Break a Leg running at Intercon M

I just got word this past week that Break a Leg has been accepted at Intercon. Glad to hear it, but I would have been very surprised had it not. It will make for a nice, short, funny eight-player game on Sunday morning. Intercon can always use those, and I get my attendance comped for a new game. Everybody's happy.

Now I've got to write the thing. Besides the interpersonal stuff which will provide the bulk of the humor, two somewhat nonstandard major sources of gameplay will be the interactive environment, and the performance aspect. It will be very important to examine the setting, which will be limited to a backstage area, to gather information and things to respond to-- there is a murdered body right in front of you, so of course there's some clue-gathering to be done. But you also have to go on in two hours, and at the moment due to that murder the show you had planned isn't going to work. So you're going to have throw something together then, because of course the show must go on! You know that the eccentric genius playwright associated with the troop has been working on her next project, and as luck would have it pieces of her work seem to be scattered around the space... but rumors of her recent complete mental breakdown may be proven by the fact that these pieces are not as coherent as the troupe might hope. Still, it's your best bet to having a show, so you'd better find ways to make the material work, or you might never work in this town again! Perform what you find for each other so you can figure out how to stage it and assemble it into a some kind of complete show.

I think that performance aspect will be a lot of fun for players, but that means I have to write that weird-ass, hopefully humorous script material too. Which makes the job a little bit bigger than originally planned. Oh, well. As usual, it'll be worth it once it's done.



Intercon L con report

Back from Intercon L, and although I am utterly exhausted, it was a heck of a lot of fun getting that way. I didn't prepare for the unusual schedule as well as I should have-- I'd stayed late to see the Titus naked tech on Wednesday, and I'd had two days this week when I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep, so I went in with less reserve than I usually did. But even if I couldn't stay up late, I was determined to enjoy this special once-a-year occasion as much as I possibly could. Ahead is my non-spoilery review!

Friday night jhite1230* and I arrived at the con about an hour and a half in advance of games, allowing us to connect with Seamus, who was one of our gracious roommates, socialize a little, and prepare. Jared ran off to meet in their game space for House of the Rising Sun. I socialized a bit and dressed in the hotel room to play Ariadne in Feast of the Minotaur. I must mention again how much I love this dress and how pretty I felt in it. It's a brand-new couture piece I bought on eBay for a fraction of its retail price, made of this luxurious crinkled velvet and washed silk straps in a gorgeous berry color. It's rare that I get a pretty princess role, and I've been feeling like such a frump lately, so I really wanted to look good for this role, and I think I succeeded. Thanks to for taking this picture:

I bought some sea shell necklaces to wear around my neck and maybe like a circlet in my hair, but I decided I looked better without them. Showing cleavage is not my preferred form of sexy dressing, but given the style of the dress I figured what the hell, just this once. Might as well enjoy the one benefit of gaining weight. However, I discovered a dress that's held on only with tied ribbons is not the most stable, and I found myself adjusting it to preserve good taste quite a bit. I should probably look into some body tape for next time I wear it. I decided to wear my beloved Bast sandals with it, and was pleased that they remained comfortable for the entirety of the game. I must have gotten twenty compliments on the look and felt very good.

The game itself was wonderful, but in a very strange way. As I mentioned, when I read my character sheet there was next to nothing in it. Some personality, very little plot. I heard other players found the same in theirs. But when we got into game, it took a little digging and faking it until we made it, but there was quite a bit of plot that existed in the world-- it's just that very little of it got into the character sheets. It helped that it was very strongly based in Greek mythology that, being geeks, we were all pretty familiar with. But I had a wonderful time, particularly interacting with the other excellent larpers, without whom the game would not have worked at all-- it takes active, creating player to dig up plot out of the ether like that. Highlights included offside7* and a new larper named Kelly Morgan as my sisters who gave me dramatic conflict and support at the same time, morethings5* who had a note-perfect transformation partway through the game that would have been awesome if only for the look he gave me at one point, and Alex Pogue as my Theseus who made the romance plot so interesting and fun. There was also a particular twist that I thought was a very clever way to get a crucial element into the game. I got the feeling there were a handful of characters who didn't have enough to do, but for the most part the nebulous plot was available for everyone to seize on to. Still, if it were up to me I think that plot really needs to get put into sheets. I don't know if it was a stylistic choice or if the writers just ran out of time and had to fill the sheets with something. I highly recommend this in its current state, if only on the condition that you are an active, independent player, but I can honestly say this is the most enjoyable game I've ever played for which I would still recommend a total character sheet rewrite.

