The primary side project is the creation of a LARP group in the Seattle area whose focus is on unrelated (meaning not campaign or chronicle tied) one-shot games and not being tied to any one particular rule set or genre. If you’re going to be at Norwescon myself and my cohorts will be running a Paranoia game on Friday and a Firefly/Serenity themed game on Saturday.

Real life has constituted working while doing a job hunt and soon to be followed by a subsequent change in jobs (amazing how much time job hunting can take).

That being said, Mortalis Games isn’t dead, it’s just sleeping and it will wake up again one day once I have time to rouse it from its slumber.

* I don’t plan on updating these links as I look at these articles as legacy writings and it’s easy enough to search for the other articles they link to.

This will likely sound redundant, however I think it’s good to have a common base to work off of and build up from. To start I’d like to define what LARP is. The LARP entry on Wikipedia has a really good, concise definition:
“A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically act out their characters’ actions. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by the real world, while interacting with each other in character. The outcome of player actions may be mediated by game rules, or determined by consensus among players. Event arrangers called gamemasters decide the setting and rules to be used and facilitate play.”

The Wikipedia entry is also a good read, should you wish for more information beyond what is in this article. If you’re still interested in giving LARPing a try, I think you’ll find the following information a help.

What types of LARP are there?
There are a few styles and more than a few genres of LARP. Style wise the two dominant ones are theater and live-combat.

I’m going to pull my explanation of these types from a paper I wrote a few years back:
“Theater style LARPs don’t use any kind of mock weapon (boffer or otherwise) and instead use an alternate resolution system for combat and conflict resolution such as rolling a die or drawing a card from a deck for the randomizer then adding that number into what ever skill or ability is used to determine success or failure or comparing skills or stats from character sheets. There is the commonly perceived thought that theater style games focus more on plot and character development as there isn’t a huge combat focus. But like any LARP there are theater style LARPs that are weak in plot and character development. Most theater styles LARPS are not a if-you-can-do-it-you-can-do-it form of LARP as almost every aspect of the character (sneaking or lock picking for examples) is resolved via the resolution system and not on the ability of the player to actually pull off the act.

“Live-Combat LARPs use mock weapons as a part of their conflict resolution. These LARPs are much more of a if-you-can-do-it-you-can-do-it form of game. If you can pick the lock you’ve picked the lock, if you can sneak by the orc, you’ve snuck by the orc, and etc. While theater style LARPs tend to have simpler conflict resolution system (draw card, roll die, or etc., add to ability, compare result with combatant’s result) live-combat tend to be more rules heavy. This is not to be confused with the creation of a complex, hard to understand resolution system, but more that the rules need to cover more than just how to handle resolution: There are safety checks in place to ensure the safety of the weapons used (criteria that must be met for them to qualify for use) and the participants (legal targets or illegal actions with weapons) during the event. The common perceived thought is that live-combat LARPs focus primarily on combat with less emphasis on plot and character development. To a degree this is true as it depends on what sub-group the game falls under: Role-play or battle game. Many people just roll these two sub-groups up and call them both live-combat LARPs.

“Role-play oriented LARPs put the focus on plot and character development within a story and less on just combat. Role-play oriented groups try to keep the focus on the story and only involve combat when needed because the story warrants it. This doesn’t mean that an entire event that happens to be combat heavy isn’t a role-play oriented live-combat LARP, but that the combat is there because of story and plot, not because that’s the extent of the event without other reasons.

“Battle game oriented LARPs put the focus on the combat and don’t have much plot and character development isn’t based on story. Battle game groups tend to be capture the flag, but boffer style. This isn’t to say that the combat doesn’t have a goal in mind, but that the event as a whole is to engage in fighting with little to no role-play whatsoever.

“It’s important to note that even though most LARPs will tend to fall into one of these categories, there will always be a game or organization which doesn’t quite fit any one category and instead may be a cross category hybrid. The most common hybrid is Adventure Style in which there is an in-game location where primarily theater style play may take place, but there are modules that allow for primarily live-combat style play.”

And from the Wikipedia article, “There are also LARPs that do without rules, instead relying on players to use their common sense or feel for dramatic appropriateness to cooperatively decide what the outcome of their actions will be.”

As for genres, games run the gamut: from modern horror to steampunk to fantasy medieval to post-apocalyptic survival for example. Some games will provide you with a pre-generated character (typically theater style games) while others will provide you with the rules so you can create your own. There really is a little bit of everything out there, it’s just a matter of finding a style and genre of game that interests you.

Where can I find a list of games or local forums?
There are several good spots to ask around. These are all larger community hubs, but from this you should be able to find someone in your neck of the woods who can help introduce you to games in your area:

• LARP Addicts LiveJournal Community
• LARPers LiveJournal Community
• Shade’s LARP List
• The LARP Network
• LARP Space
• LARPAweb’s forum
• RPGnet’s LARP forum

If you live in the USA, there are several regional LiveJournal communities that cover the US (see the bottom of the top post of this thread). Find the community related to where you’re at and check it. If you’re not from the USA, there’s a list of international LARP forums and organizations on Shade’s LARP List.

How much does it cost?
Games can vary in cost from nothing for a small, private troupe game to over $100 for a weekend by the time your game fees, supplies, transportation and food costs are added up. Typically an evening private group game will cost much less than a full weekend foray away from home at a rented location, however like any game prices will vary and some times dramatically.

When you find a game your interested in, if they don’t have any costs listed on their web site or fliers, get in touch with them and ask them how much people pay and what the financial expectation is for their game.

