LARP Stream at ConFusion 2012

Wellington
#1

Hi all,

ConFusion this year is being held on 4th August at Brooklyn Community Centre- and this year, we have a LARP stream- that’s right, you can do a one-day mini LARP con, or sign up for one that takes your fancy and perhaps enjoy some tabletop awesome in the other rounds.

Round 1: ‘Shell Beach’ by Jenni Dowsett- e-mail sign-up details TBC.
15 players

Blurb to follow.

Round 2: ‘Stars over Strangeways’ by Nik Crombie- e-mail sign-up details TBC.
10 players
Welcome to Strangeways Convalescent Home. Comfortable, quiet and offering a good quality of care for invalids, at quite a reasonable cost. It is sometime between the two world wars, and money is tight, so it has no shortage of residents. This despite its isolated location; the nearest town is about an hour’s drive away. Strangeways itself is a neat little Victorian building that sits on the cliffs overlooking the cold, rocky sea. Despite its outward appearance of tranquillity, Strangeways has gained a troubling reputation. Strangeways itself used to belong to the Strangeways family, but passed into private ownership after the death of the family heir in The Great War; one of many Strangeways to meet an early end. But there has always been something not quite right about Strangeways.

Round 3: ‘Mansfield with Monsters’ by Donna Giltrap- email catnipmousegames at gmail dot com to sign up
12 players.
Wellington 1918. It has been many months since the dread Haitian 'Flu arrived in New Zealand. Tens
of thousands have died, if not from the 'flu itself then from the depravations of those who
succumbed to the disease only to rise from the grave with an insatiable hunger for human flesh.
The Government responded by enacting curfews and rationing measures. The army set up safe zones
guarded by machine guns and barbed wire where the living might continue with their business. Those
who wander outside the safe zones risk being torn apart by the living dead.

Still one shouldn’t let the fact that the dead are returning to life in contravention of the very
laws of nature get one down. Many of the city’s well-to-do are doing their best to carry on as if
there wasn’t an apocalypse on their doorstep. In this spirit of brave defiance Dr and Mrs Harry
Young are holding a dinner party for a number of their closest friends.

Mansfield with Monsters has been written to celebrate the release of the book of the same name by
Matthew and Debbie Cowens (steampress.co.nz/monsters.html). You don’t have to have read the book to enjoy the LARP, but you might want to check it out anyway.

#2

Contact me via PM if you want a spot in Stars over Strangeways. Here’s some more info:

Background Information:
Welcome to Strangeways Convalescent Home. It is sometime between the two world wars. Comfortable, quiet and offering a good quality of care to invalids, at quite a reasonable cost, it has no shortage of residents, despite its isolated location. The nearest town, Yarmouth, is about an hour’s drive away. The road is unpaved, twisting and goes through many a dark wood and deserted valley.
From its site on the cliffs the town is just visible; the lights glow like a beacon when one looks out of the window of the common room at night. Yarmouth itself is a strange little town; the locals are quiet, busy and extremely insular. It seems that the town itself wasn’t so much built as it crawled out of the sea.
Strangeways has a high turnover of both patients and staff. It has been remarked upon, however, that the ‘locals’ who belong to either of those two groups tend to stay longer.

Events leading up to the Game:
Despite its strange atmosphere, Strangeways in its incarnation as a convalescent home has had an unremarkable history. Then, just over a week ago, a fire broke out in one of the rooms, killing a patient and damaging many of the patients’ medical records. The official story is that the patient, who was holding a candle, got lost and blundered into one of the smaller rooms, dropping the candle and setting himself and the room alight. This seems to have been accepted, although patients themselves wonder where poor Mitchell Paxman wonder where he would have got a candle; usually they are kept locked away. But those with doubts keep them to themselves, as anyone who asks too many questions is treated harshly.
It has almost been a week since the…death occurred. The nurses are anxious, the doctors are tense and angry. The patients themselves are afflicted with reoccurring nightmares and a growing sense of unease. And the stars seem to be shining more brightly…

Costuming: This is set between the wars, so elaborate costumes are not required. Convalescents would wear comfortable, casual (for the period) clothing; button up shirts, cardigans and trousers for the men and skirts/blouses/day dresses for the women. Feel free to add any character appropriate touches. There are some special costume requirements for some characters, but these aren’t huge and will specified on the character sheet.

#3

Decided to pop down for ConFusion this year :smiley: The Lovecraft element was too good a lure to resist.

#4

‘Shell Beach’ by Jenni Dowsett- running Round 1- to sign up please email jenni dot dowsett at gmail dot com

Shell Beach is a murder mystery LARP set in the fictional town of Shell Beach on the Manawatu Coast on New Zealand. It’s a game for thirteen players (six residents of the failing resort town of Shell Beach and seven visitors to town), two crew and one Game Master.

