Moments in larp
Nov. 22nd, 2013 09:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzLast night I spent a good hour on the phone with Ragar and his wife, catching up. We had a long discussion (phonecalls with Ragar tend to be at least 45 minutes!) about larp and how the game had changed. It's not like we're getting old, but perhaps our view of what we like to do in larp has changed or is different from that which other people have. Our expectations are different, and we feel disappointed when we return from a larp and our expectations are not met.
This was it. The undead swarmed around us, and the Black Count glared at those in front of him. His armour shone darkly in the dark night, the only light glinting off his shoulder plates coming from the numerous lamps suspended from the wall, as the black clouds that accompanied the threat from the Black Count obscured stars and moon alike.
I was only a farmer's daughter, a long way from home. And I stayed in Wateringen, while others were sent on. The women, the children, the crippled. People who could run, who could repair armour and sharpen swords, people who could fight with magic or swords, shoot a bow or construct war machines were all in Wateringen. One last stand against the black tide.
We knew this. My war buddies and I, all only farmer's sons and daughters. The threat had steadily grown over the past weeks and months until finally all was dark in the world. The one man, the Black Count, the cause of all this anguish, was in front of us. We didn't stand a chance.
But if we didn't fight, who would? Who would take up arms of those women and children, who would protect them? Didn't Ranaa teach us to protect the weak? Didn't Volkmar revel in the fight of a lone swordsman against the horde? Didn't Eleena give us luck, or Kharnun give us the power to change our fate?
This was our moment. Brothers all, with swords and shields. I stood ready to charge the Black Count, to die trying. Because we were the last hope of our Barony.
This is, if somewhat glorified, the situation of the last Marsilac weekend. It is somewhat fluffified to fill in the gaps that larp cannot fill. Numerous oil lamps, numerous undead, the lack of a real wooden palissade. But what matters is real: the feeling of hopelessness, of one last stand against the dark tide. My character was ready to die there.
But more and more I suspect that other people were only trying to weigh the odds. It's not fair to be fighting a mass of undead far greater than your own numbers -- after all, you cannot win. What if your character would die?
I think the setting built towards this climax, this final moment of despair. Even though other orga's would have approached it differently, had different monsters, different props, it was definitely a sitation (a scene) that could generate some very awesome things. And personally, I think this contact with the Black Count should have cost a handful of lives.
Just like that short adventure from this summer, where I played Marianne. At some point we were following an undead priestess who would lead us to her necromancer, and nobody thought that was a bad idea at the time. Our other option was to fight Fluisterboog, a notorious elf who was stalking us and, with his buddies, taking potshots. Going back for a wounded man could mean you would be pinned down.
That short adventure should have cost us several characters. But the GMs decided against it. They decided it should be fun, that people shouldn't lose their character, and they called back the NPCs.
I think their definition of "fun" is slightly different from mine.
We watch movies to get caught up in a story -- some of us larp. Some people like romantic comedies, others like horror movies. It's all good. I think larp should be able to provide such entertainment for everyone. An event doesn't have to be strictly horror with no room for comic relief. But I do feel like the group vibe at Maerquin is changing. Apparantly the players there have a different view of larp than I do.
Would it have made the scene better if people had died? My character was ready to give her life. Her death would have been meaningful and that would open up a whole philosphical debate. I would have been fine with it. But other people wouldn't have been if their characters had died, and perhaps that is why the GMs instructed or the NPCs decided to not do it.
I like confrontation in larp. It's not a happy world out there, and you can't tell me it's any better in that fantasy setting. The whole point is to experience an adventure.
What do you think?
This was it. The undead swarmed around us, and the Black Count glared at those in front of him. His armour shone darkly in the dark night, the only light glinting off his shoulder plates coming from the numerous lamps suspended from the wall, as the black clouds that accompanied the threat from the Black Count obscured stars and moon alike.
I was only a farmer's daughter, a long way from home. And I stayed in Wateringen, while others were sent on. The women, the children, the crippled. People who could run, who could repair armour and sharpen swords, people who could fight with magic or swords, shoot a bow or construct war machines were all in Wateringen. One last stand against the black tide.
We knew this. My war buddies and I, all only farmer's sons and daughters. The threat had steadily grown over the past weeks and months until finally all was dark in the world. The one man, the Black Count, the cause of all this anguish, was in front of us. We didn't stand a chance.
But if we didn't fight, who would? Who would take up arms of those women and children, who would protect them? Didn't Ranaa teach us to protect the weak? Didn't Volkmar revel in the fight of a lone swordsman against the horde? Didn't Eleena give us luck, or Kharnun give us the power to change our fate?
This was our moment. Brothers all, with swords and shields. I stood ready to charge the Black Count, to die trying. Because we were the last hope of our Barony.
This is, if somewhat glorified, the situation of the last Marsilac weekend. It is somewhat fluffified to fill in the gaps that larp cannot fill. Numerous oil lamps, numerous undead, the lack of a real wooden palissade. But what matters is real: the feeling of hopelessness, of one last stand against the dark tide. My character was ready to die there.
But more and more I suspect that other people were only trying to weigh the odds. It's not fair to be fighting a mass of undead far greater than your own numbers -- after all, you cannot win. What if your character would die?
I think the setting built towards this climax, this final moment of despair. Even though other orga's would have approached it differently, had different monsters, different props, it was definitely a sitation (a scene) that could generate some very awesome things. And personally, I think this contact with the Black Count should have cost a handful of lives.
