OOC sheets/notes

Community Larp discussion
#1

i heard about OOC sheets from an american group that i cannot recal the name of. they are not as the name would suggest.

the sheets are peices of paper put in place instead of props that noone will use, still following? good. heres an example i noticed at TNC:
words in middle of board:lost girl lost girl lost girl lost girl
OOC sheet:this carries on to the ends of the board

basicaly raoul had written ‘lost girl’ the board and could’nt be assed covering the whole board in it. so a OOC sheet/note worked well. they may be rare to find but come in handy when a GM or NPC is’nt around to tell you whats what. they would also be hard to have as a universal rule as the meaning of them differs over each event they are used in.

thoughts anyone?

#2

I have a copy of a universal LARP system called “Rules to Live By” where nearly everything can be represented by notes. Props, weapons, sets, the lot. The notes for props also have the “statistics” for the item - how much damage a weapon does, that kind of thing.

Whether you include this kind of thing is a question of the level of abstraction you’re happy to have in your LARP. Anything can be represented either by a note or by a physical prop. You can wear a badge saying “I am giant rabbit.” Or yuo can wear a costume.

There’s a school of thought that says you should minimise abstraction, by only including elements in the game that you can believably prop. Some says this improves immersion.

Other people believe you can get just as immersed in a character without all the fancy props and costumes, or don’t see immersion as a goal. The writers of Rules to Live by, for example, focus on plot and characterisation and aren’t terribly interested in what the game looks like - production values.

Which end of this spectrum you occupy is just a matter of personal taste I think. So long as the organiser makes it clear to players what level of abstraction to expect, it’s cool.