TOPIC: Question: potential game at Gen Con 2006, opinions wanted

While I have never participated in a LARP (not directly anyway), I'd have to agree with the previous posters. I think a "Harry Potter" themed LARP would be too specific and too restrictive.

If you decide to go with it though, I wish you all the best.

-Douglas

I guess I should have been more specific. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger would not be characters in the game. Nor would most of the professors. The game would be set several years before the books/movies.

The conflicts and role-playing would be mostly centered around conflict between the houses, various 'standard' interpersonal conflicts, and perhaps some 'dark wizards' cropping up here or there.

Think of situations akin to the first two books, but involving an entirely different set of kids...namely, the PCs. The teachers would likely all be NPCs, although maybe Filch and Hagrid might be PCs. Haven't gotten as far as a cast list or specific plot lines yet.

But no, it would not be a game where 90% of the players stood around and watched the three who get to play Harry, Ron, and Hermione save the day.

At *most*, I might set the game only a couple of years before the first book, but I'd only do that so I could get Fred and George Weasley as characters in their first year Likely I'd set the game 6 to 7 years before the books. Post-Valdemort, but pre-Harry.

On the other hand, I could go a little darker and set the game prior to Valdemort's downfall...that might be even more interesting.

I didn't get to try a larp this year, because it didn't work for me schedule wise, but I think I'd have to do whatever I could to play this. I am a huge Harry Potter fan and I think it could be a lot of fun.

One vote for yes!

Hey kl613...I imagine you checked all options for this year, but our LARPs can usually handle a few extra people. So, if you do happen to get some surprise free time this year and want to play in one, stop by and we can likely make room. You can find our LARP schedule at www.byov.com .

Well, my first thought was "my god that would be the suxxor and tom is out of his mind". Then I pondered a bit more and I liked it more and more. The inter house rivalries would be a spiffy sort of format right off the bat. The only thing is, I'm pondering if you could get enough room to run something like this. It would have to be in a big multi-roomed area I would think. You'd want to give each house their own small room if possible to be their house area and then the various large gathering spaces. A lot of HP also seems to often involve an almost scooby-doesque feel of sneaking around in a large and haunted building. It'd be a shame if the characters were just stuck in one large room and told it was the great halla nd they had to stay there or something.

Okay, let the plethora of stupid questions you've guys got in my head be inquired about.

What is Suxxor, is that some kind of cheesy critter or something???
Whats the difference between role(or is it roll?)play, larp and cosplay?
I'm assuming by one comment that cosplay is costumed, so is larp not or what?
Sorry if these are stupid questions, but hey I admittedly know nothing, I'm just here to help the event.
*goes and hides in corner before someone throws something at me for my stupid questions*

What is Suxxor, is that some kind of cheesy critter or something???

It's leet-speak for "sucks", or "that would suck"

Whats the difference between role(or is it roll?)play, larp and cosplay?

ROLL PLAY: Rolling dice without even bothering to pretend to be playing the character ("Yah! I rolled a crit! One more dead kobald for me!")

ROLE PLAY: Playing the role of a character (speaking their lines as if you are that character) and describing their actions as you go ("I check for traps. (success) "Hey, Lothar - don't move! You're standing next to a pressure plate.")

LARP (a.k.a. Live Action Role Play): Dressing up and playing the character, speaking their lines, and doing what they would do. Many LARPs include live combat - you don't roll dice to hit someone, you draw your boffer sword and have at. Other LARPs use paper-rock-scissors, or even dice, to handle combat. But basically, you -are- the character.

COSPLAY: Dressing up in costume without even bothering to pretend that you are the character. Basically, it's showing off your talents at making a cool costume, but still talking and acting as yourself.

Ahh, thanks for the clarification. And for not throwing anything at a pesky little pixie! *smiles*

Thanks Raven. Just one clarification...a great many LARPs don't require costumes at all. Many non-convention LARPs do put a lot of emphasis on costume. If you're playing in a weekly LARP where you have a regular character, many of the other players will expect you to be in costume.

A LARP at a convention, however, is a different story. BYOV, and many other LARP GMs, don't expect someone to put together a costume for a 4-hour LARP on a day in which they will likely be playing in many other games.

