#indie larp

[earlgraytay]

So I just found out my friend @packbat is writing a series of 200-word mini-TTRPGs/LARPs on xyr patreon- and xey're a really good writer so I thought I'd give the series a boost.

This one's about waiting out a tornado. It's eerie and a little desolate and gets the mood across well in not very many words.

[argandseaborne]

Testing the Play

I recently had the chance to participate in a very early playtest of a LARP some friends of mine are putting together. In some ways it was that they had the code for it written, and wanted to make sure it would work as intended.

And as a participant, it felt like it went well. It has some very solid bones and even what other fluff was currently there was good too. It was primarily a combat test, making sure certain skills would work the way they wanted and I think they even found some combinations that they didn’t think of.

And in some of my ruminations, as some one not super into the combat side (the class that resonated the most with me was called Ritemaster), I noticed there was some juicy combinations that are great for story/character moments.

The combination I am thinking of is 2 additions to the Ritemaster class: Bargainer and... well, crud, I forgot the actual name of the thing, but it gives access to a skill called Benediction.

Bargainer allows the Ritemaster to bother accept and give an in-game non-monetary currency to/from other players. Which can’t happen otherwise. Which could mean the difference for a character getting back up in a fight or going to the after-death sequence of events.

Then there is Benediction. Which after a brief basically eulogy, the dead player gets a special phrase they can use when going to the after-death sequence. What exactly that does is yet to be seen. This game is still super early in it’s development.

But....like, think about that interaction.

Another character is effectively dying on the side of a battle. The Ritemaster comes over. Offers a second chance (or third, or fourth, etc) or...to meet this games incarnation of death with effectively support.

That just feels...impactful. Which is awesome.

[argandseaborne]

Colorful names

In a new episode of “I have a hard time falling asleep”, I was thinking about naming of some siblings for a LARP character I have for a game called Bright Story.

6 of them. So 7 kids total.

It’s not as easy as one might thing. Because it wasn’t just random names.

I had a purpose with all the names. As I did choosing my own characters name.

My character’s name is Forest. He is the middle child. 3 older and 3 younger siblings.

Each one is representative of something. Which you normally see in a wheel.

Colors.

Forest represents green and tends to wear that color as much as possible and/or prominently. And when one writes out the typical acronym for the colors of the rainbow, ROYGBIV; green is dead center.

He’s an art teacher, so being calm and collected is a beneficial thing.

So that also leaves all the other colors of the wheel. Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Indigo, and Violet.

Spoiler alert on which one is the same as the color. Because I could not for the life of me think of anything else.

So, the idea was to come up with names that are representative/related to their color.

Red wasn’t super hard, though I had thought of a name and it kept escaping me when I was trying to remember. Their name is Carmen. Being the representative of red in this family is the oldest sibling and is also the most outgoing. Red tends to be the color of passion and all that jazz. And on the downside, this sibling is also impulsive and can be just as quick to anger as they are to be warm and loving. An active member of the family, and loves all forms of dance. Samba, salsa, ballet, ballroom, all of it. Any of it.

Oh, right. Also each sibling has a little bit of an artistic focus.

Anyway, the next sibling was harder. Because orange is not a common color in...well, a lot. It tends to be a color used by grocery stores and places that deal in food as it’s been known to instill a little bit more hunger in people. To be fair, most warm colors do that, but orange is the one that is used for that the most. Less impulsive and a little more level than the elder Carmen, but still has a warm personality. And quite the cook. Even likes watching cooking shows.

Next is Jaune. Which is literally the French word for yellow. Because I couldn’t think of anything else. Definitely the optimist of the group, but also the most consistently sickly of the siblings. As they were not really able to do a lot of physical things, music became their focus. Favoring strings, but woodwinds, brass, all of it. Percussion tends to be what they do the least, as the exertion can be a bit much for them. Still, despite it all, most of the others will reach out to Jaune when in a slump just because of the upbeat nature of their personality.

Going to skip over Forest, ‘cause that’s me. And I can do that.

Beatrix represents blue. The sibling who, if you want something done, go to them. Dependable, loyal, but can be a bit of a downer. Cool and very even tempered. Poetry is their forte. Free form, haiku, iambic pentameter, all of it. They have self published some small pamphlets of poetry, sold at small coffee shops and the like.

Ivan, the name for the indigo sibling. Probably the most pompous and showy of the siblings, even compared to Carmen. Can be seen as cold and aloof, but generally a nice person. Writing, novellas and creative works are where they focus. Most of their works live online on places like Tumblr, ironically.

Violet is the last sibling. The youngest. As such are a little spoiled, as parents and even all the other siblings dote on them a little. Regal and maybe a little cold, still able to make friends. They absolutely love sculpture. Additive, subtractive, even a little bit of welding. Colored clays like Sculpey and the like are their favorites, though.

And that’s it. In writing all this down, I also started to think about what kit, or class, each one was. That will be another time as that will require more thought.