Just like that short adventure from this summer, where I played Marianne. At some point we were following an undead priestess who would lead us to her necromancer, and nobody thought that was a bad idea at the time. Our other option was to fight Fluisterboog, a notorious elf who was stalking us and, with his buddies, taking potshots. Going back for a wounded man could mean you would be pinned down.
That short adventure should have cost us several characters. But the GMs decided against it. They decided it should be fun, that people shouldn't lose their character, and they called back the NPCs.
I think their definition of "fun" is slightly different from mine.
We watch movies to get caught up in a story -- some of us larp. Some people like romantic comedies, others like horror movies. It's all good. I think larp should be able to provide such entertainment for everyone. An event doesn't have to be strictly horror with no room for comic relief. But I do feel like the group vibe at Maerquin is changing. Apparantly the players there have a different view of larp than I do.
Would it have made the scene better if people had died? My character was ready to give her life. Her death would have been meaningful and that would open up a whole philosphical debate. I would have been fine with it. But other people wouldn't have been if their characters had died, and perhaps that is why the GMs instructed or the NPCs decided to not do it.
I like confrontation in larp. It's not a happy world out there, and you can't tell me it's any better in that fantasy setting. The whole point is to experience an adventure.
What do you think?
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no subject
Date: 2013-11-22 09:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-22 12:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-22 05:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-22 05:18 pm (UTC)Dat van die doden die verwacht waren te vallen doet me terugdenken aan de tijd dat wij schreven en organiseerden. Toen was er een vrij grote groep die van mening was dat er meer doden moesten vallen, vanwege het gevaar wat er nu eenmaal heerste. Wat ze eigenlijk bedoelden was dat andere mensen hun personage moesten sterven, zodat zij de spanning konden voelen. Dit mede gezien het feit dat wij de hardste klachten hebben gehoord naar aanleiding van personages van dezegroep die stierven. Wat ik in ieder geval bij die groep proefde was een gevoel van 'we hebben alles al eens gezien en het is aan jou om ons bang/in spanning/whatever te maken', in plaats van dat ze meegingen in het verhaal wat er geboden werd.
Waar ik het wel met je eens ben is dat het spel inderdaad veranderd.
De hudige spelers (op sommige evidente uitzonderingen, hier niet aanwezig, na) hebben veel meer de neiging om conflicten via rollenspel te benaderen en uit te spelen (de ene uiteraard meer dan de andere). Wat dat betreft verandert het spel dus van LARP naar LaRP, waarbij in sommige settingen de A helemaal weggevallen is. Drama wordt er gezocht en drama is leuker als het langer duurt.
Ik denk dat er in het huidige spel veel confrontatie zit. Veel meer zelfs dan in de tijd van vroeger.
Echter. Zeg nou zelf. Wat is nu leuker en spannender? Iemand ombrengen, of iemand laten weten dat je een hekel aan hem/haar hebt en dat je hem/haar zult gaan omleggen? Dat laatste heeft mij in ieder geval veel meer spel opgelevert en dan maakt de uiteindelijk uitslag eigenlijk niet eens zoveel meer uit.
no subject
Date: 2013-11-22 05:42 pm (UTC)Dat gevoel was tof! Het was een gave scene, een gaaf stuk spel. Anders zou je ook die realisatie niet hebben (als ik het niet doe....) en zou je sneller geneigd zijn om iemand anders de vuile was maar te laten opruimen. (Oh, iemand anders doet het wel... zo eng is het niet).
Maar vanuit een ander perspectief: In een setting als Maerquin, waarbij magie redelijk low-level is, kon de Zwarte Graaf ons een boodschap sturen vanuit de andere baronie. Dat is toch vreselijk krachtige magie!
We scheten peentjes voor die man. En als we met zijn allen op zijn nek waren gedoken, hadden we allemaal het loodje gelegd. Zo sterk was de Zwarte Graaf. Spinazie en pindakaas, en veul van beide.
Toch gingen we de confrontatie aan en bleek het allemaal best mee te vallen. De ondoden konden wel respawnen, maar er waren geen zwaargewonden, we hadden een ritueel en natuurlijk een hele krachtige NPC en een kudde eenhoorns om mensen te genezen. Ik vind dat niet per se slecht, maar het is nogal raar dat je een blik NPCs opentrekt om een sterke NPC te verslaan. Als de spelers dat zelf doen en er vallen doden, heb je dezelfde spanning en, mijns inziens, een beter gevoel als je het overleeft.
Ik heb nu achteraf namelijk een beetje een gevoel dat die Zwarte Graaf helemaal zo sterk niet was. Want deze laatste confrontatie was best wel stukkie cake.
no subject
Date: 2013-11-22 05:53 pm (UTC)Het ritueel werd door de spelers geleid (door een nieuweling, mag ik wel zeggen) en de strijd tegen Dalmion werd ook door de spelers zelf gehouden. Die ene eenhoorn liep daar eigenlijk nog in de weg ook. En als men echt persé met de Zwarte Graaf had willen afrekenen, had dat ook gekund. Hij heeft nog best lang rondgelopen toen hij al zijn krachten was kwijtgeraakt.
Maar is dit niet een beetje zonde, als ik het mag vragen?
Je zegt zelf dat het gaaf was, spannend was. 'nu is de kans, niet als eerste vluchten, want anders zijn we die kwijt' en dat soort dingen. Dan is het jammer als zo'n gevoel door OC gedachten op de achtergrond wordt gedrongen.
no subject
Date: 2013-11-23 08:48 pm (UTC)