picture your character, no matter weather your a half turtle demon, or space vampire, they're going to picture you, in your LARP outfit. The things your character does in a LARP will reflect directly on you. Failure can't be blamed on a bad roll, you have to own it, because it was you who didn't measure up to the situation. Of course, it works the other way. Winners are revered out of game, kind of like great athletes. What all this ads up to is pressure. Kids who LARP can be really hard on themselves for in game stuff. Because actual live people appear to be counting on your abilities. Over time players loose that "just having fun" feeling, and start doing work.
Don't get me wrong. Having people count on you is good for your self esteem, and is in itself fun. You have to know when and how the scales tip over into work. When that happens taking a break for a few weeks can reboot the whole situation, get you back into the fun of the game, and make things feel as righteously silly as dressing up like a warrior, and swinging a padded sword is supposed to be. So take a look at your game. Are you stressing out about a big battle. Maybe you can take a break. Your LARP friends will understand, and if they don't, maybe they need to take a break with you.
Friday, July 29, 2011
In the beginning
A brief introduction. I'm Al. I live in a small city in New Hampshire. I own a pit bull terrier. I game. I'm a prepper. And I'm fascinated with hacking people.
New Hampshire is pretty boring. We've got a song that should catch you up here. Aside from all that there isn't much to do, and consequently we have more LARPs than anywhere else in the country. This is where the Appalachian trail starts to get hard. I've traveled a bit in order to gain some perspective, and reprieve from all the friggin trees. But here is where I live and here is where I'll probably die, maybe in some kind of freak ice fishing accident. I can hope.
My dog Belle is adorable. She's a killing machine fueled on the innocent blood of christian children, but she wiggles when she wags her tail so that's all good. Anyone will tell you she's the best dog in the world, even people who hate dogs. She will not bite, even when she gets bitten, which is good because she can reduce the knee bone of a buffallo to dust in 45 minutes or so. Before I even began looking for a dog I immersed myself in dog learnins for over two years. I have always had dogs, and they've been pretty well behaved, but I decided this dog would get the best education and live the best life I could imagine for a dog. I think I'm doing very well. I can take any problem dog and turn it into a well behaved family member, as long as the owners listen to my advice. All this, and without a thick Latin accent.
I have a strong imagination, and I run and play a number of role playing games. I LARP, and have recently gotten into the SCA. I love to run sandbox style campagns, though I'll step out of that and railroad a new group until they get to know each other and start to walk on their own. It's a lot like raising children I suppose. Only with more whining.
Unlike most gamers I prefer to spend time outside. In order to do this on my own terms I've had to learn a number of bush skills. I'm no Cody Lundin, but I get by. The more practical side of survival has creeped into my interests. I maintain at least 4 months of food and water in the house, raise my own tilapia, and know how to build a machine shop from scratch, as well as a wood gas powered generator to run it. I'm currently teaching myself ham radio. If you haven't realized it by now, I'm a bit of an autodidact.
I can also spin a tale. I'm good at reading people, and have learned the ancient hacker art of social engineering. I'm hip to some of the less savory truths about people, and prefer to believe what I can see, rather than what I want to actually be there. I'm a fan of every wizards rule.
More to come.
New Hampshire is pretty boring. We've got a song that should catch you up here. Aside from all that there isn't much to do, and consequently we have more LARPs than anywhere else in the country. This is where the Appalachian trail starts to get hard. I've traveled a bit in order to gain some perspective, and reprieve from all the friggin trees. But here is where I live and here is where I'll probably die, maybe in some kind of freak ice fishing accident. I can hope.
My dog Belle is adorable. She's a killing machine fueled on the innocent blood of christian children, but she wiggles when she wags her tail so that's all good. Anyone will tell you she's the best dog in the world, even people who hate dogs. She will not bite, even when she gets bitten, which is good because she can reduce the knee bone of a buffallo to dust in 45 minutes or so. Before I even began looking for a dog I immersed myself in dog learnins for over two years. I have always had dogs, and they've been pretty well behaved, but I decided this dog would get the best education and live the best life I could imagine for a dog. I think I'm doing very well. I can take any problem dog and turn it into a well behaved family member, as long as the owners listen to my advice. All this, and without a thick Latin accent.
I have a strong imagination, and I run and play a number of role playing games. I LARP, and have recently gotten into the SCA. I love to run sandbox style campagns, though I'll step out of that and railroad a new group until they get to know each other and start to walk on their own. It's a lot like raising children I suppose. Only with more whining.
Unlike most gamers I prefer to spend time outside. In order to do this on my own terms I've had to learn a number of bush skills. I'm no Cody Lundin, but I get by. The more practical side of survival has creeped into my interests. I maintain at least 4 months of food and water in the house, raise my own tilapia, and know how to build a machine shop from scratch, as well as a wood gas powered generator to run it. I'm currently teaching myself ham radio. If you haven't realized it by now, I'm a bit of an autodidact.
I can also spin a tale. I'm good at reading people, and have learned the ancient hacker art of social engineering. I'm hip to some of the less savory truths about people, and prefer to believe what I can see, rather than what I want to actually be there. I'm a fan of every wizards rule.
More to come.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)