Adelaide Roleplaying Community Inc.
We run tabletop games, murder mysteries and LARPs (Live Action Roleplaying) games in Adelaide, South Australia.
There’s not much out that that explains the creative process of creating a LARP so I thought I’d step up and explain the processes that I’ve stumbled through for the Multiverse Cycle. Though the mind rarely moves in clear-cut stages, I thought that vaguely grouping them into time-passed semi-linear categories might help people interested in doing it themselves. If you have a very different process, feel free to describe it in the comment box below!
A random idea
Oftentimes the idea might come from a conversation with your friends, a television series or a roleplaying game idea that you have percolating for a while. When I had a conversation with my friends about the LARPcraft rules and how we would improve upon them, I never thought I would sit down the following day to write a widely differing character generation system.
Continue reading “An Overview of Creating a LARP”AKA How to make your players feel trapped in an alleyway of trash rather than at a fun event! A few weeks ago we discussed the many ways that players can help the Game Masters burn out so they won’t want to run a game ever again! Now let’s discuss another hot topic — ten ways to belittle your players and make them wonder just why they’re playing this game again. The joys of belittling your players are many and varied, and you can do it in a slow and insidious way where a multitude of little comments build up in a way that undermines their self-esteem without ever revealing what you’re doing and why!
1. Give your group of players a nickname they’ll really hate. Call them your “adorable little munchkins who could power game their way out of a paper bag,” or your “band of dumb crazies,” while shaking your head whenever you discuss their antics. Sure, some players might like those nicknames if they are actually trying to be crazy or the game is about power gaming, but this pointer is directed to those many players who have to suffer such nicknames despite their actual intentions, desires and play style.
Continue reading “10 Ways To Belittle Your Players”While some players are eager to try new games, others are pretty happy with what they’ve got and don’t really want to try anything new. There are new rules to learn, new techniques required to succeed, and they just not be jazzed about the genre. So what can you do when you’re really excited about trying a new game and one, or more, of your players aren’t?
Firstly, sit down and have a chat with all of your players both individually and as a group about why you want to run the game. Tell them what excites you about it and how long you’ve been thinking about it. Most players will be sympathetic if there’s a game you’ve been yearning to run for years even if they have no personal interest in it.
Once they understand your enthusiasm, find out what they think about the game you’re offering and what kind of game they prefer. See if they’re willing to at least try the game and offer to let them play without having to learn any of the rules. Let them know some of the most useful techniques in that style of game so that they can feel confidant playing it. You want to set the entry barrier as low as you can.
Continue reading “Encouraging Players to try a New Game”