The other other game I played was as Irene Adler in An Evening Aboard the HMS Eden. I put together a costume I was very pleased with relatively inexpensively, including a thrift store prom dress with a corsety-looking bodice, a gauzy black blouse beneath it to give it sleeves, and a wide Kentucky Derby bonnet with ostrich feathers on it. But I'm sorry to say I was quite disappointed by this game. It had a very fun theme/set dressing, but the writing was, at least in my part of it, pretty lackluster. As I said to some people after the game, all the direction I had was ticky-box goals-- what boiled down to "Okay, go ring that bell over there!" and once you've run over and rung it, you're unsatisfied because there's no reason to have wanted it nor anything interesting that comes of it. Join that club that doesn't do anything, buy a bigger airship that you can't actually use in game, cure this disease that doesn't have any in-game effects so why waste the time, that sort of thing. The only things in my sheet that were like actual plots, the mystery of what was going on with my sister and what the deal with this item I had was, no one seemed to know anything about so I made no progress on them. Not everyone seemed to have unengaging plots, Jared had a pretty good time and a number of people seemed about to stay busy, but I got the impression that around a third to a half the game was in the same situation I was. It was just very amateurish larp-writing, and though the GMs I asked for help didn't really managed to point me in any useful direction, I will give the gentlemen credit for trying really, really hard. I worry I came across as a difficult player, for which I'm sorry, but I think I failed to convey, no, I don't want another ticky-box to check off, I want a plot thread, but given the writing in the game they may not have been able to understand the difference. I will be hesitant to sign up for any game by these authors again.

Last thing I did this weekend was help natbudin*, emp42ress*, and simplewordsmith* run our game Resonance. By this point I was draggy and tired, but fortunately this run of Resonance mostly ran itself. We had a very good group of players who bought fully into the concept and were happy to ride the rails of the story we'd laid out. This game relies heavily on that willingness in order to work. We also implemented a new device in the third act to see if we could convince players to play it out the way we'd intended. In the first run, the third act didn't happen like it was supposed to at all, so we tried a subtle restructuring. It mostly worked if not entirely in the second run, and didn't really work at all in the third. So this time we basically put in a plot hammer. The hammer made it so the players had no choice but to do what we wanted them to. I think the players were fine with it, but seeing it in action I've decided from a writer's standpoint that I do not like the particular technique we chose. It is a kludge, and it's slightly off-tone in my opinion, but I will say that it works and players are okay with it, so ultimately it's an acceptable mechanism. I prefer the subtler one we implemented for the second and third runs, and I'm not really sure why it didn't work, but the fact of the matter is it didn't.

Also, one of my fellow GMs Danielle pointed out how susceptible this game is to becoming derailed by issues of Maslow's heirarchy of needs. We want the players to be thinking of higher-order issues, that's what the story's about, but the game's setting suggests threats to safety and physical well-being that human nature tends to want to attend to first because you can't do anything if you're dead. We need those threats to exist in a vague sense to maintain the atmosphere, but we really need to manage how pressing they are so as not to distract players from the real, emotional issues we want them to explore. We struck a good balance in this run, but I remember how previous runs have been stalled simply by questions of "But will we be safe if we do X?" that resulted in a reluctance to move forward into the unknown.

I left early on Sunday to catch the last show of Titus, which I'm glad I did, but still, I was sorry I couldn't spend more time socializing. Intercon is one of the most important moments of my year, and I love how it surrounds you with creative, interesting people. I was happy to hear that Jared and EB's game House of the Rising Sun ran great, as did The Prince Comes of Age by Kindness, Matt, and Bernie. Congratulations to everyone who brought their artistic labors, and thanks to everyone who helped make this con so wonderful.

Titus tonight, Intercon tomorrow

Woke up yesterday with a sore throat. There seems to be a number of illnesses running around right now, so I could have gotten something worse, but I am not thrilled to have anything making speaking uncomfortable with Intercon tomorrow. I am medicating with tea, and if it's still painful tomorrow, I am going to buy a bottle of Chloraseptic to spray down my throat. The stuff isn't good for the voice but it's worth it to enjoy the biggest weekend of my year.

I am almost entirely packed, just a few things that I'm still using remain. The only major chore left is to cook the dishes I'm going to pack to take with us so we won't have to depend on restaurants. I haven't decided whether I should do it today or tomorrow afternoon before we leave, I guess it depends on how much else I get done. Tonight the priority is get dinner made in time for Jared and I to eat before we go over to see the opening night of Titus.

I've been to a couple dress rehearsals, and it is a very funny show. Last night was the Naked Tech, or the final cue-to-cue where the cast runs through their marks in their underwear trying to make as much fun of the show and blow off as much steam as possible. I'm really happy that this tradition has endured and has made so many participants happy. It's part of what makes HTP so much fun to be a part of and cements people's affection for and desire to participate in the club. Last night's Naked Tech was really hilarious, and a good time was had by all, old timer and newcomer alike. It's actually getting to the point where the club is made up of more than just a small core of devoted actors and coming to be considered as an audition option for a larger-growing pool of Brandeis actors. It's taken years to get to that point, but I think it's finally happening, and it makes me really glad. There used to be so much bad blood between the groups for no good reason at all, and it means a lot to see how much progress has been made.

Intercon is nigh

Intercon is just a few days away. I am excited, but also a little regretful. Titus is also premiering this weekend, and I won't be there for a lot of it. At least I'll get to see the Thursday and Sunday shows.

