Some Explanations
Feb. 25th, 2002 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckRecently, someone left me a note asking me for an explanation as to what exactly I'm talking about when I speak of writing, running and playing LARPs. I know I've explained before (at least I think I have), but I haven't been able to figure out which entry I did it in, so I'm going to do it again. If you're not interested or already know this stuff, feel free to skip this entry; I don't plan to talk about anything else.
I participate in three types of role playing games: play by e-mail (PBEM), table top (aka face to face) and live action (LARPs). When I say I've played or run a game, I'm talking about one of these three. Other people using the term may also be referring to playing a game like Final Fantasy or to using IRC or to visiting a MUD, MUSH, MUCK, MOO or whatever. I don't do any of those, so I won't try to explain them. I think that needs to be left to someone who actually participates and so understands them.
In my opinion, role playing games involve aspects of a collaborative writing project and of method acting. There's generally one person, the gamemaster (GM), also known as the Dungeonmaster (DM), Storyteller, Keeper of Secrets, etc., who designs a framework on which to build the story. The framework includes the initial situation, the setting, the antagonists, other important non-player characters and the probable outcome if the player characters do nothing. The other participants, the players, each have one or more characters that they control absolutely. The game results from the interactions between the player characters and the GM's framework. All participants need to be flexible enough to deal with unexpected responses from other participants; in fact, at least in my opinion, the unexpected is what makes role playing challenging.
Back when I first played (1983 or 1984 some time), table top games were pretty much all there was. A few people would gather for a few hours to sit around a table and talk out a story. We used die rolls to insert some randomness into situations and to reflect the fact that people don't always succeed in what they try to do or always manage a task as well as they might. The group I started with consisted of me and three guys who'd been playing together for years, and we played fairly straightforward fantasy quests without worrying much about character history or depth.
As I got older, my horizons expanded somewhat, and I encountered games in which being able to talk fast, analyze motivations (my character's and other people's) and figure out ethical dilemmas became an advantage. I discovered that I liked that sort of thing much better than I liked rolling dice to see if my character could successfully shoot an arrow into a monster or break down a door. I became focused on the elements that made a game a story as opposed to on the tools used to make the story function.
In any game I play, my character is not me. My character has a history and motivations that may be totally alien to my own. When I sit down to play, I put on another way of thinking for the duration. Maureen was horribly naive and thought the world couldn't or wouldn't hurt her. She did stupid things with the best of intentions and eventually got herself killed. Helen prided herself on common sense but had no real respect those who officially had more power than she. Yvaine was out for anything she could get and would use any means that came to hand to achieve her goals (This hardly came into play since the other player characters were dreadfully nice and gave her what she wanted without asking anything in return).
When I GM a table top game, I have to work in a slightly different mode. I usually have several different characters to juggle and can't allow any of them to take center stage. I also have to think about the mechanics of the situation and the possible outcomes and pay attention to the players to make sure they're involved and having fun. I'm currently GMing three table top games, one that meets weekly on Wednesdays, and another two that meet on alternating Saturdays. Two are set in Roger Zelazny's Amber universe and use rules that don't require die rolls. The third uses a system called GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System, if I recall correctly) that's fairly numbers intensive but quite flexible. That game's set in Boston in 1999 and involves elements of horror, conspiracy and fantasy.
I'm currently participating in one PBEM game and hoping to be involved in another soon. These games involve me and the GM (and sometimes other players) writing e-mails back and forth. I specify my character's words and actions and indicate a couple of contingencies that she's keeping in mind (other players in the scene would do the same) while the GM describes the surroundings, has non-player characters respond to my words and actions and tells me what the consequences are of what my character does. It's generally much like a table top game but slower and without any chance for either of us to pick up on body language cues.
(There's a variant of the PBEM that I don't entirely classify as role playing. It's called a letter game. All participants write letters to the others in character and may discuss the setting and events with each other outside of the letters. Each person controls all events around his/her character completely so that it's more a case of writing fiction and sharing than of role playing. One seldom faces anything immediate and unexpected. I've done this on a few occasions with varying levels of success.)
LARPs are both very different from and much the same as table top games. Players still step into characters and interact with each other as other people. The difference is that people walk around while playing and physically act out some of the things that their characters are doing. There are a lot of varieties of LARPs. Players may design their own characters or the GM(s) may do so. The game may run only one or two sessions or be ongoing. Props may or may not be allowed, and players may or may not be expected to wear costumes. Physical activities may still be largely verbal or may have to be acted out (there's more of a spectrum here).
I run games that have one or two sessions in which I write all of the characters and assign them as best I can to players who I think will do well with them. I use multi-colored index cards to represent props and leave it up to the individual players whether or not they bother with costumes (yes, I'm kind of biased against costumes). I require that all combat simulations and other physical interaction between characters be largely verbal (grabbing someone's a good way to get kicked out of one of my events, but I do recognize that people can get a bit carried away sometimes).
The game I just ran on the 17th was set at a family reunion in the year 2187. It has forty possible characters, ranging from the family gossip to the alien who's trying to take over the world to the people struggling with each other to get elected to run the family. I wrote all of the characters and planned the setting (The setting information's at: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~acm/PlotLuck/FP.html ).
I use a rules system of my own design for running these things. It's evolved quite a bit over the last fifteen years. I've kept it as simple as I've been able to, but special cases keep cropping up. We've had to come up with, for example, the Scream Rule. Players who decide that their characters would scream are supposed to say (or shout if appropriate), "Scream." This lets us distinguish between feigned and genuine sounds of distress. Since we play in public places, there are often people around who are not involved in the game who'll come running or call the cops or otherwise be upset by screams, and I want to know whether or not to drop everything and come running myself.
