The Auckland Regional Committee have undertaken to create a Larp Organisers Guide. The concept is to provide a practical guide to running a larp in New Zealand. While we have some ideas on what to include, we’re also interested in what you - the community - think would be useful.
So, what would you like to see included in a Larp Organisers Guide ?
Please treat this thread as a brainstorming session - the goal is to generate ideas rather than critique them.
For Teonn I posted a few hints and things that were good for helping new players into the game and maybe this could be expanded and put into the guide.
It could include;
Reminders of things that regular LARPers take for granted everyone knows.
Maybe a little booklet with examples of backgroud documents and player concepts that could be sent out to new players.
etc
All the people I have interacted with have been really helpful and instructiive but in any group there are always things that the group just assumes are common knowledge and so a section noting these things would be a good saftey net that Organisers could send out to new players to ensure they are supported with minimal effort from the organisers so they can focus on the game.
I think it’s a wide and deep subject, so it might turn out to be a series of documents rather than one (unless that one is a big multi-chapter book, which seems impractical). Logistical issues around venues/food/storage/transport, etc are a different field to writing & running varies sorts of game, which is different to advice around communication with participants and advertising, and then there’s how-to guides in regard to gear/makeup/SFX, and so on. I reckon that a series of guide articles, with some sort of index so that they can be navigated easily, would work well on the envisioned revamped NZLARPS website.
Well there goes my dreams of an enormous tome, bound in black leather, gold-embossed, with illuminations, and calligraphy, and …
Since many newcomers come to larp via similar hobbies, how about an article about differences & similiarirtes between tabletop roleplaying and Larp.
Different options of combat resolution, their pros and cons.
A lot of good info can be culled from Diatribe discussions and the magazine whose name has completely escaped me (sorry Anna 
). Its a matter of getting it all into one place. The NZlarps website may well be a good place for this.
Also, of course, need to include the proceedures for setting budgets and documentation required to show how you keep to them.
Why and how to get affliated / become a project.
A big list of gear that NZlarps has available.
Privacy act responsibilities around mailing lists…
Might it be worth setting up a Wiki for it and let everyone conribute bits that they believe would be helpful.
That way it is a living document that can change as the requirements of LARPing shift. It would only take a few minutes to set up if people want one.
I think a series of articles attributed to authors (that can be updated once a year or so with new versions) is more likely to provide a quality result that a wiki. People invest more in an article that is “theirs”.
I think wikis work well with huge communities of casual anonymous authors, but I’ve seen them result in mostly sketchy or incomplete articles with smaller communities like ours.
OK, let’s talk about the Big Impressive List of Larp Documents and/or Wiki Topics. Here’s some, in top-of-mind order:
[]Developing a larp from an idea into a reality
[]Daygame logistics (date selection,venue, pricing, food, getting and returning gear etc)
[]Weekend game logistics (date selection, venue, pricing, food, getting and returning gear etc)
[]Effective GMing
[]Effective Crewing
[]Promotional strategies
[]Ownership models (independent, affiliate, NZLARPS project)
[]Tips on writing rules that are easy to read and understand
etc etc
It may be that we split this project into a set of deliverables which we will develop and publish over time.
Theatreform logistics (date selection, venue, pricing, casting, envelope-stuffing, snacks, props)
Actually, I could probably write that one :-/
People on Wikis do this too (Wikipedia has to remind people that the articles are public property, not theirs; wiki authors need to be able to let go and let other people edit too).
But the real problem with wikis is that they diffuse responsibility and allow the problem to be dumped on the community. Which in a small community may lead to things Not Getting Done, and setting up the wiki being a substitute for action.
I have set up a few Wiki’s in my time and I find that as long as you have a dedicated core of people who actually want to get information up, it drives others to join in and you can get some excellent results. Particularly once people get over the stigma of editing other peoples work.
If it is an approach people want to try I can set one up but I suspect it may not be the best approach for this project.
You could maybe include formal write ups of conflict resolution systems that have been used/are used and have been found to work eg the Kick Ass system (which Prema and I are doing this summer - aren’t we Prema?:D)
Other thoughts:
NZLarps hardware resources, such as the trailer, the walkie-talkies
Game marketing techniques (Facebook, Chimera, posters, etc…)