SLAW 2012 Con Report

I did not attend SLAW last year due to being busy, tired, and not terribly impressed with the schedule of games. But this year Sarah Judd put together an excellent lineup for the con, and I was incredibly glad I came. Exhaustion and everything!

Friday night was A Crown of Hearts, by wired_lizard. She is a phenomenal larp writer, and when I heard surdayhe had written a fairytale game, I couldn't wait to play. It did not disappoint. She reinterpreted classic stories in a fascinating way, and really utilized fairytale tropes in such a way as to feel familiar and fresh at the same time. One feature of the game I particularly liked was the quest mechanic, which enabled certain groups of characters to go on quests that would encounter interesting things that fed new plot into the game. A really cool idea. I liked my character, and since I looked like a peasant girl, I finally got to wear that crinkly tan shift, that was Steph's prisoner dress when she played the duchess in Margaret, that I knew would come in handy someday. The only problem was that somehow I ran through all my plot extremely fast, about an hour in advance of the end of the game, and I was too tired from everything I've been doing lately to dig up something new to do. But I thought it was an excellent game, I highly recommend it.

Saturday morning I levered myself out of bed to play The Dance and the Dawn. While I wouldn't say I exactly had a bad time in this game, I think if I understood what it would be like better going in I wouldn't have signed up. It is extremely low plot, intended to be totally about character interaction, but in my opinion the characters were a little too thin to support that for four hours. I also didn't particularly like the rigid "you must dance twenty-one dances" structure, which got repetitive after a while. Moreover, the game has some assumptions, such as how no matter what your trouble a relationship is the answer to your self-fulfillment problems, that I found rather problematic. I mostly made it work, and I actually did like having a character who I could talk about religious concepts as without coming off as a total nut, but I wasn't impressed with the game. At least I got to wear one of my prettier thrift store formal gowns.

Saturday afternoon was Break a Leg. As I said, it was an insane and hilarious maiden run. Needs a little smoothing out, but I was very happy.

Sunday was the new game from captainecchi, Cracks in the Orb. The setting didn't super-appeal to me, so I was a little concerned if I would be able to get into the game, but I really had fun. Lise is a beautiful writer, and it was packed with interesting plot, as I prefer my larps to be. I LIED LIKE I BREATHED in that game, which is one of my favorite things to do in larps, and I came up with some pretty clever ruses if I do say so myself. Also, through deduction I figured out who two of the three secret identities were, which made me very proud of myself. There's probably a bit too much to read for a four hour game, but it's a very rich piece with plenty to do and lots to explore. I imagine the second revision will be even better. I highly recommend this game the next time it runs. Congrats to Lise for this!

So I had a very nice SLAW. This is the first larping I've had the chance to do since Festival in April, so it was nice to be back in the saddle again. Thanks to everyone who made the event so much fun!