Game Format
Another major consideration of the game is the style of game that you want to run
LINEAR
The normal format for most small scale fantasy LRP (and some other genres) which are conducted over a day is the “linear game”. This involves the players “walking a route” with a number of encounters on the way. The players don’t necessarily need to be moving, the encounters could come to them. The basic concept is still that a) there actions are directed by NPCs and b) the game is based on moving on to the next encounter. Some longer weekend events will have "Sandbox" play with a set number of linear events that a portion of the people playing will attend
Linear games require that the whole LRP group is split into two(not necessarily of uneven sizes); one half will be the “party” (the good guys) and the others become the NPCs or “the monsters”. You need to have enough people to make this possible. If there are only 5 of you, then quite honestly, a linear game will be quite difficult to do.
Linear games are commonly used in fantasy LRP and as such you need a location that is suitable. Your average linear game will last anywhere between 3 and 6 hours with a dozen or so encounters in it. If you only have 10 acres of woodland available to you, then it will mean retracing your steps a lot, or very closely placed encounters.
Linears are generally require more preparation, but less in between game updating. The major part of it is writing the game, and organising the NPC’s and party. Linears work quite well as one offs and campaigns, but you cannot run a PTI game as linear games rely on the party being directed in their actions. A linear game fails once the party go too far from the plot.
If in a campaign setting you might allow your players to make actions between the games to add an extra element to the game. This is called Downtime
Linears have the advantage of being good for player who are reluctant to take the lead. The organisers provide the “bait” and all the players have to do is take it. Also Linears are rarely boring. Characters may be constrained by the limitations of the plotline, but they will find that within a matter of minutes the next encounter will come along.
SANDBOX
Sandbox games are character driven games are very much more based on the interactions between the characters and require much less input from NPC to provide “plot-devices”. The major effort that is required to organise a character driven game is to create the characters, to flesh them out enough so that the players can understand and act on that characters motivations, and to create a few key NPCs to add other elements to the story.
Character driven games can work wonderfully but a lot of the time they rely on the players themselves to take the initiative and find a plotline to involve themselves in, or to create their own storylines.
Unless you have a number of players who are prepared to do this you will struggle to stop people from getting bored. This is probably the key problem with character driven games.
Its important to ensure that as many people as possible are involved in some kind of storyline and that they have something to do at all times. People should not but sitting round wondering what to do next. If this happens people get bored, drop out of character or simply leave
Character driven games work better if you’re expecting larger numbers. Whereas a Linear game would not be practical with numbers over 30 or so, Character driven games are fine as they rely much less on organiser intervention and can for the most part “be left to run themselves”
Character driven games are often easier when it comes to a location too, as most of them revolve around one central location
OPEN LINEARS
Open Linear games are a mix between the two styles previously mentioned. Rather than having a set “list” of encounters or no “encounters” at all, the game will have a number of set pieces that will occur over the night, how these come about is up to the players. Furthermore the plot that exists will be variable depending upon the actions of the players, so much that some scenes will never take place, or the organisers may have to make up impromptu scenes in reaction to the characters decisions.
An open linear game is probably more difficult than a Linear or Character driven game. The plot writers need to be aware of the possible ways in which the players can veer off the script, and need to be flexible enough to either adapt the story to fit the players direction, or to find some convincing way to bring the players back on track.
Open linear games work well with small and medium sized groups (up to about 30 people) as they essentially revolve around individual encounters, and as they are both character driven and organiser driven there is both an opportunity to develop your own character yet find things to do.
An open linear will normally be based in a single location with people coming in to create and encounter, or the players having to leave their central point and head out on short “linear” adventures.
FESTS
If you think that you are going to have a large number of people who are interested in playing then you could run a fest. However merely by the fact that you are reading a web-site designed for people who are new to organising LARP events suggests that perhaps you need more experience in running smaller events before moving to the dizzying (and stressful) heights of large scale events
LINEAR
The normal format for most small scale fantasy LRP (and some other genres) which are conducted over a day is the “linear game”. This involves the players “walking a route” with a number of encounters on the way. The players don’t necessarily need to be moving, the encounters could come to them. The basic concept is still that a) there actions are directed by NPCs and b) the game is based on moving on to the next encounter. Some longer weekend events will have "Sandbox" play with a set number of linear events that a portion of the people playing will attend
Linear games require that the whole LRP group is split into two(not necessarily of uneven sizes); one half will be the “party” (the good guys) and the others become the NPCs or “the monsters”. You need to have enough people to make this possible. If there are only 5 of you, then quite honestly, a linear game will be quite difficult to do.
Linear games are commonly used in fantasy LRP and as such you need a location that is suitable. Your average linear game will last anywhere between 3 and 6 hours with a dozen or so encounters in it. If you only have 10 acres of woodland available to you, then it will mean retracing your steps a lot, or very closely placed encounters.
Linears are generally require more preparation, but less in between game updating. The major part of it is writing the game, and organising the NPC’s and party. Linears work quite well as one offs and campaigns, but you cannot run a PTI game as linear games rely on the party being directed in their actions. A linear game fails once the party go too far from the plot.
If in a campaign setting you might allow your players to make actions between the games to add an extra element to the game. This is called Downtime
Linears have the advantage of being good for player who are reluctant to take the lead. The organisers provide the “bait” and all the players have to do is take it. Also Linears are rarely boring. Characters may be constrained by the limitations of the plotline, but they will find that within a matter of minutes the next encounter will come along.
SANDBOX
Sandbox games are character driven games are very much more based on the interactions between the characters and require much less input from NPC to provide “plot-devices”. The major effort that is required to organise a character driven game is to create the characters, to flesh them out enough so that the players can understand and act on that characters motivations, and to create a few key NPCs to add other elements to the story.
Character driven games can work wonderfully but a lot of the time they rely on the players themselves to take the initiative and find a plotline to involve themselves in, or to create their own storylines.
Unless you have a number of players who are prepared to do this you will struggle to stop people from getting bored. This is probably the key problem with character driven games.
Its important to ensure that as many people as possible are involved in some kind of storyline and that they have something to do at all times. People should not but sitting round wondering what to do next. If this happens people get bored, drop out of character or simply leave
Character driven games work better if you’re expecting larger numbers. Whereas a Linear game would not be practical with numbers over 30 or so, Character driven games are fine as they rely much less on organiser intervention and can for the most part “be left to run themselves”
Character driven games are often easier when it comes to a location too, as most of them revolve around one central location
OPEN LINEARS
Open Linear games are a mix between the two styles previously mentioned. Rather than having a set “list” of encounters or no “encounters” at all, the game will have a number of set pieces that will occur over the night, how these come about is up to the players. Furthermore the plot that exists will be variable depending upon the actions of the players, so much that some scenes will never take place, or the organisers may have to make up impromptu scenes in reaction to the characters decisions.
An open linear game is probably more difficult than a Linear or Character driven game. The plot writers need to be aware of the possible ways in which the players can veer off the script, and need to be flexible enough to either adapt the story to fit the players direction, or to find some convincing way to bring the players back on track.
Open linear games work well with small and medium sized groups (up to about 30 people) as they essentially revolve around individual encounters, and as they are both character driven and organiser driven there is both an opportunity to develop your own character yet find things to do.
An open linear will normally be based in a single location with people coming in to create and encounter, or the players having to leave their central point and head out on short “linear” adventures.
FESTS
If you think that you are going to have a large number of people who are interested in playing then you could run a fest. However merely by the fact that you are reading a web-site designed for people who are new to organising LARP events suggests that perhaps you need more experience in running smaller events before moving to the dizzying (and stressful) heights of large scale events
