Leaving this here for later. http://www.pcgamer.com/how-to-be-a-better-roleplayer/ With a specific reminder to think about this gem and how it's bloody good advice for larp: Grant calls it “the capacity to improvise and adapt and come up with, ‘How would my character feel in this situation?’ rather than ‘My character wouldn’t do this! Fuck this, I’m off!’”... Continue Reading →
The hole in my tooth.
I am trying to get better at the habit of grabbing bits of Facebook, and sticking them here with a few more additional thoughts, so I can find them later. Here's another. Once upon a time in Facebookland, Mr Andy Raff said.... When creating a fantastic setting it is okay for some of your elements to... Continue Reading →
Joining the dots.
I wrote a bit about stories in larp a while ago then along comes Ian Thomas and absolutely smashes it with this piece. It starts with the observation that larp is about the stories afterwards. About the froth, if you will. That's when I started waving my cheerleader's pom-poms. Then it suggests a bit of practice: why not start your... Continue Reading →
As a descriptor. LRP is closer to "sport" than "role-playing game". This is because club games, 30 person intense interactives, and fest LRPs are actually entirely different experiences lumped together by a couple of basic shared attributes. (From a Facebook post by Mr Andy Raff. Probably friends-only, but I figure he won't mind if I put it here... Continue Reading →
Things I think would improve “immersive theatre”. Part 1.
Last year, I went to New Atlantis, billed, if I recall correctly, as a piece of immersive theatre with a campaigning remit for acting on climate change. Reviews were mixed: this is the Londonist's view, and this from the Arts Desk. Those will give you the shape of the piece. I'd not read either when I... Continue Reading →
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/11/13/mmos-larping/ I should get round to writing something about it, really. Still, nice to get a namecheck for the Empire promo, even if they didn't use the HU version... Nick Bradbeer said "Interestingly, Eve Online already does quite a lot of the things suggested (player-interaction focus, world-scale problems without clear solutions, player representatives to influence game... Continue Reading →
Guest post: Matt Pennington on drugs, roleplay and validation.
Matt Pennington of Profound Decisions is prone to posting wisdom in Facebook comment, and it has mildly irritated me in the past that the transient nature of comments means that wisdom is lost. He did it again today, and I've asked if I can post it here. All that follows is his words, verbatim. "We... Continue Reading →
Horror in LRP. A distillation of a Facebook thread.
UK conversations about lrp game design have fragmented - there isn't a UK-based forum, and they tend to end up on Facebook. Which is a shame, because the wisdom isn't there to be found later. So when a particularly good thread cropped up earlier this week, I thought I'd distil is a bit and stick... Continue Reading →
Game on.
I’ve lived the development of Empire for close on two years. Nothing like the top bods, in time or effort, but I reckon 30k of the words are at least mostly mine – and I never expected to be able to say that about a project. I’ve been generously given a producer credit for a... Continue Reading →
Storytelling in larp.
Matt was interviewed by Starburst Magazine recently. It's over here: http://www.starburstmagazine.com/features/feature-articles/2871-interview-matt-pennington Most of it is Matt waxing lyrical, as only he can and it's good stuff. But I think he missed the point of one of the questions: "SB: How important is storytelling when it comes to games? "MP: Personally I have never valued storytelling in... Continue Reading →
LARP experience 