Tryst: cosmic grotesquery

oh yes. :stuck_out_tongue: Terry Pratchett is EVERYWHERE, I say!

I can definitely imagine some of them being mute, or speaking very little or badly.

Part of the idea is that the people playing the grotesques get some time before the games in costume to explore their character, and the character comes out of that exploration. So rather than creating a character concept in advance, you create it by practising it. In this sense the troll characters are emergent rather than planned, they spring forth from the inspiration of seeing yourself transformed by a mask.

Mask… how about Masque as a name for the invisible grotesques? I have no idea what it means (except that it’s probably Mask in French, and everything sounds artier in French), but it sure looks pretty in writing. Wikipedia says it’s some sort of courtly performance art… and this bit looks good:

In any case, I guess their name may be a little irrelevant given that humans aren’t aware of them and they probably don’t have a strong sense of self-identity themselves.

[color=brown]That sounds fascinating. :smiley:
It rather reminds me of computer games such as Riven, Myst and so on - where you are an outsider coming into a basically alien environment knowing you have something to do there, but nothing else.

I can imagine that maybe, in the same way as those games, otherwise insignificant accomplishments would become greatly celebrated. The “OMFG WOW I … opened a door!” effect, which I’ve always enjoyed. Or am I just totally going off on a tangent? :wink:

Anyway I like the idea of the variety in the grotesques, and the creativity that could come out of making them up. It also sounds like something that would be hilarious to watch afterwards on tape.

But how would you combat giggling fits in-game? [/color]

You’re on the mark, that’s exactly the kind of thing I meant by super-realism. Approaching mundane activities from a completely new perspective.

Iron will, I suppose. There are drama excercises where you learn to keep a straight face, we might do some with the humans beforehand. For the trolls it wouldn’t be an issue.

I saw a production of the Gondoliers once (I think it might have been this one) where they had these masked zanies dressed in white wandering around the set peering at everyone and playing their own games and being ignored by the rest of the cast. Anyway, that’s the image I keep getting when you talk about masked trolls.

Steph

Never heard of the Gondoliers.

The idea of invisible characters messing around admidst “normals” definitely feels familiar to me, although I can’t place any particular source. I guess it’s just a common meme.

Oooh. Fun. Can I join in?

It does sound disturbingly familiar… scratches head

It’ll be open to anyone, when I get it going.

One of the nice things about it is that the rules and background information should be quite small and shoulnd’t take too much development. The hurdle is going to be the grotesque costumes.

I read about a weird opera called Ariadne auf Naxos, by Hugo von Hoffmannsthal, in which something similar happens, specifically, a tragic opera must be performed with a bunch of Comeddia dell’arte character wandering through it::

“In the Prologue, we’re told that the crotchety old fart who has commanded these performances at his salon has decided that, in order to be over in time for the fireworks at 9:00 sharp, the opera seria and the improv comedy are going to have to be performed at the same time on the same stage.”

(from the Wondering Minstrels poetry site)

I’m taking this idea off the back-burner.

I’ve written draft player rules and Raoul has kindly agreed to do the grotesque makeup.

The NZLARPS committee sounded positive towards loaning money to a Tryst event in theory, although I’ve yet to submit a Tryst event as a project. Paddywhack will retain ownership of the rules, but NZLARPS will own a copy of the rules and society members will be able to run Tryst events without further cost, assuming the events are approved.

The first event is likely to be during winter, and be invite-only. Later events can be run by attendees of the first event if they wish (I’ll provide running instructions), and they can decide their own criteria for players (open or invite-only).

Does anyone know where I can hold of 19C English formalwear? Top hats, dark jackets with tails, etc. Worn out or tattered would work best. I’ve seen some great stuff at First Scene, but I don’t know if they’d sell it and hiring it is too costly. Otherwise, does anyone have the skills to help make such costumes?

[quote=“Ryan Paddy”]Does anyone know where I can hold of 19C English formalwear? Top hats, dark jackets with tails, etc. Worn out or tattered would work best. I’ve seen some great stuff at First Scene, but I don’t know if they’d sell it and hiring it is too costly. Otherwise, does anyone have the skills to help make such costumes?[/quote]You could have a poke through the antique clothing shops in St Kevin’s Arcade on K Road. Or antique shops in general - I’ve been in several that had clothing racks.

Depends what your budget is.

Simplicity and Butterick both have excellent historical patterns for waistcoats and period shirts (though their Medieval and Renaissance stuff is a bit dodge). I have the skills to make the clothing, both good stuff and whipped-up-in-an-hour (though I prefer solid workmanship, and am better when I can take my time). No idea how to make the hats. Buying the material in any quantity would be quite expensive, though (but buying in bulk helps a bit on a price per item). On the plus side, you can muddy it up how you want and, if you know who the players will be, ensure that they have well-fitting clothes, which will make them feel good.

A cheaper alternative is buying some second-hand shirts, trousers, and waistcoats (can be extremely cheap) and altering them to look more in period. Shirt collars should be high. Trousers should be high-waisted and held up with braces. An option is to buy a size too large (so the waist-line is the right height) and then take in the seams to make them look a bit prettier. For the collars, turning them up to lie touching the neck, creasing down the tips (think Fred Astaire with a bow-tie), and covering it all with a neck-cloth might work; I haven’t tried it yet. For the waist-coats, the flashier the better - shawl-collars and tuxedo collars would be nifty, exuberant fabric patterns a plus (especially for the younger folk). Frock-coats would be tricky.

Here’s a great gallery of grotesque
fantastic.library.cornell.edu/grotesque.php

The parent gallery, “The fantastic in art and fiction” is a trip to the moon.
fantastic.library.cornell.edu/index.php

Nice.

[quote=“Ryan Paddy”]

Mask… how about Masque as a name for the invisible grotesques? I have no idea what it means (except that it’s probably Mask in French, and everything sounds artier in French), but it sure looks pretty in writing. Wikipedia says it’s some sort of courtly performance art… and this bit looks good:

In any case, I guess their name may be a little irrelevant given that humans aren’t aware of them and they probably don’t have a strong sense of self-identity themselves.[/quote]

i heard masque means ‘meeting/party’ or something simmilar in a anaysis of ‘masque of red death’ by edgar allan poe? how was the game? i suppose the confusion of the concept would be easyer to udnerstand when hearing feedback from it.

furhtermore, that crappy magicial ‘criss angel’ who’s on tv at ungodly hours on TVNZ and makes the emos squeak, has some bloody wicked gremlin type characters in his stage show, a few masks but mainly wicvked costuming.

Check out second hand equestrian wear.

Trademe has some, but you’d be better to go to some kind of equestrian swap meet.

[quote=“Derek”]Check out second hand equestrian wear.

Trademe has some, but you’d be better to go to some kind of equestrian swap meet.[/quote]

Thanks.

Question is more than a year old, but better late than never. :wink: