Branching Out

[ladysprite]

I need to admit something here.

After 20+ years of being a purist when it comes to LARP - sticking exclusively to theater-style games, wanting nothing at all to do with live combat - I finally have to admit that there's fun to be found in boffer games.

I still have zero interest in actually participating in combat; my abuse history makes it so I just have a massive mental block against hitting people, even in pretend. And I'll probably never actually be an actual, formal player in any of the campaigns; despite most of the assertions that one can be fully involved in the game while never engaging in combat, it seems that that still means 'you can play the healer.' I get enough of that in my day job, thank you.

But I've lucked into a couple of groups out here that are willing to work around my anti-hitting-things policy to let me play as an NPC - picking up a handful of semi-scripted roles over the course of the weekend, to help drive the story. While I can't hit people, they're slowly learning that I can be their go-to girl for emotional gut-punches, driving plot, and providing color. And it's turned out to be a lot more fun than I anticipated.

Usually I like playing deep, complex, extended parts, but there's something kind of liberating about only needing to be in a given role for a couple of hours. And knowing that I'm going out for a specific purpose gets around a lot of my worries and anxiety about having my character be useful, or feeling like I'm pushing my way into a space where I'm unwelcome. Plus, it means I get to try a lot of roles that I normally wouldn't think of myself.

If anything, I feel a bit like I'm being catered to by the GM's, and I'm not sure why they put up with me. I'm an utter princess - I won't fight, I won't play scenes past 2am, I won't camp or stay onsite, I won't write my own scenes or characters, I do my best to avoid anything that would have me interacting with rules in any way. And yet they invite me back, and save the juiciest parts of the story for me (immortal Atlantean exile? scion of an alternate-reality Roman ruling family? literal nightmare fodder? Go for it!).

Whatever the reasons they indulge my whims and reward my unreasonable demands with more and shinier parts, I'll take it. (In fairness, this also means that I take parts that involve me standing in the biting cold near midnight, in a game with Actual Real Ghosts, playing a character with a sheet over my head like a Charlie Brown Halloween special, shouting 'BoooooOOOOooooo!' in an attempt to convince the players that I, too, am a fearsome spirit.)

Okay, that last bit was actually ridiculously awesome too. Sometimes the one true way to be cool is to embrace the dorkitude of a situation, and make everyone else wonder why they're not cool enough to have sheets on their head.

Anyway. Boffer larps. Not as bad, or as shallow, as I thought. Still not PC'ing, but I'm glad I got talked into at least joining in some way....

Comments

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

I think, as a GM, it is really useful to have someone who is interested in, and willing to take on, bit-parts and do them well. This gives a lot of flexibility, and if you have someone you can trust to do it well, you can then commit to more important/interesting bit parts, too.

Ok, I've only GMed one LARP-like game, but I did have someone who didn't want to play any of the main roles, but just be there for "helper" roles, and it was really helpful and awesome having this person around. (It was a White Wolf game called Long Live the King. )

[evcelt.livejournal.com]

The long-running boffer LARP I'm in (over 20 years of a continuous world- I just retired a PC I had been playing for 15 years!) has that kind of richness and depth and complexity... and they have a self-selected "noncombatant" category that both PCs and NPCs can use. It's a really good idea to have something like that; it increases the diversity of players and the flexibility of writing and roleplaying.

It doesn't always mean that non-combatant PCs get stuck as healers. Rather the opposite... my aforementioned PC was one of the main (magical) healers in the game, but he was also a former member of the church militant and pretty combat effective. Weird, really. ;-)

Glad you're having fun! I can just see you with the sheet over your head...

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

I don't know about most players but, often enough, players of RPGs want to be the heroes, the centers of attention, main cast. After all, if you're playing a game, why play a sidekick when you can be the star of the show? Finding players who like or even prefer being supporting cast and playing bit parts can be difficult so your volunteering to stand around with a sheet over your head is a godsend to the GMs.

[ladysprite.livejournal.com]

It's not like I'm the only cast member - there are usually at least a dozen or two of us. :) And most of the rest are a lot more versatile; they're willing to do combat and learn rules. I'm just... lucky, I guess.

[dornbeast.livejournal.com]

Maybe you're lucky.

Maybe you're bringing your theater-style LARP experience to the game, making the NPCs you play better than they have been.

Maybe the more versatile cast members do more, but you do this one thing better.

Maybe they're giving you more and shinier parts because you're making the parts work.

Maybe your standard for unreasonable demands is different from theirs.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

I'm sure the GMs appreciate having someone who can add more color to the story. Glad you're having fun!

Absolutely

[crash-mccormick.livejournal.com]

As a Theater Style LARPer who more or less inherited a boffer LARP chapter having NPC to do purely non-combat roles is a joy and a delight. Heck i'd pay for a few really good ones just to keep raising the roleplaying bar for my PCs.

So huzzah and may more folks help boost things. I envy that game for having you.