Gaming Shenanigans

The above pretty much describes what little free time I have these days, be it active involvement, planning, or ideas bouncing around in my head.

I've been running a Dungeons & Dragons game for a few months now, with a bit of an unintended break thanks to crazy schedules.  Also, I'm still new enough at running games that I'm not at all confident in my ability to create a solid world and plot.  But folks seem to be having fun, so I must be doing something right.

Also on the table top/RPG front, I joined Chaosium's Cult of Chaos, which is a fancy way of saying I now run organized play Call of C'thulhu games.  Also, it means I get to GM without having to write the scenarios.  Yay.  First up for that is their A Time for Harvest campaign, which I'll be running at Modern Myths.  Game one takes place this Saturday from 3-7 (part of International TableTop Day activities), and then will continue through on the last Sunday of the month until we've finished all 6 chapters.  Since it sounds like chapters 1 & 2 will run long, this will ultimately take longer than 6 months.  I will also be speaking with Modern Myths about running a one-shot Call of C'thulhu game on Free RPG day.  EDIT: Call of C'thulhu game postponed due to what amounted to a city shut down thanks to a pot festival.  Well played, Nyarlathotep, well played.

Then comes LARPing.

I was hoping to do so much of it this past year, even if cast rather than playing.  But then my job ended up being Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and SATURDAY, instead of Tuesday-Friday like was tentatively offered in my job interview.

So I got myself involved in establishing two new LARPs instead.

The first LARP is my friends and I got together and established a Mind's Eye Society domain in Western MA, with a Changeling: the Lost game as our first venue (and others in the pipe).  MES games are 'parlor LARP' - which means conflicts are resolved without the aid of padded sticks or Nerf guns.  I'm not involved at all with plot development or storytelling, but instead on the administrative side as the Assistant Domain Coordinator (Outreach).  The short version is I do various outreach and promotional duties, and generally hassle the Domain Coordinator about stuff that's coming up (hey, might as well make my tendency to obsess over details into a marketable skill).

For the time being the Changeling: the Lost game meets the first Saturday of the Month at the Amherst Unitarian Universalist Church, 6-10PM.  We're looking at starting an Accord game in the near future, and hoping for other WoD settings.

For the curious:

• Domain MES Wiki page
• Domain Facebook page

So that's fun, and gets me playing in a game.

Now the other LARP project is something else altogether - and let me tell you, it's going to be awesome.

Through the various survival horror games I've played, I've gotten to know a group of pretty awesome people... people who are starting a brand new LARP.  I was tapped for my cat-herding skills to handle NPC coordination (sort of a stage managing role) for their one-shot inaugural game this summer.  So the past few months we've been coming up with all sorts of horrible things to do to our players, and having loads of fun.

From the Ink LARP page:

Here's what everyone's been talking about: In the summer of 1983, the people of New Albion, Massachusetts experienced an incident of "mass hysteria" - rumours speak of the sky turning red, and a rash of sudden, unexplained deaths... many people speculate that it may have been a massive viral outbreak, but many of the murmurings in circulation lean more to darker, possibly supernatural explanations. What we know is that a lot of people died, and now a big chunk of New Albion's red light district along the Boston River is locked up tight. The event was contained when the US Department of Scientific Intelligence, partnering with local technology magnate Phosphor Polytechincal, instituted a small-scale quarantine of the area known as The Combat Zone.

It's been two years now, and life goes on for those of us who go on living - thanks largely in part to the Albion Broadcast System, who make it their mission to provide us alternative and far more cheerful intrigues with which to occupy our minds. Now, everyone's talking about the brand new game show, American Centurions, set to film its premiere episode on July 4, 1985!

American Centurions gathers amateur athletes and adventurous sorts of various disciplines, many of them former military, and takes them to their limits in tests of strength, agility, and combat focus - all in spandex and spangles, of course. Players are challenged to survive a Greek myth themed “Labyrinth” and fight off its numerous hordes to claim their prize. There are individual trials, but almost every challenge requires teamwork and support to complete. It is suggested that teams be formed if groups do not come in together. Successful parties are being offered sponsorship deals and a chance to be involved with a movie based on the troubles in the New Albion Quarantine Zone.

Do you have what it takes to be an American Centurion? Albion Broadcast System will be taking applications beginning in March - don't miss your chance to be part of history! 

Currently we're mid-registration, and the character histories being submitted are just glorious.  I can't talk too much about what we're working on, since we don't want to ruin the surprise.  But seriously, this is going to be so much fun, and is laying the groundwork for further one-shots and an eventual campaign.