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!LARP Writing Workshop

!!Atttendees

* Bee, Berndt, Andrea, Jo, Lara, Philip, Rudy, Rolf, Jeremy, Desilu,
Simon, Adrianna, Camilla, Justin, Roxy

!!Types of LARPs

* Boffer LARPs
* Theatre-style LARPs
* Gamist (plot driven)
* Immersionist (understanding what it's like to be a particular character)
* Dramatist (player objectives different to character objectives)
* Murder mystery dinners
* Campaign LARPs

!!Overview of a LARP-writing process

* Idea phase (often long; variable in length)
* Lara:
* Black Coffee Blues started with an idea for one character.
* Consequences came from the idea for a setting.
* Historical research can be a rich source of ideas.
* Simon:
* Revenge of the Yak had a giant spider diagram.
* Jo:
* Using Fiasco to generate characters.
* Co-writers are very useful for shooting down ideas.
* If you're writing alone let ideas simmer for a week -- if it
still looks good it's probably a good idea.

* Selecting number of characters.
* Gender flexible characters are very useful.
* Subtextual relationships.
* Allies are very powerful effects in LARPs.

!!Planning

* Small LARPs become implausibly connected.
* Small LARPs can be more emotionally intense.
* Selecting setting:
* Historical settings.
* Established fantasy settings.
* Homebrew setting:
* Money, travel.
* Situation and containment:
* Storms.
* Official events.
* Exploding collars.
* Phones?

!!Comparing LARPs to other forms of storytelling

* LARP writing can be beneficial for other writing forms because it
emphasises character construction.
* Writer has less control -- tight plotting is more difficult.
* Only medium where player embodies a single character.
* Collaborative -- you write characters and then give to other people
to see what they will do with it.
* Comparisons with Improv:
* Could possibly workshop characters.
* In LARPs the players are the audience.
* LARP has simulationist aspects

!!LARP gimmicks

* NPCs who die early.
* NPCs who are pseudo DMs.
* Cards:
* Silly LARPs can get great use out of cards.
* Power limit LARPs.
* A bit like designing a small card game.
* Telepathy:
* Need to define what telepathy is.
* Lots of DM work.
* Unconciousness or anything that take people out of the LARP is tricky.
* Limited resources are good.
* Envelopes:
* Can write numbers on people's name tags or on objects and let
people open their correponding numbers when they see the
numbers.
* Useful for conveying information that is trigger by events.
* Items:
* Identical items.
* When writing mechanics think about whether they require a DM.
* Players shouldn't be asking you over to talk ask about their
characters -- that should already be in there character sheets. DMs
should only be called over to handle unusual situations.
* Insane characters:
* Different world view.
* Insane asylum LARP:
* Red objects behave differently for players and for non-insane NPC
DMs.
* Food can be used as a gimmick:
* Race specific food.
* Characters bring food into the LARP with them.
* Setting specific food.
* Poison.
* Tricky because food is both in and out of character.
* Underlying world rules:
* Important to make these things clear.
* E.g. does a small mask constitute a disguise.
* Being able to call in outside help.
* Size of venue can make a big difference:
* Lighting.
* Sound.

!!LARP combat

* Rock, paper, scissors works nicely.
* Nice idea: rolls can't kill you -- players have to explicitly decide
to kill another player.
* Having non-combatants be able to influence combat, or be emotionally invested.
* Freezes:
* Keep them short.
* Enforce them properly.
* Use distance moved as time ticks rather than fixed amounts of time
(in order to discourage running / sprinting).

* ???

* Character sheets completely in-character.

!!Tropes

* Keeping two groups separate and then mixing them.
* Ships, Islands, Space stations, Submarine.
* Masters, servants, merchants (layers).

!!Anti-tropes

* Can be soft barriers to interaction, hard barriers are not good.
* Character changing:
* Suddenly losing all your goals / progress for the last hour is not fun.
* Romantic subplots.
* No real guns or knives.
* Characters who have amnesia.

!!Controlling pacing

* Finding people takes time.
* Formal negotiations take time.
* Collecing M out of N requirements.
* Resource contention.
* Players being able to delegate to other players.
* Having to interact via intermediaries.

!!Sanity-checking characters

* Broad-opened goals:
* causes, kleptomania, dependents
* Dramatist LARPs can be tricky for new characters.
* Check each characters motivation in each of their plots.
* Check difficulty of each goal.
* Mentally cast the worst person in each role.
* What would happen if you ran the LARP without each character.
* Check allies and enemies:
* Evil == minority position + self interest.
* Allies being blackmailed won't help you when you're down.
* One real ally is a good idea.
* Minions are allies.

!!Writing character sheets

* Memorable, pronouncable names.
* Titles are really helpful!
* Short forms of names are realistic and useful.
* Some people like double-spacing others don't.
* Some people like two-column.
* Name, single line archetype plus age, life history, recent events,
summary of people you know, equipment and special abilities.
* Good production -- images, nice format, booklets.
* Which information is widely known, which is secret.
* Get proof-readers.
* Preferrably not one of the writers.
* They can help DM the playtest.
* Stick blurb at front of general background if you want people to read it.
* People's first encounter with your LARP.
* Have it spell-checked. Show of your LARP.
* Mention style of LARP, seriousness.
* Writing style infuses character with personality.

!!Running a LARP

* Keep debriefing short.

Writing solo vs with co-writers.
Many characters vs few characters.
Naming characters.
Costuming.
Casting.
Gender switching.

* Book: Nordic LARPs.

* Roxy is writing a LARP about historical figures from the medical school.

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