Streetwise LARP - Musings on Conflict mechanics

[phasmaphobic]

Hey folks, I'm looking for some place to bounce around some ideas with others on some concepts I've been forming regarding revamping the rules of a LARP that I wrote and managed a few years back.  Before I go any further on this topic, I just want to probe and make sure this is the appropriate forum in which to do this (I'm new here!).

Let me know, and I'll open the discussion with some ideas.  Thanks!

[Majidah]

Hey folks, I'm looking for some place to bounce around some ideas with others on some concepts I've been forming regarding revamping the rules of a LARP that I wrote and managed a few years back.  Before I go any further on this topic, I just want to probe and make sure this is the appropriate forum in which to do this (I'm new here!).

Right forum...check!
Clever pun...check!

Bring the ideas I say!

[phasmaphobic]

Well, a quick bit of History first.  Streetwise debuted in 2001 at Dragoncon.  It was essentially a Live Action Game of Pimps and Hos.  It was created primarily to mess with the vampire larps that had taken over the convention, and also to appeal to both non-gamers and to gamers who were burnt-out on the same-old same-old.  We wore custom shirts that said "Friends don't let friends play Vampire".  Loads of fun.

For four straight years, our game featured no character numbers, stats, or other such descriptors.  You had an archetype, some Vices, one or more unique abilities, and a Pencil.  Social interactions were handled entirely through some rather awesome roleplaying, and combat was a game of pencilbreak.

Those ideas were fun, but eventually we figured they didn't really work for too long.

Now, We've revamped the sytem, starting from the ground up.  The foundations remain the same: Streetwise is a comical, tongue-in-cheek LARP about Comically-Rendered Urban Crime.  I could try to turn that into an acronym, now that I look at it, possibly some variant of "crunk."

Anyway, in this new incarnation, these are my current main goals:

• The Characters will have no numerical stats
• All systems will be based upon a social negotiation

Here's what I've got so far.  All in-game conflicts are handled in one of two ways.  The first method we call the Gentleman's Agreement.  In this revolutionary mechanic, both sides discuss the conflict and come to a resolution on their own.  We encourage this for all situations, including combat.  The second mechanic, for those moments when no compromise can be reached, is The Bid Battle.  Separate into opposing parties, and each side states what they want.  Party A makes a bid stating why they should win, Party B makes a counter-bid, and then a third-party Moderator (preferrably a complete stranger or passerby) picks the winner.  End of Conflict.

That's it, in a very tiny nutshell.  There's more, but most of it is all theoretical, pending our upcoming first-run playtests.

Thoughts?  Criticisms?  Need any clarifications?  Thanks in advance =)

[Andrew Morris]

i]why<

[phasmaphobic]

i]is my name in my signature, or at least one that I frequently use (and prefer in most online discussions).
is[/i] my name in my signature, or at least one that I frequently use (and prefer in most online discussions).

[Andrew Morris]

[phasmaphobic]

Really, I'm looking for both.  Well, now that you put it that way, what I am ultimately seeking to define is a core mechanic that is simple and interactive, and that also fits in perfectly with the core theme of the game: "biddness," backstabbing, and negotiations.  Ideally, I'd like to see that theme permeate every aspect of the game, right down to acts of violence and such.

Plus, as an added bonus, I think that in a convention setting, encouraging the players to seek random passers-by as temporary mediators could be great for advertising.  Might work especially well as such, considering many casual gamers who enter the LARP areas tend to lump all such players into the "Vamps and Canines" realm of gamers.  Again, at least I hope.