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Community Larp discussion
#81

Yeah, vampire is huge. It’s funny, most larpers can be divided into those who started out in vampire and those who started out in fantasy. They’re quite different schools of “how to larp”.

The vampire-starters are typically all about the politics, character development, and relationships even if they’ve moved onto other larps. They were brought up on White Wolf’s “Storyteller” manifesto which says that GMs are continuing the age-old oral storytelling tradition. The fantasy-starters typically focus more on action, objectives, equipment.

I kinda like both approaches blended together more than either on their own. Hansi brought the Vampire-style focus on character and relationships to Mordavia.

I’m not personally that keen on the vampire setting and themes. 2014 seems to take all the advantages of a modern supernatural larp but put it in a package that’s much more attractive to me. Dystopian near future with low-powered supers and other crazy stuff, that I can really get into. Actually, I made a pen-and-paper RPG that was very similar in setting and feel once, except that it was based in Auckland (partly flooded when the seas rose, with derelict buildings downtown) and had a religious overtone with the new fascist order being strongly tied to a new world church.

#82

I would love a co-GM who was reared on Vampire-type politics and character development. I want to blend the two styles heavily but I’m sadly inexperienced in Vampire type games, more for disliking the setting than the style of play.

#83

It’s interesting to reread this thread two and a half years down the track.

A lot of the things that seemed like big issues don’t seem a worry anymore. Especially the issue of an explosion of new games but only a gradual increase in new players.

I think the main thing that has fixed that issue, which nobody predicted here, is Chimera. Having a big multi-genre convention allows anyone to run their cool new larp idea and to get the number of players they need. You don’t have to organise and advertise an evening, or a weekend, and get everyone together, that’s all handled for you. You can focus on running your game. And it gives players a choice of several games conveniently in one place and time.

At the same time, Chimera allows the whole community to come together for one big event, in a way that we’ve never seen before in Auckland, because the convention has something for everyone. It provides a focal point and sense of togetherness for the community, but it only takes a weekend so it doesn’t monopolise the calendar and leaves plenty of time throughout the year for other larps. It doesn’t split the community based on genre, it brings together people with varied interests and gives them a chance to try new things. And it’s starting to bring the whole NZ larp community together too and perhaps help grow it. I think it’s going to be a watershed. Who’d have thought?

So big ups to Anna for making it happen, and to everyone who helps. Which is everyone, really.

#84

So I’ve just come across this thread and it’s made for some really interesting reading.

My first experience with the Auckland LARP scene was after hearing that a LARP convention was going to be happening… in two weeks. I wrote a frantic email to see if I could still attend and was genuinely surprised by the friendly, welcoming and enthusiastic response I got:

  • Yes, please come!
  • Yes, we’ll help you get into games!
  • Yes, we’ll whip up a character for you in the Great Ex!
  • Yes we can help you with costumes if you need it!

I fully expected to be told “Sorry, you should have signed up ages ago.” It blew me away.

I hope in my contributions to the encouragement LARPing in Wellington I’ve brought some of that spirit into our own community. Because I think the “spirit of encouragement” is a vital part of seeing LARPing thrive - whether you’re encouraging and supporting GMs, players or crew.