I am a little unsure of what to expect from my games this weekend. I'm afraid that of the two that I'm playing, one character sheet seems pretty bereft of plot and things that translate into in-game action, and the other one is of awkward and amateurish construction. The second I'm not so worried about, I've been in plenty of games that were poorly written that still played fantastically-- funny thing about larp --but I confess to being a wee bit disappointed. Still, with my positive outlook for Lent, I am determined to make my own good time one way or another. I am currently brainstorming my own plots and directions for the first character to be implemented if I find myself without a lot to do, and for the second I plan to just go with whatever happens. I at least like the IDEAS behind my two castings, so I can run with that alone if I have to and make up the rest as I go. And there will be Resonance to run, a game that I am proud of that I enjoy putting on. It's going to be a good con, I'm sure.

I have to get packing this week. I've already drawn up my list so as not to forget anything, as is my habit when going away for a weekend. :-P I also need to figure out what food I want to take. I was pretty successful with my picnic basket strategy last year, so I may just want to cook some meals that can be eaten cold and put them in a cooler to take along again. Better get on that, there's not much time let to get it all ready.

Costuming mania for Feast of the Minotaur

As I mentioned, I got my Feast of the Minotaur casting for Intercon, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn I would be playing Princess Ariadne. I want to look good for this role, so I found myself browsing the Internet looking for a suitably Grecian dress, and before long I was feeling obsessed with finding the right one.

Looking for something as literal as "Ancient Greek" dress or costume mostly turned up cheap, cheesy-looking Halloween-type costumes, which I definitely didn't want to go with. But I found when I changed my parameters to "Grecian" or "Greek style" dress, the real-clothing options they turned up often looked much more believably Greek. It gave me a lot of dresses with crinkles or rouching, empire waists, gold trim, and flowy lines to choose from.

My preferences were a little strict going in. I wanted something pretty and sexy but not too short, as I thought a long skirt would look more period, so that cut a lot of club dresses that had other correct details. I also wanted it in a color, preferably a jewel tone, but not black or white. A folded-over waist would have been technically accurate, but it's not the most flattering style for my figure. But eBay, wonder that it is, provided.

I looked at lots of things, including white ones that it occurred to me I might be able to dye, and discounted a lot of nice pieces because they were more than I wanted to spend. I finally narrowed it down to two options, both of which I really loved.

 

After much agonizing, I finally went with the magenta-red one. Its sizing was likely to fit me better, and it was a little bit less expensive. But I love the other one too, and it probably looks a little more Greek. Oh, well. I'm sure what I chose will work fine. Now all I need is a pair of sandals to go with it, and a way to do my hair in a suitably Grecian style. But I highly recommend that anyone who needs an Ancient Greek dress for Feast of the Minotaur or other classical game try looking on eBay, as there were a ton of great possibilities.

Good larp news burning through my gloom

Stressed. Overworked, overtired, and over-scheduled. Panic over it set in yesterday at the first possible time, and in my upset I was a complete ass to katiescarlett29*. She was gracious and understanding, but I feel terrible about it. I will make it up to you, dear, once I have my head back on straight. I promise. I got a decent chunk of schoolwork done last night, which helps, but there's still a fair bit more to go.

On the positive side, the larp fairy knew I am longing for larpy things, and she has granted my wish. In lovely news for our little roleplaying community, ninja_report* has released the schedule for Festival 2012! I am excited just looking at it. As for the games I will be running, The Stand will be 9AM Saturday morning, while Paranoia will be 2PM Sunday afternoon. That leaves three possible slots for me to be a player. Ideally I have a break somewhere in there, so I will try to limit myself to signing up for two. We have tiered signups this year (yay, natbudin*!) so that means one must prioritize. My first-round choice, no question, will be Jesriah, the noir-style game set in an insane asylum within morethings5*'s fascinating roleplaying world, written in collaboration with lightgamer* and ninja_report*. That takes care of Friday evening. My second-round choice I think has to be Folding the River, written by wired_lizard* and mllelaurel*, a futuristic sci-fi game that may or may not involve time travel. They always run such great larps, so I'm excited. That will take up Saturday evening. Unfortunately it is across from High Rollers, acousticshadow2*'s World War II-era caper game which I've heard excellent things about. I've already told Tory and Lily I'm going for Folding the River, but if I don't get in, I will try to get into High Rollers instead. There are some pretty cool-looking games in the Saturday afternoon slot-- bleemoo* and staystrong62805*'s Vampire game, zapf* and ninja_report*'s Edwardian game, and laura47*'s amnesia game --but I think I need to have at least one free period, where I can go home and take a nap before I die.

The first signup round will open at 7PM this coming Monday, February 6th, so to be sure you get your first choice, register for the con at the website, then be ready to jump in once Shannon throws open the gates!

In other larp-con-related news, I got my casting for my other game at Intercon, The Feast of the Minotaur! It's an ancient Greek mythology-themed game centering around the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. I will be playing Princess Ariadne, who in the story was the daughter of King Minos of Crete who falls madly in love with the Athenian prince. No character sheet yet, but that sounds promising that I'll have a lot to do. I will have to come up with a pretty pretty Greek princess costume between now and March. Once I get this homework assignment done, I think I can afford to give that a little time and attention.