Do I have to be a particular age to play?
This depends on the group you’re looking to join. Some may allow teenagers or those even younger to join while others have a strict 18 and up policy. Your best bet would be to find a few games that interest you and then find out what their age policy is.

What should I do now?
It’s a good idea, though not necessary to decide what style and genre of game you want to participate in, but once you’re ready ask around to friends you know who might have contacts and there are always the forums listed above. Once you find a game that sparks your interest contact them and let them know you’re interested, ask questions and ask more questions. As I shared in my LARP article on player ‘homework,’ “Look into the details of the game you want to play and making sure that it really is something that you have the time and desire to get involved with and it fits what you’re looking for in a game.”

If the game interests you, see if you can look over the rule book and chat with someone about it and any character concepts you may have. Most games have a point of contact of some kind: email, phone, a contact form on their site, etc). Once you’ve found a game, they should be able to help you with the fine details of getting integrated into their game.

Some common terminology:
Below is a list of words and acronyms commonly used within the hobby and that you may encounter as you explore web sites and chat with various LARPers. Some terms you might be familiar with if you’ve played role-playing games before.

• PC: Also known as player character, this is the kind of character that you and the other players play.
• Crew/Cast/NPC: NPC stands for non-player character. These are all terms for those plot controlled characters that you interact with. Since plot controls them, they are non-player characters.
• Experience/XP: Much like table-top games have an experience reward for making it through an encounter or game session many LARPs also have some kind of experience system. Exactly what it is depends on each different game.
• LARP/LRP: Two of my favorite acronyms. Both stand for Live Action Role-Playing. Many people in the States call it LARP while many people across the pond in Europe (UK in particular) call it LRP (a.k.a. Live Role Playing).
• LARPer: A person who LARPs or plays in a LARP.
• LARPing: The act of playing in a LARP.
• RPG: Or better known as role-playing game.
• Theater/Parlor: A style of LARP where combat resolution is not done via mock combat, rather resolution is more familiar to what is used in a table-top setting (the roll of a die, selection of a random card or comparison of abilities for example).
• Live-combat: A style of LARP where mock weapons are used in conjunction with the game rules for conflict resolution.
• IC/IG/IP: Or in actual words in character, in game, or in play. These are all terms meaning stuff that occurs during the course of the game or while you’re playing your character.
• OOC/OOG/OOP: Or out-of-character, out-of-game, out-of-play. These acronyms and words all reference the activities that occur to you, the player when you’re not playing your character or non-in-game related events.
• GM/Plot: This refers to the person or group of individuals who heads up the plot crew part of the game. If you have a question about how a rule resolves, what an effect does or have a question about a storyline your character is involved in chances are you’ll be talking to the person or people responsible for the game’s production: The GM or plot crew.
• Monster camp/plot camp/GM corner: In many games the GM or plot crew have a spot reserved just for them and their stuff. It’s the brain/headquarters of the game where the GMs/plot people go to update each other on plot, handle out-of-game record-keeping and otherwise manage the game just before, during and just after the game.

For those that are new to the hobby, what other questions do you have? For those who are experienced LARPers, what other introductory information would you share?

The next article will be on pre-generated LARPs from a guest columnist, Ryan Paddy. As always I love to hear feedback and suggestions for further articles. Feel free to leave a comment here at the Mortalis Games site, write Amber at webmaster [at] mortalisrpg [dot] com or once this goes live on RPG.net, visit the article’s forum thread (there should be a link below the article to it) to see what else has been shared or to leave a comment there. If you want to become a guest columnist, please write to Amber at webmaster [at] mortalisrpg [dot] com with your article idea.

LARP Is Sold By Word of Mouth
I first spoke those words in the early ’90s, and nearly two decades later they are still true. Think about it. How did you start LARP? If you are like most people, a friend brought you into it. Word of mouth. But I wanted to do a more in-depth analysis. Why is Young’s Law true? What makes it work? And how can you use Young’s Law to market your LARP?

Live action roleplaying is a niche of a niche of a niche market. It is a subgroup of the roleplaying games market, which is in itself a subgroup of the hobby games market. Live action roleplaying is just starting to get positive national attention here in the United States. In other countries it is far more prevalent and well known, and Young’s Law may not be as true there. I don’t know. I’ve never tried to run a LARP in Norway.

Take a look at traditional advertising methods: television, radio, billboards, fliers, magazine ads, even banner ads on your computer. Overall, advertising is a visual medium. But it just isn’t easy for a hobbyist LARP group to take advantage of this medium.

First off, LARP rarely lends itself to the static visual medium. Maybe you can get a picture or illustration of a cool battle scene or people colluding in the shadows, but that seldom gives an idea of what your LARP is really about. LARP is about interactions. Some LARPs have produced videos, but even then these fall prey to the second problem with traditional advertising methods: talent, cost, and cheesiness.

LARPs tend to be an amateur not-for-profit venture. In fact the very thought of a for-profit LARP almost seems to be an anathema to most of the LARPing community. But that mindset really drags us down in terms of advertising. Because without the budget to produce high quality ads, we have to rely on volunteers. And while there are many talented volunteers, without money to guide them, they often lack the motivation to give a true professional effort. And without money and talent, your ads will come out cheesy and unprofessional and reflect poorly on your LARP.

But further, even if you do have the best advertisement out there, as well as the budget to get it in front of your target audience enough times to make an impression, there are still social pressure issues to be dealt with. In general, people do not want to attend a social event without some people there with whom they are familiar.

