Any variations of the questions addressed in this FAQ will be referred back to this document. The explanations presented here are done for your benefit, and are complete with respect to the game and the mechanics of running it.
This FAQ takes
the form of:
Q: Question.
A: Answer.
E: Explanation.
Q:
What will the setting be for the next World of Darkness
game?
A: This will be acts 3 and 4 of our 'End of Times' storyline.
It is not necessary for you to have played before but we will admit that
due to its nature it will help you if you have. We REALLY want to put
this story to bed and we think that we will hopefully give everyone a
satisfying ending.
Q:
Are you a Camarilla Sanctioned game?
A: No. We have no association with the Camarilla
nor Mind's Eye Theatre.
E: We use rules that we have derived over the years
that we feel suit the game we stage better. The mechanical rules
include some elements of Mind's Eye Theatre and the tabletop World of
Darkness game. This means we aren't sanctioned. We are apolitical
with respect to the Camarilla Fan Club (now a wholly owned subsidiary
of White-Wolf Game Studio). We have nothing against the Camarilla, heck
we even play in their events from time to time. We have been running our
LARP since before the 'official' founding of the Camarilla even though
back then we totally made up our own rules based on the tabletop version
and have evolved since then.
Q:
Can I bring in my own character to play during the
game?
A: No.
E: All characters are prepared before the convention.
This is done to be sure that all characters have a place in the storyline
and are constructed within our rules structure. This also contributes
to the fairness of the game. No one has any idea whatsoever about
any aspect of their character at the beginning. It is important
to start everyone on an equal footing so that everyone has an equal chance
at winning the prizes.
Q:
How long is the game?
A: The running time may vary.
E: Most conventions run Friday through Sunday.
Playing the game on just one night doesn't give the plot time to develop.
Playing the game straight through would involve staying up for extended
periods and cause poor judgments by both the referees and the players.
So to be sure that the game is safe, fun, and playable, it is staged over
the course of 2 nights. Although in the future we may only run one
long game during the daytime or a shorter game that would only go one
night in order for other LARPs to run a game due to time/space constraints.
Q:
Are people allowed to pick characters in advance,
or are certain characters given
to certain people?
A: No, and sometimes...but we do respect gender
and couples.
E: We do use a modified handicapping system to determine
character distribution. While most characters are distributed randomly,
we do try to make sure that the same people do not get the same characters
every year. This includes 'character typing'. If someone complains that
they 'always get stuck with a human' we try to accomodate them by making
sure they don't get one again even then but the character is still randomly
generated out of the available 'pool' after removing the request.
This may result in finding out that you will find yourself with a more
(or less) complicated character. We do try to randomize this but sometimes
it isn't possible due to game balance.
If you are a first year player you will more than likely get something
that is totally randomized because we really would not know what you can
or cannot play. Individual requests of things like : 'I want to play a
Redcap that has been reincarnated as a Gurahl' will be ignored.
Couples that have an expressed interest in playing together as a couple are randomly given characters that are a couple on a first come, first serve basis. PLEASE tell us that you would like to play as a couple when you are at the sign up for the game. Waiting for the game to begin and then changing your mind will bring you no mercy from the Storytellers or the players.
All of this is of course modified
by how many people sign up. We usually have more than one storyline running
during the course of play.
This does not mean that the 'first X' characters are the 'best' (most
powerful) in the game. We have to make divisions of storylines so that
in case we don't get a full house that the game can still take place.
The main problem is the dreaded 'no-show'. We have ways of fixing this
now.
Our system is currently flexible enough that we can change the character distribution in less than 5 minutes, and if we get a large amount of no-shows we can use this system to insure that the game will start smoothly..after that though you never know what will happen.
Q:
Are certain characters better than others?
A: Of course. However, they are created
so that any character played can win.
E: It is impossible to make all characters perfectly
equal. The best prize is reserved for the best role player.
Any person can win with any character.
Q: I can't 'get into' your system/game and I find it confusing, what now?
A: A good game should be independant of what rule system you are using. If you are 'bored' or 'confused' this is what each referee is responsible for during the game. Sometimes there may be circumstances that are happening (such as players you are looking for not being in the game yet) that are beyond everyone's control. We would like to think that our referees are flexible enough that they can always give you SOMETHING to do. Once again, please contact us because if you aren't having fun that is a problem and we would like to solve it for you. The solution will not be holding your hand through the entire game though, so be prepared for constructive criticism.
We also run demos/panels about our game system. We
encourage you to attend them before playing.
Q: How come your games aren't 'Black and White'? Why can't you tell who the 'good guys' are?
A: The World of Darkness (tm) is not written in the manner. There are moral dilemmas on almost anything and everything you will meet/encounter/experience when playing. The game at its core is not meant to be 'Marvel Comics presents Werewolf by Night' (1970s comic). Every once in a while there may be someone in the game who is as about as squeaky clean as possible but no one person will ever be 'perfect'..even adversaries have their admirers. If you would rather us run a Marvel Superheros game, you need to tell us. Our system is pretty flexible!
Q:
What do I do if others in my group aren't cooperating
with the
plot/game/character concepts?
A:
The people that are grouped together should be cooperating, at least on
the
surface.
E:
As a character, you are not a piece of paper wandering around without
a brain. TAKE ACTION! Take actions that will make your game, and the overall
game more exciting. Focus on your character and work with one or two facets
of it that you wouldn't originally have considered. We also encourage
making up new facets of the character and charging forward. We intentionally
do not put in solutions on how your character would handle EVERY situation.
That is how we judge your ability to LARP. If we hand hold you through
every scene we might as well put on a play..which isn't as fun. (at least
we think so) We do ask that you get with a ref if you want to dramatically
change your storyline though. Sometimes you may see a hole in the plot
that we didn't cover. If it makes sense for the overall experience of
the game we are flexible enough to modify your storyline to fill in anything
we may have missed. And as always, if you just aren't happy, please do
not quit, find a ref. We don't want you to walk away unhappy.
We cannot guarantee that everyone will follow what is on their sheet. Most of the time we will let things go, in extreme cases where the player(s) are doing so to be disruptive, we will ask them to please follow the plot that is on their sheet.
We would also like to mention to please allow at least one hour of gaming time to go by before you think 'there isn't anything happening in this game'. Because we take over 200 man hours to develop the game each year, we ask for at least one hour of your time before making a decision that 'our game sucks'.
Q:
Are prizes predetermined, or free admissions to
the game given?
A: No and possibly.
E: Not only is the game not fixed, but if you have been
a referee, you are ineligible to win prizes for at least one year following
the game you participated as a ref. If you helped with plot formation
and character generation, then you are ineligible to win prizes for two
years following the staging of the game you aided. If you are a
member of an ongoing plot device, you are ineligible for prizes.
Unless you happened to win a free admission as a prize the previous year,
then whether you are eligible for prizes or not, if you play, you pay.
A well run LARP is not cheap to run. Most of the time we lose money..really..anything
left over goes to the next year's budget and it never is much.
Q:
Will there be other LARPs at Archon 32 other than
the SLUGS game?
A: We are not sure at this time. We are sure you have
noticed that Archon will not be a 4 day convention as it has been for
the past few years. More than likely there will not be a Friday 'day game'
but then again there might be. It all depends on the hotel contract.
E: While there isn't enough room to run simultaneous LARPs at Archon's facility, we have set it up where several LARPs can be run at different times. Maybe one day...