Big Damn Heroes...
This weekend is the 3rd event of the Serenity\Firefly LARP that I'm helping run. The first was last year and it was really an experiment and was going to be a one shot. But it seemed like something completely different than most LARPS, which are set in the past, medieval for the most part. This one is set in our own future. A little background in case you've been under a rock and haven't seen either. The world is just about 500 years into the future, the earth has been basically "used up" and humanity has been forced to terraform and colonize other planets in other star systems. Which sets up a dichotomous and duplicitous world. On the one hand you have a lot of future tech available out there, but you also have planets where horses and wheeled combustion engine vehicles are still the norm. It's somewhat like the steampunk genre except the tech is more advanced and while some styles are Victorian there is also a more pronounced western frontier feel to the world.
That being said, I looked at it as a unique opportunity. I really have no desire in running a medieval style fantasy LARP, there are SO many out there and every "style" is already covered by one or more of the games out there. Originally I was figuring a way to do a Star Wars LARP. Then Wayne decided to do a Serenity LARP so I was all in. I love the series and the movie, and it would give me a chance to be a part of something different.
After the first game Wayne got a job in New Zealand but a few of us wanted to keep it going, so we agreed to do a couple of events this year which has grown to 3. Initially Wayne wanted me to take the reins, but I declined, mainly because I didn't have the time or organization skills to make sure that a LARP was run the way I think it should be. So someone else decided to do it. Which is fine, I'm still on the Gm staff along with one of the other people that helped run the first game. There have been some stumbling blocks but all in all I think we're off to a decent start. But with that said, I'm starting to feel like I am doing as much work as I would have had to if I would have agreed to take the reins. If anyone understands real life getting in the way of LARP it's me. I don't do all the machinations, meetings and manipulations in between the games like some people do. I pretty much show up, play, and deal with a few things that need to be between the events. Some people seem to do more in between the actual games than they do at the games, but I digress.
The person that took over as head GM is a control freak and they know it. Which I have no inherent problem with, my dad is a control freak that likes to micro manage everything, even the things he doesn't really understand. So I know how to deal with control freaks. But if you are going to be a control freak, then you need to make sure that things get done in a reasonable manner. You don't skip conference calls without notice, you don't have all 3 of your ships hanging in limbo the day before the event, and you make an effort to make sure things don't slip through the cracks. I can't say that's how things have been handled thus far. This was the reason I didn't take Wayne up in the first place, I didn't want to be responsible for making sure that everything for a LARP went the way that I think it has to if you want to minimize confusion, keep everything organized and have everything run smoothly. I really wouldn't care if it weren't a reflection on the other 2 GM's. We both have jobs, significant others and busy lives, yet we found the time to get all the plots done for the event, come up with towns and npc's, and do a few other administrative things. While they took care of the rules, which was adding a few rules and cleaning the layout. Which did happen, sort of. Some of the new rules simply don't make sense and some don't fit the feel of the rest of the game. The layout did get changed around some, but I can't imagine that took much real effort or time.
All in all I think we have things set up decently for this game, all though I'm still making last minute arrangements the day before and we really haven't given 2 of the ships a real reason to make it back to our planet, the third never got off the planet. But that was more a snafu that really is a player's fault. I'm expecting things to run a little better this event, as long as Melissa and I are the ones making sure everything goes down like we talked about it.
Should be a good weekend with some interesting things that should happen. I'm looking forward to it quite a bit. Hopefully we can make it live up to what we expect it to be.
If you're interested in checking out the LARP the link to the forums, directions to the play site and the rules are below.
http://serenity.finalhavenlarp.com/phpBB2/index.php
http://www.mapquest.com/directions/main.adp?go=1&do=nw&rmm=1&un=m&cl=EN&qq=1ADqpk24ofABC4SmxxHf62Gr%252fVDXh4ogwNX2NRgkFyH5uxqIDEMdeqAmqYVfQrUjoq7S%252b1P5zDilwVdMM69DbnN%252bZHJoKhUFK0dsspy9GEu2k574yS8bvcL0yc3bVmxW%252f3BXAveLsy4%253d&ct=NA&rsres=1&1y=US&1ffi=&1l=&1g=&1pl=&1v=ZIP&1n=&1pn=&1a=&1c=&1s=&1z=&panelbtn=1&2y=US&2ffi=&2l=&2g=&2pl=&2v=&2n=&2pn=&2a=81830+23RD+ST&2c=LAWTON&2s=MI&2z=49065-9677
http://out-of-the-black-larp.googlegroups.com/web/Out+of+the+Black.pdf?hl=en&gda=4HMU40YAAACjNLTiRXUdQMMKVk6jIGoqWgcRliuNKxCtoe3-GihteSQxc13tUaggj_NUelIaM3m4qzmRyw7pERYbIIbTVVQIE-Ea7GxYMt0t6nY0uV5FIQ
That being said, I looked at it as a unique opportunity. I really have no desire in running a medieval style fantasy LARP, there are SO many out there and every "style" is already covered by one or more of the games out there. Originally I was figuring a way to do a Star Wars LARP. Then Wayne decided to do a Serenity LARP so I was all in. I love the series and the movie, and it would give me a chance to be a part of something different.
