All's fair i
This art not thy mother's game of Scrabb
There's no business like LARP business
After a weekend of LARPing, I decided to investigate the development of a LARP so I delved into the womb of a baby LARP.
Society in Shadows is a LARP-in-progress, developed by KU graduate student Jen Decker and her company, Six Stones. I visited Decker's business while she and her staff were preparing for the Midwest Area Gaming Enthusiast (MAGE) convention (or "con," in gamer lingo) that took place April 25 through 27 in Sioux City, Iowa.
Jen operates Six Stones out of her house. She has a comfortable set-up. The staff works from TV trays while sitting in armchairs in her living room.Eight of the 13 regular staff members were present, but the house seemed even cozier because of the five cats and the large, roaming black dog.
Some of the staffers were preparing materials like player handbooks and props that will be used at the con. Others were writing the plot that will serve as the storyline of the game.
"One thing about making a game is that you have to generate an entire world and political structure. When you're trying to cover the basis of people's imagination, that's quite a task," says Vanessa Ren, Six Stones staff member and KU Medical Center student.
Decker has been running and developing the game for 13 years.She usually hosts four events a year. Each event is a chance to test new rules and further develop the game.Eventually, Decker and her staff plan to publish a finalized version of the game in the form of a book that describes background rules and powers,and how to play.
"This is a creative outlet," says Six Stones staffer Robert Ren. "But in the end, we are trying to make something a finished product that we can put on the shelves, that we can have published, that we can have people buying that haven't been to our conventions before. It's a combination of wanting to succeed at business, and creating something that's lasting."
Society in Shadows players don't pretend they are in a different world, like in NERO.The game takes place in present day in the present locationwhich usually happens to be a con.This is where the game gets its name.The gamers play supernaturals interacting as a society in the shadows of the human world.
By Travis Brown tbrown@kansan.com
6-foot spider swats at me, striking my left arm. I am injured, I must fall back and re-assemble my arm. Fortunately, a dwarf, gypsy and fox are there to slay the mighty arachnid with spells, strategy and
impeccable swordsmanship.
I am in the heart of Spider Wood in the central region of the continent of Avalon in the world of Tyrra. I am a young, jaded holbing named Elmore Hawkborne.
In reality, I am at a YMCA compound called Camp Hammond in Berryton, which is located almost directly between Lawrence and Topeka. I am three hours into my first live-action role-play (LARP) experience.
What the LARP?
LARP is gaming on steroids. Or maybe acid. Or maybe just good old imagination. LARPs come in all forms. Grown up or otherwise, LARPs have emerged
forms and sizes. Groups have organized
science fiction LARPs, horror LARPs.
military-based LARPs, fantasy LARPs. You name the literary genre, and there's probably a LARP for it. Some LARPs' fight dragons, and some zap aliens in a dystopian cyberpunk future world.
Almost everyone has LARPed at some point in his or her life. But most people stop once they hit puberty and find themselves incapable of playing make-believe—either because of creative restraints or social inhibitions.
The LARP I participated in is fantasy-based It is a game called NERO. Find a cauldron; throw in improvisational theater, Dungeons and Dragons, a couple J.R.R. Tolkien novels and fake weapons; boil and stir and you will cook up a steaming crock of NERO.
NERO (New England Role-playing Organization) was founded in Boston in 1989. It is one of the oldest, most established LARP organizations in existence. Now NERO has about 50 chapters all across America. These chapters host gatherings, usually monthly, at which players come, dress up and play an extraordinarily convoluted game.
A character is born
After a 17-mile drive, I see the dilapidated "Camp Hammond" sign. I pass under the wooden threshold and know that there is no turning back now.I'm extremely nervous.After all, I haven't fought with foam weapons since the days when NERF commercials ruled the Nickelodeon airwaves.
I continue on a gravel road until I come to a well-lit cabin. Inside the lodge, aquariums filled with reptiles line the walls. I see piles of Ranger Rick magazines and camping supplies scattered about. A man sits behind a desk with a laptop and a portable printer. It's obvious he has set up a makeshift headquarters in this room. He introduces himself Joe Bearden.
Bearden, Lawrence graduate student, is the mind behind the Kansas chapter of NERO, called NERO
Central. He founded the chapter two years ago. Bearden has officially been LARPing for 17 years, but he says his first true LARP experience was playing "cowboys and Indians" when he was a child.
Bearden stands up to welcome me. He is tall, with a handlebar mustache and long, curly hair. His overall appearance and stature make him seem as if he would be just as comfortable in a fantastical archaic world as he is in this one.
I sign a liability waiver, and he sets me up with a character. We decide I will be a hobling because I fit the description well.According to the NERO Rule Book,"Hoblings are peaceful people and generally are smaller than average. They have furry feet and hands, as well as bushy sideburns and eyebrows."Bearden decides I am from the Hawk tribe.This also seems to be an appropriate role because Hawks are known as storytellers.
Players usually come with their own outfits, but I am a special case. Bearden puts together a costume for me. He dresses me in layers of earth-tone tunics, vests, rope and feathers. He gives me a bone-shaped mace as my weapon. It's made of PVC pipe, foam and duct tape, like all the other players' weapons. These weapons, called "boffers," are made for safe playing.
Bearden takes me outside and gives me a brief overview of combat technique and rules. We hold a mock battle and he teaches me the ways of combat.
Each of my strikes are worth two "normal" points. So every time I hit someone, I must shout "two normal" or the hit won't count. The players deduct points each time I hit them. This seems like a simple enough idea, but it requires spontaneous calculations that my collegiate education has not prepared me for.
Nevertheless, I am ready for battle. At least, that's what I tell Bearden. But I soon discover that fighting is only one component of this game.
All the camp's a stage
I am directed to another cabin, and just as I enter, the game begins and the fear sets in.
The room is dark, only faintly lit by lamp lights that encircle an urn in the corner. I see framed drawings on the walls that portray whimsical creatures and fictional, weathered maps. The table in the center of the room is covered in fake ivy, feathers, gobbles and plastic bones that you might find at a head shop. People are wearing face paint and elf ears. Horns are protruding from foreheads.
I am so freaking out right now.
Suddenly I realize why there is a strict "no drug or alcohol" policy.
Bad Shark of the Deathcafter tribe (Phil Layman) sits down in front of me and asks me if my people stand by the Deathcafter or the Earth tribe.
I panic.
I'm going to ruin the story. Deathcraft, Earth, Deathcrafter, Earth. Which do my people stand by?
He is a member of the Deathcrafters. He is scary, dressed in black from head-to-toe, and he is undead. I cave and tell him that my people support the Deathcrafters.
"Really I was under the impression that the Hawks supported the Earth," says Bad Shark, staring at me witt
08 05.01.2008 VOL. 5 ISS. 30
For more information: six-stones.com and NEROCentral.com