Larp queries

[breakinglight11]

Probably because I feel vital and productive right now, I find myself wanting to work on new larps. I think I'll do some work on the two character sheets that are due for the next Labor Wars meeting today and over the course of this week. Also, it leads me to think of some questions that I think I will throw out there in the interest of soliciting opinions.

1. Is there any value in including costuming hints in character sheets? Particularly as a redundant measure with the casting e-mails sent out to players?

2. What is the best way to alert players to the fact that there is some value to be gotten from interacting with the game's environment when the game is on the whole more about social interactions? This is an issue I've had several times.

3. Is it appropriate to remind players to look at name badges if there is significant information on them other than just names, or should they be expected to take note of what's there? For example, I use character numbers to represent appearence recognition (as in, if you know their number, you recognize their face) and this can be important if a character is using a different name than the one you may know them by. I always list character numbers with names on sheets if that character is expected to recognize them. If they don't grasp that, is it my fault if I don't explain, or is it their fault for not noticing?

I may have more, but those are the ones I'm currently pondering.

Comments

[mllelaurel.livejournal.com]

1. It wouldn't hurt, particularly if casting hints went out quite some time ago. Saves the player having to dig through their inbox. True, it could be redundant, but a costuming hint is generally short enough that I doubt anyone would mind.

2. The best way would be to hint right in-character that there's a chance whatever they're looking for might be hidden on-location. Beyond that... this is a tough one. Flat out announcing it would be too much of a giveaway.

3. This is the sort of mechanic that needs to be very loud and very clear on the rules bluesheet and briefing. Otherwise, it's not really intuitive. Unlike the above, as long as it's listed alongside other rules, it shouldn't really lead to spoilers. (Besides, on a meta level, we all know that a lot of games contain secret identities of some kind.)

Depends on the player, but yes...

[(Anonymous)]

I think all of these depend on the player, their assumptions, and preferences. For some, it will be good to have the additional information, for others, it won't matter.

1) Costume hints, yes, even if the answer is "average person in modern western society". If you want to allow player creativity, you could phrase them as "one idea, feel free to find your own".

2) Environment vs social. I think this varies greatly based on players as some are not particularly interested in environmental interactions, while others are intently so. I think it is most important to tell your players prior to signing up(via the game description) what it is you are running. For example, you could say "Oz is a theater style larp primarily focusing on player social interactions mixed with some environment interactions."

(One could argue that for a good run, it is equally important that a game description push away players who would not enjoy it as well as entice those who would)

3) I have seen extra information on badges used in many ways, though usually they are codes that should be ignored if the player doesn't have a sheet which explains that they should know it. In Oz for example, it would be unfair meta-gaming for those without the skill to be looking around for the *, and figuring out what it means. They shouldn't be seeing that because they don't have the skill. So I think in any case where there is information on the badge which is not obvious(like name, age, or visual description) most players assume that such a thing is going on, and fairly ignore it. I have seen many games where badges have character specific numbers on them which function similarly to the *, to trigger contingencies, or allow people to look up special skills. Thus, if you want to put non-obvious things on name badges, I think it is best to state in the rules what the meaning is.

[londo.livejournal.com]

1. I don't think there's much value, but I also think mllelaurel is right about it not costing much. Some of us are just lame about costuming.

What do you mean by "interacting with the environment?"

I can think of three general types:

* Somewhere in game space there are some props. You might have to look under or behind stuff. Not all props are item cards, but all props are clearly marked, somewhere on them, as Larp Props.

* There's a packet clearly taped to the wall, if you have X Ability you may interact with this packet using the following mechanic.

* Talk to the GM and ask what happens when you read the newspaper/buy milk/shoot people in a mall.

3. Definitely inform them. Reminding them mid-game that it may be important... well, hinting at players is sometimes less than ideal, but "this information is so public it's printed on badges" is not something anyone should miss. Addendum: When I GM I try to take the stance (possibly stolen from princess_muffin) that it is always the GM's fault. When I play I try to assume it's mine, but am less good at that side of the coin.

[laurion]

1) If you've sent out hints ahead of character sheets, then you shouldn't need to restate it in the character sheet. The character sheet itself should lead to an understanding of the character which includes notions of how to dress. Are they as military person? Business? College student? Dark necromancer? That said, there's nothing wrong with being explicit as well, but the character sheet itself should paint a picture to the reader.

2) In a character interaction driven game, you need to make the environment compelling to the character and/or the player. Hints that items were lost in vague locations (you remember having it just before you were attacked in your hotel room), or that lead the player to investigate a location as if it were a crime scene. Some visible mechanic to players which induces them to metagame just enough. (Have I mentioned that I sometimes -use- players tendencies to my own ends?) Give someone an ability (keen eyesight, bomb-sniffing dog, sense lost items) so they'll think to interact with the environment.

