Nigeria
Or: Power games in the UCSD LARP
History of the LARP
The history of the Ravenloft LARP (known colloquially as RavenLARP) begins not in UCSD, but UC Irvine. In this enigmatic, prehistoric period, little is known except that a group of people conceived of a Live Action Roleplaying game based off the semi-campy horror campaign setting of Ravenloft. Presumably, the concept of co-DMhood was developed, in which there were multiple people in charge of running and moderating the game. Rumor speaks of a coup after the first year, in which two people who utterly despised each other rose to power. At any rate, after realizing that Irvine was a misbegotten backwater of a city, two members of the RavenLARP emigrated to San Diego. Aside from founding the Sixth College RPG Club, they brought with them the love of LARPing, and this RavenLARP SD was formed.
These roleplayers, Melissa and Keenan, GM'd together for the first year of the LARP. Early on, they became aware of an enthusiastic freshman who was more interested in learning every character's secrets than actually roleplaying the discovery of aforementioned secrets. He sought a position in GMhood, and Melissa and Keenan decided to promote him to 'GM Monkey,' a sort of semi-DM position which had access to the inner workings of the game, but not the ability to effect them (more of a moderator than an admin. position). Thus, Keenan and Melissa were joined by David, forming the triumvirate of GMs leading the game this year.
Farsightedly, Keenan and Melissa realized that at the end of this year, they would be graduating and therefore no longer able to run the RavenLARP. They began to keep on the lookout for two new potential GMs, who along with David would lead the LARP into the future. One GM was found in a veteran of the game, a player who's character was reaching both reaching a critical level of unbalance and also very near to succeeding in his goals (or dying in the attempt). He would be initiated when his character's story reached its natural end, be it through success or death.
The other future GM was a freshman new to the LARP. He had missed both the character creation and first sessions, so his character had yet to truly develop a role in the game world. Nevertheless, he managed to impress Melissa, Keenan, and David with his sparkling wit and d20 Modern Dark*Matter campaign (in which Keenan and David were players). As he had nothing to lose, this third GM killed off his character and became initiated into the secrets of the GM instantly.
Problems of the Future
The three future DMs-- David, Garret, and yours truly-- have a number of problems they will have to face in the coming year. As this is the first civilian transfer of power in RavenLARP's history, there are no protocols determining how to best enact this procedure. The problem is complicated by the fact that the GM information is not consolidated in one location; indeed, it contained in multiple computers, binders, loose documents, and the Old Regime's heads. Furthermore, the actual rules governing the LARP are borrowed from another system, poorly understood (even by the GMs), and constantly changing to deal with new situations. Characters can become hideously broken almost accidentally, and the GMs have little way of reversing such a situation.
Aside from the indecipherable rules system, there is the even more fundamental problem of defining the role of the GM. Much debate has existed throughout the existence of RavenLARP concerning how interventionist GMs should be in the actual gameplay. Opinions vary wildly: some feel that the game would become aimless if the GMs did not push certain plots and goals upon the players, others argue that such policies would limit their ability to pursue their own agendas.
The GMs will have to come to a consensus on these and other issues before they obtain complete power next year, lest the RavenLARP fall apart.
***
More on that as it develops. And, in other news: I found out that I had some chocolate left after all. Rejoice!
History of the LARP
The history of the Ravenloft LARP (known colloquially as RavenLARP) begins not in UCSD, but UC Irvine. In this enigmatic, prehistoric period, little is known except that a group of people conceived of a Live Action Roleplaying game based off the semi-campy horror campaign setting of Ravenloft. Presumably, the concept of co-DMhood was developed, in which there were multiple people in charge of running and moderating the game. Rumor speaks of a coup after the first year, in which two people who utterly despised each other rose to power. At any rate, after realizing that Irvine was a misbegotten backwater of a city, two members of the RavenLARP emigrated to San Diego. Aside from founding the Sixth College RPG Club, they brought with them the love of LARPing, and this RavenLARP SD was formed.
These roleplayers, Melissa and Keenan, GM'd together for the first year of the LARP. Early on, they became aware of an enthusiastic freshman who was more interested in learning every character's secrets than actually roleplaying the discovery of aforementioned secrets. He sought a position in GMhood, and Melissa and Keenan decided to promote him to 'GM Monkey,' a sort of semi-DM position which had access to the inner workings of the game, but not the ability to effect them (more of a moderator than an admin. position). Thus, Keenan and Melissa were joined by David, forming the triumvirate of GMs leading the game this year.
Farsightedly, Keenan and Melissa realized that at the end of this year, they would be graduating and therefore no longer able to run the RavenLARP. They began to keep on the lookout for two new potential GMs, who along with David would lead the LARP into the future. One GM was found in a veteran of the game, a player who's character was reaching both reaching a critical level of unbalance and also very near to succeeding in his goals (or dying in the attempt). He would be initiated when his character's story reached its natural end, be it through success or death.
The other future GM was a freshman new to the LARP. He had missed both the character creation and first sessions, so his character had yet to truly develop a role in the game world. Nevertheless, he managed to impress Melissa, Keenan, and David with his sparkling wit and d20 Modern Dark*Matter campaign (in which Keenan and David were players). As he had nothing to lose, this third GM killed off his character and became initiated into the secrets of the GM instantly.
Problems of the Future
The three future DMs-- David, Garret, and yours truly-- have a number of problems they will have to face in the coming year. As this is the first civilian transfer of power in RavenLARP's history, there are no protocols determining how to best enact this procedure. The problem is complicated by the fact that the GM information is not consolidated in one location; indeed, it contained in multiple computers, binders, loose documents, and the Old Regime's heads. Furthermore, the actual rules governing the LARP are borrowed from another system, poorly understood (even by the GMs), and constantly changing to deal with new situations. Characters can become hideously broken almost accidentally, and the GMs have little way of reversing such a situation.
Aside from the indecipherable rules system, there is the even more fundamental problem of defining the role of the GM. Much debate has existed throughout the existence of RavenLARP concerning how interventionist GMs should be in the actual gameplay. Opinions vary wildly: some feel that the game would become aimless if the GMs did not push certain plots and goals upon the players, others argue that such policies would limit their ability to pursue their own agendas.
The GMs will have to come to a consensus on these and other issues before they obtain complete power next year, lest the RavenLARP fall apart.
***
More on that as it develops. And, in other news: I found out that I had some chocolate left after all. Rejoice!