I'm thinking of writing up a FAQ for the LARPs I run, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I may yet do so but not promises.
I participate in three types of role playing games: play by e-mail (PBEM), table top (aka face to face) and live action (LARPs). When I say I've played or run a game, I'm talking about one of these three. Other people using the term may also be referring to playing a game like Final Fantasy or to using IRC or to visiting a MUD, MUSH, MUCK, MOO or whatever. I don't do any of those, so I won't try to explain them. I think that needs to be left to someone who actually participates and so understands them.
In my opinion, role playing games involve aspects of a collaborative writing project and of method acting. There's generally one person, the gamemaster (GM), also known as the Dungeonmaster (DM), Storyteller, Keeper of Secrets, etc., who designs a framework on which to build the story. The framework includes the initial situation, the setting, the antagonists, other important non-player characters and the probable outcome if the player characters do nothing. The other participants, the players, each have one or more characters that they control absolutely. The game results from the interactions between the player characters and the GM's framework. All participants need to be flexible enough to deal with unexpected responses from other participants; in fact, at least in my opinion, the unexpected is what makes role playing challenging.
Back when I first played (1983 or 1984 some time), table top games were pretty much all there was. A few people would gather for a few hours to sit around a table and talk out a story. We used die rolls to insert some randomness into situations and to reflect the fact that people don't always succeed in what they try to do or always manage a task as well as they might. The group I started with consisted of me and three guys who'd been playing together for years, and we played fairly straightforward fantasy quests without worrying much about character history or depth.
As I got older, my horizons expanded somewhat, and I encountered games in which being able to talk fast, analyze motivations (my character's and other people's) and figure out ethical dilemmas became an advantage. I discovered that I liked that sort of thing much better than I liked rolling dice to see if my character could successfully shoot an arrow into a monster or break down a door. I became focused on the elements that made a game a story as opposed to on the tools used to make the story function.
In any game I play, my character is not me. My character has a history and motivations that may be totally alien to my own. When I sit down to play, I put on another way of thinking for the duration. Maureen was horribly naive and thought the world couldn't or wouldn't hurt her. She did stupid things with the best of intentions and eventually got herself killed. Helen prided herself on common sense but had no real respect those who officially had more power than she. Yvaine was out for anything she could get and would use any means that came to hand to achieve her goals (This hardly came into play since the other player characters were dreadfully nice and gave her what she wanted without asking anything in return).
When I GM a table top game, I have to work in a slightly different mode. I usually have several different characters to juggle and can't allow any of them to take center stage. I also have to think about the mechanics of the situation and the possible outcomes and pay attention to the players to make sure they're involved and having fun. I'm currently GMing three table top games, one that meets weekly on Wednesdays, and another two that meet on alternating Saturdays. Two are set in Roger Zelazny's Amber universe and use rules that don't require die rolls. The third uses a system called GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System, if I recall correctly) that's fairly numbers intensive but quite flexible. That game's set in Boston in 1999 and involves elements of horror, conspiracy and fantasy.
I'm currently participating in one PBEM game and hoping to be involved in another soon. These games involve me and the GM (and sometimes other players) writing e-mails back and forth. I specify my character's words and actions and indicate a couple of contingencies that she's keeping in mind (other players in the scene would do the same) while the GM describes the surroundings, has non-player characters respond to my words and actions and tells me what the consequences are of what my character does. It's generally much like a table top game but slower and without any chance for either of us to pick up on body language cues.
(There's a variant of the PBEM that I don't entirely classify as role playing. It's called a letter game. All participants write letters to the others in character and may discuss the setting and events with each other outside of the letters. Each person controls all events around his/her character completely so that it's more a case of writing fiction and sharing than of role playing. One seldom faces anything immediate and unexpected. I've done this on a few occasions with varying levels of success.)
LARPs are both very different from and much the same as table top games. Players still step into characters and interact with each other as other people. The difference is that people walk around while playing and physically act out some of the things that their characters are doing. There are a lot of varieties of LARPs. Players may design their own characters or the GM(s) may do so. The game may run only one or two sessions or be ongoing. Props may or may not be allowed, and players may or may not be expected to wear costumes. Physical activities may still be largely verbal or may have to be acted out (there's more of a spectrum here).
I run games that have one or two sessions in which I write all of the characters and assign them as best I can to players who I think will do well with them. I use multi-colored index cards to represent props and leave it up to the individual players whether or not they bother with costumes (yes, I'm kind of biased against costumes). I require that all combat simulations and other physical interaction between characters be largely verbal (grabbing someone's a good way to get kicked out of one of my events, but I do recognize that people can get a bit carried away sometimes).
The game I just ran on the 17th was set at a family reunion in the year 2187. It has forty possible characters, ranging from the family gossip to the alien who's trying to take over the world to the people struggling with each other to get elected to run the family. I wrote all of the characters and planned the setting (The setting information's at: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~acm/PlotLuck/FP.html ).
I use a rules system of my own design for running these things. It's evolved quite a bit over the last fifteen years. I've kept it as simple as I've been able to, but special cases keep cropping up. We've had to come up with, for example, the Scream Rule. Players who decide that their characters would scream are supposed to say (or shout if appropriate), "Scream." This lets us distinguish between feigned and genuine sounds of distress. Since we play in public places, there are often people around who are not involved in the game who'll come running or call the cops or otherwise be upset by screams, and I want to know whether or not to drop everything and come running myself.
I'm thinking of writing up a FAQ for the LARPs I run, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I may yet do so but not promises.