First larp castings of 2012

Recently got my castings for two larps that are coming up in the near and nearish future. Still waiting on character sheets, but I at least know who I am. The first was for the test run of Venezia, which will be on January 28th, and the second for An Evening Aboard the HMS Eden, a steampunk literary pastiche at Intercon.

I confess I was a bit disappointed at first with my Venezia casting. In a game basically designed for high-class intrigue as pretty pretty princesses in Renaissance frockery, I will be playing Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican friar who was a lifelong enemy of Rodrigo Borgia, the detestable Pope Alexander VI. Cross cast as a monk among noble ladies, ah, well. But after the initial reaction I decided this could be a lot of fun. I certainly have the ability to work myself up into a froth of righteous Catholic rage, and I sure as heck don't get much of a chance to really plunge into that sort of mindset. My faith expresses itself usually in a very private, internal way, so it might be cathartic to blow it into the most intense proportions possible. I've got some vague ideas for a costume, too; I don't want to lurch around in a big sacklike robe, so I'm envisioning a long vest sort of thing, belted at the waist, with a hood that I can stare creepily at people from within its shadows. I think I could handle making such a thing, once I have the time.

For HMS Eden, apparently in a game where everyone requested to be Irene Adler, I actually got cast as her. As a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, I like the Irene Adler character a lot-- especially how Doyle actually portrayed her, rather than countless corruptions by other interpreters --so this should be a lot of fun. I have no idea what to wear as her. I would love to do myself up like the classic steampunk adventuress, if I can find the right pieces. Hmm, maybe I should model my look on what Charlotte wore as the Duchess in Othello; that was a pretty slick look, one of my favorites of all the cool costumes in that play. Again, once I finish my more immediate projects, costuming will be the next thing I focus on.

Second-round Intercon signups tomorrow

Tomorrow at 7PM second-round Intercon signups open. My first round I signed up for Feast of the Minotaur because it looked to be filling fast, and I'm really glad I got in. It sounds like a fantastic game and there's lots of cool people in it, so it should be a fun time. I've decided that if I get cast as a slave girl, which is a possibility, I will wear the crinkly tan prisoner dress Steph wore when the Duchess of Gloucester was arrested in Margaret. Maybe I'll cut it to knee-length, we'll see. At any rate, I am really excited for that game.

That means I am booked for Friday night with that and Saturday night with running Resonance. This is the only game I've ever run at Intercon that has always filled first round! Yay for us. But that means I still have three slots open. I think this may finally be the year that I don't overload myself with games, so I think I will only sign up for one more thing. My first choice for the morning on Saturday was A Garden of Forking Paths, which also already filled-- congratulations, AE! --so I think I will be sleeping in for the first time in years. I never play Sunday games, so that leaves Saturday afternoon. I think it will be An Evening Aboard the HMS Eden for me. Jared and I like to try to have one game a con together, and we both thought this one sounded fun. I have a weaknesses for Victorian literary pastiches, and I have only ever played one other, LXHS. I think that will make for just the right amount of occupied time, and maybe I won't be so utterly blown by the end of the weekend.

Casting probably won't happen for a long time yet, but I would love it if this year I got to use some of the things I picked up just becuase "they're sure to make a good costume someday." My ballerina-like, peachy-pink pixie dress, for one. The real mink fur stole I found at Savers once. My cream and gold halter-style Cordelia dress. The old-fashioned ivory wedding dress I simply had to have when I found it in the course of shopping for Margaret. (Will have to post pictures of that one.) I even have a bustle I picked up for three dollars at the otherwise-disappointing Brandeis costume department sale. Probably out of luck for Feast of the Minotaur, which takes place in ancient Greece, but who knows, I could see any of these pieces being possibly useful for HMS Eden. I could get cast as Miss Havisham and get to swan around mournfully in the wedding gown, or something!

ninja_report* also sent out a call for registration to Festival of the Larps recently. Early registration helps give an idea of attendance, which helps estimate per-timeslot player counts, so it would help her out if you can indicate that you're coming now. I must say, all this thinking of Intercon and Festival makes me itch to get back to larp writing. I have purposefully held off working on my newest idea Imperium, a vaguely I, Claudius-inspired larp set in Ancient Rome, because I wanted to focus on schoolwork and playwrighting. But now that I've finished my last assignment for the semester, and classes don't start up again until January... I find myself tempted to switch gears, at least temporarily while school is not in session. I'd love to have a new game to debut at Festival. I guess I just worry that I won't have enough time to write that and the stuff school will require of me between now and April. But the temptation, she is strong... I guess I'll have to think about it and come to a decision sooner rather than later, so I leave myself enough time to write and bid if I end up doing the crazy thing...

Quick status update

A quick rundown of the state of my busy, busy life:

- Merely Players goes into tech week next week. We're very close to being ready to go; the acting and blocking have come out extremely nicely. We just need a few more costume pieces and props, plus to hammer out preparations for the concessions we're going to sell. Fortunately lots of people have volunteered to help, I just need to finalize the plan and organize those lovely people into useful action. You should come see it on 11/11 and 11/12-- doors open at 7:15, so you can order drinks and snacks before the show!