After the first game Wayne got a job in New Zealand but a few of us wanted to keep it going, so we agreed to do a couple of events this year which has grown to 3. Initially Wayne wanted me to take the reins, but I declined, mainly because I didn't have the time or organization skills to make sure that a LARP was run the way I think it should be. So someone else decided to do it. Which is fine, I'm still on the Gm staff along with one of the other people that helped run the first game. There have been some stumbling blocks but all in all I think we're off to a decent start. But with that said, I'm starting to feel like I am doing as much work as I would have had to if I would have agreed to take the reins. If anyone understands real life getting in the way of LARP it's me. I don't do all the machinations, meetings and manipulations in between the games like some people do. I pretty much show up, play, and deal with a few things that need to be between the events. Some people seem to do more in between the actual games than they do at the games, but I digress.
The person that took over as head GM is a control freak and they know it. Which I have no inherent problem with, my dad is a control freak that likes to micro manage everything, even the things he doesn't really understand. So I know how to deal with control freaks. But if you are going to be a control freak, then you need to make sure that things get done in a reasonable manner. You don't skip conference calls without notice, you don't have all 3 of your ships hanging in limbo the day before the event, and you make an effort to make sure things don't slip through the cracks. I can't say that's how things have been handled thus far. This was the reason I didn't take Wayne up in the first place, I didn't want to be responsible for making sure that everything for a LARP went the way that I think it has to if you want to minimize confusion, keep everything organized and have everything run smoothly. I really wouldn't care if it weren't a reflection on the other 2 GM's. We both have jobs, significant others and busy lives, yet we found the time to get all the plots done for the event, come up with towns and npc's, and do a few other administrative things. While they took care of the rules, which was adding a few rules and cleaning the layout. Which did happen, sort of. Some of the new rules simply don't make sense and some don't fit the feel of the rest of the game. The layout did get changed around some, but I can't imagine that took much real effort or time.
All in all I think we have things set up decently for this game, all though I'm still making last minute arrangements the day before and we really haven't given 2 of the ships a real reason to make it back to our planet, the third never got off the planet. But that was more a snafu that really is a player's fault. I'm expecting things to run a little better this event, as long as Melissa and I are the ones making sure everything goes down like we talked about it.
Should be a good weekend with some interesting things that should happen. I'm looking forward to it quite a bit. Hopefully we can make it live up to what we expect it to be.
If you're interested in checking out the LARP the link to the forums, directions to the play site and the rules are below.
http://serenity.finalhavenlarp.com/phpBB2/index.php
http://www.mapquest.com/directions/main.adp?go=1&do=nw&rmm=1&un=m&cl=EN&qq=1ADqpk24ofABC4SmxxHf62Gr%252fVDXh4ogwNX2NRgkFyH5uxqIDEMdeqAmqYVfQrUjoq7S%252b1P5zDilwVdMM69DbnN%252bZHJoKhUFK0dsspy9GEu2k574yS8bvcL0yc3bVmxW%252f3BXAveLsy4%253d&ct=NA&rsres=1&1y=US&1ffi=&1l=&1g=&1pl=&1v=ZIP&1n=&1pn=&1a=&1c=&1s=&1z=&panelbtn=1&2y=US&2ffi=&2l=&2g=&2pl=&2v=&2n=&2pn=&2a=81830+23RD+ST&2c=LAWTON&2s=MI&2z=49065-9677
http://out-of-the-black-larp.googlegroups.com/web/Out+of+the+Black.pdf?hl=en&gda=4HMU40YAAACjNLTiRXUdQMMKVk6jIGoqWgcRliuNKxCtoe3-GihteSQxc13tUaggj_NUelIaM3m4qzmRyw7pERYbIIbTVVQIE-Ea7GxYMt0t6nY0uV5FIQ