Even when going to a non-social event, like seeing a movie or going to a museum, people still want to go with a family or friends. And LARPs are social events. You will be thrust in with a group of people whom you don’t know and be forced to interact with them. I have found that there are very few people who are willing to take a chance, to commit the time and money needed for a LARP under uncertain circumstances. However, these people are very important, and need to be cultivated if you want to grow your LARP. Because these people will come back and bring their friends. LARP is sold by word of mouth.

Young’s Law in Practice
I frequent a number of LARP message boards and mailing lists. Every so often someone will post, “How can I get people to come to my LARP?” And I always answer with my surefire plan. It isn’t quick and it isn’t easy, but it is a perfect application of Young’s Law in action.

First, instead of trying to get people to come to your LARP, start going to other LARPs in your local area. Don’t try to sell these people on your LARP and especially don’t tell them that you think your LARP is better than theirs. That isn’t your goal.

While your ultimate goal may be to sell your LARP, you can’t do it by offending your target audience. Instead, you want them to be your friends. Befriend them. Become part of their LARP community. Help them with their LARP. Get your friends to play their LARP too.

And most importantly, do this all sincerely. Do not be disingenuous and only pretend to help their LARP so you can steal their players. Don’t try to steal players. Get rid of any “us against them” attitude. Your goal here is to foster a greater local LARP community where all the local LARPers know each other and can rely on each other for their LARPs.

Then, then when you have a local LARP community, when you have true friends in that community that is the time to invite them to play in your LARP. Don’t ask them to abandon their old LARP; ask them to try yours as well. And if they do, then run an excellent LARP. They will then tell their friends and those friends will bring more friends, and there will be a ripple effect that will bring people to your LARP.

And don’t abandon your new LARP friends once your LARP takes off. Continue supporting them as best you can. And if you become too busy running your LARP, at least keep trying to be friends with them. Remember, your real goal here is to build a community to enhance all the LARPs in the area, not to build your LARP at the expense of a community. You want the community. You want the LARPers all talking to each other. And why? Because LARPs are sold by word of mouth.

Mike Young is an award winning LARP game designer with over twenty years of LARP writing experience and is one of the few professional LARP authors. His LARPs have been run in countries all over the world. You can download his free print and play LARPs at http://interactivitiesink.com/

This is the last article in a three part series on doing your homework. The first article article focused on what creators and designers should consider and the second article focused on what organizers and staff should explore. This last article explores what players should consider.

Players
Don’t think you’re off the hook just because you’re a player. Even you have a few things you should look into before you get decked out in your costume or garb, grab your character sheet and LARP away.

What does your homework entail? Looking into the details of the game you want to play and making sure that it really is something that you have the time and desire to get involved with and it fits what you’re looking for in a game. Granted this is more important for a campaign style game, however even if you’re looking to play in a one-shot game a bit of homework done beforehand can save you hours of disappointment later on.

A player should ask them self:

• How much time and effort do you have to devote to the game? If you only have the time or effort needed to attend the game itself, you’ll likely be very disappointed when the game asks for more time or effort than just that from its participants. Be aware of what the game asks from you and if it’s not clear, as the organizers.
• What kind of game culture are you comfortable with? This one ties in with the question above, however I feel it’s important enough to be a separate question. Consider what game taboos, level of out-of-character player interaction and unspoken community rules you feel are important. This point was well covered in a comment to the Setting Game/Player Expectations article.
• What style of game do you want to do? I don’t just mean live-combat or theater style, even though you should consider that too. I’m talking about something full of puzzles vs. something that’s very political vs. a game that includes a lot of combat. Do you prefer a game that requires a low suspension of disbelief by utilizing copious amounts of good props or are you fine with having to have a high suspension of disbelief by pretending that 3×5 card really is a dagger?

Once you find a potential candidate you should ask yourself some questions regarding the game you’re looking to play in. Having an idea of what you want in a game will help you as you find a game to play in.

A player should consider the following when looking at a game:

• How much effort will the game require from you? Can you just show up to the game or are there other game related activities that you’ll be asked to do?
• What is the culture surrounding the game and is it one that you’re comfortable with? This one can be a bit more difficult to sort out, but can be easier if you know people in the game. This is a good one for checking the health of the LARP group. A LARP group that retains that community feel often also runs successful games, while a group that is rather dysfunctional will have significant problems.
• What kind of game is being run? Again, knowing if it’s live-combat or theater is a big help since some people prefer a particular style, but also what the game includes. Is the focus on puzzle solving or combat or political maneuvering? Does it do a good job of helping you suspend your disbelief by utilizing a lot of props or does it just use a copious amount of 3×5 cards and expect you to pretend that it’s something else.

The takeaway for players: Know what you want in your game and then make sure that the LARP you’re looking to play in will fit you and you’ll fit it. If information is hard to find or isn’t clear, don’t hesitate to contact them with your questions or concerns. Most LARP organizers I know really respect a player who throughly investigates their game before they show up to play, even if that player does not stick around. And its okay to leave a game or not return to one you’ve tried. Not every game out there will fit what you’re looking for and if that happens to you just be polite about your departure.

The final takeaway for everyone regardless of where you may fall in the LARP spectrum: Communicate. In nearly every point brought up it requires you to politely communicate your thoughts, ideas, decision or some manner of information. How that is communicated will depend on the nature of what needs sharing and with who. Just as you can’t design in a vacuum, you can’t run or play a LARP in one either. It’s a better idea to politely over-communicate a thought, idea, decision or some manner of information than to under-communicate it and potentially leave people hanging, lost or confused.

