Posts Tagged ‘Participation’

ST – Antagonists: Making it Personal

29 Oct 2012 at 10:53

larpdr

ST

1 Comment

If your antagonists aren’t connected to the goings on of your characters there’s a pretty good chance that they are going to be ignored.  If you want your players to really hate your antagonists and really want to engage with them you have to perform a bit of meta-psychology and connect your antagonists to chronicle [...]

ST: Meaningful Choice in LARP

19 Aug 2012 at 16:37

larpdr

ST

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Providing opportunities for your players to make meaningful choices should be your primary objective when creating stories.  In order for a choice to be meaningful it must allow for expression of character and chronicle themes, impact the motivations of characters, confront and define the morality and values of characters, offer a risk/reward matrix, present potential [...]

Player: Dusting Off an Old Character

14 Jul 2012 at 13:24

larpdr

Player

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Since I’m trying to dust off my blog and get it going again I thought I’d write a little something about taking a character that’s been out of play for a while and finding new purpose for it.  A little while ago @AKnightofCups asked “I’m going to play my main, SUPER SERIOUS character after a [...]

Player: What LARPers Can Learn From Improv

05 May 2012 at 16:17

larpdr

Player

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Given how close improvisational theatre is to LARP there are bound to be some lessons to be learned from it.  Whether it’s how we approach the choices we make with our characters, how we contribute to a shared experience or how we portray our characters while not actively speaking, improv offers a host of advice [...]

ST: The Favour Infrastructure

24 Mar 2012 at 17:09

larpdr

ST

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I watch Once Upon a Time.  It’s a good show in my mind for a lot of different reasons, but the one I like best is how the show has created an environment where favours and contracts are a really big deal.  Favours are a great social mechanism for a LARP, as well, as it [...]

Player: DrLARP vs. Entitlement

04 Mar 2012 at 16:29

larpdr

Player

1 Comment

Let’s get something straight: this isn’t your game, it’s our game.  Even if you’re the storyteller, you’re just one piece of the creative puzzle. All too often, though, I see people taking actions that are principally self-serving and hurt the holistic wholeness of the games they play.  If your idea of fun is at the [...]

ST: The Signature Game

11 Feb 2012 at 15:28

larpdr

ST

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Some of the most talked about, most successful sessions I’ve ever run are what I’ve called signature games.  My old players still talk to me about my clocktower and vault sessions from time to time.  These are games where I’ve decided to raise the bar, in terms of preparation, set dec and plot.  I usually [...]

Player: That Game Won’t Get Better

05 Feb 2012 at 12:53

larpdr

Player

1 Comment

Are you enjoying the game(s) that you play? There are a lot of reasons for not liking a game, and sadly very few of those reasons are things that you, as a player, have much control over.  Unless there’s only one LARP in town you have a choice, so choose the game that best fits [...]

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?  [...]

Player: Bringing Something to the Table

19 Jul 2011 at 01:21

larpdr

Player

24 Comments

In my first article discussing the player perspective I wanted to start down at the session level. The ultimate objective of the player is to enjoy themself. LARP is a hobby, we do it for fun, we want to have a good time doing it. So the question becomes “as a player how can I maximize [...]