Lit students shouldn't write LARPs

[v_cat]

So I've been thinking again about the Eve of Ivan Kupala, the LARP that I have been not letting myself write for the past year or so. Regardless, it has been marinating in my head, and every once in a while an idea will come about plot or a character. The premise is that it is Midsummer night, or in the Russian tradition Ivan Kupala Night, which is

Comments

[rigel]

There are absolutely people who like playing doomed characters. Ask about that on the app.

[natbudin]

That's certainly true, but I'm not sure one can easily run a game consisting only of those types of characters. Particularly at a venue like Intercon, where you don't get to pick your players. Self-selection only goes so far.

I may be wrong - and v_cat, please correct me if I am - but I think this type of game involves general doom all around, and the only characters who'd really get to "win" would be the evil ones (if any exist). My (extremely limited) experience with Russian folklore has been that unhappy endings are far more common than happy ones, and that's basically a cultural value...

[v_cat]

well no, of course not all the characters would be tragic..that would be horribly boring...and a lot of Russian tales have happy endings. but mostly theres a bittersweet quality to them. the hero gets what he wants but at a price, and what he thought he wanted turns out not to be such a good thing. Gogol's tales are much more doom and gloom of course...there was a period in russian literature where everyone was simply wild for horrors and all manner of evil creatures. there is also a strong sense of justice in russian folklore. its less about defeating evil, and more about everyone getting what they deserve, whether it be good or bad

[mllelaurel]

See, I'm weird because I like tragedy. My advice would be to flat-out ask on the questionnaire if a player is comfortable with a role where they might fail or die. Then, cast accordingly. If they said 'yes,' they forgo their right to bitch. *g*

It might also smooth things over if some of the sacrifice is of a noble sort. For instance, a character might die, but with the knowledge of having saved their country/loved one/puppydog/whichever.

Thirdly, if the failure stems from an interesting character flaw, the player might not mind as much, since the loss of a goal will feel organic, whether it's actually pre-determined or not. It's key that players don't feel railroaded.

Fourthly, if the situation is not *too* central, I think it would be ok to leave some room for success. Just make it excruciatingly difficult to achieve. Some players like that. :p Mix those in with the situations of absolute doom.

[v_cat]

See, I'm weird because I like tragedy.

yes, but then again you are russian too :-)

[mllelaurel]

Very true. :)

[rivenwanderer]

I wonder if situations where players can choose their doom (ie, "Would you rather spend one more day with your lover and then die in their arms, or survive and be exiled from them forever starting right now?") would work, or if people would just see it as an opportunity to try to munchkin their way into a happy ending...

[laurion]

I think you might have to couch it in the context of a choice or a moral judgment. You can have your romantic interest, if you give up X, Y, and Z. Or, if you do get your guy/girl, then A,B, and C will happen, possibly to people you know and also love, or possibly to the whole damn universe, and it would be ALL YOUR FAULT. And there's always tragedy within the context of romance.... you love persons A _and_ B, and must choose, or you are being pursued by persons X and Y, and both are equally suitable, and you have to spurn one of them...

[laurion]

And to reply to myself here....

It's ok if they do work things out and achieve a 'happy' ending. The important thing is that you use the conflict and the tragedy to set the scene and the setting, to influence and create character and mood. If they depart from where the literature would take them, fine, so long as they had a good time and felt like they were really in the right universe.

How many B horror movies and up being turned into comedies by the audience? Do you think RHPS set out to become what it has? Evil Dead 1 and 2 (and when they saw where the audience went, they changed the flavor to match in Army of Darkness)? You can embrace the theme even if the result isn't 'canon'.