The next article will be from a guest columnist, Mr. Mike Young, on Young’s Law. As always I love to hear feedback and suggestions for further articles. Feel free to leave a comment here at the Mortalis Games site, write Amber at webmaster [at] mortalisrpg [dot] com or once this goes live on RPG.net, visit the article’s forum thread (there should be a link below the article to it) to see what else has been shared or to leave a comment there.

Organizers/Staff
More than likely you’re not having to do a lot of design work, but you do have a very big hand in the logistics and operations of the game. Much like designers and creators you should ask yourself those top three quesions: Why you want to run the game? What style or genre of LARP do you want to run? And lastly, what is your target audience?

You should also be aware of what expectations the game or rules set for players and the style of player that the game encourages, and then work in harmony with that. A game that is clearly meant to be a battle-game won’t necessarily have the structure to be a deep game of intrigue and political maneuvering unless house rules are created. Also, you should be aware of the out-of-game culture that develops around your game, particularly if it’s an ongoing game. As LARP.Chronicles shared in response to an earlier article:

• “Is a player expected to attend a non-game related social event, such as a ‘Dead Dog,’ after the event wrap?
• “What community ‘traditions’ would a player expect to encounter when their character first dies, or they succeed in their first quest, etc?
• “Do players hear about a given LARP through references from their friends, by way of GM invitations, or some public announcement/forum?
• “Are there certain taboos (or sacred cows) in the LARP? (No Player-Killing, No Characters based on ‘Evil’ archetypes, No Characters who use RL religions in the game)
• “How do members of the community treat each other outside of the game and does that behaviour cross into the game space?

“As an older member in the LARP community, where my resources of effort, time, and money go are at a premium. Culture can be a deciding factor.

“If a fighting practice is optional, but it’s an informal (and unwritten) downtime activity, I may pass the game up due to schedule (and because it was a uncommunicated expectation).”

Beyond deciding expectations and what kind of culture you want to surround your game, there are many points you should look at and consider before even starting to set up your game, and there are a few other things you might need to keep in mind.

If your game will be a chapter of a larger organization:

• What do they expect from you and how often do they expect them? Report? Royalties?
• What agreements will you need to make with them?
• What do you get in return for being a part of a bigger whole?

If there are existing chapter or games that are a part of the larger organization you’re looking at, send out an email to the heads of those other games asking them for their opinion on the organization. What issues have they had? What benefits have they gotten from being a part of the bigger whole? How accurate is the information on what the organization expects of its chapters? Use this time to get background information so you can make an informed decision about what you want to do.

If your game will be run at a convention:

• Who will you be working with to schedule your games or who is your main convention contact?
• What does the convention expect from you?
• What do you need to supply vs. what will be supplied for you?
• What deadlines do you need to meet?
• What contracts or other agreements will you need to sign or agree to?
• Are there any meetings you’ll need to (or should) attend prior to or just after the convention because of running your game at the con?

Much like those looking at becoming a part of a bigger organization, don’t hesitate to ask those who have run LARPs at a given convention for their take on how things went. What problems did they have? How helpful were the convention staff and what problems did they have working with them? Were the LARPs shoved off to the side or were they given ample space and advertising? What expectations did they have of those running LARPs at the convention? Was there a good draw to the LARPs there or was it hard to pull people in for a game? Use the answers you get to help you figure out if the convention would be a good opportunity for you to run your game or if you should pass it up.

Regardless of where your game will be run or if it’ll be a part of a greater whole you should also ask yourself some key questions because one person can’t run a game without running them-self into the ground. Yes, this means you should seek others to help you and delegate responsibilities:

• What kind of help do you need?
• What skills and abilities will those helping you need to have to provide you the help you need?
• How long will you need help?
• What will they need from you in order to do their job?
• What kind of commitment will you need from them?

As shared earlier, you won’t be able to do everything by yourself, so make sure you get at least a few others to help you and then understand what has excited these people enough to want to help you. Take care of them and be aware of their needs because by taking care of them they’ll help take care of you and your game. Also, unless you’re paying your staff, they’re volunteering because they want to; so be aware of what you ask of them vs. what they’re willing and/or able to do. Talk to your staff and figure out what they need from you to help your game be successful. Show them you care.

And if you’re not one of the executive members of the team, but an auxiliary staff member there are some things you should ask yourself before volunteering to help with a game:

• What do the organizers expect of you?
• What kind of commitment are they requesting? Time? Money? Experience?
• How long are they seeking this commitment from you?
• Are there any life events (weddings take a lot out of you, a new baby on the way can change priorities, when classes start up will you have the same amount of time to spend on your LARP staff duties, and etc) that might cause a snag in what they’re asking from you in the not so distant future?
• Do you have the skills or abilities that the job requires?
• Do you have the time and availability to fulfill your commitment?

Don’t hesitate to do a bit of research into the game and possibly ask other staff members for their opinion. Understand what all is requested of you before you agree and start work so that everyone is clear about the manner and amount of commitment you’ll be providing.

The big takeaway here: Take a long, hard look at things before you dive in and get things in writing, particularly the more complex the project becomes or the more people it involves. Knowing what you’re potentially getting involved with will help you figure out if you’ll have the time and resources to give the endeavor your proper attention and having a paper-trail (even a digital one of email strings) can be invaluable if you need to go back and look something up.

Do you have anything else you feel a game’s organizer or staff member should consider before diving in? Words of advice you’d share with someone just jumping into game organization or staffing for the first time? Other thoughts?

The next article will be Doing your Homework, part 3. As always I love to hear feedback and suggestions for further articles. Feel free to leave a comment here at the Mortalis Games site, write Amber at webmaster [at] mortalisrpg [dot] com or once this goes live on RPG.net, visit the article’s forum thread (there should be a link below the article to it) to see what else has been shared or to leave a comment there.