Three weeks ago a Swedish tourist was found dead on the beach of Shell Beach, a small holiday town just north of Waitarere. One week ago another body was found on the same beach. As the tiny community of locals reels in shock, strangers descend on the town. All are there for their own reasons, some to investigate the murders and some for darker purposes. On this night, in the restaurant hall of Shell Beach Resort, one of New Zealand’s most haunted hotels, everything will come to a head.

Characters.

Townsfolk.
Nigel Marks, owner operator of the Shell Beach Resort, the only accommodation in town.
Lily Marks, Victor’s teenage daughter, a talented ballet dancer
Neroli DeLuca, owns the souvenir shop in the foyer of the Resort
Lawrence DeLuca, husband of Neroli, unemployed
Victor DeLuca, the teenage son of Neroli and Lawrence, a grumpy Goth
Madame Mathilde, owner of the prestigious ballet academy on the edge of town

Strangers.
Detective Brian Gables, an affable police officer, in charge of the murder investigation
Detective Katrina Gale, a reserved police officer.
Jo Thomas, a struggling writer, has been living at the resort for a few weeks
Tez Willard, a mysterious stranger, just checked in to the resort
Steve Angelo, producer of the popular ghost hunting web series “NZ Ghosts”
Amy Angelo, main investigator/star of the NZ Ghosts series, Steve’s sister
PJ, Camera operator for NZ Ghosts, film student.

  • 2 very important crew :slight_smile:
#5

Fantastic! It will be good to see you.

#6

Strangeways is now full! Thanks to everyone who’s signed up to play.

#7

Mansfield with Monsters is also full.

#8

Sweet! Just got my character sheet :smiley:

#9

Everyone in Mansfield with Monsters should have received their character sheets last night. Let me know if you should have got one but didn’t.

#10

recieved mine!

#11

All cast in Strangeways should have their character sheets now. If I’ve missed anyone, please let me know.

Cast:

Charity Keith: Donna
Erik Archer: Bryn
Harris Audley: Idiot
Lily Randolph: Judit
Leonard Grenning: Frank
Matthew Buxton: Ants
Nina Thomas: Anna
Theresa Wyatt: Hannah
Tristan Blake: Norm
Victoria Pritchard: Stephanie

#12

Hi folks,

Just wanted to let you all know that if you’re still keen to get in on the LARP action at ConFusion, but haven’t yet signed up, you can!

The awesome ‘Shell Beach’ by Jenni Dowsett has plenty of space in Round 1- murder and mystery in a small NZ seaside town.

And for those keen to rp, and who love to make stuff up, but are not so much fans of costuming, we also have ‘The Book Group’ by Stephanie Pegg running in round 3. I’ve played in both games, and they’re both lots of fun. Get in there!

#13

I thought the Book Group wasn’t doing pre-registrations, as there’s no costume requirement?

#14

You’re quite right, Idiot- sorry for the…ahem…confusion.

You can’t pre-register for the Book Group- HOWEVER, I wanted to include info about it so that people know they can still LARP at ConFusion.

And you CAN pre-register for Shell Beach!

#15

Yep, that’s right, it works fine with walk-ins. (It’s more of a semi-larp, really.)

#16

Hey Guys

We (Hannah and I) have been double booked for the evening with an event we cannot pull out of. Both of us will have to pull out of Mansfield with Monsters unfortunately.

We are both not playing round 1, so if possible would it be possible to switch Mansfield and Shell beach around in streams?

IE
Round 1 Mansfield
Round 2 Strangeways
Round 3 Shell beach

#17

[quote=“Ants”]Hey Guys

We (Hannah and I) have been double booked for the evening with an event we cannot pull out of. Both of us will have to pull out of Mansfield with Monsters unfortunately.

We are both not playing round 1, so if possible would it be possible to switch Mansfield and Shell beach around in streams?

IE
Round 1 Mansfield
Round 2 Strangeways
Round 3 Shell beach[/quote]

Not a hope, since it would require us to get up at obscene o’clock in the morning for the drive down.

#18

Understand Obscene OClock doesnt exist for you

Then what about

Round 1 Strangeways
Round 2 Mansfield
Round 3 Shell beach

he first was the simplest suggesion and impacted the least games since Shell Beach is quite empty I am told.

This I understand is an imposition and a stretch, but thought I would check before categorically pull out.

Anthony

#19

[quote=“Ants”]Understand Obscene OClock doesnt exist for you

Then what about

Round 1 Strangeways
Round 2 Mansfield
Round 3 Shell beach

he first was the simplest suggesion and impacted the least games since Shell Beach is quite empty I am told.

This I understand is an imposition and a stretch, but thought I would check before categorically pull out.[/quote]

That would be up to Nik and/or Ellen, but it would mean Strangeways would be down two players. (I’m also unsure about the impact on Debbie, who will be co-GMing Mansfield & Monsters)

Mansfield & Monsters will run again; it’s on the list of possible options for Hydra next year.

#20

Cool Cool. Admittedly didnt even comprehend you guys were in Strangeways. So any shuffle wont work.

Please consider us removed. We will not be attending Monsters unfortunately