Differences in writing 'adventures' for LARPs vs. Tabletop.

[IndigoDreamer]

P.S....

My belief is you should have a "mutable baseline" for the plot and be prepared to adapt to plot changes, which may end up speeding up or slowing down events

Absolutely!

I don't think you can completely get away from plot in a LARP.  I know this has been mentioned before but willingness to change in mid-game is important.  You can plan ahead, even on a minute level, especially if you know what type of characters everyone is playing before (i.e., they had to submit a completed sheet or concept for your approval.)  However, you can't plan for everything.

You run into the debate of the advantages and disadvantages of preplanning vs improv. at this point.

You've explained a bit more bluntly what I was trying to get at earlier when I was talking about 'world creation and plot' versus story.

The best stories have more content than anyone should see within a single gameplay.   They grow; and there is always more there to pull from, and adapting to grow with and from player plot.    For lack of a better idea of how to explain, imagine throwing a bunch of seeds into a pot; the seeds are meant to grow itno a big vine.   Mice eat a few of them and they are gone, but meanwhile, the seeds spread out while being accessed and suddenly you've got alot of ivy vines with the original vines there to stem off of.

A difference with writing for table vs larp is that you just have ALOT more of those vines to handle; and need provide sufficient seeds to give the 'storyteller' what they need to keep the vines growing.

Perhaps not very elequent, but that's my thoughts!

[museleading]

You were talking about differing power levels within the LARP.  I help run a monthly LARP with differing power levels.  The game is about gods inbweing mortals with powers.  Different gods can imbue the same mortal.  The mortal minimum is 25%.  A god can then imbue from 25% to 75%.  The chrs which are 25% mortal, 75% gods are _much_ more powerful than the 25% mortal, 25% god chrs.

The reason this works in the game (going on for a year now) is that there are more disadvantages the higher % the chrs go.  low % gods can use technology, high % can not.  As GMs we make sure there are plots which must be solved in ways other than pure power.

So while some chrs can level a building, in the game this is not always the best thing to have.  So long as the in game balance continues, the differing power levels are merely setting, not something which translates into ingame power.

[mneme]

Sorry for going dark for a few weeks -- needed to GAFIATE.  Apology accepted, sean.

Lisa and I are talking about the same game -- we've got fairly extensive experience in "Theater Style" games, minimal (but existent) experience in campaign-style WW-type games, no experience in campaign style live combat games, and a single solitary experience in a pure murder mystery game.

(that said, TS games have a very large variation in how much information is revealed within the game, though it's usually handled organically through the narrative rather than as instant flashbacks).

Yes, it has helped me some.  I don't think you can completely get away from plot in a LARP.  I know this has been mentioned before but willingness to change in mid-game is important.  You can plan ahead, even on a minute level, especially if you know what type of characters everyone is playing before (i.e., they had to submit a completed sheet or concept for your approval.)  However, you can't plan for everything.

This is even true in the TS games I'm most familiar with -- where the GMs have written the characters, the opposing characters, the background -- everything; where what the players bring is their interpretation to 5+ page character backgrounds and personalities.  The problem is made -worse- if the GMs assume something that hasn't actually happened -will- happen, that the players won't go their own way once they hit the interface of the game.

[Lisa Padol]

This is even true in the TS games I'm most familiar with -- where the GMs have written the characters, the opposing characters, the background -- everything; where what the players bring is their interpretation to 5+ page character backgrounds and personalities.  The problem is made -worse- if the GMs assume something that hasn't actually happened -will- happen, that the players won't go their own way once they hit the interface of the game.

Yah. In extreme cases, GMs may try to force it, which is generally a bad idea.

We're also developing a taxonomy of failure modes for a larp, both in general and for specific player types. (E.g., Character X may be fine for Player A, but would bore Player B to tears. Now, for a group of strangers, how do you tweak a questionnaire to identify your As and Bs?).

We're also working on the second Hot Tub larp, scheduled to run at this year's DexCon, Saturday, 9-12. Very basic, very minimal, as the character sheet fits on the back of a laminated badge.

-Lisa

[Ron Edwards]

Hi folks,

When a thread hits this many pages with only a few participants, it's probably time to take the discussion to a private venue.

It was an interesting topic and a lot of people said neat stuff, so this isn't a shut-down based on anything awful. The time has come, that's all.

Best, Ron