• Guest Columnists – I’d like to offer a chance for guest columnists to take the spotlight. Do you have a LARP related topic you’re really passionate about and want to share with people? Be a guest columnist! All I ask is that the topic be broad enough that it will appeal to LARPers from many games/genres/styles and your article be in the 500-1,000 word range (a bit over or under is okay). Send an email to webmaster [at] mortalisrpg [dot] com with your topic proposal and if chosen you’ll have a chance to take the column spotlight. I’ve already gotten a couple of exciting ones that will be borrowing the spotlight later this year (no, I’m not going to spoil the surprise).
• “Ask a LARPer” – I’d like to take the column on a slight detour every so often by using an article to answer a reader question or two, rather than just write on a topic. Send a LARPing related question you have to webmaster [at] mortalisrpg [dot] com and if it’s chosen I’ll devote an article to answering it.

This article’s subject matter will be spread over three parts (yes, I’ve got that much to say). This article will focus on creators and designers, the second part on organizers and staff members and the last part on what homework a player should do before going out to game.

I realized as I looked back at the articles I wrote last year and some of the comments that graced the articles that there’s a lot of insinuating you should do your homework, but I never came right out and said it. Do your homework! There, I’ve said it. But what do I mean by doing your homework?

Creators/Designers
I realized I’ve shared this before, but before you even get started writing or creating your LARP there are three points you should consider first:

• Why you want to: I think this is very important to ask because it can ultimately affect the quality of the game. A LARP that is created or designed for egotistical reasons by will likely run and behave differently, often detrimentally, than a LARP that is created or designed because a person loves to run a LARP and enjoys creating fun for others.
• The type of LARP: The type of LARP will affect the requirements to set it up. A one-shot theater style LARP for a small group of friends will have different needs than a long term, full weekend, live-combat LARP for the masses. Be aware of how the type of LARP you want to create will affect what resources you or others will need in order to put it together and run it.
• The “audience”: What kind of LARPer is your game going to cater to? Answering this is important because it’ll help you sort out what you should concentrate on during the design or creation vs what are lesser details. A LARP run for children will have different needs than a Cthulhu or fantasy adventure type LARP run for adults. Even the genre can affect who your key audience is. How many people do you intend this game to be run for?

In one of my earliest articles I wrote that “whether you’re designing your own system or volunteering for an existing group there’s one key thing that a friend told me who once managed a LARP group: Play.” While I discussed why playing in games is important and good, just playing in games isn’t enough. Play and study other games from other genres and styles, not just the genre and style you plan to create. Many LARPs offer their rulebook as a free download at their website. Grab several. Read them over. As you read over these other rulebooks or play in different games ask yourself “What do I like and what don’t I like from these other LARPs and why?”

Beyond looking over other game systems and playing in different LARPs you should read some books, blogs and forums (and participate on some forums too). While not everything you read will be 100% relevant to every aspect of your project, it’s amazing what good little tidbits you can find and come across. You might want to talk with other LARPers (and LARP designers and creators in particular) to share ideas and learn from others and their experineces. Most LARPers I know don’t mind sharing some tips, tricks and things they’ve learned if they know you’re serious about wanting to learn from them and their experiences.

Before sitting down to design your rules, decide what kind of player you want your game or ruleset to encourage and attract, what expectations you’d like your game or rules to set and then create accordingly. As Monte Cook shared during a game design panel: Your rules set player expectations. The rules are not just about how to play the game, but how to play the game. If the game is a live-combat battle game then the combat section should comprise a significant portion of the real estate in the rule book and be located further up toward the front of the book, otherwise it shouldn’t. You want your rules to stress what they really should stress. These expectations can even be the style of player that you want the game to eventually attract. A game that is supposed to be an immersive social and political game may very well bore someone who would rather just beat up monsters and vice versa.

The biggest thing you should keep in mind: Don’t design in a vacuum. Outside influences can be a boon to the design process and learning from the experiences of others can potentially keep you from making a fatal mistake. Knowing what you want your ruleset or game to encourage in the way of setting expectations can help you direct the game or rules creation in a direction that promotes those attributes or expectations in the game.

Do you have anything else you feel a game designer or creator should consider before diving in? Words of advice you’d share with someone just jumping into this for the first time? Other thoughts?

The next article will be Doing your Homework, part 2. As always I love to hear feedback and suggestions for further articles. Feel free to leave a comment here at the Mortalis Games site, write Amber at webmaster [at] mortalisrpg [dot] com or once this goes live on RPG.net, visit the article’s forum thread (there should be a link below the article to it) to see what else has been shared or to leave a comment there.

• Communication was such an important topic that it was covered in many articles and even had its own (LARP at Play: The Importance of Communication). Communication, or lack thereof can make or break a LARP group.
• Setting Expectations was another topic that came up several times and was so important it was discussed on its own (LARP at Play: Setting Game/Player Expectations). Both communication and setting expectations are closely tied together and are both very important to a game’s success (or failure).
• This past year was also a year of resources and sharing good spots to find further information. From some good designer resources (LARP Design: A designer’s reading list) to costuming resources (LARP Design: A designer’s reading list) to LARP resources in general (LARP at Play: LARP Link Dump).
• While there has yet to be an article written just about the importance of word of mouth (a.k.a. Young’s Law) to a LARP, it was a topic brought up in more than a few articles, particularly LARP at Play: Recruitment and Retention. Remember a LARP can be helped or hurt by what other people have to say about it.
• Even if you don’t consider the LARP hobby a business, more than a few articles talked about at least utilizing a degree of professionalism when you run your games. LARP at Play: The “Business” of LARP and LARP at Play: Creating a LARP really brought this topic to light. Remember, great ideas alone don’t make a game, it also takes a degree of business sense even if you don’t run it as a for-profit venture.
• Some topics lead to some good debates and discussions (LARP at Play: Costuming and You, Part 1, LARP Debate: Art or sport? and LARP Debate: LARP and Gender in particular). In some cases these debates are still going on.
• It’s also been a year of learning for myself. Yes, a veteran LARPer can learn new things. From a change in opinion from the LARP Debate: Art or sport? discussions to better understanding the gender diversity from LARP Debate: LARP and Gender discussion.

