|
Improvisational Acting for Everyone!
My interest in Live Action Roleplay (LARP) gaming stems from an earlier interest in acting and play production in high school and junior high and games like ‘capture the flag’ from my youth. Having been introduced to Roleplay Gaming (RPG) in 1979, it quickly became apparent to me that I could produce a similar type of game as a live-action event.
SEARCH™ — The Alien Stalking Game
Created in 1979, Search was first played at the science fiction convention Ozymandias II, held in Toronto, in August 1979. This was my first widely played LARP; I ran it at several conventions in Canada and the United States. The scenario was inspired by the alien hunting sequences of the films Dark Star and Alien. The rules for Search were printed in Miriad, a science fiction magazine, in issue 1, July 1980.
LARP Parties
During the mid-1980’s and early 1990’s I created and ran several LARPs incorporating a variety of genres (fantasy, mystery, horror, modern conspiracy, and aliens), for several large parties — one of which involved 85 players!
 One scenario involved the owner of a mansion in the English midlands hosting a party to promote the sale of his many objects d’art (some of which were acquired during a previous career as a cat burglar of the wealthy), with security provided by an undercover Scotland Yard agent. Other characters and subplots of interest included an IRA terrorist, a Mafia hitman (to whom the mansion owner owed money), a WWII French war criminal and some of his victims, a British officer and his affair with a servant on the eve of his marriage, and those who knew that some of the artifacts on display, when combined in just the right way, conferred magic powers.
Another scenario involved the New York apartment of a successful interior designer; this becomes a nexus for a cocaine distribution network (the butler did it), big business deals, spies, and a hunt for aliens in human guise.
A fantasy scenario included both a mansion home and a woodland adventure (in a ravine adjacent to the house hosting the party) where encounters with strange creatures were possible while searching for an ancient treasure. Other subplots included the transformation of Characters into vampires and the hunting and killing of such Characters by others.
The LARP Scenario Creation Process
When creating a LARP event, my objective is to provide each player with a Character that is interesting and full of potential along with an initial situation that will intrigue and motivate them to participate and have a good time. Unlike many of the commercial participatory ‘mystery’ games, my LARP events do not require an active administrator, professional actors, or a linear plot with pre-determined events or conclusion
The process for creating each scenario begins with two things, a specific plausible setting — the party location where the action is to take place, and an explanation for why the players’ Characters are congregating there. From these two decisions I extrapolate a basic scenario and produce a descriptive outline of the ‘key’ Characters that are central to the initial situation.
Each player Character in my LARP is unique, with a defined background history, motivations, a basic objective, a secret objective, some significant knowledge, skills and abilities, some useful possessions, and an existing connection to at least 2 other characters. Once the key Characters are created I generate additional Characters up to the number of players expected to play the game. If possible I try to discover what sort of Character each player would like to play and then try to accommodate their desire into the final event.
During the game, player actions are resolved via 'ICK-ACK-OCK', the familiar ‘scissors-paper-stone’ hand challenge (I was using this method years before White Wolf published their Vampire LARP).
While it takes a fair bit of work to create a scenario and all the uniquely intertwined Characters, it’s worth it: everyone has a good time — even those who have never participated in anything like a LARP before.
Running a LARP Event
One thing that separates my LARPs from most others is that once the game begins, no Administrator (i.e., Gamemaster) is required to sustain gameplay; the game runs itself. This is possible because of all the effort I put in before each game begins. The Characters I create have personal current and/or historical connections to at least 2 other people in the game; this gives players a reason to talk and something to talk about, and while talking, each is attempting to advance their own agenda
A LARP usually proceeds like a set of dominoes standing in a line (that diverges and converges): the initial plot situation provided at the start of the game to one or more Characters serves as a push on the first domino — every action that follows results in a cascade of actions, as each player attempts to obtain their Character's objectives.
Typically a LARP is run for a specific pre-announced duration at the end of which all players are required to congregate in a single place to exchange stories of their personal experiences during the event. This is usually one of the most enjoyable moments for everyone since during the game each player’s experience and perception of events is limited by the people they've interacted with; it is impossible to know everything that is happening while playing the game.
The Beastman Plague — A NARA Weekend Adventure
In the summer of 1992, I was invited by NARA, a commercial fantasy genre LARP company in Canada to produce an adventure for them. NARA was an organization with close to 300 members that hosted weekend-long events where players would arrive in costume and participate in adventures and melee with foam-covered weapons.
After researching the gaming roles and preferences of their current membership, the event site (a conservation area with several distinct ‘areas’ that I could exploit), and a ‘gameworld history’ (provided by the organization), I produced an adventure that I thought would challenge the members’ creativity and test their skills in a variety of areas.
Unlike the other LARP scenarios I had created, this adventure included actors in costume, wandering marshals (to assist with gameplay as necessary), and events (including those requiring weapons combat) that would progress a linear plotline toward a planned climax. A simple ‘castle’ was even built using painted Styrofoam walls for the climax. The two-day event — most people slept in tents at the site — was a great success.
Professional Inquiries
I welcome inquires from publishers wishing to learn more about my LARP rules, LARP adventure creation system, and the possibility of licensing them for commercial purposes; please contact:
Kevin Davies
email: webmail@kevindavies.com
phone: (416) 461-9884
mail: 40 Seymour Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M4J 3T4.
I am seeking work as a Game Designer, Writer and/or Concept Artist. To view my Résumé as a pdf please click here.
|
|
|