NELCO 2: Electric Boogaloo

[lisefrac]

This weekend I attended NELCO 2013, the second annual New England LARP Conference.

A conference, as opposed to a convention, because it involves talking LARP theory, not actually playing LARPs--for the most part.As in previous years, I ran a panel on historical fashion, as well as a more participatory workshop. This year, the panel was Cavalier-

Comments

[acousticshadow2]

As an addendum to what I posted on Facebook, I vastly prefer short story character sheet. I think it is a preference thing. I like being able to get into the mind of the character. You are one of the few writers who do it. I play larps not from a theater background but from a reader background. I read profusely, and I larp because I want to experience what I read. You don't get that with factually written sheets. I find factually written sheets boring and stiff. Some people like that because it gives them the freedom to do whatever they want with a character. I prefer to interpret characters. This is not to say I haven't enjoyed games immensely where that is the case. I just don't get excited about them prior. It feels like work getting ready for them and I often want to drop them if I'm tired. Many I'm super glad I didn't drop because I had an awesome time... It is just more work on my part TO have an awesome time. My one critique is length. Your sheets are a little long, but I think that is a problem all story style character sheets

[sprrwhwk]

I like being able to get into the mind of the character too, but having read a short story only sometimes lets me get into the mind of a character, and, having done so, only sometimes actually gets me to a point where I could play the character in a LARP.

In the panel I offhandedly called character sheet writing "technical writing," but what I mean by that isn't that the sheets are dry recitations of facts. A short story is an end in itself -- reading it is the primary experience you get out of it, and it is "good" or not based on the quality of reading experience that it provides.

A character sheet -- like a manual or a guidebook or a howto -- is trying to enable you to embody your character positively. Now it's great if the experience of reading a sheet is in itself a good experience, but it's a secondary experience to the experience of embodying the character, and if the experience of embodying the character isn't any good, it doesn't matter how good the experience of reading the character sheet was, it's a fundamentally flawed

[lisefrac]

Good stuff, this. Writing character sheets is a relatively new artform, and I--and everybody--is still learning how to do it well.

I think I have a lot to learn from what I will call "Phoebe's approach" (for lack of a better term), because I do think my character sheets are too long, and I do think the quantity of content can be to the detriment of quality roleplaying. But that doesn't necessarily negate the theory of the character sheet as the first part of short story--it's just a shorter story, with more telling details.

This is part of my style, and this is how I will continue to write character sheets--but I am going to try, in the future, for more conciseness.

[acousticshadow2]

I think that is the problem for short story writers and larp writers who write short story character sheets. Length... It is hard when a character sheet is too long and, as you say, you are bogged down in the narrative. Although I think that bullet lists at the end should be for all character sheets not just story based ones. I find the who you know and goal lists to be a mandated must

[offside7]

Thanks for posting! I enjoyed reading it

[lisefrac]

Oh, yes, Matt was in the audience! I remember telling him to shush :)

I accept your disagreement on Al-Ashtara and still contend my costume was kinda crap. But we can agree to disagree :)

[natbudin]

Well, I can out myself on rants, I think. I did two: one was about the Intercon web site, and the other was my afore-promised rant about organizations that have decided they are now The Hub for All LARP In America or some such thing.

[offside7]

I would very much like to hear that second rant. (...The first one too, though I may have heard it before.)

[moria923]

I wonder if you could run that Quick Costuming panel, or something like it, at Arisia some time? I've been longing for an "I like LARPing but I am *so* not a costumer" type panel for ages, but never proposed it because I was afraid I'd out myself as uncool. After all, how else wants to LARP if they hate having to worry about costumes?

[lisefrac]

I don't usually attend Arisia, and it wasn't my "baby"--it was more offside7's thing. But if someone puts it together, I could be convinced to be on the panel.

[offside7]

I don't know if I'd call the Quick Costuming panel my baby- I've run "Costuming for Beginners" twice at PreCons (at least I could swear that I did but I can only find one costuming panel on the schedules...) and I think part of the problem is that NELCO and PreCon may be the wrong venues for panels about really low key costuming. Most people have at least as much costuming experience as I do (and commonly have way, way more) or don't really care. I was actually intending the audience to be people who want to some basic costuming, but don't know where to begin or find it intimidating when other people show up with high quality costumes. Arisia sounds like it might be a decent place to do it.