- My last playwrighting assignment for the semester is also due next week. Bah to that timing, which means I am going to have to work like a madman to get it and all the play prep stuff done all at once. I have begun work on my one-act that I must prepare, and started on the reading and responding, but still I'm probably behind where I should be. I guess this weekend will have to be devoted to finishing.

- I signed up for Feast of the Minotaur as my first pick for Intercon. I am pleased with that; it sounds like a good game and it's already full, so it turned out to be the right choice. I'd ask all of you what you chose, but as a member of bidcom I get to look at the signup logs, which is pretty much my favorite thing in the world.

- Work is going well, though I am not finding it effortless to get up one hour earlier. I do like getting out earlier in the day, though. There is talk of switching me from contractor to direct employee status. I take it that means I'm doing something right. Is it too much to hope that they'll start just paying me all the extra they've been paying to my staffing company? ;-)

- I have put myself on a diet. I am trying to stay within thirteen hundred healthy calories a day thanks to a calorie counter, and buckling down on my efforts to practice ballet for exercise outside of class. The calorie counter is mostly helpful in that it keeps me mindful of whether or not that can of soda is really worth it, and encouraging me to make better choices because the numbers indicate the difference. I feel hungry, but it allows me to get in complete and balanced meals while eliminating room for snackings during the day, so it's probably a good range for me.

- After the next week or so I am going to need a nice long rest. Fortunately my break from school and the finishing of my theater run coincide nicely. Perhaps during that time I will get more rest and start to de-stress.

Impressions of the Intercon L schedule

The schedule of games for Intercon L is now available for viewing. I'm on bid com, so I knew all of these things were going to run already, but now the schedule is available for everyone to see. As is my custom at this stage of con preparation, I will now go over my current thoughts for what my signup plan shall be.

Friday night I think my preference is for Feast of the Minotaur. It's written by Andandi Gandolfi, who has an excellent track record, and I like the Ancient Greek mythology setting based around the myth of Theseus. Also interesting to me is Colonel Sebastian T. Rawhide's Circus of the Spectacular, which is a classic I've heard very good things about. I've already played in House of the Rising Sun and I highly recommend it to those of you who are pondering your own options for Friday night. Venezia will probably have a test run at Brandeis before Intercon rolls around, and I will try it then.

Saturday morning, I'd go for Garden of Forking Paths. This is the work of my sometime coauthors emp42ress*, natbudin*, and simplewordsmith* taking the "your choices affect the nature of your game" concept touched on in Resonance to an even greater extreme, with simultaneous runs of the same scenario affecting where everyone else's scenario ends up. I'm not sure how it's going to work exactly, but I know this group does amazing, envelope-pushing work and I'm always game to play something they've written. Failing that, I still haven't gotten into a run of Concordance Station written by readerofposts*, or if all else fails I could always sleep in.

Saturday afternoon the options are not leaping out at me. I would probably go for An Evening Aboard the HMS Eden. It sounds interesting, being a pastiche of Victorian literary characters aboard a cruise ship, and even so Jared thinks he's going to sign up for it, and it would be nice for us to have a game together. I confess I'm curious about Nat and Vik's Harmony Quest, despite the fact that I've technically been spoiled on it and when I first heard about it I was certain it wouldn't be my kind of game. Still, there's a morbid streak in me that wants to know just how uncomfortable I'd be. Also I've heard it's well done for the style of game it is, and as was said by at least five members of bid com, I trust Nat. Probably won't go for it, but the thought has crossed my mind. I also have some curiosity as to how The Linfarn Run is, being an intimate Brit game, though I'm not really interested in Firefly.

Saturday evening I will be running Resonance with the aforementioned writers from Alleged Entertainment. We're quite proud of this unusual sort of game, so if you haven't played yet it might be worth your while. Of the games going up concurrently with it, I'm quite sorry I won't be able to play in Port Hidalgo, a well-regarded pirate adventure, and I've heard good things about Roanoke, a game about the Sir Walter Raleigh's colony in Virginia. I tend to like period games.

Sunday morning the only thing that particularly interested me I've already played (GM Space) and so will be observing my usual Sunday-of-the-con tradition of collapsing in an exhausted heap. I do recommend GM Space as probably the funniest larp I've ever played, however, so keep it in mind if you've never been in it.

And that's my plan. Not sure what my first signup will be; logic dictates that Garden, as the game with the fewest number of slots, should be my first choice, so probably I'll go for that. Feast is the other possibility, because although it's large I'm very excited to play it. First round signups open November 2nd, so put it on your calendars, everyone.

Intercon K report

Friday night I played Clockwork Cafe. It took me a while to get into it, as my brain was still stuck on my GMing concerns, but once I did I really enjoyed it. I sort of have to make my own direction for a lot of it, but there was enough plot that would be interesting to Madame Xuan to give me enough to do. The highlight of the game was getting to interact with electric_d_monk*, who I always love larping with, who played another third of the unique little trio in black, white, and gray. I wore the gray Chinese dress I ordered from eBay (which fits me just perfectly, I cannot gain an ounce or it's out of the question), my silver pashmina, and absolutely the wrong shoes. The total lack of arch support started my feet off on an uncomfortable state of affairs that unfortunately lasted the whole weekend. As soon as Intercon was over, I threw them straight away. :-P This was also the only fun costume I got to wear for the weekend, as street clothes were appropriate for everything else.

