Hey folks - I still need three players to be at minimum for my game, Cracks in the Orb, which is running Friday night of DB. It has a wargame! And romance! And most importantly, Jenny Blanchard really wants to play, but it can't run if I don't have more players! If you were considering signing up--especially if you're waitlisted for another game--please do consider giving my game a try. It was highly acclaimed by RPI folks who came to SLAW! That's a lot of exclamation points!
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Cracks in the Orb @RPI needs players!
From Lise Fracalossi via Facebook:
Friday, January 18, 2013
Vikings Invade the Higgins this Saturday!
From the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, MA by e-mail:
Hmm, this is relevant to my interests. I'm booked that day, but it sounds like a good time!
Viking Invasion!
Saturday, January 19th
Grab your helmet, axe, and shield and join your Viking brothers as they wash upon our shores.
- Seize an axe & shield and try out Viking methods of "peace making" in a combat class
- Celebrate your victory with Viking games
- Try your hand at creating 4-in-1 mail - just like the Vikings used to protect themselves
- Explore Viking artistry as you make your own Viking shield and runic pendant
Hmm, this is relevant to my interests. I'm booked that day, but it sounds like a good time!
Saturday, January 12, 2013
App for Contact @MIT today!
MIT's student LARP group, the MIT Assassins' Guild, has a tradition of running 10-day long games, often over the school's month-long January term (referred to as Independent Activities Period or IAP). The history of these games goes back to the Assassins' Guild's earliest days, when, as its name implies, it ran circle-of-death or assassin games.
Although the Guild now runs games of all lengths, from one hour on up, and all styles, from low-plot Nerf action through Jeepform, the IAP 10-day remains a particular fixture. If four-hour games are short stories and weekend-long games are novels, the 10-day is the sci-fi/fantasy trilogy of LARPing.
This year's IAP 10-day is called Contact:
A 10-day game runs over two adjacent weekends and the intervening week. This seems like a long time, and it is, but it's broken up by a game break some time mid-week -- a roughly-day-long period in which no game actions may take place, and players are encouraged to catch up on non-game aspects of their lives like schoolwork, food, and sleep.
Game also starts Friday evening and ends very early Sunday morning, so despite the name "10-day", there are roughly eight evenings in-game, with a game wrap and dinner mob Sunday afternoon.
Like all Guild games, the IAP 10-day is open not just to MIT students but to the community at large. And it's not just students who play. Alums and community members with 9-5 day jobs do play, mostly in the evenings -- without losing our jobs! -- so it's a doable time commitment. I've played before, and I've apped for this game.
Like all Guild games, the IAP 10-day is cast more like a play -- you're cast based on your answers to the casting questionnaire, rather than first-come-first-served like a convention LARP, so you may submit the questionnaire and not get cast.
It's not personal -- there are only a certain number of roles, not all roles are good fits for all players, and it's possible to send in an uncastable app. In general, a reasonable number of strong preferences, positive or negative, will be easier to cast than an app which is completely neutral, so don't be shy.
People who app but are not cast are added to the waitlist, and if someone drops the game (as is not unlikely), you may be contacted if your app suggests you would be a good fit for the part.
Although the deadline to submit the casting questionnaire is officially 12 noon today, Saturday, January 12, having discussed it with the GMs, if you send this in as late as 6 PM and mention the blog -- or probably even later, if you don't see this post until then -- your app will be considered.
If this sounds interesting to you, the casting questionnaire is below the cut.
From talking to the GMs, it sounds like this game will be a pretty friendly introduction for players from other communities to the Guild style and community. I think it's going to be a good game!
Although the Guild now runs games of all lengths, from one hour on up, and all styles, from low-plot Nerf action through Jeepform, the IAP 10-day remains a particular fixture. If four-hour games are short stories and weekend-long games are novels, the 10-day is the sci-fi/fantasy trilogy of LARPing.
This year's IAP 10-day is called Contact:
First contact happened yesterday, and it wasn't what anyone had expected. Insubstantial, alien figures appeared with no warning, visible to nearly everyone on Earth, speaking a strange tongue that everyone nonetheless understood:
"We are the Aspects, the sundered half of humanity's soul. Your crimes against us are great, and we demand recompense. You have twenty-four hours to send your chosen to meet us. They will have one week to satisfy us, or we will declare war."
News reports followed in a flurry; Kirijo Group researchers on Virgin Galactic's SpaceStation One opened a portal to another world, which they were universally surprised to discover was inhabited; the alien beings now wait there for those who are capable of answering their call.
