Vestival Report
Apr. 19th, 2010 02:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mllelaurelFriday night, I played in Welcome to Scearbridge.
I was cast as Zourain Rogers, and I was a little concerned when I got my character sheet, mostly because, while Zourain seemed like an interesting character, she's someone I'd want to strangle if I met her in real life. Picture a fluffy bunny pseudo-pagan, who claims to be an ardent activist but changes causes on a whim. On the other hand, she certainly had a personality, giving me a nice bit to play.
My other concern was that her apparent plot connections seemed particularly thin. I figured more would emerge in-game. ...None did. I was pretty much entirely plot-irrelevant. Now, because I had a quirky character, I could occupy myself for the alloted time, but I still felt left out. Going to start putting that on questionnaires: Please, please, please don't cast me as someone completely irrelevant to the plot. I don't have to be at the center of everything (though I certainly won't complain if I am), but at least tie me in. Strong personal plots are just as good as the other kind, if not better, but both are good, and a combination is best of all.
***
Saturday morning, I GM-ed Lifeline, with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bleemoo.
It was originally supposed to be Bard of Avalon, but because it's a larger game which ran relatively recently in the area, we didn't get enough players to run even at minimum. Lifeline had more flex - running with anything from seven to sixteen players. We ran with nine and it worked.
This was probably the most cooperative group of players we've ever had. More secrets came out, and the players wound up testing certain concepts which had never been tested before. Having a particular item as an actual prop rather than a card helped, I think. All in all a good run, despite the early setbacks and the last-minute casting. I can only thank my players and co-GM for this.
***
Saturday morning and afternoon, I played Christina Adolphus of Sweden, in School For Young Women Specializing In The Arts Of Grace And Maidenly Submission. And if I described my experience in detail, this post would be novel sized. Instead, I'll simply rave about how awesome this game was. I love how these GMs tie each character into myriad plots, some of which the character never sees coming. I love how real they make the interpersonal plots, even the comical ones. In the course of the game, I got to feel my character age ten to twenty years emotionally, when she found out that her father was dead and she would now be queen. I got to carry out one of the most nuanced love plots ever, comprising a full narrative (thank you,zombie_dog!), re-evaluating my relationship with my best friend and discovering that I loved him after all. I got to meet my long-lost sister, growing closer and closer to her, in the course of the game.
(I wonder if the GMs cast at least two couples as siblings on purpose... My sister was played bywired_lizard, and hazliya and elenuial were cast as twins.)
I wound up orchestrating an alliance of free Scandinavian nations, with Erik the Red and Hamlet! (And this from a player who normally considers herself pretty bad at political plots, but it just sparked, in this game.) The game ended with my coronation ("Cowonation"), wherein I made a speech I no longer remember a word of, but which I was complimented on, followed by a wedding rush of nearly the entire cast, myself included. :)
Why is it that I can never describedarkoni42, gower and Uncle Don's games in any sort of coherent manner? Probably because I'm too busy squeeing. Highly, highly recommended!
***
On Sunday morning, I played Ruby Ayers in Pop Diva Fashion Show. I was a bit bleary from end-of-con exhaustion, but still had a great time. My main goals in this game were to assist Mr. Whore (a Lady Gaga expy, played and costumed marvelously byin_water_writ, as well as protect witticaster's character, who was running the event from all harm, seeing as he was the son of the mafia Don, and I had some mafia connections from my less-than-awesome past as a call girl. I succeeded at both.
I also wound up takingnyren's character's virginity. Virgins are cute. And obvious. ;-)
All in all a fun time, with some seriously amazing costumes and a freakin' Twitter mechanic.elenuial and hazliya are clearly smoking the good shit.
***
Afterward, I went to Dead Dog, had a bit of a panic where I thought I'd lost my jeans somewhere, only to later find them stuffed in the bottom of my backpack, got driven home bywired_lizard and crashed. Thank fuck for Patriots' Day, or I'd be a zombie now.
And that was my Festival of LARPs.