Saturday morning was Snaf University. I signed up for this one because it's a Brandeis classic that I'd never played before, so I thought it was time. I actually really enjoyed the particular challenge of my character, solving a mystery with limitations on my ability to get information from other players. It helped my way of thinking that the mechanic for validating your progress is based on sharing your reasoning with the GMs, and when you're on the right track your capabilities progress. I am proud to say I have now joined captainecchi* as the only other person to get all the way through this character's plot. :-) I like mysteries and information puzzles in larps. The one major complaint I had with the game is the name badges. Most only had numbers on them, and since I had limited ability to ask other players their names and didn't have much of a Who You Know sheet, it was maddeningly difficult to keep track of certain characters. Other than that, though, an interesting and solid game. I'm glad to have finally played, though I am sorry I missed my other choice for that slot, Never, Never Again, based on all the good things I heard about it.

And finally, on Saturday afternoon came The Stand. This was was what I'd been working and waiting for. And I am happy to say it ran very, very well. It seemed like there was more than enough plot for every single character in the game (my primary personal measure of what makes a strong larp) that kept everyone engaged and interacting with each other. (If my observation on that front was incorrect, somebody please tell me which character needs me so I can fix them.) To my pleasure, all but one or two of the dramatic secrets came out as I planned them to in game, and when one didn't the player released it in an appropriate manner. Still, I plan to tweak things to make sure everything comes out naturally like they're supposed to. The map, the thing I was most worried about, mostly worked, with the exception of the travel mechanic. My fear was that players would just systematically check every square on the map if they didn't have any limitations on their interaction with it, so I stupidly imposed time investments necessary to every exploration. That took people out of the game too much. Instead, I think am going by the suggestion made by several players and make it so you can explore a set number of squares every X minutes, not exactly sure how many, but something like that. Hopefully that will expedite the process without taking people out of the game quite so much. Also, it is clear that the map needs a full-time GM, so I'm glad I assigned Bernie to that. It runs well enough with only just one floor GM, but another certainly could not hurt, so I am glad Jared will be helping to run come Festival. All in all, I am quite proud of the game and pleased that so many people enjoyed it. Players, your feedback is much appreciated, so feel free to tell me your impressions or ask any questions you may have.

Saturday night was Resonance, the other thing I was anxious about. The structure worked, and most of the players enjoyed it, but the majority of them interpreted the scenario differently than we expected them to. A few I think never really got the concept. It was pointed out that the game is kind of a backwards larp-- where most give you a fixed beginning and the players decide how it ends, in Resonance you are given a fixed ending, and it is player choice that figures out where it begins. That, I think, is a useful way for players to think about it to understand how it's going to work. I think we could stand to make it explicit that the game is pretty much a railroad the point of which is to watch unfold and understand the truth of and react to, so people shouldn't expecting to change the ending trajectory, and that it is intended mostly as an emotional exercise rather than as an opportunity for players to expend agency. Still, most of the players really had fun, and I do believe it to be a very good game. I think we just need to prepare players for the game a little more directly so that they understand what sort of thing they're getting into. Especially looking at the cast list for Festival, I have a feeling that the next run is going to work just fine.

In regards to the hotel, which I didn't stay at and did not end up spending a dime at, I was fine with it. The only things I experienced were the positives, such as the close location that enabled me to drive in and the beautiful and useful function space, or the minor negatives, such as the slightly decentralized social space. One thing I have to say is while, yes, the hotel's concessions prices were absolutely absurd, I don't know why anyone was surprised by them. That's pretty standard for a hotel of that caliber. It certainly wasn't any worse than what I was expecting, which is while I packed food for the weekend. Needless to say, I am very pleased with that decision. Especially if things don't improve on the cost front, next year, I plan to do the same for L.

And that was my Intercon. Don't think it's necessary to detail how I spent Sunday, which was in a pit of blackness brought on by my own inability to be a human being lately. The con itself was good.

Stand: DONE

It's done, my babies. The Stand is done. All printed, all packed, all painstakingly cut and glued and sealed. Only, to be perfectly honest, I still need to buy a mess of d12s for a purpose I will not reveal here, but other than that one small errand that I will run on my way home, the game is good to go. I stayed up late last night to push for the finish, just because I am so burnt out I really didn't want to have more work to do this evening. My back is sore from spending all that time either bent over the keyboard or over the bits and pieces I was assembling, so it will thank me for the respite. I am so eager to see it run now that I keep forgetting that there's two slots before it actually goes up. What? I have other games? I'd totally forgotten.

Gah. So tired. But excited for the weekend. I actually don't have much prep left to do now that the game is packed. Just lay out my costumes, prepare our packed lunch for Saturday, and re-read my character sheets. Been so preoccupied with GM stuff that I've somewhat neglected my player stuff.

Costuming arrived!

