Monday, March 18, 2013

Supernatural - The Larp?

I'm not a giant fan of tabletop.  After I discovered Larp, I could never quite wrap my mind around rolling dice to kill a goblin when I could actually go do it!  I enjoy the social aspect of tabletop, but I find I get very antsy, even when the DM is spectacular and weaving a wonderful story.

Except Supernatural the Tabletop game.  Based on the t.v. show it's easy to set up, run, and play within.  Character creation takes about an hour and then you are totally good to go - even if you are completely unfamiliar with the game.

I ran a Supernatural tabletop game for a few friends that seemed to enjoy it, but it fell by the wayside amid buying houses, holidays, moving, and all kinds of Larp shenanigans.   A friend that played lived a goodly distance away, so he Skyped in and played the "tech guy," putting stuff up on the screen.  I built it around them actually searching/researching clues on websites that already existed (OH Sasquatch Society, for example) and built my lines around stuff that really existed.  Fun times.

As my husband and I were working on some Accelerant stuff one day, we lamented the fact there wasn't a Larp that was similar to Supernatural, Grimm, etc.  It would be so easy to pull off!  It would have a great combination of, well, the supernatural and the real world. 
We randomly started brainstorming what we would do for a post-apocalyptic, Supernatural-inspired Larp game and here's what we came up with:
  • Run at camps (or building for mod days): it's post-apocalyptic, the idea being that the major cities are destroyed and thus people have taken sanctuary in the country, literally at old camps - radiation keeps you away from actual cities
  • Everyone starts off with access to a few Headers (if done in Accelerant).  You are a human (later, introduce things that deal with radiation, the supernatural, etc.)  and are trying to survive.  Probably don't have a lot of power behind you, but that'll grow as you learn to survive in a very changed world.
  • Freedom Radio - Have a radio set up in town that plays a list of various songs from an ipod set up in the shack.  My husband (good to be married to an engineer) would arrange for a short wave something or other that would allow us to talk through the radio.  We'd use it for a "storytime" of the resistance every once in a while, a way to have "commercials" that are relative to pc's, and use it to give campaign information out and hook mods.  The Resistance would have a code, that pc's could learn, and the code could be used over the radio to give out information.  
  • The Supernatural aspect would be fully integrated, but you would also be fighting marauders competing for supplies, rival groups that are seeking control of the area (political intrigue - who to join for protection or attempt to stay solo?), etc.  
  • Mundane things, like salt, would take on a whole new meaning for the larp world.  Heavy emphasis on reps, since creatures (for the most part) would be easier to rep.
  • There would be standard mods and plotlines, but we would be able to integrate all kinds of real world stuff in to it (Ex: hotwiring x, computer research, doing X mod to restore electricity to the camp, etc.)
What do you think? If there were a supernatural-style larp that ran a few events a year, would you attend? Sound fun? Completely lame-o?

5 comments:

  1. I would play the hell out of that. And/or help you run it.

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  2. Check out www.endgamelarp.com if you haven't already. They might have some ideas useful to crib. (Though I suspect you already have. :) )

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  3. Not an Ohio person, but i would also love a game like this. I have tried to introduce aspects of the show to a larp i ran, but the system didn't work well with the concept.

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