Forming LARP Groups

[Anonymous No.10056858]

I would love to go back to the days of my childhood where I would roleplay Harry Potter with our own alternative storyline, but I literally have no idea where I could start.

So, for forming LARP groups.
>How can I gather interest without gathering negative attention?
>Similarly, how can I filter out anyone with bad intentions?

I would appreciate

[Anonymous No.10056859]

>>10056858
whatever help you can provide.

[Anonymous No.10056866]

>>10056858
Firstly, post in the larp thread newfag.
Secondly, if you haven't been to a larp you have no business writing one. Even most people who have been to a larp will suck at writing them. Before you try to write this game, do some research into other magical school games. Read as many systems and rulesets as you can and attend at least one. Magischola is a well-regarded magical school larp, for example. I think there's one in the US as well? At least go to some local larp events even if they're not the sort of thing you want to run; maybe even volunteer on a ref team or two to get some experience.
Third, some general advice: Writing a game isn't the only part of running a larp. You also have to deal with booking a site, making sure all safety precautions appropriate, providing kit for monsters and NPCs, liaising with players, feeding however many people for however long you run the game... There are so many logistics in running a larp, it's a lot of very hard work. Make sure you assemble a competent (and experienced if possible) ref team and DELEGATE. Do not try to do everything yourself. Be prepared to hear a lot of criticism and make sure you take it to improve your game - there's nothing worse than a game runner or head ref with a "vision" they refuse to adapt. Plots do not often survive contact with players, you should have a plot but be ready to adapt it and change it accordingly based on what your players do and where you want them to end up.
Fourth, consider running a tabletop rpg instead. You will be able to do that yourself without much difficulty, there are many tabletop systems already written that can cater to this kind of game, and you can play with a small group of friends in a more concentrated way where you won't need to worry about logistical things. You can even dress up to play if costuming is important to you.

[Anonymous No.10056871]

>>10056858
To answer your actual questions:
>How can I gather interest without gathering negative attention?
Go to other larps first. Meet people, make friends. Work on a few referee teams helping other people realise their larps. Work hard and improve on your mistakes. Get a name for yourself as someone who loves larp and is committed to excellence and fun. Then people will want to play your games! But there will always be at least one negative person who wants to rain on your parade, so make sure you grow a thick skin too. (Being on a good ref team will help you develop that.)
>Similarly, how can I filter out anyone with bad intentions?
That is difficult. Make sure you have a policy about what behaviours and attitudes you will allow in your game, and make sure that policy is stated in an obvious place on your website or very early on in your ruleset. Contrary to what some people believe, you actually can write a very good and interesting game that has strong elements of in-world prejudice or allows genuine physical contact (violent or less commonly sexual) between consenting players; the key is to be clear about what your game will contain. For example, if playing a muggle born will get a character bullied and potentially smacked around by purebloods, make sure that's listed as a feature of the game. If you start a Facebook group or event page for your event, you might be able to read out bad eggs based on who makes uncomfortable or policy breaking comments on it . Also if you are recruiting players from within the general larp community, at least in my country people are very outspoken about problem players so if one tries to join your game, someone may let you know. Unfortunately this also comes easier wirh experience.

[Anonymous No.10056875]

>>10056866
>>10056871
Thanks heaps. I admit, first time I have been on this board. Didn't even know about it until an hour ago.

So I may try just going to an existing group. I don't know much about doing that either, but I guess I'll figure it out. I have some friends, but it might be hard to convince them to play tabletope with me at some point.

Thanks again.

[Anonymous No.10056878]

>>10056858
Also here's a list of magical school larps to read up on:
>Magischola
>Bothwell School
>Czocha College of Wizardry
>College of Wizardry Nibelungen
OR you could get a copy of something like Fate Core or Fate Accelerated and run a tabletop game.

[Anonymous No.10056882]

>>10056875
If you check out the websites for the games I mentioned here >>10056878, they should explain how to join and get started, and if you're completely new to larp you can usually join a Facebook group for the game or email the game runners to ask for help. People are usually nice and willing to help a new player. Best of luck!
And there's always Internet rp if your friends don't want to play with you.

[Anonymous No.10060828]

>>10056871
You make some really good points about rules and bad eggs, really good advice.

There are a few things I would like to add, things I've noticed from personal experience.

Physical contact.
-Make very clear rules on what counts as a hit if you use spell bags an other throwable items.
-If you have actual physical contact between people you need to have a disclaimer they need to understand and sign, be clear on the rules and what an acceptable level of contact is.

I was in a European style larp and we had full contact fighting. So it was not uncommon for people to leave with cuts and bruises. We had rules about how hard people were allowed to hit, and with what. I.E. go ham with a calamacil but don't punch someones nose with a steel gauntlet if you can help it. But accidents happen. Have a clear outline of procedural actions from when they do eventually happen. Every player had to sign waivers before they could play saying they understood the physical nature of the game and that they understood the rules and safety procedures.

[Anonymous No.10060844]

>>10060828
cont

Sex stuff

People are gonna fuck at your larp, its just gonna happen. All you can do it outline the rules of acceptable behavior and try to enforce it. You as the plot team get to decide how sexual you want your larp to be. Some larps are completely pg, some hint at it, some let people have sexual encounters during roleplay (consensual of course). Make sure that if you do have sexual material in your larp that you give people and out for it if someone whats it in their story but does not want to physically role play it. Either through moderated online roleplay, having the players talk about it out of game with a moderator present, or having a universal hand signal for players so they can talk about it in game without having to physically act it out.

For example we had tons of sexual content at our larp. You could sleep with another player to roleplay if you wanted. I wasn't to comfortable with that unless the person happened to be my irl partner at the time. But you ended up running into it regardless. One time a npc grabbed me with a control spell and led me to the woods, proceeded to give me a bunch of plot info and offered me some cool shit for in game intrigue. The guy proceeded to try it initiate sex to close the deal, I was uncomfortable with having sex with that person and did the hand signal. We verbally role played it instead.

[Anonymous No.10060850]

>>10060844
cont

Drama

There will always be drama at larps, you will have to have clear rules on what plot gets involved in and how players are to act in game. Try not to involve plot team whatsoever, period. The only time plot should get involved in players personal business is if it disrupting the game for other uninvolved players. Then the only thing they should do is tell them calm down and resolve it out of game later or leave the game until they can resolve it. Do not let other peoples bullshit drag the game down for everyone, do not make exceptions. Make it very clear to everyone there that plot does not care about your drama. It will be ignored, and you will be removed from the game if it gets out of hand.

Having rules like this and sticking to them will chase off most of the drama llama's, as you will not give them any footholds to carry on with their shit using the game as a platform to do so. What is out of game should stay out of game.

[Anonymous No.10060859]

>>10060850
cont

Plot team needs to be transparent in their actions. If your players cannot trust plot to run the game as it should be then your players will not be motivated to do the same. It will save you many head aches for rules disputes and other such arguments. You wont end up with x player defending their bad actions by pointing out sheisty bs your plot team has done, or justifying their rule breaking with it. It leaves a bad taste in the players mouths and encourages cheating from the players, as they feel they will need a leg up to stay competitive. Anything major that is not story breaking metaplot, player personal plot of another player, or classified in game or out of game info should be shared with the community. Have an online forum with this information pinned and with a updates section to keep people up to speed. Also have a anonymous report system so that people can safely report problems or troubling incidents to the team for resolution. Hold you team accountable for their mistakes.