labcats | Setting up larp spreadsheets for DotM

In an effort to get Dark of the Moon written and ready to run, we've recruited

crash_mccormick. My theory was that he'd take over the writing the rules down job from

mnemex. This is still the theory.

However, crash_mccormick noted that there's a lot of "needs more plots" in the first draft character sheets, and that generating these plots may generate either more mechanics or factors that influence how the mechanics work, so we set up a plot spreadsheet.

Each plot has a row to itself, and a column for every PC in the game. This way, we can see which PCs are attached to which plot. After some consideration, I'm using a four value system:

Y = Yes, the character is involved in the plot.

N = No, the character is not involved in the plot. This does not mean that the player can't choose to have the character join the plot, but that's something we can assume.

W = The character is involved in the plot, but this needs to be written into the character sheet.

P = Player's choice, and the character sheet should be written to make it more likely that the player will choose to attach the character to the plot.

There's also a column to list what mechanics we think we'll need for each plot. The fewer total number of mechanics needed for a game, the better.

But, what constitutes a plot? After some discussion, we concluded that a plot requires at least two sides, preferably with at least two people per side. If there's only one side, it's probably a goal, rather than a plot. In theory, something with three sides of one person each might be a plot -- but it might also collapse into a discussion.

If a character wants widgets, that's not a plot -- unless someone else is competing for the same widgets. Then, maybe it's a plot.

A stolen widget is not a plot by itself. It's a complication.

Something like "A pack of wild dogs attacks" is not a plot. It is a Game Event. It may be an optional game event. It may a game event with fixed timing or variable timing. But it is not a plot.

However, as crash_mccormick pointed out, Game Events use game time and player actions. As such, Game Events can force interactions, so they are plot adjacent.

Interactions are key. The whole point of having plots is to drive interactions.

Plots drive interactions. Conflicts drive interactions. Events drive interactions. Other things can, too.

All of this supports what

rob_donoghue said to me at this year's Dreamation, that larps are basically about talking to people.

Well, they are about interacting with people, in any case. Much of that interaction in the Ghost Fu larp was in the form of tournament bouts. Oh, there were other things going on as well, and we had an entire back up plot to pull out of our back pockets if it had been needed. Hm. At least, we referred to it as a plot. I think it was a plot, but I am not sure if there were more than one side to it. Hm.

Currently, I have a list of 21 plots, plus a plot which is only broadly defined, e.g., "We should have a plot involving X elements." I can think of a couple more off the bat. We want to go through the character sheets and look for more plots. We currently have 56 characters for what is going to be at least a 12 hour larp, and may well be a full weekend larp. As with teaching a class or gming a tabletop game, it's better to have too much material on hand than too little.

So, back to the theory. We go through character sheets and fill in the plot matrix. This gives us the information about what mechanics we need.

Oh yes, and there are some names that need changing. This has to happen as soon as possible to minimize version control issues. I have a spreadsheet for that.

Then crash_mccormick does a draft of the rules, and we hopefully have a meeting to talk about and tweak those. At that point, it is my hope that a) the senses spreadsheet I've started can be completed, not necessarily by me and b) second drafts of the character sheets can be done.

Also, timeline and bluesheets need to be done, and items, abilities, and so on need to be nailed down. Ideally, we'd like pictures of all of the characters, and perhaps of the items, but that's not as critical.