Initial Signs Promising - a Psychological Thriller of a Larp

Community Game ideas
#1

I’ve obviously been hanging around too many Larpers lately (not that I’m saying that’s inherently a bad thing), as I’ve been having crazy ideas about interesting larps to run all day. Consider this, then, a “call for interest” regarding what I feel to be one of the better crazy ideas …

[size=85]Presenting …[/size]
[size=150]Initial Signs Promising[/size]
A Psychological Thriller of a LARP, by Ignifluous

“Welcome to City West Clinic, and congratulations for choosing the preeminent specialist medical facility in the Southern Hemisphere. Our professional doctors, clinicians and specialists are the leading men and women of their fields, and during the five years City West Clinic has been operating, they have performed many medical miracles, restoring hope and health to hundreds of patients just like you.”

You have been referred to City West Clinic by your doctor, your hospital, or your friends, and have endured the high fees, long waiting list, and obscure bureaucracy to visit the “Miracle Clinic” - the one place that might be able to help you.

You arrive for your appointment, thinking about the strange symptoms you’ve been experiencing, or maybe fretting over the diagnosis your doctor gave you last visit. Taking a seat in the pristine, if spartan, waiting room, you marvel at the diverse slice of humanity seated with you, and wonder why they are here. Hopefully the wait won’t be too long …

The door opens, and a man in a suit is lead in by a doctor. “Initial signs are promising, sir, but if you could just wait here, we’ll call you back in shortly for some more tests.” The man sobs quietly to himself, and the others in the waiting room shift uneasily, but … almost as if it wasn’t unusual. Like it was … expected. The lady in the corner, the one with the briefcase, glances across briefly, then pulls out some crayons and starts scribbling on the wall.

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, after all. As you get up to leave, the Doctor is suddenly at your side, grasping your elbow firmly. Smiling at you, guiding you through the door, he says "Your specialist will see you now; welcome to City West Clinic … "

This will be a suspenseful larp, entirely taking place in the Waiting Room of the City West Clinic, with the exception of being removed from the Waiting Room for a short while to be assessed/treated/tested with regards to the medical condition or symptoms that have brought you to the Clinic. This could consist of the GM informing you what’s going on, and advising you on any new effects your condition or the tests/treatment/assessment have caused, before returning you to the room so that you can have fun RPing your new “issues” (and if you’re lucky, the doctors might even be able to successfully “help” you :smiling_imp:).

Numbers will be very limited, probably to only 8 or 10 players, and maybe 2 NPCs, and would probably only be an hour or two long. Datewise … probably towards the end of this year, or beginning of the next - due to its sort timespan, it could probably even fit on a weeknight.

Anyhow … before I spend hours of effort planning a larp for noone …

Who’d be keen to participate in something like this?

#2

Me!

#3

That sounds awesome! Very interesting mechanic too.
If it’s towards the end of the year, I might even be in Wellington to play :slight_smile:

#4

Which, I’m afraid, won’t help you much, as I’m based in Auckland :slight_smile:

#5

Totally interested! I love these kinds of larps.

#6

Mine isn’t muted. It’s a full-on bwahahahahahaha :smiley:

I would play your game.

#7

yep, sounds good to me too

#8

Which, I’m afraid, won’t help you much, as I’m based in Auckland :slight_smile:[/quote]

Huh, I thought you were in Wgtn for some reason…
Well, I can probably arrange being in Auckland at the end of the year as well :slight_smile:

#9

That game sounds Awesome!! I’d love to play in it!

#10

Sweet … that seems like a respectable modicum of interest …

I shall commence with the plotting, planning, [size=50]evil cackling, [/size]scheming, and development of the idea, and keep you posted.

With respect to dates, I figure I’ll probably aim somewhere into the lull between ZombieLarp and Teonn.

#11

Looking forward to it :smiley:

#12

looking forward to it, bit nervous that its tasteful. but keen to play

#13

I will be doing my utmost to ensure there is nothing trashy, dodgy, distasteful, or untoward in this scenario … that kind of stuff is simply not the way I operate.

I think the most challenging part of this whole idea will be incorporating all the crazy proposals that the players will have for their symptoms/conditions/illnesses, and weaving them all into a cohesive experience that resembles an actual plot … and working out how to manage player goals/motivations, and whether there will be a way for players to “succeed” or “win”, or whether it is more exploratory in nature. Any ideas in that regard will of course be listened to, but the GM also reserves the right to canoe up a creek of his own choosing in a paddle-less fashion …

You will, however, need to turn up with your imagination on, warmed up, and in high gear, in order to manage the fun of interacting with a bunch of very different fellow patients, each with different “issues”, and RPing your interactions as their issues (and your issues!) evolve, shift, and change throughout the experience.

Hmmm … that’s an idea. Due to the nature of the scenario - i.e. that players will periodically be pulled out into “crewspace” for further briefings (representing their treatment/tests/assessment) - a system of “near-realtime RP rewards” could be implemented. For example, a fresh batch of cookies could be present in crewspace as an encouragement for awesome RP … (not to mention how messed up the experience of sitting in a waiting room with the smell of fresh cookies wafting from inside the clinic would be!)

#14

I like your idea.

But… cookies? They are evil! Perhaps I took the wrong measure of you Ignifluous…

#15

Woot! cookies!

Don’t forget to have the occasional dentists drill sound effect to counterbalance the cookies…

#16

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that … between my keyboard and my two synthesizers, (and the assistance of the player(s) currently in crewspace) there will be plenty of sound effects to add to the, umm, “atmosphere” >:-)

#17

i’m totally keen. sounds like it would be a fun, intense roleplaying oppourtunity which is always great.

#18

i meant tasteful as in not taking the mickey out of mentaly ill people, or representing them all as ‘raving loonies’ or violent people. i totally understand playing the odd character like this but hmmm im not sure how comfortable idd be where the basis of the game is ‘we all nuts lol! this is what the mason clinic is like’ though im sure the players will imagine more subtle things that that

#19

Ah, understood. I do find it interesting that everyone has immediately assumed that all the patients have mental issues … maybe I’ll have to tweak the intro/flavour text a little to make it more clear …

I’d been imagining a clinic with a far broader range of operation … if (when the time comes) you want to make a character whose only issue is a dislocated elbow, or really bad foot odour, or a wisdom tooth that needs removal, go for it!

You do make a good point, and I will definitely be doing my utmost to ensure that this larp doesn’t lampoon, trivialise, or mock any particular illness or disability … this probably means that characters may need to be pre-written, or submissions accepted early so they can be considered … I’m hoping to generate an atmosphere that is rather intense and involved (and maybe even desperate), as opposed to mocking, comedic or satirical.

#20

So, Matt, I guess this didn’t happen but it sounds fun!