All Eyes on Me

This was Resonance’s seventh run, and still managed to the first game to fill at the con. It’s gotten very good word of mouth, but I don’t want to allow it to coast, so I was nervous anyway. We ended up with a lot of last-minute drops— a circumstance that plagued Festival this year —so bronzite and Hyde kindly agreed to fill in. I’m also very grateful to lightgamer and Bernie for helping GM, as while it’s not a hard game to run, it really needs several sets of hands just to move all the paperwork involved in the scenes.

We ran it slightly differently than usual. We kept it moving fairly quick, transitioning in and out of the scenes basically as soon as the conversation started to lull. It was slotted for the six hours it is usually given, but we really only needed four or so. For me this felt better, as it seemed to keep the game from ever dragging. We also gave different instructions for the third act. It’s usually run with a fairly heavy plot hammer, and I wanted to try and run it without it. So instead we said “You have this limited time until (X game-ending thing) happens. What do you do with it?” It actually had fairly decent results, perhaps not exactly what our design intention is, but the players seem satisfied.

Also one player commented on a design aspect of the plot and she put into words something that had been nagging at me. I’m not sure it is something that really has practical bearing on the game, but I may bring it up to my co-writers when I have recovered my brain.

It's a damn good game, though. We saw some great roleplaying moments, particularly from Dave K, and it definitely justified while it still fills so fast.

This week is signups for Festival of the Larps!

Tomorrow, on Tuesday, March 18th you can sign up for one game at 7pm.

On Wednesday, March 19th you can sign up for up to two games total at 7pm.

On Thursday, March 20th you can sign up for all the games you like, though still only one per time slot!

I would also like to remind you that my brand-new Downton Abbey-inspired, English-estate-during-WWI game Brockhurst is debuting on Saturday afternoon of Festival, and I would be delighted to have you all sign up.

I will also be running Resonance Saturday night and Break a Leg Sunday morning. The first is an intense, on-rails, scene-based science fiction game where the choices you make in game determine the character you are playing. The second is a light silly two-hour game about a dysfunctional theater troupe trying to scrape together a show.

I myself intend to sign up for Midsummer Madness on Saturday morning, and that will likely be the only thing I play. Maybe you'll be lovely enough to join me!

Don't forget, you have to sign up for the con before you can sign up for games when they open tomorrow night! So excited to see how these things turn out!

Saturday night we ran Resonance, the second of three games that I wrote with Alleged Entertainment, which had the distinction of filling up in the first round of Intercon signups despite its status as a sixth-run game. We're very proud of this game, as it is both cleverly and uniquely designed as well as an intense emotional experience.

We ran it in the suites, which we were a bit concerned about at first. A small, tight space is good for the main part of the game, as we need to create a feeling of claustrophobia, but for the breakout scenes that happen periodically we had to send two-third of the game into the other room in order to have enough space for them. Fortunately that didn't prove too disruptive. These players shared information quickly and freely, leading to productive discussions that made a lot of progress to their understanding the plot. They seemed to enjoy the unusual structure of switching between their main character as well as the individual breakout scenes in which they played temporary characters, and everyone seemed content with the in-game casting mechanic. We always get a vast majority of people who want to be scientists, partially because I think nerds like being scientists, and partially because they think they'll be more involved that way. To that last I say we are better writers than to include characters who are not sufficiently involved, but whatever. It always works out somehow, and these players seemed to enjoy the game very much.

There was one low moment for me, though. For some reasons, two players independently assumed that I was only a GM for this run, rather than one of the writers on the team. That hurt my feelings, and I'm not sure what exactly gave them that impression. I didn't look like the others, who were all wearing either AE T-shirts or else shirts that bore a superficial resemblance thereto while I was in a dark red dress, so maybe that made me seem less serious. I also don't tend to talk as much during briefings and wrap. And while the game is in fact AE's brainchild, I did contribute as much as anyone to the actual writing. It bugged me to have people assume I couldn't possibly have been involved in the making.

Sunday morning was Break a Leg, and it was a zany silly time as always. This run was particularly high-energy, to the point of even wearing me out. I ended up playing quite a lot of an NPC who screams a lot, which gave me a headache, but it was in a good cause. It's designed to just go with whatever creative silly funny thing the players come up with, and we were not disappointed. It's amusing to me how often this game ends with the theater going up in flames. ;-) The larp's meant to facilitate player creativity, so I love when they surprise me with something hilarious.

Bernie and I ran an errand for concom buying storage boxes, then helped Brad pack up consuite a bit. We had to leave soon after for other commitments. But even though I was tired in the extreme, I had a wonderful weekend with everyone, and thanks to all the awesome players, GMs, and friends who made that happen.

I have only nine sheets left to write for The Stand. I'm finally down into single digits, which is encouraging, but that's still a lot to do by the time I wanted to have them done. I may be a day or two late, but I'm going to try my damnedest. And I still need to write up the rule sheet. It's pretty much standard Breaking Light system stuff, so it shouldn't be too complicated, except for the Horse Wrangling and Cattle Rustling minigames I'm still working the kinks out of. Also, I should probably give a rundown of how the map works. As for Resonance, I believe as of this weekend I have completed all my responsibilities for the game outside of packet stuffing and runtime GMing.

This past weekend was a full one, packed with writing, costume shopping, recording, and cooking. Went to the Garment District with a nice friendly contingent containing ninja_report, laurion, lightgamer, and kamianya in visiting on break from New York. I didn't need anything really, but there was a storewide fifty-percent-off sale and I had a Groupon, so I thought it might be fun. I hate to say it, but I am never as impressed with the thrift store section of the place as I expect to be. If you're looking for something from a recent decade (like the eighties, for example) with really iconic styling you're set, but if you're just a shopper there's a bit too much that looks just plain dated. It's way better for targeted costume shopping, in my experience. Still, I found a nice navy pinstripe blazer from Kenneth Cole that fit well, though I wish it didn't have the four close-set buttons down the front that make it seem every so slightly passe. I also picked up a printed gold- and rust-tone silk Brooks Brothers pocket square. I love the color and the old fashioned patterned, though I'm not exactly sure how to wear a square scarf of this size. Today I decided to try rolling it into a band and tying it around my neck in a plain knot. I think I like it, but I'm not totally sure it doesn't look affected. You be the judge.

Officially hit the halfway point with sheets in The Stand. Not bad, but given how little time I've got left, I've really got to ramp up production. I like what I have so far-- I like really plot heavy games, and so far I have yet to write a sheet that I am concerned will not give a character enough to do. This weekend I am basically installing myself at my desk with the goal of getting more than one sheet a day finished. I will accept no fewer than four sheets accomplished at the end of that period, though I will be shooting more for six. That will give my schedule a bit of a boost. I also should probably write up a rules sheet to send out sooner rather than later. The rules aren't complicated for the game, but they still should have some explanation beforehand.

Resonance is so very, very close to being done. We really are down to the loose ends at this point, and some finishing touches that will give the game that little extra something. I just wrote two pieces of my final assignment, have two more pieces to do, one of which is arranging with a certain Jonathan Plesser to contribute a voice. I am enlisting his acting (and language) talents to record a little piece for the project. :-)