We *do* have people come in costume, more so last year than in previous years, and it's great, and we like it. But it's not at all necessary for our games. The way I figure, if you, as a player, can't *imagine* that the person talking to you is a knight in armor, then I'm not sure you're working your imagination well enough

Henwy: You're right about the space requirements. That's one thing I'd really have to work with Gen Con about...whoever's taking over Jonni's position. If we have to, I guess we could simply designate areas of whatever room we get as the house common rooms, but yeah, that wouldn't be nearly as cool as having actual separate rooms. This year our LARPs are in the Crowne Plaza, in their conference rooms. There are other rooms nearby, but they will likely have games in them. I'll have to scout this year for a spot suitable for such a game.


I'm also thinking of making this a 'Bring Your Own Wand' game

Thanks for the clarification.
So how exactly do these things work?

I know its been Emphasized that TD Is Not A Larp. But are they similar? Do you all have things set up like TD does or ren faire?

There are many different ways to run a LARP when you get to specifics, but most are similar in the broad aspects. So I'll describe how I run them.

When you come to the game, you get a booklet. This lists the minimal rules that we have, namely a list of what 'spell' effects don't work in the game (some 'spell effects', like invisibility, are simply impossible to role-play well...how am I supposed to have a truly normal conversation with you when there's somebody standing next to me saying "I'm invisible, keep talking like you normally would"?), and a list of the 'ghost rules' (if you die in our games, you come back as a ghost, so you can keep playing). The booklet also gives all the setting information you need to know for the game. History of whatever world you're in, a specific recent background applicable to the game, and most importantly, a list of characters who are available to be played, along with NPCs.

So, for instance, I ran a game called "Sort of the Rings: Return of the Fellowship of the Two Towers". The character list included Elmrond, Grandolf, Armoless, Glibly, Balboa Baggetts, Pirrip Toosh, Arwench, and others. The character list includes a brief and very public description of each character...what they are 'known' generally to be.

The characters are handed out, and people get a chance to read their sheets, find out exactly what their character's goals are...and the truth about their character, if there are secrets. For instance, the first time I ran "Sort of the Rings: Return...", Glibly the dwarf, while telling everyone that he was there to help determine the fate of the ring, was actually in the process of buying up Rivendelf real estate. Elmrond was leaving for the West, and was selling cheap. Of course, Elmrond sold the land three times over behind Glibly's back...because the man calling himself 'Elmrond' was actually Elmrond's brother in disguise...Enrond.

So, as you can see, each character has their own goals to achieve. Sometimes they are what they appear to be, but most have secrets to keep. The game, then, is essentially everyone's attempt to get done what they want done, while also trying to stay alive. There are also sometimes group goals that need to be accomplished. In the Amazons series that we run, for instance, we've had to elect a new queen, drive back an assault by Atlanteans, etc. Meanwhile, some characters are working against the group in secret.

Characters do die, too. We try to avoid rolling dice, so most of the time your attempts at murder are successful if they are clever enough. If you tell me (as GM) "I'm going to kill Sir Ted", my first question will be "How?" If you say "I'll stab him in the back", I'll likely reply "There's a good chance he'll see you as he dies, and his ghost will be able to accuse you." If you say "I'm going to put a poisoned pin in his saddle and try to get him to go out for a ride", well...now we're talking If you can find someone to plant the pin (or if you have the skills to do it yourself), and if you get him into the saddle...Sir Ted may not be long for the world.

You can find more about how we run LARPs here: http://www.byov.com/CourtingMurderRules.html

It's unlike TD in that it's not a very 'immersive' environment. That's just too expensive for a four hour game. Last year, we ran a LARP called "Train of Lost Souls" inside the Pullman train cars in the Crowne Plaza. I and the other GM spent over $200 on extra hotel rooms for one night just to run that event. We just can't afford that every year. So, from the outside looking in, our events are mostly people in t-shirts and jeans talking. But on the inside, they are a lot of fun. If you like plotting and scheming, murder and deception, then you'll like our games.

We got our rules from a guy named David Collins, who runs all the events that are officially titled "Courting Murder". He's running four games this year, including a Pern LARP (!).