Hi all, I’m working on creating a larping group (medieval) with some friends and was hoping someone on here has some advice for me. :)
Any and all thoughts/advice/recommendations on absolutely anything regarding larping is welcome.
Pls keep to the forum guidelines.
Hi all, I’m working on creating a larping group (medieval) with some friends and was hoping someone on here has some advice for me. :)
Any and all thoughts/advice/recommendations on absolutely anything regarding larping is welcome.
Pls keep to the forum guidelines.
hope i'm not too late responding to this! but OHHH, that sounds so awesome omg!! larping is sooo fun when you're with the right group :o) i really hope that's been going well for you guys! i haven't gone to one in awhile and only been in larger larps but here's some basics and things i've seen!:
having public rules for consent, rp etiquette, and bleed
- especially if you're playing with strangers or have a larger group, reminding players to ask one another for consent for physical roleplay before they do a simple action (e.g., placing their hand on your shoulder, hugging, being moved aside, etc.) is important! "do you consent to physical roleplay?" is enough. if no, you verbally describe what the character does in that moment instead.
- hand signals!! we'd have a wellness-check signal to ask if others were okay or if rp was too much and needed to leave the scene (it was a thumbs up with their other hand pointing to it - the other would either respond with a thumbs up or a thumbs down) you can always just ask outright if someone is okay, but this is a more subtle and quick way of asking if you don't want to break immersion :o)
- always check in and be honest with one another if something someone is doing is making you uncomfortable or if you suspect bleed is happening! sometimes people can get too into their characters and fake arguments can feel very real to one side, or feelings can get hurt with something you might've said in character
location & awareness
- make sure wherever you're playing that there's accessible bathrooms, opportunities for food, or bus stations nearby! if it isn't possible, then make sure to plan around that. depending what time you do game, you could always all grab food together before or after!
- especially if you aren't in a rented space and are somewhere like a public park, make sure to be aware of your surroundings and acknowledge that you are in a public space, never shout things like "he's got a gun!" as it can cause panic and unwanted attention. it was very silly, but games i've been in have said replace the word gun with banana VDFDVS unless you're talking very quietly about it
- you'll get the occasional curious passerby, wondering what's going on! be prepared for explaining what a larp is, if they ask
game-up & game-down
- game-up being just before the start of game, where staff makes in game and out of game announcements, where the setting for tonight's session is, in game news, who is on staff that night, what NPCs staff will be playing (ofc leaving out secrets), stating who has short personal scenes ("quarters") to be done, etc!
- game-down being the end of game, in my experience followed by a hand signal (a fist high in the air, everyone slowly following along) or people walking around shouting it (if appropriate/everyone isn't in view), to show that any rp or scenes should be quickly wrapped up. then everyone would gather around and staff would make whatever announcements or commentary they wish before letting any players speak up one by one, sharing a highlight or favorite moment from that night if they wish
quarters, downtimes, and literature
- quarters are typically done during the beginning of game, where staff will do personal scenes happening to a player, ideally around 25min or shorter, to set them up for how they'll be coming into this session. usually a result if you involve downtimes in your game and want to turn it into a bigger scene!
- if there's a server set up for it, weekly/monthly downtimes are an immersive and nice way for players to write up what their characters do for the week/month until next session! if there's a lot however, it can be a nightmare for those handling submissions, so definitely make sure all staff are up for it or you have more than one staff member dedicated to responding to them! to avoid players feeling pressured, it shouldn't be something required
- for extra xp, i've seen games do weekly writing prompts based around single words and the like! to encourage players to flesh out their characters and create fun stories together
mechanics
- hand signals part 2!: an OOC signal, or other game-mechanical signals you guys can come up with! (invisible, speaking in another language your character would know, telepathy, etc.)
- creating a system for playing NPCs so the GMs don't have to be everywhere at once: where if players wish to gain extra XP, they could be an NPC for a night or a scene!
