Nationwide Fantasy Larp Ideas

Community Game ideas
#1

Hi you lovely LARPERS.

This is an opportunity to give feedback on what sorts of things you would like to incorporate into a nationwide fantasy LARP system that would be homogenois in Rules, Races, Religions, Society etc. This would allow freedom of movement between games for players and a system that could be used for large scale events or small scale events.

Jared has Started with His Sundereth setting.

Things we would need to include off the top of my head would be

System:

  • Character Generation (Skills, Levels or such Like)
  • Classes if there are such things
  • Combat Rules (Are there Hit Points, Soak etc, How does Damage work)
  • Magic (Sorcery/Prayer, Religion shades of black and white, How spells are cast are spell balls used etc)

Society:

  • Money and Trade (Equipment, Magic, Coinage, buying and selling things, Craft skills etc)
  • Character class (What classes if any, Are there guilds, What does this give characters)
  • Social Status (Nobility and ranks, what does this afford are you a beggar or a Baron?)

Geography:

  • What is where (Countries, Making it easier for new games to open up and be part of the greater scheme of things - Is the world surrounded by mists that can only be traversed by great magics with areas that are not shorouded (countires)
    History:

  • Forms a deeper understanding of the game system

As usual your feedback is appreciated

#2

Personally my favourite approach for big larps is the one that Maelstrom takes. Essentially it’s all about player characters at every level, and the “plot” is not driven by organisers but by interaction of players within overlapping systems for economics, politics, land control, magic, faith, etc. In other words, it’s one big world simulation where every player action can have roll-on effects across the setting without organiser involvement being required.

#3

Basically thats what the gathering does. There are Plotlines that are generated by GM’s but each player decides what sort of thing they want to do - Small games need to have more guidance I think. However at large games Players control what they do With Opportunities for things given by the various guilds etc. But also just Generic Interraction between players.

Ie lets rob the merchant. Okay - player robs NPC and gets caught (Hanging or Jail etc)

#4

Magic:

Personally I like the use of Spellballs for Magic - The whole saving throw do I make it scenario.

Quests spell casting using rhyming couplets for spells and longer rhyming couplets for more powerful spells is great. Spells need to be relatively quick and easy to cast except perhaps for Ritual Magic.

I like Splitting up the types of magic Divine/Druidic/Wizardry into different realms good vs evil, dark vs light etc.

Spell points work but perhaps a small spell card that you rip up like The Gathering so you know you have cast a spell of a certain level.

Combat

Large weapons do more damage or special skills that allow for Double damage

Jareds/Quest Soak idea (Add HP, Armour, Magic to get total soak)

Certain body areas take more damage (personally I believe one for a limb 2 for a torso is okay 3 for a torso is a bit OTT)

#5

The idea of a nationwide larp is an appealing one, but overall I’m far more interested in the setting and story and working out the logisitcs of something like that, rather than the rule system.

(I’m going to get shot for saying this but as far as I’m concerned, a fantasy ruleset is a fantasy ruleset is a fantasy ruleset. They can be more complex or less complex, but essentially, it’s the same product repackaged each time. But then again, I’m also the sort of person that finds the rules the most boring aspect of larp, so maybe I’m not the best person to comment)

#6

I understand Anna,

With gaming Systems, like a lot of roleplaying systems, the ruless are only the framework for the setting to expand from. The Setting also plays a major part in creating the system. This is why a sounding board is great because those people with creative talent can lend their skills to the people that like making rules to create a truely great system/gamesworld.

I have been roleplaying for 27 years and Larp since 1994 so have been around the block i guess you could say. There are a lot of great ideas for gaming systems that fall over because they are too complex or are annoying to play because it is too tedious.

With Larp you can make too many rules and the games becomes unplayable. So a System needs to be made to make it easy for a game world to form and a system that is easy to understand yet not too simple so characters have personality and are not just another Backstabbing rogue or mage that throws bolt of energy.

From Magic systems come religions and magic colleges, Heierarchy and titles.

Combat which is one of the reasons players come also needs to be realistic. But also easy to calculate to make it fun and effective.

