LARP musings
Every once in a while I think back on my LARP years. I played the hell out of Vampire and Werewolf LARPs (Live action role playing for some not in the know) since 1993. I've even played in a LARP that was fully disavowed by White Wolf games.
I think back at the times I've ran games as well as the times I've played in games. I've thought about writing down my thoughts on what I can try to improve the way they are run, as for playing them, just go with the flow.
One thing I've done which worked wonders for me was treating it as if it was an ensemble show. Try to focus on different characters and players as much as possible while trying to do an overall arc to each season (my seasons would consist of the first game post winter holidays up until the the start of the next winter holidays, with the ending being a really good cliff hanger one or one where a bunch of the plots converge into a (hopefully) satisfying end game before a break.
It was something I found worked for the flow of the game and as people got into storylines it kept them in the game as well.
I think back at the times I've ran games as well as the times I've played in games. I've thought about writing down my thoughts on what I can try to improve the way they are run, as for playing them, just go with the flow.
One thing I've done which worked wonders for me was treating it as if it was an ensemble show. Try to focus on different characters and players as much as possible while trying to do an overall arc to each season (my seasons would consist of the first game post winter holidays up until the the start of the next winter holidays, with the ending being a really good cliff hanger one or one where a bunch of the plots converge into a (hopefully) satisfying end game before a break.
It was something I found worked for the flow of the game and as people got into storylines it kept them in the game as well.