There are also some thoughts I’d like to explore and ideas I’d like to incorporate this coming year:

• I’d like to revisit some topics. As shared earlier, last year was a year of learning for me as much as it was a year of sharing what I know. Some of what I’ve learned has caused me to change my opinion (the Art vs. Sport debate being one) and I think revisiting a topic or two is in order because of that opinion change.
• Last year I noticed that a lot of my columns were talking about very basic topics, but as I shared on a forum some while back you need a foundation to build off of or you’ll lose people by starting too deep too fast (or too early). This year I’d like to start taking this foundation and building on it by either taking a deeper look at topics that have already been covered or looking at new topics that are that next level up.
• I’d like to take the column on a slight detour every so often by using an article to answer a reader question or two, rather than just write on a particular topic. Send me a LARPing related question you have and if it’s chosen I’ll devote an article to answering it.
• I’d like to offer a chance for guest columnists. Do you have a LARP related topic you’re really passionate about and want to share with people? Be a guest columnist! All I ask is that the topic be broad enough that it will appeal to LARPers from many games/genres/styles and your article be in the 500-1,000 word range. Send me an email with your topic proposal and if chosen you’ll have a chance to take the column spotlight.

And finally, for those who want a quick reference to all the articles written in 2009 (in no particular order), look below:

• LARP Design: Play … a lot
• LARP Design: Less can mean more
• LARP Design: The basics
• LARP Design: A designer’s reading list
• LARP Design: Game design & Monte Cook
• LARP at Play: Setting Game/Player Expectations
• LARP at Play: Costuming and You, Part 1
• LARP at Play: Costuming and You, Part 2
• LARP at Play: Recruitment and Retention
• LARP Debate: Evolution of LARP
• LARP at Play: The “Business” of LARP
• LARP at Play: LARP Link Dump
• LARP at Play: Creating a LARP
• LARP Debate: Art or sport?
• LARP at Play: The “B” Word
• LARP Debate: Entitlement and Instant Gratification
• LARP at Play: The Importance of Communication
• LARP Debate: Supporting the Good
• LARP Debate: LARP and Gender
• LARP at Play: The Value of Trust

Were there any particular thoughts or points made over the past year that really jumped out at you? What things would you want to explore this year? Your thoughts in general on what’s been written and what you’d like to see explored or written about?

The next article will be on doing your homework. As always I love to hear feedback and suggestions for further articles. Feel free to leave a comment here at the Mortalis Games site, write Amber at webmaster [at] mortalisrpg [dot] com or once this goes live on RPG.net, visit the article’s forum thread (there should be a link below the article to it) to see what else has been shared or to leave a comment there.

There is an often unwritten, but understood part of LARPing: The social contract between all game participants that they all will act according to the game’s rules and expected out-of-game policies of the LARP group. This social contract is ultimately built on a key value: Trust.

Before getting too deep into how trust affects our hobby I think it’s a good idea to make sure that a foundation is built of what trust is. Trust can be simply defined as “reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence. Confident expectation of something; hope.”

A really good article entitled Trust and Trust Building stated that “[t]he need for trust arises from our interdependence with others. We often depend on other people to help us obtain, or at least not to frustrate, the outcomes we value (and they on us). As our interests with others are intertwined, we also must recognize that there is an element of risk involved insofar as we often encounter situations in which we cannot compel the cooperation we seek. Therefore, trust can be very valuable in social interactions.

“Trust has been identified as a key element of successful conflict resolution (including negotiation and mediation).”

Isn’t that what a LARP is, an ongoing series of conflict resolution incidents where we use the game’s rules, and in some cases out-of-game policies, as the framework to help us negotiate the resolution process? Thus, in order for those rules and polices to work, we need to be able to trust each other that we’ll all adhere to them as outlined by the organizer(s) and that by doing so it will create fun for those involved.

Looking at a game it can be said that trust is important in many facets of it. From trust that the players won’t cheat or abuse loopholes to the trust that staff will follow the rules and policies they’ve outlined to trust that no one will take an action that will be harmful to another out-of-game and etc. There isn’t a part of the game that doesn’t involve some level or application of trust.

As the quote near the beginning shares, trust is one resource that is indeed built up by use rather than depleted. So, how can a person build trust? The article mentioned earlier gave several wonderful examples of how a person or group can build trust with others. Depending on your situation some of these may have a greater application than others.