Will you travel there seeking peace, war, or profit? Are you an ambitious corporate representative, a diplomat maneuvering for your country's gain, a seeker after religious truth, a curious scientist? The opportunities of a lifetime, for you and your species, await on SpaceStation One.
Contact is a ten-day game of diplomacy, espionage, psychology and discovery, written by Dalton Allan, Drew Hilliard, Jayson Lynch, Andrew Menard, Xavid, and Ariel Segall. Game will run from Friday evening on January 25 through early Sunday morning on February 3, with a game break on Tuesday January 29.
A 10-day game runs over two adjacent weekends and the intervening week. This seems like a long time, and it is, but it's broken up by a game break some time mid-week -- a roughly-day-long period in which no game actions may take place, and players are encouraged to catch up on non-game aspects of their lives like schoolwork, food, and sleep.
Game also starts Friday evening and ends very early Sunday morning, so despite the name "10-day", there are roughly eight evenings in-game, with a game wrap and dinner mob Sunday afternoon.
Like all Guild games, the IAP 10-day is open not just to MIT students but to the community at large. And it's not just students who play. Alums and community members with 9-5 day jobs do play, mostly in the evenings -- without losing our jobs! -- so it's a doable time commitment. I've played before, and I've apped for this game.
Like all Guild games, the IAP 10-day is cast more like a play -- you're cast based on your answers to the casting questionnaire, rather than first-come-first-served like a convention LARP, so you may submit the questionnaire and not get cast.
It's not personal -- there are only a certain number of roles, not all roles are good fits for all players, and it's possible to send in an uncastable app. In general, a reasonable number of strong preferences, positive or negative, will be easier to cast than an app which is completely neutral, so don't be shy.
People who app but are not cast are added to the waitlist, and if someone drops the game (as is not unlikely), you may be contacted if your app suggests you would be a good fit for the part.
Although the deadline to submit the casting questionnaire is officially 12 noon today, Saturday, January 12, having discussed it with the GMs, if you send this in as late as 6 PM and mention the blog -- or probably even later, if you don't see this post until then -- your app will be considered.
If this sounds interesting to you, the casting questionnaire is below the cut.
From talking to the GMs, it sounds like this game will be a pretty friendly introduction for players from other communities to the Guild style and community. I think it's going to be a good game!
Friday, January 11, 2013
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Dice Bubble Schedule Available!
The schedule of games for this February's Dice Bubble minigame weekend at RPI has been posted! Looks like a bunch of fun games, including Lise Fracalossi's "Cracks in the Orb", based on the works of Steven Brust, which was well-received at this past SLAW.
Game sign-ups open Friday, January 11th at 7:00 PM.
Game sign-ups open Friday, January 11th at 7:00 PM.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
WyrdCon Companion Book Released!
The 2012 WyrdCon Companion Book, edited by Sarah Lynne Bowman and Aaron Vanek, has been released for free online (PDF download)! Of special interest is our own Nat Budin's essay, "Over Time: Intercon and the Evolution of Theater-Style Larp in the Northeast", which as its title implies documents the history of the form and the culture surrounding it in this area.
(WyrdCon is a California convention a bit like our Intercon. It looks like they cover the whole range of what they term "interactive storytelling," of which larp is just a part, both from an academic perspective and by actually running games -- if you've been, correct me if I'm wrong. The con sounds fascinating! It looks like they're still working to finalize the plans for 2013.)
There's a lot of interesting stuff in the whole book, including academic papers. Go check it out!
(WyrdCon is a California convention a bit like our Intercon. It looks like they cover the whole range of what they term "interactive storytelling," of which larp is just a part, both from an academic perspective and by actually running games -- if you've been, correct me if I'm wrong. The con sounds fascinating! It looks like they're still working to finalize the plans for 2013.)
There's a lot of interesting stuff in the whole book, including academic papers. Go check it out!
Dice Bubble Game Bids Close Friday
Just a reminder, if you're thinking of bidding a game for RPI's Dice Bubble minigame weekend in February, the deadline is noon on Jaunary 4th, ie. this coming Friday. Email dicebubble@gmail.com for a copy of the submission form. Bid early, bid often!
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Brandeis Festival of the LARPs 2013 announced!
From Facebook:
The event is free and open to the community. Last year's was a good time; I suspect that this year's will be too!
Triskaidekafestival
April 12-14, 2013 at Brandeis University
Ready to try your luck? Come check out Brandeis University's awesome free theater-style LARP convention!
Sign up for the convention and bid a game at our website:
2013.festivalofthelarps.com
The event is free and open to the community. Last year's was a good time; I suspect that this year's will be too!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)