This Is My Life

Just thinking "out loud" as it were about LARP styles and characters that may or may not fit.

Different LARP styles bring to them different possibilities for successful characters.

Take, for example, a character concept which I've been desperately wanting to play for a while now:


A mute fighter-type who knows simple sign language (which I do) and can fight relatively well. He'd act in a group on the battlefield, not a scout out alone because a perfectly silent scout alone is not an easy thing to do, especially if you're slow like I am and unlikely to be able to make it back if seen by a powerful and fast enemy. On the battlefield itself he would gladly take point however.

Off the battlefield, which is where he prefers to be, he is as social as possible and spends time listening to other's stories, playing cards, helping solve word puzzles or just relaxing with a nice drink and enjoying the view. While actual conversation may be difficult he is willing to nod and smile at all the right times. He'd be able to help pick locks (since it's a skill I actually have) but he's not a thief; honest to a fault even. He likes word games or number puzzles and will often actively seek them out. Friends can be sure their secrets are safe with him and enemies may confide more than they mean to.


So where does this fit? There are the NERO-style games where in non-combat and non-skill-based situations he would work rather well; being quiet and friendly is something I can do any time in a roleplaying game. But in combat, where everyone is frantically shouting out their damage or their magical protections? The thrill is gone. While some wouldn't mind this so much, I do and I want to be able to play the character as silently as possible. These style of games just simply don't work for him.

A game with a more realistic style of fighting has more promise though. While I'm yet to find a purely silent combat system (the best I've gotten is when a weapon is magic you have to say what kind of magic but that's it) this would at least minimize the amount of speaking involved and thus work better for what I want from my character.

A game without any actual fighting, something along the lines of White Wolf might work well but I find that I much prefer real fighting to doing whatever it is they do these days. And even in those games you have to announce your intentions which spoils it. I don't think I can ever again play in a game where a combat takes 30 minutes and to the outside world was only about 6 seconds. "Combat bubbles" were the worst thing in any LRP system I've ever seen.

So the realistic style of fighting wins in this case. In other cases other styles work better. If I want to play the big bad hero, knocking down enemies with a single swing then obviously I'm going to go with the NERO-style game. If I want big, flashy magic that can affect the whole world around me then I'd probably be doing Mind's Eye Theater still.

What archetypes work well in some games and don't in others? How do you get around it? Do you rework a character concept you really want to play to fit into the system or do you simply wait to play it in a system that works better for it?

I just finished making the lemony mascarpone. It came out well, and though I've never made it before this, I'm fairly certain I did it how I should have. Next time, though, I have to find a place to buy cheesecloth. No matter what they say, a couple sheets of paper towel just don't cut it.

Now it's time to open up the blue lump crab and try making those crabcakes on the fly. No recipe, because I'm trying to make my own for a competition. If nothing else, this should be very interesting, and enlightening.

Only problem is, one pint of heavy cream makes a lot more mascarpone than I thought it would, and the two to four dollops I'm going to need tonight won't even make a dent in it.

Time to make lots of new recipes, I guess!