- turning character sheets into portable paper books! it could be a hefty crafts project depending on how large your player base is, but sometimes people prefer physical instead of digital and you don't have to worry about wifi! it can also create a direct check-in system so staff meets everyone that will be there that game. in my experience, at the beginning staff would hand these out to players then collect them at the end of the night, keeping them safe so players didn't have to worry about losing them
i got excited and wrote a lot more than i meant to, oops. well, hope it helps some!
hope i'm not too late responding to this! but OHHH, that sounds so awesome omg!! larping is sooo fun when you're with the right group :o) i really hope that's been going well for you guys! i haven't gone to one in awhile and only been in larger larps but here's some basics and things i've seen!:
having public rules for consent, rp etiquette, and bleed
- especially if you're playing with strangers or have a larger group, reminding players to ask one another for consent for physical roleplay before they do a simple action (e.g., placing their hand on your shoulder, hugging, being moved aside, etc.) is important! "do you consent to physical roleplay?" is enough. if no, you verbally describe what the character does in that moment instead.
- hand signals!! we'd have a wellness-check signal to ask if others were okay or if rp was too much and needed to leave the scene (it was a thumbs up with their other hand pointing to it - the other would either respond with a thumbs up or a thumbs down) you can always just ask outright if someone is okay, but this is a more subtle and quick way of asking if you don't want to break immersion :o)
- always check in and be honest with one another if something someone is doing is making you uncomfortable or if you suspect bleed is happening! sometimes people can get too into their characters and fake arguments can feel very real to one side, or feelings can get hurt with something you might've said in character
location & awareness
- make sure wherever you're playing that there's accessible bathrooms, opportunities for food, or bus stations nearby! if it isn't possible, then make sure to plan around that. depending what time you do game, you could always all grab food together before or after!
- especially if you aren't in a rented space and are somewhere like a public park, make sure to be aware of your surroundings and acknowledge that you are in a public space, never shout things like "he's got a gun!" as it can cause panic and unwanted attention. it was very silly, but games i've been in have said replace the word gun with banana VDFDVS unless you're talking very quietly about it
- you'll get the occasional curious passerby, wondering what's going on! be prepared for explaining what a larp is, if they ask
game-up & game-down
- game-up being just before the start of game, where staff makes in game and out of game announcements, where the setting for tonight's session is, in game news, who is on staff that night, what NPCs staff will be playing (ofc leaving out secrets), stating who has short personal scenes ("quarters") to be done, etc!
- game-down being the end of game, in my experience followed by a hand signal (a fist high in the air, everyone slowly following along) or people walking around shouting it (if appropriate/everyone isn't in view), to show that any rp or scenes should be quickly wrapped up. then everyone would gather around and staff would make whatever announcements or commentary they wish before letting any players speak up one by one, sharing a highlight or favorite moment from that night if they wish
quarters, downtimes, and literature
- quarters are typically done during the beginning of game, where staff will do personal scenes happening to a player, ideally around 25min or shorter, to set them up for how they'll be coming into this session. usually a result if you involve downtimes in your game and want to turn it into a bigger scene!
- if there's a server set up for it, weekly/monthly downtimes are an immersive and nice way for players to write up what their characters do for the week/month until next session! if there's a lot however, it can be a nightmare for those handling submissions, so definitely make sure all staff are up for it or you have more than one staff member dedicated to responding to them! to avoid players feeling pressured, it shouldn't be something required
- for extra xp, i've seen games do weekly writing prompts based around single words and the like! to encourage players to flesh out their characters and create fun stories together
mechanics
- hand signals part 2!: an OOC signal, or other game-mechanical signals you guys can come up with! (invisible, speaking in another language your character would know, telepathy, etc.)
- creating a system for playing NPCs so the GMs don't have to be everywhere at once: where if players wish to gain extra XP, they could be an NPC for a night or a scene!
- turning character sheets into portable paper books! it could be a hefty crafts project depending on how large your player base is, but sometimes people prefer physical instead of digital and you don't have to worry about wifi! it can also create a direct check-in system so staff meets everyone that will be there that game. in my experience, at the beginning staff would hand these out to players then collect them at the end of the night, keeping them safe so players didn't have to worry about losing them
i got excited and wrote a lot more than i meant to, oops. well, hope it helps some!
Thx so much!!! With the start of spring break here we’re prob going to larping a lot! @
KINSECT
Thx so much!!! With the start of spring break here we’re prob going to larping a lot! @
KINSECT
