I would prefer we didn’t have a sci-fi larp for Chimera 2010 - both KapCon and Battlecry are having sci-fi games this year, and I’d like to have something different.
modern?
I think something ancient would be awesome. Where all the great different ancient worlds collide… Roman, Greek, Egyptian Minoan, Babylonian, African, Druidic, Mongol, Visigoth Chinese…
There is such a huge range of scope, I was thinking of running a larp round the death of Ceasar, with all the different powers wanting to do different things to the empire… you could have strange creatures such as minotaurs and other manifestations of the different cultural beliefs showing up as well…
I think it would be awesome… and not historical at all 
I’d just adore writing/ helping to write this type of larp…
A Hollywood Larp? Celebrities, celebrity hang ons, talent scouts, producers, etc etc all meet for a grand promotion. Say a charity (Hollywood is into that sort of thing I hear). Excitement ensues.
Given that Anna says the big larp is a gateway drug for new larpers and we’re still growing, we might want to consider aiming for a setting that’s cool to a general audience. SF & ancient, as cool as I think they are, could be seen as a bit more geeky interests. You know, more for trekkies and history buffs. Whereas 20s, 30s, 50s, 60s, 70s Americana is very general audience stuff, and I’m sure there are heaps of others like that.
1001 Arabian Nights? Or one of the national epics from China or Japan? Could have a lot of fun with the costuming…
1001 night would be awesome!!! Gets my vote!
The Old West. Maybe the town fair, opening of a courthouse or something similar. I’m aware we just had cowboys at the Great Exhibition and this is really an open invitation for more Back To The Future jokes, but just think about what you can do with this. It’s easy enough to costume yet has a very wide range so you can keep it interesting for those who are really keen yet accessable to new LARPers, it has a wealth of historical characters and popular literature to draw upon and best of all westerns are fun. You can throw all the classic elements of the Western movie into the LARP and people will have a great time.
The old west has all the classic character archtypes in it: Indians, cowboys, prospectors, the mayor, businessmen, pilgrims, convicts, Confederates, Yankees, doctors, drunks, writers, time travellers and et cetera. You really can’t go wrong here.
EDIT: Sherrifs, deputies, Mexicans, bandits, horse theives, prostitutes…
Edward “likes” this.
Cowboys and indians ftw. Have we had a cowboys and indians larp before? if not, why not?! It’s not too geeky, has room for mainstream jeans and shirt costumes as well as wilder ones, historical basis, wide appeal.
[quote=“infernalmud”]Edward “likes” this.
Cowboys and indians ftw. Have we had a cowboys and indians larp before? if not, why not?! It’s not too geeky, has room for mainstream jeans and shirt costumes as well as wilder ones, historical basis, wide appeal.[/quote]
We had a cowboys and Indians themed Xmas party.
It had a bunking bronco, line dancing, beer and tequila.
The bits I remember were very good 
is that a hint?
I think western is definitely a potential genre, especially given that its a setting that is already generally associated quite closely to the main story archetypes that were worked out back in Ancient Greece (can’t remember who it was talked a lot about them, or what they were defined as either though).
Although I thought Walter’s idea about a ‘celebrity event’ could actually work quite well potentially. I can definitely see where the politicking can fit in. Plus, it’d make perfect sense for cameras to film it, and people to be taking photos
I also really quite liked the idea of the ancient cultures collide game, but I agree it might be a bit off-putting to some. Perhaps someone would like to write it as a somewhat smaller game? I’d certainly give it a long hard look.
Hmmmm, Old West could totally work. We could steampunk it up a little as well a la Wild Wild West. Plenty of opportunity for crossdressing there…
One of the plot threads could revolve around the feud between the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railroad companies as they race to build the first transcontinental railroad.
Throw in some good old Wagon Trail to Oregon action, slavery, oil tycoons, perhaps a forward thinking environmentalist concerned about the demise of the buffalo…
[quote=“Andrew”]The old west has all the classic character archtypes in it: Indians, cowboys, prospectors, the mayor, businessmen, pilgrims, convicts, Confederates, Yankees, doctors, drunks, writers, time travellers and et cetera. You really can’t go wrong here.
EDIT: Sherrifs, deputies, Mexicans, bandits, horse theives, prostitutes…[/quote]
You forgot Chinese in there. I’m thinking of that Jackie Chan movie where he’s an Imperial Guard and goes to America to find a captured princess.
[quote=“No Rectangulars”][quote=“Andrew”]The old west has all the classic character archtypes in it: Indians, cowboys, prospectors, the mayor, businessmen, pilgrims, convicts, Confederates, Yankees, doctors, drunks, writers, time travellers and et cetera. You really can’t go wrong here.
EDIT: Sherrifs, deputies, Mexicans, bandits, horse theives, prostitutes…[/quote]
You forgot Chinese in there. I’m thinking of that Jackie Chan movie where he’s an Imperial Guard and goes to America to find a captured princess.[/quote]You’re thinking of Shanghai Noon. Both in NZ and the States, there was a surprising amount of very-poorly-treated Chinese immigrants in the early days, who often did a lot of important physical work (e.g. in the States much of the early railroads were built by African slaves and Chinese nigh-on-slaves).
Oh yeah…
feels like an idiot 
But yeah, lots of chinese were killed in building the California-Utah section of the transcontinental railroad due to the freezing conditions in the Rockies and the use of dynamite for getting through the rock. There was lots of conflict with Indians as the railroad passed through their lands, and the typical ‘Wild West’ towns revolved around the railroad as it progressed. Some awesome stories there with hard hitting sheriffs, scalpings etc. Plus lots of political corruption at the business level in both companies.
I’m also thinking the beginnings of the move industry could possible be worked in there, if we’re not too fussed about chronology.
Plus there’s Abraham Lincoln - what more could you want??
Ummmm a little town called Jaynestown and this small group of unusual characters led by a man in tight, tight pants and a long brown coat .
But yeah I like the idea of a Western game, whether you add the steam punk elements in or not.
Deadwood. Oh, yeah. Best cowboy series ever. Watch the f*ing series and you’ll be able to out swear anyone for the rest of your life
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadwood_(TV_series)
http://www.hbo.com/deadwood/
My main concern about the Western genre is that it tends to be male dominated, whereas Chimera is likely to be close to a 50/50 gender split. It’s not an insurmountable problem, but it is something that needs to be kept in mind.
[size=85]ahem[/size] The Rockies are east of Utah, not between it and California.
Gold Rush towns out here still show some heavy influence from the Chinese who came/were brought here; the gold discovery site in Coloma has a very well-preserved Chinese apothecary shop which is awesome, and there are low stone fences all over the place which I’m told were built by the Chinese.
Gold Rush/Transcontinental Railroad is kind of the same era as the Great Exhibition (within a decade or two), but maybe since costuming would be pretty radically different it won’t feel so close…? I’m still kind of rooting for pirates - which are mainstream cool but might get a bit combat-heavy - but if anything American West gets picked, my local knowledge and resources are of course at the writers’ disposal.