A Plot Person's "WAR" Chest

I've been doing plot for over fifteen years.  It started out as a binder, where I drew up extremely detailed plots.  Like, really detailed.  Up to 15 or 20 pages for an individual plotline.  I wanted to make sure every possible contingency was accounted for.

That stopped after about four years.  I realized that I can't expect PC's to follow my plotlines from point A to point B to point C.  It isn't fair to them and it totally cuts their creativity.  Trying to plan for every contingency was a nightmare and incredibly time consuming.

If It Doesn't Say No, That Means I Can, Right?

Something I've noticed in the last few years in the Larps I am involved in/play in there is a new mentality that has arisen among a lot of players in regards to rules.

"It doesn't say that I can't do that, so I can do it, right?"

It's a belief that has become more and more commonly held by different player bases.

So can you?

Here's the answer.

Non-Typical Treasure

I'm a huge proponent of non-typical treasure.  Non-Typical Treasure is a terrible name, but I haven't come up with anything else, so that is what I am going with for the moment and simply refer to it as NTT.  Win.  What is NTT? Simply put, NTT is anything that goes out ingame that really has no applicable game value at first glance.  However, PC's seem to love it.  Now that the Larp season is about to get in to full swing, I figured I would do a post about some of the different types of NTT I have put out as a plot person or have seen put out. 

NTT is worthwhile across a variety of Larp genres, so read on!

On Being Staff/NPC: Or, If You Can't Play Nice, Don't Show Up

We encourage guest posts from players and owners across the Larp genres.  They will not always express our views or fit every game. If you would like to do a guest spot, please email us here with your idea!  Beth Jurns has been Larping for several years and has served (and continues to do so) as a Staff person for WAR.  

After a year or so of regular LARPing, around that time when you're really feeling settled in your character and plot at your favorite camp, it's time to start thinking about volunteerism. If you enjoy LARP, one of the best possible things you can do is give your time to your game in the form of NPCing or staffing. Nearly all LARPs run on volunteer labor, and it's really crucial to understand that if you want to play an awesome game, you need to make an awesome game. Donations are fantastic and absolutely important, but a camp with a thousand dollars of donated goods and two NPCs might not be as thankful for your bulk order of printer paper as you hope they will. 

I began NPCing during my second year of play, and last year I became a staff member at a We Are Roleplayers camp. This year I will be filling a head of staff role there, and I've been thinking a lot about how to make myself and my team the most valuable group of NPCs we can possibly be. There are a few principles of NPC/Staffing at LARP events that I think are important to remember. 

No, wait, there's just one, but it covers everything you need to know about volunteering at a LARP.

Are you ready for this? It's going to get complicated. There will be sub-points and maybe even bulleted lists (I'm not sure, I'm still writing it), and lots of explanation, but there is one single, solitary phrase that will tell you everything you need to know about how to NPC or staff a LARP event.

Here it goes.

Be ready. It's coming up right here. I'm going to put it in bold and even underline it so you don't miss it. 

Just play it cool, guys.