Sunday, February 13, 2005

What I learnt about Lorien Trust

Last night I attended my first Lorien Trust rubber sword LARP event. Previously, I've only been involved in F&H, which in all honesty I preferred, but possibly only because I was 18 at the time... There were a few lessons about the system that I picked up.

1. Never play a non-human. Non-human characters get a bunch of weapons that do extra damage to them alone, and a bunch of people who will try to kill you before they've talked to you. (Actual quote : "It's nothing personal, I just hate all Fey.") In return, you get no advantages at all.

2. Always play as part of a big group. People spend most of their time either talking within their group, or having high-level discussions between big groups. Possibly there's an exception here if your character (er, "monster") is part of the big plot TM. Even repeatedly offering unconditional help and support to a group will be ignored.

3. Everything is about combat. Seriously, you can play a fighter (do combat), a healer (heal people after combat) or a spell-caster (field artillery). There is no scope at all in the system for interesting powers which cannot be used in combat.

4. Plot is only for big groups. The chances of anyone else finding out enough of what is going on to be helpful is pretty minimal.

Roughly, my game break down was about an hour settling in, half an hour trying to play the character concept I'd come in with, three and a half hours flirting (mainly with just two people), and an hour alternately trying to find the plot and avoiding Claire or I getting killed for chosing the "wrong" race. Somehow I doubt I'll bother again.

[<< Today I have...] [Identity Theft >>]