My costume for Clockwork Cafe came in yesterday! I am very pleased with it. It's a gray knee-length Asian-style dress with a lavendar floral pattern over it that fits just perfectly. The dress was actually made by a Chinese company, so I am glad I thought to check the sizing before ordering. I went for the medium instead of the small or extra small I wear in American sizing, and thank God for it. (Damn, they must be little in China.) It clings a little tightly to my boxy ribcage (probably my least favorite physical feature, grumble, grumble) but otherwise looks good. With its arrival, it means I am totally ready with costuming for Intercon.

It also occurs to me that since my only other game as a player is in the morning on Saturday, and my costume is regular street clothes, I will be able to get dressed to go to the con and not have to worry about changing for the rest of the day. That is convenient. It might be fun to dress cowboy to run The Stand, but I don't think I'm going to worry about it. Well, maybe I'll wear a hat. I like cowboy hats.

Finished the rule sheet yesterday and sent it out this morning. Now all that remain are the last few sheets. Gotta buckle down and get 'er done.

Larp con stuff

Got my second Intercon casting, which means I have all my characters and sheets for the con. This second casting is for Snaf U, which is a Brandeis classic I have been wanting to play for a long time. I see that I got the "tough cast" character, which Nat talked to me about beforehand. That always makes me smile. The role seems to have a pretty difficult job ahead, so we'll see how I do. I enjoy a challenge. :-) Costuming for the role is just going to be regular clothes from my closet, which is nice because it means I don't have to buy anything more. Still, this Sunday at 1PM ninja_report* and I are going to be going to the Garment District to try and take advantage of the sale. If anyone wants to join us there, it could be fun to meet up and shop together. I don't need anything more for Intercon, but I have a Groupon worth twenty dollars, so I'm planning on looking for stuff I like anyway. Can always get stuff for later, and God knows I love thrifting.

In other Intercon news, laurion*, the con chair for Intercon L, recently asked if I would like to be part of bidcom for next year, to which I have happily said yes. I've never participated in anything in the production of an Intercon beyond running games before but I'm interesting in becoming more involved in larp event organization, so that's kind of exciting.

Speaking of work for larp community events, I just sent out a reminder e-mail to all Festival attendees that they should sign up for the dead dog if they're coming, and if they're still on waitlists to consider filling the gaps in the handful of still-open games. Get on that, folks. That reminds me, one thing I need to do in the near future is figure out who to ask to be Festival con chair for next year. Again, I've been trying to get things done as far ahead of time as possible, so I should be looking for someone and have a choice in mind before we get to April. Next year's chair is traditionally announced at the dead dog, after all.

Current status regarding Intercon things

The drop in The Stand was filled! Yay, that's a weight off my mind. I am pleased to report that this new player even likes the character she will be stepping into. So the game is full again, and I can only hope there will be no more drops between now and the time of the con.

Writing is coming well to varying degrees on both games I will be running. We are in the last round of writing assignments for Resonance, which means by the next meeting all written content for the game should be generated. Yay us! I am so excited to see how that game, with is highly unusual structure, will play out. As for The Stand, writing is coming a little more slowly. The character sheets are not short, there are a lot of them, and I am the only writer for the game. I have put myself on a strict schedule that I am confident will allow me to get things done in reasonable time, it's going to be a lot of work and ask a lot of discipline of me. I will be very, very pleased with myself when it's finished.

Of the two games I am playing, I still have only my character for Clockwork Cafe. Unfortunately upon getting my costume hint my entire plan for costuming was forced to change; apparently the color I am wearing is extremely important, and what I had planned wasn't it. Fortunately I have already found something nice and not terribly expensive to use instead. I bought it off of eBay yesterday and it should be in within the next week or two. Haven't gotten my Snaf U character yet, but I know and trust the GMs so I'm not bothered. I also don't think I'll need a ton of time to figure out costuming for that one, since I believe it takes place in the modern era.

So, lot of work ahead, but I'm not in a bad place. Wish me luck getting this writing for The Stand done so the game is as good as I know it has the potential to be!

The Stand at Intercon K drop!

To my frustration, I have just been informed that a player will be dropping The Stand at Intercon. That means I will need a female player to replace her that doesn't mind accepting a character without a questionnaire because the game has already been cast. The game really needs everyone in order to run properly, so I would really appreciate if some fine lady might step up.

EDIT: The player has dropped, the spot is officially open.

Go here if you'd like to do me this favor and take this role in my game. Please and thank you!

EDIT 2: The spot has filled! Hooray!

Work so far for Intercon

Cast The Stand run at Intercon today, and just sent out casting and costuming hints. It was a tougher cast than I was expecting, and I ended up with a lot of final choices that I wasn't thinking of when I first read through the casting questionnaires, but I think it came out mostly okay. Still, I am worried about one or two choices; I did the best I could, so I hope everyone is okay with their roles.

Have begun writing character sheets in earnest now. I have finished my first and have several others started, but I want to pick up the pace. My goal is to have all twenty-five of them finished no later than a week before the con. I don't want anyone to have to get theirs at the last minute, so I'd better buckle down. I'd like to finish two or so by the end of the day.

