Making a New larp

[Nynelle]

There is a group of friends of mine out here making a new larp. And today there was a discussion as to how to make a good larp, which utterly confused me. I just wanted to ask everyone in your opinion how does one make a good larp from scratch?
What are the steps? WHat do you need to consider?
And as I was told when this question came up for me, this is for a GOOD LARP not a good story book or a converted table top game.
(I'm still confused.)

---Just some back ground,...right now they are in the brainstorming stage, but as I listen to them I still have no idea what the PCs role or what they are going to be doing during play time or what they are going to be doing in general...I don't know why they are there. Is this not an important question to address right off the bat before you figure out antagonists and government and social structure of a fictional society? Or am I totally not seeing the larger picture?

Thanks~

[ubergeek2012]

It really depends on what you're trying to accomplish. What kind of game are they trying to create? An action adventure combat LARP? A social game of political maneuvering?

[Nynelle]

That's the thing, they just say a "good larp" but if I were to guess, they want a political social game, as that seems to be what they care the most about. The Plot members that is.
They are just making a "good larp".
They came from playing White wolf. I don't know if this helps.
So what you are saying is you need to know what type of larp you are making before you make it? What if they want everything to be even...or make a new type of larp?

^^Colleen

[ubergeek2012]

The problem is that "Good LARP" is a meaningless phrase all by itself. What is a "Good movie"? It could mean a whole lot of things, many of them contradictory. It all depends on what you want from it.

I'd like to help you if I can, especially since this is a subject that interests me. I've played a few different types of LARPs as well as tabletop games, and I'm into game design. I just think that to start the discussion we need to understand what they want to do in general. If they want a game centered on politics and status then it's probably not a good idea to base it on hitting people with foam weapons, even though that can be awesome in a game focused on action and adventure.

[thelostgm]

Good points. Lets me also say something very obvious, "a good game" is different for every person.

That said I think your going to want to check out some other game systems. There are dozens, if not hundreds of LARPs on Shades LARP list and some of them have PDF rulebooks available online. It might do them good to just take a look at some of them.

Ok, that all aside, let me try and answer some of your questions. Once you know what type of game they want (sounds like a social game). The first step I would take is figure out what sort of conflict resolution you want. Is it paper, rock, scissors, or is it cards, or maybe a number of points players get to spend during the game. Or perhaps is it just roleplay until something bad happens and people roll dice.

I personally would go with a conflict resolution system that is simple, yet takes you out of game as little as possible. Making it too complicated will discourage new players, and if you have to spend a half an hour out of character every time a conflict arises that’s a whole other issue.

My first penny.

[Nynelle]

so far I think they are aiming at a political social game. I know they want very little combat (this is mainly due to combat scenes taking a long time to resolve).

They've started coming up with a history and basic social structure. And antagonists.

Thanks for the help.
^^Colleen

[ubergeek2012]

You might be surpised at how quickly combat scenes can be when the resolution mechanic is padded weapons. But it doesn't sound like that's the kind of game you're going for. That sort of LARP is a different beast entirely.

So, if you want to build a game from the ground up the best way to start is to figure out what you actually want the players to do and then make rules that let them do it. Since they've already started crafting a setting and antagonists, what do they have so far? I'm guessing that what they've done so far will give some hints about what they're trying for. Can you give us some details? I'm especially interested in the antagonists they're creating. Creating antagonists before you have rules or players indicates to me that they are important to the theme or setting of what they want to do.

[Nynelle]

So here is the website for the larp those guys were making, that i was talking about in this post. GO check it out.
http://www.math.cmu.edu/~hpt/TTC/
^^Nynelle