On this week’s episode of The Gauntlet Podcast, I am joined by David LaFreniere and Shane Liebling to discuss our experiences at DEXCON 2017! We share some general thoughts about the Con, have an in-depth discussion of the Black Sunday, 1935 LARP, and talk about our favorite games we played, including Bedlam Beautiful, Witch: The Road to Lindisfarne, and Ten Candles!
Cc: Vincent Baker Meguey Baker Stephen Dewey Seraphina Ferraro
http://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/the-gauntlet-podcast/episode-111-dexcon-2017
I think the Seco Creek Vigilance Committee Kickstarter launches tomorrow. Keith Stetson?
I think the Seco Creek Vigilance Committee Kickstarter launches tomorrow. Keith Stetson?
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That is correct, Dylan Ross!
That is correct, Dylan Ross!
I am so thrilled to have been mentioned so favorably in this Podcast! And you picked out my favorite sessions to talk about as well. I can’t wait to play with all of you more. 🙂
I am so thrilled to have been mentioned so favorably in this Podcast! And you picked out my favorite sessions to talk about as well. I can’t wait to play with all of you more. 🙂
Also, David LaFreniere was such a good witch. I was so proud of how well you fooled me.
Also, David LaFreniere was such a good witch. I was so proud of how well you fooled me.
Thanks for the little shout-out as well! I really enjoyed playing Montsegur with you , Jason!
Thanks for the little shout-out as well! I really enjoyed playing Montsegur with you , Jason!
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A listener who was in our Black Sunday game posted this comment on the website and I thought I’d share here:
I played the school teacher during Black Friday game at Dexcon! I remember during character creation, on the townie side we had two religious archetypes and I think I fed the line “…but you read the bible” and they gloriously embraced that aspect for the rest of the game. I loved sitting in and listening to the philosophical debates go on. I couldn’t take too much of it but if you’re the reason it didn’t become heated yelling between the two, than you did a great job! The exchange of ideas during character creation between the townies and carnies definitely felt rushed to me. I think before a 3 hour game spending more than 5 minutes of the two sides communicating could have made for a more directed paths for where people wanted the story to go. The first idea exchange passed without me getting than a phrase about a relationship. I’ve only played a handful of LARPs, but a 20-person LARP is a large number (at least to me) for a game, especially for one without any pre-defined relationships. I find at this number, storylines tend to silo off unless a call to action can bring two parts colliding into each other or subtly influencing other parts. I remember hearing whispers about the bank impacting the lives of a few people, realizing I was powerless, but pushed me forward to save the students of the town. With no real structure to the game I approached it with a fiasco mentally of building up the story so it can burn it down in the second act. My character spent a lot of time trying to convince one student to stay and one to go, despite their intentions to do the opposite. I tried to seed those thoughts between parents and townies, and even as a point of dramatic irony, between the two students themselves to convince the other to go/not go. Sorry to hear about the stressful characters. I can relate to sometimes taking on stressful roles in LARPs. I think thats one of things I find most fascinating about freeform LARPs in general is you’re never quite sure how your emotional state will be impacted while you are the character. Obviously one doesn’t want to go from being stressed in their normal lives to being stressed in a pretend one, but with LARPs, more so than RPGs, there’s less of a sense of character detachment and more lowering of your guard. Tone is probably the biggest indicator for risk of “bleed”. Safety then becomes important in the same way it would in a game like Witch or Carry over Dungeon World. I do remember there being a quick safety discussion. I prefer those to the repeat-after-me ones that I hear so often, but especially at a Con with new people its probably worth all facilitators stressing those more. There should always be a check-in if someone is feeling discomfort and NEVER be any non-mutual contact. People certainly try and push their roles too much but ultimately the group is there for everyone to have fun. I absolutely loved the prayer/circus act duality that played out and had a great time during that game.
A listener who was in our Black Sunday game posted this comment on the website and I thought I’d share here:
I played the school teacher during Black Friday game at Dexcon! I remember during character creation, on the townie side we had two religious archetypes and I think I fed the line “…but you read the bible” and they gloriously embraced that aspect for the rest of the game. I loved sitting in and listening to the philosophical debates go on. I couldn’t take too much of it but if you’re the reason it didn’t become heated yelling between the two, than you did a great job! The exchange of ideas during character creation between the townies and carnies definitely felt rushed to me. I think before a 3 hour game spending more than 5 minutes of the two sides communicating could have made for a more directed paths for where people wanted the story to go. The first idea exchange passed without me getting than a phrase about a relationship. I’ve only played a handful of LARPs, but a 20-person LARP is a large number (at least to me) for a game, especially for one without any pre-defined relationships. I find at this number, storylines tend to silo off unless a call to action can bring two parts colliding into each other or subtly influencing other parts. I remember hearing whispers about the bank impacting the lives of a few people, realizing I was powerless, but pushed me forward to save the students of the town. With no real structure to the game I approached it with a fiasco mentally of building up the story so it can burn it down in the second act. My character spent a lot of time trying to convince one student to stay and one to go, despite their intentions to do the opposite. I tried to seed those thoughts between parents and townies, and even as a point of dramatic irony, between the two students themselves to convince the other to go/not go. Sorry to hear about the stressful characters. I can relate to sometimes taking on stressful roles in LARPs. I think thats one of things I find most fascinating about freeform LARPs in general is you’re never quite sure how your emotional state will be impacted while you are the character. Obviously one doesn’t want to go from being stressed in their normal lives to being stressed in a pretend one, but with LARPs, more so than RPGs, there’s less of a sense of character detachment and more lowering of your guard. Tone is probably the biggest indicator for risk of “bleed”. Safety then becomes important in the same way it would in a game like Witch or Carry over Dungeon World. I do remember there being a quick safety discussion. I prefer those to the repeat-after-me ones that I hear so often, but especially at a Con with new people its probably worth all facilitators stressing those more. There should always be a check-in if someone is feeling discomfort and NEVER be any non-mutual contact. People certainly try and push their roles too much but ultimately the group is there for everyone to have fun. I absolutely loved the prayer/circus act duality that played out and had a great time during that game.
As a larper (who is quite sad at the moment since he couldn’t make it to Just a Little Loving which started yesterday) I have a really good time listening to my favourite Gauntleteers discussing their larp experience.
As a larper (who is quite sad at the moment since he couldn’t make it to Just a Little Loving which started yesterday) I have a really good time listening to my favourite Gauntleteers discussing their larp experience.
Did you share the dice roller and corresponding charity?
Did you share the dice roller and corresponding charity?
Eadwin Tomlinson It’s in the notes.
Eadwin Tomlinson It’s in the notes.
Thanks – I thought the G+ post was the contents of the notes…
Thanks – I thought the G+ post was the contents of the notes…
It’s really good – Custom card decks would be my upgrade of choice! Will be using it in the next game though for sure!
It’s really good – Custom card decks would be my upgrade of choice! Will be using it in the next game though for sure!