Jared and I elected not to get a hotel room this year after being reminded how close the con is to home; it is more economical that way. We also don't want to have to rely on food bought at the hotel for meals that weekend. I plan to pack a picnic basket with lunches and dinners for the appropriate days and try to eat only from that as much as we can. If anyone cares to go in on this with me, they are welcome; just help me buy supplies and I am happy to doing the prep and cooking.

On to positive things

Now it is time to focus on some good things, so as to not to go back into Victorian suicide mode.

I got my hair cut the other day, FINALLY. It was sorely in need and I was starting to hate it. Heh, today for my Examiner article I wrote about how much it helps your everyday look to keep your haircut maintained. I am a bad, hypocritical style writer. Still, the point stands, and my head is proof-- I look and feel much better when I do. I am keeping the look I got last time, the longer layers with the sideswept bangs. Now that the bangs are shorter again they're back in my eyes all the time, which is a little annoying, but I'm getting used to them again and I really like how they look.



Bernie got me a Teavana Perfect Tea Maker for a belated Christmas gift, and MY GOD, does it make a better cup of tea than my tea ball. It is mug shaped, which allows the leaves to float around and steep properly, and then you put it on top of your mug and the tea strains out through the bottom. Works like a charm, and it comes out delicious. I think I will be keeping it at work to make individual mugs, as I prefer to use my lovely bone china teapot, a thoughtful gift from Jared, when I'm at home.

I got my first casting for Intercon, in this case for Clockwork Cafe. I am asked not to say who I am playing, but from the character outline I think she will be interesting. Even better, I'm pretty certain I already have my costume figured out, with no need for any new purchase. I have decided I will be casting the Intercon run of The Stand this coming Monday the 31st. Annoyingly, I'm still missing three casting questionnaires, all from people I don't know. I have been poking them pretty agressively to get them in before Monday, because I really hate casting people with no knowledge whatsoever. I will then send out character and costume hints, which should allow people sufficient advance notice to prepare.

I am ridiculously pleased with my Sudini Minna leather rain boots this season. I bought them two years ago seeking stylish tall leather boots that could be worn in all weather. These have served that purpose beautifully, looking great and keeping me dry and warm. I've been wearing them almost constantly since the weather got bad. Though they are not cheap, they are incredibly high quality, so I highly recommend them. I think at the end of the season I will take them to a cobbler to have them refurbished, because I think with proper care these could last me for a long time.

Getting going on larps



Wrote my first Resonance character yesterday. I feel like I came up with a clever way to represent the concept I chose from the concept list, so I'm pretty pleased with it. My one concern is I'm uncertain whether or not the sheet contains a little more information than is supposed to be revealed at the part of the game when this sheet would be read. I guess I'll find out at the next meeting. I need to write at least two more before then. They're short sheets, so once I have an idea there's no problem, but I need to have sufficiently clever character ideas before I can get started.

I just noticed two more people signed up for The Stand! That brings us up to six men and one woman. I am very pleased by the presence of the names I recognize. Final round of signups for Intercon go live tonight. That means you can sign up for as many remaining games as you want. I am finished signing up for things, as I am already playing two and then GMing too, but I will be interested to see and hear what other people do. Resonance filled up first round (wow, yay!) but I'm excited to see who's going to end up going for The Stand. I think it won't have any trouble filling once things open. Jared thinks he's going to be one of them, so he can help me GM it at Festival.

Which reminds me. I will be making an official announcement about this soon, but I'll give early warning to all of you that I have decided I would like to have a schedule up for Festival of the Larps by the first week or so of January. That means between now and then you should be sending in your game bids through the Festival website. Over the next month and a half I will be assembling the team to evaluate bids, which gives you all plenty of time and yet still gets the schedule up way in advance. So think about your bids, and get them before January!

Signups for Intercon K so far

I have a lot to get done today, so I must be quick. I just wanted to mention that I signed up for Clockwork Cafe at Intercon for the first round and for Snaf U in the second. Clockwork is a Brit game, and not only do those fill fast but also I don't get a chance to play anywhere except Intercon, so I'm very happy about that. I chose Snaf because it's a Brandeis classic that has run a million times and I haven't played it yet, so I didn't want to miss it again, who knows when it'll run next? My Saturday afternoon and evening slots are taken up anyway by GMing The Stand and Resonance, so by the second round my morning slot was all that was left to decide. I think that will be all for me this year. One of these cons, I'm actually going to manage a light schedule.

Jared signed up first for Clockwork Cafe as well, which pleases me because he's never played a Brit game before, and it'll be nice to have a game together. His second choice was Never, Never Again because it sounds cool and he likes the work of Andy Kirschbaum. He'll have to tell me how it is; it really does sound cool. (I have to write that Peter Pan-themed game at some point.) He hasn't decided what to do third; at the moment I think The Stand is his first choice, but I'd be okay with him waiting to play it locally.

Heh. If I had a nickel for every time I've heard or seen on my LJ Friends page "I want to play in the Stand but I'll probably wait for third round/Festival," I would have already paid for my hotel room this year. :-D Thanks for the interest, guys. Waiting until Festival is totally cool with me, but at this point it looks like it'll have to be the all-Stand Festival in order to accomodate everyone. ;-)