You can have great background but bad system and people will not play it or you can have a great system with bad background and people will not play it.

I saw a system that was basically Dungeons and Dragons where players had loads of hit points and was so hard to keep track of Health levels that it was cumbersome.

Quests upper levels are much more manageable I think However I do think 2hp for a Torso is more realistic. Otherwise one backstab new character dead makes for a rather short quick combat. Not a more realistic sustained combat situation. Then you can have less health and it is easier to keep track of.

So maybe a thread in this forum for BAckground

This forum to to bring both together.

#7

No, it’s not.

#8

I quite like the idea from Guild Wars where there are mists between realms or Portals made by creator races that can be travelled between only at certain times of the year or through great magics (Conclave of Countiries at a particular time of the year - or a character with a particular spell can utilise the portals)

Races could be along the standard lines with monster races playable by characters. These Players Racial classes may have access to powers rather than skills for certain number of character points.

Perhaps levels do not exist only experience points. Each skill could have a certain number of experience points it costs to purchase. So a vampire could buy vampire charm or energy drain etc but normal skills cost double experience - trolls could have regenerative abilites but social/knowledge skills cost triple etc.

#9

[quote=“ninja123”]With Larp you can make too many rules and the games becomes unplayable. So a System needs to be made to make it easy for a game world to form and a system that is easy to understand yet not too simple so characters have personality and are not just another Backstabbing rogue or mage that throws bolt of energy.
[/quote]

Eh, interesting characters are far more than just their stats sheet. :wink:

I think the key to a good larping system is simplicity (which doesn’t necessarily sacrifice variety) and flexibility (which doesn’t necessarily sacrifice simplicity)

#10

Sorry I though you meant minimal Organiser involvement. Not none at all. My Mistake. That must be really hard to stop anarchy at an event. You know Assassin muyrdering everyone and taking their money etc

At the Gathering you have a character and you do what you want, Join whatever guilds you are in do the quests you want to do.Such as robbing the mages guild standard and holding them to ransom (been there done that)

The next year if you survive your social interraction, alliances/plots do generally carry over. You accumulate things you have got and can increase in power. With a large scale event of say 2000+ the organisers do run the major plotlines/NPC’s but players are free to do what they want within the major plotlines this stops anarchy to a greater extent

#11

Quest uses a system of levels with an increasing amount of experience needed to accumulate levels. Each level has a certain number of character points the character has to buy skills. This makes it a good way of reducing Uber characters power. But does not limit a characters progression and the number of skills is quite varied. So players dedicated enough to go to lots of games over the country can accumulate power which guess is reward for their dedication.

Magic uses Magic Points and Power POints one for Wizardry the other for Pious Powers.

Characters can only learn Magic spells if they have a pool of magic large enough (So are more powerful)

There are lores - not quite the ones that are in St Wolfgang.

I do like your armour depletion and fixing rules. Healing is a bit long though for short games.

#12

The Gathering’s organiser involvement doesn’t appear to be minimal at all. All the player factions are led by NPCs, who are briefed by organisers to create situations that lead to large-scale conflict.

That doesn’t appear to be an issue for Maelstrom. Probably because actions have their natural consequences, and exist within economic and political frameworks. When I played, the social structure seemed very tight. I did get mugged and killed in the end, but it was a natural result of the risks I was taking.

So a player character could become the leader of a whole faction and lead it into battle at any time? Make alliances between whole factions? If not, then you can’t do whatever you want. You can just do limited things at the small scale of the setting that don’t affect the big picture.

That’s a very limited scope of political and economic sway. What I’m talking about is PCs leading and controlling the setting, and the setting (including who controls land, large-scale resources, etc) being simulated by rules. See the Maelstom site: www.profounddecisions.co.uk

#13

Perhaps, instead of a global rule system, we could consider how to port characters from one system to another ?

As a GM, I’m very interested in bringing a specific vision to life, and this may not match with a global system (GS). The GS may not have the right vibe for my game.

For example, what if the GS had no character death a-la Quest ? (and perhaps Sundoreth, it’s not clear how character death works in that one). This would be a showstopper for me, and I wouldn’t use it, purely because I want Multiverse to be dark high fantasy, and IMO you need the consequence of true character death to achieve the requisite level of darkness.

