On Good RP & Defeating The Villain
I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with this but I had to get it out of my head...
One of the fundamental downsides of larping is a lack of appreciation for subtlety. Subtlety isn't easily noticed and gets lost in a room full of posturing and pontification. It's the nature of larp. I recently received Extra XP for Good RP for what amounted to a loud and thrashing orgasm in the middle of the gathering. It was good reaction but not necessarily good RP - if your character yells when it hits itself on the thumb with a hammer, is that good RP? Anyway, it was blatant and obvious and Noticed. There was better RP once the character fled the room and her coterie mates dealt with the aftermath (mostly by ignoring her or being condescending. lol). It's often hard to resist doing something because it's not in your character's nature to do so. *Not* doing something isn't fun and don't catch attention.
(Now, before an RP purist makes the expected & obligatory comment about Good RP Being Its Own Reward, you're right. It is. But I'm vain and extroverted. My stories require appreciative audiences.)
We've got a plot in our local game with a villain waiting for us at the end. It looks like it's gonna be a bloody beat down and I have an idea of what my character will do if the opportunity comes up. It's meaningful but doesn't involve saying anything. No explanation. No "This is for !" No "You're terminated, f#$%er!" Not even a "You're not worth a monologue!"
In one of the Night Watch novels, Terry Pratchett states that if you're looking down the barrel of a gun, you want to hope that it's an evil man on the trigger rather than a good man. An evil man will take a moment to gloat and/or brag, a moment you might be able to use to your advantage. A good man will just flat shoot you because that's What Needs to Be Done.
So here I am with this idea in my head of what I want to do, thinking how cool it will be if I get the chance to pull it off and I guess I'm wondering if anyone else will get it or even appreciate it, without it having to be explained.
And it makes me miss tabletop.
One of the fundamental downsides of larping is a lack of appreciation for subtlety. Subtlety isn't easily noticed and gets lost in a room full of posturing and pontification. It's the nature of larp. I recently received Extra XP for Good RP for what amounted to a loud and thrashing orgasm in the middle of the gathering. It was good reaction but not necessarily good RP - if your character yells when it hits itself on the thumb with a hammer, is that good RP? Anyway, it was blatant and obvious and Noticed. There was better RP once the character fled the room and her coterie mates dealt with the aftermath (mostly by ignoring her or being condescending. lol). It's often hard to resist doing something because it's not in your character's nature to do so. *Not* doing something isn't fun and don't catch attention.
(Now, before an RP purist makes the expected & obligatory comment about Good RP Being Its Own Reward, you're right. It is. But I'm vain and extroverted. My stories require appreciative audiences.)
We've got a plot in our local game with a villain waiting for us at the end. It looks like it's gonna be a bloody beat down and I have an idea of what my character will do if the opportunity comes up. It's meaningful but doesn't involve saying anything. No explanation. No "This is for !" No "You're terminated, f#$%er!" Not even a "You're not worth a monologue!"
In one of the Night Watch novels, Terry Pratchett states that if you're looking down the barrel of a gun, you want to hope that it's an evil man on the trigger rather than a good man. An evil man will take a moment to gloat and/or brag, a moment you might be able to use to your advantage. A good man will just flat shoot you because that's What Needs to Be Done.
So here I am with this idea in my head of what I want to do, thinking how cool it will be if I get the chance to pull it off and I guess I'm wondering if anyone else will get it or even appreciate it, without it having to be explained.
And it makes me miss tabletop.