Hey all! Back at you with another blog post-- this time I want to dive into some of our plot plans for this season!
Runs and Mods
Last season, we got some great feedback on the Run System. We experienced some great Run events, and some events where we felt the Runs were too detached from the main story arc.
Part of this was awesome - breaking the mold of what LARPers expect out of modules was our goal! Part of this also sometimes resulted in a less cohesive storyline or feelings of missed opportunities playerside.
The reality of running LARPs behind-the-scenes is that it is super challenging to get every individual into the mod hall each event. Trying to run two separate tracks of “getting every individual into the mod hall” doubly so, which is how staff was building event plot this last season!
We don’t want any Runs to feel forced just because we needed to make sure we hit player numbers, and with the addition of the 6th District this season, our world just got a little bit bigger.
This season, we are going try to move away from treating Runs separately, and encourage you to think of any excursion out of Attaway (i.e. into the mod hall, 6th District, deep into the woods, etc) as a Run. You may not get to everything you want in a weekend, but letting us know what is important to you (either before or after games, via email or report card) will help us tune for how much to send out and where to steer your personal story. Just like before, if you've already been on a Run in an event, make sure that others get a chance to go before you hop in for a round 2!
To avoid any confusion - skills that specify only being usable during a "Run" are now usable during any off-Still excursions. Staff may clarify what is or isn't a Run during the next event while we all get used to the new definitions.
Runners will still be responsible for coordinating groups in-game, but do NOT have to enter every Run. Runners can lead groups to a location and head back to the still if they have already participated in a Run that day, to keep the distribution of mod hall fun fair for all parties.
There’s still plenty of crime to do, you won’t see a dramatic change in the amount of plot, and we’ll still work to signal what to expect going into a module and a way to anticipate what’s coming up, but Runs/mods will feel less separated from the main story of the weekend and should feel like higher quality storytelling.
Family Meetings
We hear you loud and clear-- family meetings were an enormous help for Fall 2. We’ll have each staff writer work with a family to help run these each event moving forward, with a hope that eventually we can transition the ownership of these to staff directed players or players! If you’ve got strong feelings about when you want these to happen, give us a shout via email or bring your thoughts to the Slack-- we want to make sure these are useful and FUN opportunities to come together in game.
That’s it for now! Registration goes live on SATURDAY, so stay tuned for an email from staff with the shop link and other info!