More epistolary thoughts

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

After discussing the epistolary game again last night, mnemex noted that there is a way to do a sort of alternating description of an Event in letter form. It needn't be blow-by-blow, though it theoretically could be.

You have one character start telling what happened -- or telling all of what happened. Then, the other character says, "He's leaving that out, and this didn't quite happen that way, and hey, what was up with this, anyway?"

Or, in mnemex's own words from his email:

One rather amusing thought -- if you -want- a back and forth without breaking the metarule (that moves occur arround the action, not during it, you can have characters take turns and/or fill in on an action recap.

Ie:

Zathros, to all:

I saw Susan at the Five Moons last night. She was looking kind of tired, so I talked to her for a minute.

About an hour later, Susan cast some kind of spell and disappeared.


Susan, to all:

Yeah -- didn't mention it at the time, but I'd run all the way there. Hellhounds -- Zathros would have heard them if he hadn't been drunk when I came in.

Zathros failed to mention the way he talked at me the whole time -- maybe he doesn't remember. And despite the fact that his love life was really interesting, I was trying to shut him up (he didn't notice), because the half-demon in the back was staring at us the entire time. Eventually, I got a feeling that Mr. Creepy was about to make his move, so I 'ported out and he followed me. Pretty good fight after that...but
Zathros, I still want to know what had you depressed enough to drink horse's piss.


And so on. Non-linear narrative.

More epistolary thoughts

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

After discussing the epistolary game again last night, mnemex noted that there is a way to do a sort of alternating description of an Event in letter form. It needn't be blow-by-blow, though it theoretically could be.

You have one character start telling what happened -- or telling all of what happened. Then, the other character says, "He's leaving that out, and this didn't quite happen that way, and hey, what was up with this, anyway?"

Or, in mnemex's own words from his email:

One rather amusing thought -- if you -want- a back and forth without breaking the metarule (that moves occur arround the action, not during it, you can have characters take turns and/or fill in on an action recap.

Ie:

Zathros, to all:

I saw Susan at the Five Moons last night. She was looking kind of tired, so I talked to her for a minute.

About an hour later, Susan cast some kind of spell and disappeared.


Susan, to all:

Yeah -- didn't mention it at the time, but I'd run all the way there. Hellhounds -- Zathros would have heard them if he hadn't been drunk when I came in.

Zathros failed to mention the way he talked at me the whole time -- maybe he doesn't remember. And despite the fact that his love life was really interesting, I was trying to shut him up (he didn't notice), because the half-demon in the back was staring at us the entire time. Eventually, I got a feeling that Mr. Creepy was about to make his move, so I 'ported out and he followed me. Pretty good fight after that...but
Zathros, I still want to know what had you depressed enough to drink horse's piss.


And so on. Non-linear narrative.

Larp Prep Tips

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

Tips for Larps

If you know you're going to be adding extra characters, and that a bunch of stuff logjams until you've done it, write the dang'ed characters ASAP.

If you say you aren't going to be working on X, and then you decide to work on X, make sure that no one else has done anything on X. Friggin' check this. If someone has, make sure that what you do works and plays well with what the other person did.

If one of your major vectors of communication is email, check your email. Check it in a timely fashion. If you cannot do so (you are at work, you have connectivity issues, whatever), tell your fellow GMs through another vector, asap.

If you are planning to do something that will cost you time, money, or other resources, or if it is something you will be really annoyed at having to re-do or at discovering you didn't need to do it or shouldn't have done it yet, check with everyone before you do it, whether that is printing, running to Kinko's or Staples, or buying a ton of props.

If you are starting to get cranky, stop. I don't care how critical the next phase is; you will fubar it if you try to push through the building frustration.

Microsoft software is evil.

Non-microsoft software is evil, too.

There are advantages to running games where players start off knowing nothing about their characters. You can recast right up until game start.

There are advantages to procrastinating on telling people how they've been cast. This will net you fewer re-casts. This is especially useful at a convention where several folks add and drop larps.

Coming up with gender neutral names is easy. Writing character sheets to avoid the third person singular is the difficult part.

"It can go in the larp kit" is an excuse to buy anything.

Larp Prep Tips

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

Tips for Larps

If you know you're going to be adding extra characters, and that a bunch of stuff logjams until you've done it, write the dang'ed characters ASAP.

If you say you aren't going to be working on X, and then you decide to work on X, make sure that no one else has done anything on X. Friggin' check this. If someone has, make sure that what you do works and plays well with what the other person did.

If one of your major vectors of communication is email, check your email. Check it in a timely fashion. If you cannot do so (you are at work, you have connectivity issues, whatever), tell your fellow GMs through another vector, asap.

If you are planning to do something that will cost you time, money, or other resources, or if it is something you will be really annoyed at having to re-do or at discovering you didn't need to do it or shouldn't have done it yet, check with everyone before you do it, whether that is printing, running to Kinko's or Staples, or buying a ton of props.

If you are starting to get cranky, stop. I don't care how critical the next phase is; you will fubar it if you try to push through the building frustration.

Microsoft software is evil.

Non-microsoft software is evil, too.

There are advantages to running games where players start off knowing nothing about their characters. You can recast right up until game start.

There are advantages to procrastinating on telling people how they've been cast. This will net you fewer re-casts. This is especially useful at a convention where several folks add and drop larps.

Coming up with gender neutral names is easy. Writing character sheets to avoid the third person singular is the difficult part.

"It can go in the larp kit" is an excuse to buy anything.

Too clever for my own good

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

I'm going to try to run the next session of my Sorcerer game the week after Intercon F. I reviewed my notes, and game prep is basically jotting down what various NPCs think and plan. The only tricky bit is that I out-clevered myself: I dangled a carefully prepared set up in front of Julian's PC, and Julian obligingly bit. His character plans to deal with a mess involving several demons possessing kids. I had hoped that this would happen.

The catch is that I now have to stat up a good half dozen or so extra demons.

Too clever for my own good

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

I'm going to try to run the next session of my Sorcerer game the week after Intercon F. I reviewed my notes, and game prep is basically jotting down what various NPCs think and plan. The only tricky bit is that I out-clevered myself: I dangled a carefully prepared set up in front of Julian's PC, and Julian obligingly bit. His character plans to deal with a mess involving several demons possessing kids. I had hoped that this would happen.

The catch is that I now have to stat up a good half dozen or so extra demons.

Demon babes, duelling imperatives, and Intercon countdown

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

Okay, I've statted up about 7 demons, in case someone goes to Italy next session of Sorcerer. I've also figured out a clearer definition of part of my confusion with the game. There are duelling imperatives: Rules vs Cool Cinematic Stories. I'm not always clear on which the author privileges.

Not losing sleep on it. Lost sleep on larp tasks last night. Checked my email today and called to clear up a bit of confusion -- there was a query on where I'd hidden our JV casting list (in the main spreadsheet for the game, just in a very late column). Tomorrow, much stuffing, stringing, and laminating is on the agenda.

Demon babes, duelling imperatives, and Intercon countdown

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

Okay, I've statted up about 7 demons, in case someone goes to Italy next session of Sorcerer. I've also figured out a clearer definition of part of my confusion with the game. There are duelling imperatives: Rules vs Cool Cinematic Stories. I'm not always clear on which the author privileges.

Not losing sleep on it. Lost sleep on larp tasks last night. Checked my email today and called to clear up a bit of confusion -- there was a query on where I'd hidden our JV casting list (in the main spreadsheet for the game, just in a very late column). Tomorrow, much stuffing, stringing, and laminating is on the agenda.