Embiggening the hobby of LARP
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 [...]
Problem players come in all shapes and sizes, and some are definitely more insidious than others. It’s important to distinguish between unintentional problematic behaviours and deliberate acts of selfishness that damage the fun of others. When discipline is necessary it is important to have transparent expectations and to reach an accord that improves the health [...]
If you are a storyteller burnout is inevitable. Managing the expectations of dozens of players is psychologically trying at the best of times and is murderously destructive at the worst. What I notice, though, is that most storytellers take actions that bring burnout onto themselves.
Getting players to tell you what is and what isn’t working in your LARP is hard. There are a number of reasons this happens, but what it usually boils down to one of two things: players don’t want to be mean and players don’t actually know what’s wrong. Your job as an ST is to [...]
The single most overlooked, yet crucial part of any starting LARP is the Player/ST contract. This document provides essential information about the expectations that storytellers have of would be players and expectations that players should have of their storyteller, should they choose to join. It also is among the first contact points that allow an [...]