Building trust

• Perform competently. One should perform one’s duties and obligations competently. Individuals should continuously strive to demonstrate proficiency in carrying out their obligations. In some cases, this may entail updating skills and abilities as technology advances. As others contemplate how much to trust you, they will assess your qualifications and ability to perform.
• Establish consistency and predictability. We can enhance the degree to which others will regard us as trustworthy when we behave in consistent and predictable ways. Every effort should be made to ensure that our words are congruent with our subsequent actions and that we honor pledged commitments. Our integrity is reinforced to the extent that we Do What We Say We Will Do (DWWSWWD).
• Communicate accurately, openly and transparently.In addition, one should act openly–that is, be clear about the intentions and motives for one’s actions. This helps the other party calculate our trustworthiness accurately, because we are willing to act transparently and to be monitored for compliance.
• Share and delegate control. Trust often needs to be given for it to be returned. There is symbolic value in soliciting input and sharing decision control with others. Likewise, when such control is hoarded and others feel that they are not trusted (such as with monitoring and surveillance systems), they may be more likely to act out against this with behaviors that reinforce a distrustful image.
• Show concern for others. The trust others have in you will grow when you show sensitivity to their needs, desires, and interests. Acting in a way that respects and protects other people, and refraining from engaging in self-interested pursuits to the detriment of others will also contribute greatly to the trust others place in you. When you violate someone’s trust, they deem that you are acting in your own self-interest. Accordingly, their attention will be diverted to their own self-interest and self-protection rather than on conflict resolution.
• Establish a common name and identity. Nurturing a common identity creates a sense of unity that can further strengthen trust. Engage in talk and actions that build a sense of ‘we’ rather than ‘me’. A common name and shared identity reduces divisiveness and encourages individuals to work together.
• Capitalize on co-location. As conflicting parties co-locate, their more frequent interaction can help them get to know one another better, strengthen their perceived common identity, and reduce distrust by exposing false stereotypes and prejudices. When used in conjunction with the recommendation above, co-location may demonstrate to the parties that they have more commonalities than differences.
• Create joint products and goals. Working toward the collective achievement of superordinate goals fosters a feeling of “one-ness” that can bring the parties together in a way that strengthens a salient, shared identity. Parties create and build products, services and activities that define their commonality and uniqueness.
• Promote shared values and emotional attraction. Individuals should model a concern for other people by getting to know them, engaging in active listening, showing a focus on their interests, recognizing the contributions of others, and demonstrating confidence in other’s abilities.

Being aware of the problems and challenges that your group or individuals in your game are facing can help you head off problems before they get too serious, but that isn’t a 100% guarantee that trust issues won’t creep in. A breakdown of trust, or of that social contract, can happen and can lead to a breakdown of the game or at least the quality of the game unless its repaired, but there is hope. The same article also gave some wonderful examples of how to rebuild trust with others when trust has been lost or violated. As before, depending on your situation some of these may have a greater application than others.

Rebuilding trust

• Take immediate action after the violation. Offenders should act quickly to engage in restorative efforts. This communicates sensitivity to the victim and the relationship, and avoids the double-burden the victim has to incur by both suffering the consequences of the violation and having to confront the offender with the consequences of his behavior.
• Provide an apology, and give a thorough account of what happened. Take responsibility for your actions if you are culpable, and express remorse for the harm that the victim endured because of the violation. Your remorse indicates to the victim that you have also suffered as a result of your actions, and the victim may be less likely to pursue vengeance and escalate the conflict. Also, be sure to carefully explain the circumstances that led to the violation, so the victim can understand the events that led you to your decisions. This will help them see the rationale behind your actions and give them a better sense of the values and parameters that are likely to shape your actions in the future.
• Be sincere. The victim is closely scrutinizing your motives and intentions, so it is imperative to sincerely strive to repair the harm from the violation. Take action unilaterally and volitionally, and make every effort to show through your words and actions that you genuinely desire to earn the victim’s trust again.
• Be cognizant of the day-to-day history of the relationship. If the overall history of the relationship is good, and there are few if any past trust violations, the prospects for trust repair are more promising than in relationships characterized by many trust violations or few trust-confirming events. Make it a priority to honor trust on a daily basis in order to provide a conducive environment for trust repair should the need arise.
• Provide restitution/penance. Substantiate your verbal claims with concrete actions that demonstrate a good-faith effort to compensate the victim for the harmful effects of the violation. In some relationships, what the victim wants more than your kind words is some tangible aspect of the transaction that he/she was counting on.
• Restate and renegotiate expectations for the future, and be trustworthy in future interactions. You are likely to be on “probation” for a period, as the victim tests the waters to see if you actually resume trustworthy behavior. Be sure to take this into account, and take proactive steps to manage the expectations of the victim by specifically articulating what standards should be expected. Then commit to following these standards in the future.
• Reaffirm commitment to the relationship. Reassert shared goals and interests, as well as the value placed on the relational bond between the parties. Re-establish the affective connection in the relationship by expressing your emotional attachment to the other party, and strive to demonstrate that the relationship is a top priority. You can re-gain credibility as you make clear sacrifices that establish the primacy of the relationship over your own self-interest.

In closing, what are your thoughts on trust and LARPing? Do you have any other examples of ways that trust is utilized in the LARPing environment?

The next column will be on a topic is yours to suggest. As always I love to hear feedback and suggestions for further articles. Feel free to leave a comment here at the Mortalis Games site, write Amber at webmaster [at] mortalisrpg [dot] com or once this goes live on RPG.net, visit the article’s forum thread (there should be a link below the article to it) to see what else has been shared or to leave a comment there.

“I feel it falls to … this group of people that look beyond the singular interests of a specific LARP group, to make this happen.”

