(no subject)
58,438 words.
69 NPC roles.
1 detailed made-up language, consisting of around 50 individual symbols.
5 days of hard work.
I like to experiment with new things when running games, getting the chance to play things out for real when they surface in my head. For this event, what we wanted to do was attempt to build the event from the ground up, without really having the 'tying up loose ends' feel that the Dragon event had. I am so glad we did this - having the extra time to write the Ze'Ausec stuff really helped us make it come alive.
I don't know how many players were following absolutely everything that happened, but as much as we could, we wanted to tell the story of Syksino, both as it was, and as it is. We had this through the Purified, with the Tests building the framework of the event, as well as the saturday night vision, and even having the 'sickly flowers' for the herbalists to gather to remind them even then that they were on cursed ground.
We also had the Ze'Ausec themselves, having only a couple of actual talky encounters (loved playing Paragon), but then putting in the tablets and the wall hangings as well - larp is a visual game as well as a social one, and having that set dressing and those props really made the event REAL.
Yeah. This event, as its own, self-contained little weekend of awesome, was a massive success. It was a shame that the players couldn't all be massively psyched up in preparation, and I think that may have contributed to the couple of people who ended up dropping out, which is a massive shame. I only hope the froth from the event will help people to put trust that we can run awesome larp from nothing now.
So, aside from what we did to contribute to providing a play area that people could have so much fun with (and everyone did), none of it would've been as great without our players. A lot of the time, I have felt frustration with our players, but it's really a case of not appreciating what I *do* have - really, really dedicated roleplayers. It's Helen's LJ post saying that she loves the heroic feel of the system, where people roleplay their hits - having never been to a system where hits are not roleplayed, I've never been able to really appreciate that small thing.
We spent the three weeks before the event doing precious little other than writing it, and that level of preparation really paid off. Last year, I did not stop running from one encounter to the next, and it ended with me unable to move by the end of the event. This time round, because we hadn't built up a couple of years worth of Paul-NPCs to kill, I could give all the big combat roles to the monsters that were there to do it, and I could sit back and make sure everything happened on time and according to plan. My God, did that make the event for me. When on Thursday we could sit down and go 'well, there's not much else we can really do now', and then on Friday pick up on all the things we'd missed, and then sitting down again going 'well, there's nothing else we can be doing now... let's start briefing the monsters early, I guess'... I was so happy, all weekend. And thank God for the RefMobile.
There are a couple of valuable lessons we learned, which I think will help us plan for the next event. We're not going to have a running retreat stretched over 3 miles of uneven, wooded, hilly terrain. Less ambitious attempts at linears at night - we're going to try to book for a full moon, and book earlier to stop from clashing with other bookings at the site. Better focus on time on sunday, so we don't end up timing out hours late. A phone recharger.
I'm still really, really tired, so I'm going to tie up this LJ post with some of the epic moments that almost made me cry tears of sheer joy, in particular order:
The Test of Creation.
"The sacrifices we've made..."
Themras v Sven.
"Arise..."
Emperor Zocho'Zin: GEO; Colsceg; Sander; Nathanial; Katrina.
"He looked so much younger..."
"I am a Bear!"
Certain lines from certain prophecies.
Rodrick died a hero (in your FACE, Louis).
"By my faith in the Gardener, I cast Preservation".
More later as it comes to me. Pizza + froth = yes. Somewhere other than my house, I have work tomorrow. Starting at 7.15.
69 NPC roles.
1 detailed made-up language, consisting of around 50 individual symbols.
5 days of hard work.
I like to experiment with new things when running games, getting the chance to play things out for real when they surface in my head. For this event, what we wanted to do was attempt to build the event from the ground up, without really having the 'tying up loose ends' feel that the Dragon event had. I am so glad we did this - having the extra time to write the Ze'Ausec stuff really helped us make it come alive.
I don't know how many players were following absolutely everything that happened, but as much as we could, we wanted to tell the story of Syksino, both as it was, and as it is. We had this through the Purified, with the Tests building the framework of the event, as well as the saturday night vision, and even having the 'sickly flowers' for the herbalists to gather to remind them even then that they were on cursed ground.
We also had the Ze'Ausec themselves, having only a couple of actual talky encounters (loved playing Paragon), but then putting in the tablets and the wall hangings as well - larp is a visual game as well as a social one, and having that set dressing and those props really made the event REAL.
Yeah. This event, as its own, self-contained little weekend of awesome, was a massive success. It was a shame that the players couldn't all be massively psyched up in preparation, and I think that may have contributed to the couple of people who ended up dropping out, which is a massive shame. I only hope the froth from the event will help people to put trust that we can run awesome larp from nothing now.
So, aside from what we did to contribute to providing a play area that people could have so much fun with (and everyone did), none of it would've been as great without our players. A lot of the time, I have felt frustration with our players, but it's really a case of not appreciating what I *do* have - really, really dedicated roleplayers. It's Helen's LJ post saying that she loves the heroic feel of the system, where people roleplay their hits - having never been to a system where hits are not roleplayed, I've never been able to really appreciate that small thing.
We spent the three weeks before the event doing precious little other than writing it, and that level of preparation really paid off. Last year, I did not stop running from one encounter to the next, and it ended with me unable to move by the end of the event. This time round, because we hadn't built up a couple of years worth of Paul-NPCs to kill, I could give all the big combat roles to the monsters that were there to do it, and I could sit back and make sure everything happened on time and according to plan. My God, did that make the event for me. When on Thursday we could sit down and go 'well, there's not much else we can really do now', and then on Friday pick up on all the things we'd missed, and then sitting down again going 'well, there's nothing else we can be doing now... let's start briefing the monsters early, I guess'... I was so happy, all weekend. And thank God for the RefMobile.
There are a couple of valuable lessons we learned, which I think will help us plan for the next event. We're not going to have a running retreat stretched over 3 miles of uneven, wooded, hilly terrain. Less ambitious attempts at linears at night - we're going to try to book for a full moon, and book earlier to stop from clashing with other bookings at the site. Better focus on time on sunday, so we don't end up timing out hours late. A phone recharger.
I'm still really, really tired, so I'm going to tie up this LJ post with some of the epic moments that almost made me cry tears of sheer joy, in particular order:
The Test of Creation.
"The sacrifices we've made..."
Themras v Sven.
"Arise..."
Emperor Zocho'Zin: GEO; Colsceg; Sander; Nathanial; Katrina.
"He looked so much younger..."
"I am a Bear!"
Certain lines from certain prophecies.
Rodrick died a hero (in your FACE, Louis).
"By my faith in the Gardener, I cast Preservation".
More later as it comes to me. Pizza + froth = yes. Somewhere other than my house, I have work tomorrow. Starting at 7.15.