I’m not suggesting that porting characters will be possible across all systems, but it may be possible between similar systems.

#14

have you been to the gathering?

In the years I was there Characters changed what happened not just the major Npc’s which are really just players in disguise with slightly more information that the players.

I was Drax Xagrath. Asassin of Stocade Lyf and Member of the Tarantulas Faction. The final battle was supposed to go down with the Bears faction again being beaten. A large number of characters defected created a Phalanx and broke through the sheild wall where mydself and another assassin, assassinated one of the Matrons and an enemy General Routing the army thjat was supposed to win. I was part of a group of players that stole the mages guild sign and held it to ransom and snuck into the Vipers faction camp through the front gates and stole a maguical dagger from the kings tent that was supposed to be used in a magical ritual

All PLayer actions that affected large parts of the Plot

With Such Large numbers of players i am guessing it is easier to have NPCs and plotline and Lots of varied plots for characters to get involved in

In the early years the event started with Players who eventually became NPC’s. The Vioper king was a player who rose to power in the faction and then became an NPC for example.

#15

Me? Nope, I’ve just read a lot about it and read the rules.

Am I wrong - could a player character lead their faction to war at any time?

#16

Unless you became the warmaster i guess not. This could happen in a challenge and did in 96 the Champion of the tarantulas faction was a PC winning single combat.

However the next year you would be an NPC i am guessing

I edited my forum entry - I am at work so got a call did not finish post.

MY main point i guess was that NPC’s are really just PC’s with more information. - and a goal defined by the writers.

I think a combination of Plot driven instances and Player intiated instances are important. A Plot gives players who have no motivation something to do and something to define their goals (I run a Tabletop game where there are players who like to have plot handed to them on a plate and interract in it - but also players who help drive the plotline in the direction it is heading by their character actions.)

There are always going to be both sorts of players. So If the game has “NPC"s” that have goals but no defined actions on how those goals are to be actioned. It gives those players freedom to do whatever they want in the plot formation sense and players who are not NPC’s can always alter the games direction by their actions. Much like what happened with me in 96 at the gathering.

GM’s have random instances that generate side plots (Udead attacks etc) But the players choose how they interract in said instances. You may be a bad guy that sides with the Necromancer meaning next year there is a recurring bad guy etc.

#17

Out of curiosity, are you imagining that a nationwide fantasy system would replace existing fantasy systems and settings in New Zealand, or would exist alongside them as its own campaign with regional cells?

Edit: Fixed spelling.

#18

What Ryan is getting at is that at the Gathering (and this accords with what I have been told about it), the GMs make the large plot lines and the players interact within the larger plots.

He contrasts this with an entirely player-led system, such as Maelstrom.

One of the good points about the Mordavia campaign, was the way the Ryan would modify the setting according to direct repercussions of player actions. For example, an entire Elf nation went into an uprising as a result of specific player actions, and this had a major affect on the development of the campaign.

#19

If Flipside: Sundereth were to be used, it would exist along side current games & support them ideally.
Potentially people could convert characters from any game system to suit either a local game system or to suit the Flipside system.
Multi dimension theory would have thousands of parallel worlds lying next to one another, although the physics & realities of each may be drastically different.

#20

That would be up to everyone. I really dont think the individual games should stop but maybe their setting can be incorporated into the new system so the system is homogenous the spells and religions are homogenous. The main benefit is the mechanics of the game would be the same.

However, there could be a huge variety in settings.

By Homogenous Religions I mean a character can transfer between games and still worship that god as it exists in the game world but is a member of a particular kingdoms panthen (Possibly lesser power in anothe rdomain perhaps) or is justa facet ie" Phuque… oh you mean Bacchus yeah there is a Bacchus temple upn ther road"

So one nation Hamiltonia for example could include all of the Quest history and background but be one kingdom in a series of Kingdoms. Pantheons of deities are such that each games gods could be unique or just a fact of a particular god

so Phuque - could be Bacchus in a greek setting