Trouble Cards for One-Shot Houses of the Blooded LARP
Originally published at joshroby.com. Please leave any comments there.
So I'm running the Houses of the Blooded LARP at Big Bad Con up in the Bay Area this weekend. Since it's a one-shot, we won't be getting the juicy details and feudal context that are supplied by the game's Season Actions… so I elected to create a little something-something to help jump start some action, scheming, and dealing in the LARP.
Behold, Trouble Cards!
Each card gives you a certain calamity that is befalling your lands. I figure you deal out these cards and you explain, "Hey, it's Winter. And Shan'ri hates the ven." The cards prompt players to collect certain resources, seek out certain other ven in the game, engage in the ven's wacky feudal structure, and other fun stuff. It promises them style rewards for doing these things.
These are directly inspired by Paul Tevis' "achievements" that were used in the last Strategicon Houses LARP, and after running and playing in this game for a few years, I'm honestly starting to look for an alternative to the unreliable "Refreshments" mechanic (which may be us running the game with too few storytellers; we'll see at the next couple events).
I'll see how they actually play out this weekend, but I thought I'd post them online, too. If you give them a try, be sure to tell us how they worked for you!