Is apparently a lot of information. I tried to write up what was going on behind the scenes, which wound up being nearly as much information as was given to the players in the first place. Hopefully, by reading this document someone else could create a similarly entertaining evening for their friends.
Even those not interested in running the game might be interested in the "behind the scenes" thinking going on in the game. I tried to explain my decision making process as GM, and why and how some things were done. I didn't delve to much into why some characters are written the way they are, but you get a little sense of that in the casting section. It still didn't cover, say, why so many character had few actual demonstrable superpowers (so that they might be suspected of being Brainjack) and similar issues. Perhaps that might be fodder for a future blog post.
Showing posts with label advice for future GMs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label advice for future GMs. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Things I'd change in the January LARP the second time around
This post is partly more deconstruction, and partly for the benefit of anytone following this Blog who ever is interested in running the game for their own friends.
1: Not give the robbers rope. They tied up several hostages quickly, which reduced what those players could do. While it may be realistic, none of the variousbank robbery movies or TV shows I've watched involved tying up the hostages. Probably for the same reasons: so that the hero of the show/movie can move around and manipulate things rather than be tied up and helpless.
2: Change Thursday's background, so that he/she wants evidence of the embezzling plot. Thursday would in this case want to get out, alive if possible, and clear his name of the embezzling charges. Of course, this raises again the question I had for a long time: how would Thursday plan to get out alive and free? Well, maybe Thursday's priorities have gotten all screwed up, and he's willing to be arrested for robbing a bank if proven innocent of embezzling from the same bank. Or maybe he has some other plan, though I couldn't think of a good one. (That's why Thursday didn't care about surviving: so I didn't have to come up with an escape plan.)
3: Possibly change it so the manager is not the person embezzling. The manager had enough to do just being the manager, therefore the ones the robbers talked to. The manager might suspect his other employee of something, even, which could move that plot other ways.
Maybe some other things, like: give a hostage or bank employee a weapon. This was planned for the undercover cop, but she didn't get played. Should have given the gun then to the ex-con. We did give the duffel full of cash (written to go to the convenience store worker) to the off-duty cop, which worked really well. It gave the PCs something to fight for and sneak bits of cash away. (The cop had collected a bunch of money at his son's Bar Mitzvah, apparently, and was at the bank to deposit it all.)
But I should get to writing for February. So far it looks like a smaller crowd than January, but these things have a tendency to look deserted until two days before the LARP. Then at the last minute they double in attendance and I have to write extra characters. Two of whom never get played. We'll see how that cycle continues, though it's been the pattern every previous LARP I've ran.
1: Not give the robbers rope. They tied up several hostages quickly, which reduced what those players could do. While it may be realistic, none of the variousbank robbery movies or TV shows I've watched involved tying up the hostages. Probably for the same reasons: so that the hero of the show/movie can move around and manipulate things rather than be tied up and helpless.
2: Change Thursday's background, so that he/she wants evidence of the embezzling plot. Thursday would in this case want to get out, alive if possible, and clear his name of the embezzling charges. Of course, this raises again the question I had for a long time: how would Thursday plan to get out alive and free? Well, maybe Thursday's priorities have gotten all screwed up, and he's willing to be arrested for robbing a bank if proven innocent of embezzling from the same bank. Or maybe he has some other plan, though I couldn't think of a good one. (That's why Thursday didn't care about surviving: so I didn't have to come up with an escape plan.)
3: Possibly change it so the manager is not the person embezzling. The manager had enough to do just being the manager, therefore the ones the robbers talked to. The manager might suspect his other employee of something, even, which could move that plot other ways.
Maybe some other things, like: give a hostage or bank employee a weapon. This was planned for the undercover cop, but she didn't get played. Should have given the gun then to the ex-con. We did give the duffel full of cash (written to go to the convenience store worker) to the off-duty cop, which worked really well. It gave the PCs something to fight for and sneak bits of cash away. (The cop had collected a bunch of money at his son's Bar Mitzvah, apparently, and was at the bank to deposit it all.)
But I should get to writing for February. So far it looks like a smaller crowd than January, but these things have a tendency to look deserted until two days before the LARP. Then at the last minute they double in attendance and I have to write extra characters. Two of whom never get played. We'll see how that cycle continues, though it's been the pattern every previous LARP I've ran.
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