My reply back included a challenge, which I feel is worthwhile to share (emphasis added), “And you’re right, one voice in a crowd doesn’t get far, but a chorus of voices does and I don’t think it’s arrogant at all to want to foster such communication and collaboration. … I see it [fostering communication and growth] as the responsibility of any LARPer who wishes to see the hobby grow and progress in a forward direction. It’s also something that I feel we should collaborate on, encourage and foster amongst each other; or as you have shared a ‘group of people that look beyond the singular interests of a specific LARP group.’ If someone is undertaking a worthwhile endeavor we should try to support it to help not only show and foster community spirit but encourage such positive endeavors.“

Far too often I see good stuff either ignored or put down because it’s different, championed by a person or group that an individual does not agree or get along with or they think that it’ll be too much work to put forth some effort to support the effort they see and admire. I feel that much of this is due to our society and how we are taught to perceive others and the projects of others: As competition rather than collaborators. I’ll even admit that I’ve been guilty of this on occasion.

However, I also feel that if we work to support a worthwhile endeavor that we find that it will in turn foster a greater sense of community within the US and regional LARP communities as a whole, as well as be the catalyst that others might need to start their own positive endeavors.

Now, this support need not always be chucking money, time or effort toward the endeavor. Merely passing word along to your friends (who LARP) and others within your LARPing groups and circles can be a big help, particularly for a hobby that finds word of mouth to be the greatest tool of the bunch. If you want, are able and the individual whose project or endeavor you admire has the capacity to accept other help by all means feel free to offer such. If nothing else, at least let the project lead know that you’re appreciative of their efforts and what they’re doing.

On a similar note and speaking to a point brought up earlier, if you see someone working on a project similar to what you had planned it might be a good idea to explore combining efforts rather than be at potential odds with each other and your respective projects. If that’s not possible, then perhaps look at a bit of collaboration and definatly respect each other’s projects.

I also feel it should be noted here that when helping another, to do so for the betterment of the community and the project or endeavor you’re supporting as a whole and not just a way to “brand” that project with your effort and turn it into an advertising pitch of your own. Nothing can ruin a potential networking and community building opportunity than a person that has ulterior motives behind their supportive assistance.

In closing I’d like to highlight some projects and individuals who I feel are making or have made worthwhile contributions to the US LARP hobby or have been an inspiration to me and deserve this verbal support and recognition:

• Christopher Amherst and the LARP Calendars – Thanks for helping LARPers find out about the events going on in their region and helping to promote the hobby around the US.
• LARP Alliance – While they’re just starting to work on a more nationwide presence, its good to see another organization spring up whose efforts are the support and promotion of the hobby in all its forms around the country.
• Merchant’s Guild – A small, free auction site with a lot of potential who counts LARPers amongst its primary audience. A lot of work has been done to encourage people to visit and utilize this free auction side and I know there’s a lot of work going on to make it even better.
• WyrdCon and Live Effects and the LARP Alliance – Not only do I see this as a great example of collaboration, but I think this event has potential on many levels: from fostering community within the hobby to networking opportunities and more.
• Nat with her game Mortal Tears and the Shadow Accord team taking over in Jan – This Seattle area game was what I’d call the first significantly experimental LARP in the Pacific Northwest and I know that this game has inspired many Pacific Northwestern (and dare I say beyond) LARPers to create more experimental LARPs.
• LARPA- LARPA and its predecessor organizations I feel did wonders for showing how an non-LARP specific organization could help the hobby here in the US. While the focus has obviously become theater/parlor style games its impact can be felt across the whole hobby.
• Shade’s LARP List – This has been a LARP mecca for LARPers from across the US and world. While the LARP list is rather dated, the forums are still lively and a great place to connect with other LARPers.
• LARP Tower – This is a new project that’s just getting off the ground and one that I feel has potential to become an information source within the hobby.
• Seventh Kingdom IGE – I feel this group is a great example of how a game can be fun to play and still a part of the hobby, but also professionally run and managed. A lot of good lessons can be learned from these people.
• Devia and Brian Gregory – A UK fest style LARP that has started up in the Pacific Northwest and for the US, a rather new style of LARP. Looking back at forum posts on the game’s development makes a good learning excercise.
• LARPSource.com and Kevin Tjia – This site and its author, Kevin, have been a great source for networking and also another example of how hobby project can collaborate and help each other.
• Gamer: The Podcasting – While no longer around, this podcast when it was active was not only fun to listen to, but got people thinking. The topics discussed often were things which affected many styles and forms of LARPing.
• Diane Peterson – Who taught me not only how a good LARP should be run, but helped instill in me good LARPing ethics.
• Rory Clark – For helping to reiterate what I learned in my early LARP “education” about good games, good players and showing me how a LARP could be scary without being deadly.
• Conor T. (you know who you are and I know you hate your full name being used) – For not only being a great sounding board, but also sharing and encouraging the inception of new ideas in games.
• Mike Young from Interactivites Ink – A very forward thinking LARP designer and academician, who I’m proud to have a chance to interact with.
• Gordon Olmstead-Dean – His essays are not only thought provoking but also informative. A lot can be learned by reading his writings. His work with LARPA has also helped make him a nationwide name amongst the hobby.
• Nat Budin – He has written some essays which I feel are must reads, but he’s also willing to help out when and where he can within the hobby.

And I know this list will grow over the coming months and years as more and more people inspire me with great ideas, support and new ways of looking at things.

What projects, groups, organizations or people do you look up to and admire or have inspired you? What is it about these people or groups that inspires you? What do you feel about supporting the good?

The next column will be on the importance of trust. As always I love to hear feedback and suggestions for further articles. Feel free to leave a comment here at the Mortalis Games site, write Amber at webmaster [at] mortalisrpg [dot] com or once this goes live on RPG.net, visit the article’s forum thread (there should be a link below the article to it) to see what else has been shared or to leave a comment there.