Posts Tagged ‘Narratavism’

ST – Antagonists: Making Malevolence Memorable

15 Dec 2012 at 08:30

larpdr

ST

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In order to hit a home run with your villain you need to make your players love to hate them.  In order to get your players shaking their fists focus on opportunities for distinctness.  Bob the villain who dresses in flannel and doesn’t talk much is anti-climactic.  Instead make certain that you use the precious [...]

ST: Matters of Time

29 Jul 2012 at 13:30

larpdr

ST

1 Comment

One of the bigger challenges I find in running a LARP that is fair and fun is managing time dilation during sessions.  It’s my belief that by establishing precedents you can create a culture where players know what they can and cannot get away with regarding time in your game, and ultimately reduce the amount [...]

Player: Benevolent Metagaming

30 Jan 2012 at 08:30

larpdr

Player

3 Comments

The verb ‘to metagame’ has taken on an awful connotation in today’s LARPs, but denotatively speaking should it? The reason we LARP is to enjoy ourselves, and part of the way we do that is by involving ourselves in stories.  In an environment where characters’ personal stories are public it is possible for every player [...]

ST: The Perils of Punitive Plot

30 Oct 2011 at 15:09

larpdr

ST

13 Comments

Players invest heavily into their characters.  They spend time on costuming, creating mannerisms, goals and writing mammoth backgrounds so that they know what their character is about.  Is it any wonder then that players are reluctant to get involved with a storyteller’s plots, when so often an ST’s plot only leads to hardship and pain?  [...]

Theory: The Purpose of Experience

11 Sep 2011 at 13:17

larpdr

Theory

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I’m going to let you in on a little secret: while there may be plenty of reasons for experience to exist its primary purpose is to create loyalty in a storyteller’s product.  In other words experience incentivizes attending and participating in a game.

ST: Min/Max Your Location

04 Sep 2011 at 15:00

larpdr

ST

4 Comments

 Physical location of LARPs is usually an afterthought for most STs, but few realize the impact that layout can of on how their game will feel.  Use the Three Rooms Theory to optimize your players’ playing experience.  Managing the game space in this way creates continuity, inspires mood and propels people into better roleplaying.

Player: Goalsetting – The Basics

31 Aug 2011 at 22:49

larpdr

Player

5 Comments

I’m of the mind that knowing what your character wants to do is actually more important than what your character has done.  Both character background and goals are made with the intention of informing your behaviour once you get into game, but players seldom spend as much time determining where they want their characters to go or [...]

Wrapped in Grey – A Narratavist Case Study

14 Aug 2011 at 00:02

larpdr

Theory

12 Comments

Hello and welcome to my 10th article. This time we’re doing something a little different — we’re looking at Wrapped In Grey, which was a LARP chronicle run by Ryan Elias.  It is quite unique among LARPs I’ve known in that it heavily emphasized story, had few rules, no character sheets and a collaborative conflict resolution [...]

Player: Using Power Generously

21 Jul 2011 at 23:36

larpdr

Player

20 Comments

So today we’re talking about power. Every LARP that I’ve ever seen played have gaps in power between characters. This gap happens either due to premeditation on the part of the storyteller or through uneven character start dates, attendance variance, experience awards, carving out a niche and/or savvy roleplaying. Note that when I say power, I’m [...]