Shields to the Front
So that was running an event eh? Nuz has already asked me if I'd like to do another one and I've got to say that if it's anything like this one then I'm in. It was an absolute pleasure to bring the first sanctioned event that the Militia have been involved in at an organisational and primary plot level that I've seen since at least '04 to players. It is a shame that more of my core players from the guild couldn't make it but this is something that we will sort with earlier and more widely hitting advertising.
Shields is the first event I've been involved in as anything more than an experienced monster. I keep trying to compare it to running a games convention but I don't know how well they actually stand up in a flat comparison. The main difference is that with LRP;
* You are more aware of how many people you have coming and what the impact is on venue and costs.
* The event itself is much more dynamic.
* Using your venue intelligently is INCREDIBLY relevant. We opted for a mostly open site with limited access to linear areas and I have heard nothing but positive feedback about this, especially from people who have been on the site before.
* Innovation over staples is key. For games cons, you are expected to have RPGs, LARPs, CCGs whatever. You have a huge amount of basics to cover before you consider doing anything which hasn't been done before by every other games con. And (at least in the case of the college cons) you can be guaranteed a certain amount of headcount on the strength of your staples alone. With this event, the team (by which I mostly mean Leon) came out with interesting plot (staple), a lot of combat encounters (staple), interesting mechanics for around site like the tracking boxes with some really cute concepts for people that went looking (innovation), huge amounts of information left at key locations around the site (seriously; I don't want to think about how much IC paperwork there was at the event if it was put end to end) (innovation), a ton of linear opportunities that were available using in-game mechanics (innovation) and a reason why and where all the monsters were attacking rather than just wandering in from "off site" (innovation).
But yeah, enough wittering I'm sure you all just wanted the hot/not so;
HOT
- Karen over all enjoyed the event*
- Leon, Conan and Oisin
- Denzil and chat on Friday
- Getting a lift to the event
- Saturday completely turning around the hick ups from Friday
- Discovering how little sleep is needed when you have an awesome team that fuel your keen and adrenalin ("What are you doing? How are you doing this? It's not natural!")
- The catering
- Fergal being an amazing point and click ref for encounters
- The HvB junior squad. The 3 of them were awesome for finding out stuff for me
- Will / Dr Morgan and him rising rapidly to the occasion after a rocky start
- Chatting with Fama
- The battle cry "Ah fuck it"
- Remus in general, though most noticeably at the end of the event and the reaction from Fama at the time.
- Hugh as his archer.
- Chats with and subsequent ins to work with the Gryphons and Harts more over the next few mains.
- Will McKeever's feedback on various things (including the comment about the general sentiment that people held which he informed me about at the end of time in)
NOT
- Friday night battle not going quite as planned for a number of reasons
- Luggar's death
- Being told that I had killed Karen's monsters more than any other player, and then finding out that most of the monster team thought that. I was amused by this at the time but thinking about it I feel like I'm kill stealing from the players. This is something I need to watch for at future events I'm staffing
- The injuries. There were a lot. Most of them were beyond anyone's control but it was still unfortunate
- Though I really enjoyed playing Garret and think that he had to be in the player party for the betterment of the event I could have done with seeing Karen more.
* I think we were expecting her to have a fun time in general, find some bits confusing at first and to have issues with the day being long and not enough sleep. This is almost precisely how it played out and the latter was resolved by her choosing to have a nap. She's going to keep coming to Dublin training but doesn't know how many events she'll attend or what/if she'd play. I suspect that comfort with a character and direction will fall out at some point and will help. Everyone was lovely to her, really understanding, inviting and talkative. I love LRPers.
TLDR: Event went well over all. I learned a lot and had a good time. My win conditions of run an enjoyable, successful event and have Karen enjoy herself were met.
Shields is the first event I've been involved in as anything more than an experienced monster. I keep trying to compare it to running a games convention but I don't know how well they actually stand up in a flat comparison. The main difference is that with LRP;
* You are more aware of how many people you have coming and what the impact is on venue and costs.
* The event itself is much more dynamic.
* Using your venue intelligently is INCREDIBLY relevant. We opted for a mostly open site with limited access to linear areas and I have heard nothing but positive feedback about this, especially from people who have been on the site before.
* Innovation over staples is key. For games cons, you are expected to have RPGs, LARPs, CCGs whatever. You have a huge amount of basics to cover before you consider doing anything which hasn't been done before by every other games con. And (at least in the case of the college cons) you can be guaranteed a certain amount of headcount on the strength of your staples alone. With this event, the team (by which I mostly mean Leon) came out with interesting plot (staple), a lot of combat encounters (staple), interesting mechanics for around site like the tracking boxes with some really cute concepts for people that went looking (innovation), huge amounts of information left at key locations around the site (seriously; I don't want to think about how much IC paperwork there was at the event if it was put end to end) (innovation), a ton of linear opportunities that were available using in-game mechanics (innovation) and a reason why and where all the monsters were attacking rather than just wandering in from "off site" (innovation).
But yeah, enough wittering I'm sure you all just wanted the hot/not so;
HOT
- Karen over all enjoyed the event*
- Leon, Conan and Oisin
- Denzil and chat on Friday
- Getting a lift to the event
- Saturday completely turning around the hick ups from Friday
- Discovering how little sleep is needed when you have an awesome team that fuel your keen and adrenalin ("What are you doing? How are you doing this? It's not natural!")
- The catering
- Fergal being an amazing point and click ref for encounters
- The HvB junior squad. The 3 of them were awesome for finding out stuff for me
- Will / Dr Morgan and him rising rapidly to the occasion after a rocky start
- Chatting with Fama
- The battle cry "Ah fuck it"
- Remus in general, though most noticeably at the end of the event and the reaction from Fama at the time.
- Hugh as his archer.
- Chats with and subsequent ins to work with the Gryphons and Harts more over the next few mains.
- Will McKeever's feedback on various things (including the comment about the general sentiment that people held which he informed me about at the end of time in)
NOT
- Friday night battle not going quite as planned for a number of reasons
- Luggar's death
- Being told that I had killed Karen's monsters more than any other player, and then finding out that most of the monster team thought that. I was amused by this at the time but thinking about it I feel like I'm kill stealing from the players. This is something I need to watch for at future events I'm staffing
- The injuries. There were a lot. Most of them were beyond anyone's control but it was still unfortunate
- Though I really enjoyed playing Garret and think that he had to be in the player party for the betterment of the event I could have done with seeing Karen more.
* I think we were expecting her to have a fun time in general, find some bits confusing at first and to have issues with the day being long and not enough sleep. This is almost precisely how it played out and the latter was resolved by her choosing to have a nap. She's going to keep coming to Dublin training but doesn't know how many events she'll attend or what/if she'd play. I suspect that comfort with a character and direction will fall out at some point and will help. Everyone was lovely to her, really understanding, inviting and talkative. I love LRPers.
TLDR: Event went well over all. I learned a lot and had a good time. My win conditions of run an enjoyable, successful event and have Karen enjoy herself were met.