I was cast as Zourain Rogers, and I was a little concerned when I got my character sheet, mostly because, while Zourain seemed like an interesting character, she's someone I'd want to strangle if I met her in real life. Picture a fluffy bunny pseudo-pagan, who claims to be an ardent activist but changes causes on a whim. On the other hand, she certainly had a personality, giving me a nice bit to play.
My other concern was that her apparent plot connections seemed particularly thin. I figured more would emerge in-game. ...None did. I was pretty much entirely plot-irrelevant. Now, because I had a quirky character, I could occupy myself for the alloted time, but I still felt left out. Going to start putting that on questionnaires: Please, please, please don't cast me as someone completely irrelevant to the plot. I don't have to be at the center of everything (though I certainly won't complain if I am), but at least tie me in. Strong personal plots are just as good as the other kind, if not better, but both are good, and a combination is best of all.
***
Saturday morning, I GM-ed Lifeline, with
bleemoo. It was originally supposed to be Bard of Avalon, but because it's a larger game which ran relatively recently in the area, we didn't get enough players to run even at minimum. Lifeline had more flex - running with anything from seven to sixteen players. We ran with nine and it worked.
This was probably the most cooperative group of players we've ever had. More secrets came out, and the players wound up testing certain concepts which had never been tested before. Having a particular item as an actual prop rather than a card helped, I think. All in all a good run, despite the early setbacks and the last-minute casting. I can only thank my players and co-GM for this.
***
Saturday morning and afternoon, I played Christina Adolphus of Sweden, in School For Young Women Specializing In The Arts Of Grace And Maidenly Submission. And if I described my experience in detail, this post would be novel sized. Instead, I'll simply rave about how awesome this game was. I love how these GMs tie each character into myriad plots, some of which the character never sees coming. I love how real they make the interpersonal plots, even the comical ones. In the course of the game, I got to feel my character age ten to twenty years emotionally, when she found out that her father was dead and she would now be queen. I got to carry out one of the most nuanced love plots ever, comprising a full narrative (thank you,
zombie_dog!), re-evaluating my relationship with my best friend and discovering that I loved him after all. I got to meet my long-lost sister, growing closer and closer to her, in the course of the game. (I wonder if the GMs cast at least two couples as siblings on purpose... My sister was played by
wired_lizard, and hazliya and elenuial were cast as twins.)I wound up orchestrating an alliance of free Scandinavian nations, with Erik the Red and Hamlet! (And this from a player who normally considers herself pretty bad at political plots, but it just sparked, in this game.) The game ended with my coronation ("Cowonation"), wherein I made a speech I no longer remember a word of, but which I was complimented on, followed by a wedding rush of nearly the entire cast, myself included. :)
Why is it that I can never describe
darkoni42, gower and Uncle Don's games in any sort of coherent manner? Probably because I'm too busy squeeing. Highly, highly recommended!***
On Sunday morning, I played Ruby Ayers in Pop Diva Fashion Show. I was a bit bleary from end-of-con exhaustion, but still had a great time. My main goals in this game were to assist Mr. Whore (a Lady Gaga expy, played and costumed marvelously by
in_water_writ, as well as protect witticaster's character, who was running the event from all harm, seeing as he was the son of the mafia Don, and I had some mafia connections from my less-than-awesome past as a call girl. I succeeded at both. I also wound up taking
nyren's character's virginity. Virgins are cute. And obvious. ;-)All in all a fun time, with some seriously amazing costumes and a freakin' Twitter mechanic.
elenuial and hazliya are clearly smoking the good shit. ***
Afterward, I went to Dead Dog, had a bit of a panic where I thought I'd lost my jeans somewhere, only to later find them stuffed in the bottom of my backpack, got driven home by
wired_lizard and crashed. Thank fuck for Patriots' Day, or I'd be a zombie now. And that was my Festival of LARPs.
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no subject
Date: 2010-04-19 10:07 pm (UTC)Ah well... lessons learned, and I hope we can cast you better next time.
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Date: 2010-04-19 10:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-20 03:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-20 04:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-20 04:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-20 09:15 pm (UTC)