3) Depends on the information encoded on the badge. If it's just an impression of appearance, use something like a 'toughness' stat, and talk about it explicitly as part of a combat mechanic. If you want to really push people into a recognition based mechanic, and get them to remember to use it, don't write in a lot of a 'who you know' section, but instead make 'reaction envelopes' that people get to open when they see a certain symbol or code on a character badge. Players will be so hungry (especially in the early part of the game) for additional information and character connections that they'll practically fall over themselves to find ways to open those envelopes, and the information that glom then will stick better than a small section at the end of a character sheet that may fade away if it is in the same area as their character goals. Better still, if they have goals related to other characters, put those on the recognition sheet as well (e.g. Hey, aren't they looking for the MacGuffin? or: I wonder where the detective's partner is?).

As with number two, the trick is to give the -player- a reason to attach importance to the information. Get their attention when they're paying attention (and not when they're reviewing the character sheet quickly), and especially if you already have extensive character sheets, to get information to them in a way that isn't submerged in backstory.

[offside7.livejournal.com]

1. I personally can't see any harm in it, but plenty of potential benefit. There may well be the odd player out there who thinks, "I have no plan to costume and I wish they'd stop trying to get me to do it" but I think the sort of player who would but has no ideas, or just forgot the original hint, is much more common.

I know I personally really appreciate them, even if I decide to go a different direction. And there are different ways to give people the general idea without coming off as "here, you go get this costume." I liked the pictures scattered among the rules method I've seen in some LARPs, and the general pages of tips that are sometimes included, as in Secrets of the Necronomicon and 1897. (I don't think you played in either, I'm sure people who did will remember.)

Especially for newbies, I remember back when I was new, I was really unsure what to wear for a couple LARPs, and I was too shy to ask.

2. This one I'm not so sure about- most games I've played in that had environment to interact with (packets to open, items to explore) people generally went for it without any prompting, especially if they're own plot was stalling. But if you're talking about the kind of environmental interaction mentioned above- whether it's getting people to search rooms for clues or maybe trying to get newspaper articles printed, spreading rumors among NPCs... I think giving people abilities encourages it a lot.

3. If you don't tell them "if you recognize the number, you recognize the face," or "look for the number" I think most people will just completely miss it. I try to avoid spending time squinting at name badges, and I know a lot of people who have trouble remembering names they've seen on badges. There are some types who will go the extra mile for any kind of clue, but also plenty of people who will avoid having to squint at numbers then shuffle through sheets to look them up unless they know they're supposed to be doing it.

If you make the system more obvious (instead of codes where some people know to check the third and sixth symbol and others are checking to see if the first and last match or whatever, you have a particular color that is the same for everyone who is secretly a demon or something) meta-gamers are more likely to figure it out, but I find it's generally not enough of an issue to warrant making the badges more time consuming to read.

[ninja-report.livejournal.com]

1) In particular games (like Oz), yes. I mean, just as an extra thing at the end, not worked into the sheet for most cases.

3) I think it's actually really important to tell them, because at this point I've played in enough games where the GMs number the players/envelopes for their own benefit (my guess is for adding/removing subplots? I don't know, my only experience GMing was in GM Space, which... totally doesn't count at all) that I tend to ignore the numbers.

[ultimatepsi.livejournal.com]

As someone who runs other people's games, having the costume hint on the character sheets makes my life easier, since I just need to send one thing out to my players.

[desireearmfeldt]

(Followed reference from captainecci's LJ -- I'm sure we've at least seen each other in passing, but I don't know if you "know" me for real...)

For meaningful ID numbers:

1) Put the mechanic in the public rules ("ID numbers are meaningful" and if there are publicly-known things like "last digit means age in decades," then say that as well.)

2) Make the numbers BIG so they can be read from as far away as possible. (Really, this goes for character name/other info as well; I find most of the badges I've seen at Intercon, you have to have your nose on the other player's chest before you can see their names. Of course, this is partly because I'm still in denial about the fact that my formerly-excellent eyesight has deteriorated, so I can't read anything from as far away as I think I ought to be able to. :) )

3) Keep it simple -- i.e., short numbers, and if there are things (e.g. age) encoded in badge numbers, don't make it too many different things. Shorter numbers = easier to read quickly and easier to remember and thus look for.

4) Probably not relevant for the situation you're thinking of, but having info on badges change during the course of game generally doesn't work well -- since reading badges is a pain in the neck and hampers interaction, I think most players even if they read badges initially, don't check badges they've already read, and so will miss changes.

5) If you want players to do something, you should explicitly say so in the rules or their sheet or whatever; if they don't do it anyway, that's largely their problem. However, for something like badge numbers, because it takes a fair amount of effort to read them (i.e. often one can't just do it in a glance at reasonable conversational distance, and certainly not to someone one isn't in conversation with), it's not a good mechanic for something like passive recognition.

I second the comment above about using contingency envelopes/memory packets if you want recognition of someone the character doesn't expect to be in-game -- that makes it an active search on the players' part (though not the character's), and also means a given person only cares about a few specific numbers. (Actually, I can't think how you'd be doing this other than with contingency envelopes... if you're embedding the info in a sheet, i.e. badge number for every name mentioned, that's probably harder for players to pull out and remember, especially if the 10 people they know who aren't in disguise are also listed by number in the sheet.)

If you want the general list of who-you-know, I'd use character names, player names, and badge numbers (more vectors are good!) but not set up a situation where you're relying too much on players in general consistently reading badges in general.