Well, we were discussing the production of scenarios and its clear that you'd gotten something written. It seems selfish of you not to share! =)
The website looks quite interesting - there seem to be a lot of useful tools there. Ones I might have liked to have had back in the day when I was more heavily involved with LARPing.
> So far there's not been any real interest in writing for Glorantha
> although I've suggested it. Probably because none of the other
> writers has any feel for the lozenge.
True. But there's more than a few people here who have written LARPs/Freeforms/etc for the Lozenge who post here. That website might prove useful to them. I know that if I decide to do a freeform (possibly around the return of the Lost City of Erenplose) I'll be glad you posted the link.
> It's not difficult once you've learnt the techniques. With several
> experienced writers we have a least one in each group so people
> with no experience of writing games can contribute and learn at
> the same time. In fact the success of this approach makes me
> wonder if something similar could be done with writing tabletop
> scenarios. It might not even need a weekend, just a half day
> session at a con.
So the big thing is division of labour? Interweaving plot lines can be tricky. Mark was kind enough to let me read his "Birth of the Goddess" and it was a lot of work. Nick Brook has posted his "Life of Moonson" character backgrounds and it was mesmerizing how they all tangled together when you had a proper overview.
> The main emphasis is on creating a fun game to play although I
> have a tendency to emphasise different cultures. Get the players
> thinking outside modern cultural attitudes. Probably the key
> determinant of setting is can we as writers find enough plot and
> interesting characters for a typical bunch of modern gamers.
Culture clash is definitely fun. Just so long as the groups can function together more or less cooperatively. Unless you're doing one of those boffer LARPS - in that case, let the repeated whacking commence.
> Getting plot is about a third of the work. We don't just pinch plots
> from books, plays, films or whatever - we strip-mine whole genres of
> fiction to get enough for one game. Fortunatly there are quite a
few
> lists of plot ideas available so it's more a matter of tailoring
those
Ah, true. My wife teaches German Lit and was showing me a list of "things that make a fairy tale". Its about 30 tropes (about six of which are required). The thought of stripmining daytime TV makes me feel kinda creeped out but... where else are you going to find such convoluted yet trivial plot lines?
> to the setting than inventing new ones. Writing up the characters is
> the easy bit and the remaining half of the work is cross checking
> everything and making sure each player has a decent character and
> enough to do. The checking is why I don't try to write on my own,
I've
> seen the mistakes that have only got picked up when two others have
> already checked the original author. I also tend to be more creative
> when I've someone else to bounce ideas off.
Yes. The problem with an ongoing game is the PC amoeba (its safest to stick with the group and that's where plot is) and the plot-hogs who keep the various hooks to themselves. Any serial LARP has problems with these but VLARPS due to the nature of the genre seem particularly prone to this.
> The LARP rules aren't the determinant. Unless the game emphasis is
> on combat the rules don't really matter. What's important is getting
> enough plot to keep the characters busy. If you want rules Simon
> Bray did a variation of the HQ rules for Return to Griffin
Mountain.
> However I'm not sure how much they were actually used when the game
> was run.
I'm not so sure - but I don't think its a place for this kind of discussion. My experience with VLARPS and boffer-style larps makes me think that the rules definitely influence style of play.
I agree that getting plot running and keeping people interested (even if you have some folks who are asleep at the plot switch) is the main thing. And having fun.
Thanks!
Jeff
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