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Inspiration for LARPs
As a GM of Chuckling
Cthulhu, I'm often asked "Where do you get your ideas?" and I've
got to admit that I often want to cop out with the answer "Cleveland". As per
any creative endeavor, inspiration for live-action RPGs can come from a huge
variety of sources, and it’s very difficult to point to one (or three, or
ten) things and say “That’s where it all comes from”
In this corner of the
web, I’ll share with you some of my sources
of inspiration.
What
if…
What
if… is a fun game to play, even without the intention of unearthing an
idea for a LARP. Almost everyone plays it in one form or another – What if I
won the lottery tomorrow? What if that soap opera vixen is having an adulterous affair with that mechanic from Boise? What if Jack
Kennedy had doubled up on the pain meds during the Cuban Missile Crisis? See
how it progresses? A willingness to play What
if and follow it along some weird and unexpected paths is a key part of
creating any LARP plot. Drag it out when you’re on a long trip with a co-GM,
or riding the commute train to work. What
if… is a very portable idea generator!
A Willingness to Entertain The Outlandish and
Ridiculous.
In order to find new territory for your
LARP to occupy, you’ve got to play What
if… to extremes, occasionally. The animator Chuck Jones wrote of the “Yes Sessions” that he’d engage in
with his co-workers. They would kick around ideas for cartoons and absolutely
anything went, as long as no-one said “No” or words to that effect. Imagine
if someone had said “No” to the idea of a wisecracking rabbit, or a greedy
black duck with a lisp? Take your nascent idea and run with it. Follow it to
absurd, illogical places, because that’s often where the seeds of good ideas
lurk. Some of them might turn out to be unfeasible ideas, later, but the
process of identifying them always gets your brainjuices fizzing and
limbering you up, mentally.
The History Channel.
Yes, really. A large percentage of
Chuckling Cthulhu events - Evil at Bay,
Black Sun/White Light, 13 Days of Terror, and Fear Stalks Whitechapel – were inspired by simply watching the
History Channel and playing What if…
What if there’s another reason it was called the Golden Gate bridge? What if the
Ripper murders could be ascribed to a supernatural being? What if the Nazis
had known what to do with that cyclotron they captured in Paris in 1940? All of those were inspired
whilst watching the goggle box, taking a What
if… moment and chasing it all over the landscape.
Your Own Interests.
I’ve been accused of writing some games,
just so I have the excuse to research a given period or event and I can’t say
that such accusations aren’t entirely unfounded. If you’re a gamer, you’ve
probably got some pretty interesting tastes in history and suchlike – be it a
fondness for movies, an interest the Meijin Restoration of Japan, or a
long-standing habit of spending every summer at a Dude Ranch. Your interests
– again, combined with What If… -
can bring up some interesting notions. As I’m a history wonk, I come up with
a lot of plots featuring historical settings. As a fan of theoretical physics
and history, ideas like Black Sun/White Light were practically inevitable!
Is This A Good Idea or Bad?
I strongly suggest you read another one
of my bits: LARP Pitfalls and Clawing Your Way
Out of Them, as that article gives a general overview of the types of bad
ideas you can potentially encounter when creating and/or running a
live-action event.
Good Ideas…
- Appeal to a broad segment of your
playership. Most players have heard of the Second World War. Not so many
of them are schooled up on the Arab volunteer units in the German Army
of same.
- Harken to prevalent trends. I hate to admit
it, but if your neighborhood is currently gaga over the latest Harry
Potter release, then it’s a good time to run your Hogwart’s LARP.
- Are a part of the plot, and move it along. I
know that seems like a DUH moment, but beware the Siren Call of
Unnecessary Tangents
- Require cooperation between the PCs –
especially ones that are opposite sides of various ideological fences!
- Can be solved with tools and information
present in the game. That doesn’t mean said tools and information has to
be present from the very first instance, but that they will be there, in
a timely manner.
- Feature something with which the player can
identify – this applies to plots and character backgrounds. Murder is a
crime that everyone understands. Securities fraud? Not so much.
Bad Ideas…
- Have the PCs focused on a single item or NPC
– creating bottlenecks in both the plot and physical movement of the
game.
- Require the PCs to call on skills they don’t
actually have.
- Can only be resolved by combat. (combat in a
larp is best kept to a minimum, as it’s such a time-sink)
- Requires the PLAYERS to have skills that it
is unreasonable for the GM to expect them to possess. Most players are
not cryptographers, for example, or able to be in two places at once.
- Make too much use of shlock and/or taboos.
Too many GMs have employed something such as, say, an incestuous
relationship between two PCs simply for the shock value. If it doesn’t
help your plot(s), don’t use it.
I wish I could tell you,
oh reader, of a sure fire technique to create a crowd-pleasing LARP every
time, but such a technique doesn’t exist, alas. I hope that by sharing my sources of inspiration, and how I
evaluate a potential idea that I’ve helped you do the same!
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