Dear Goodness.

[greenstorm]

Yoinked from Breklor:

http://www.twinkies.com/recipebox/index.asp?cmd=view&id=84

Oranges and fried bananas for breakfast!

Also, roleplay (live action):

So I've been through a couple of live-action sessions now. It's definitely a very, very different experience from text roleplaying. It's the kind of thing that makes me want to examine the word 'immersive' a bit. Usually, in MUSHing, I guess I'm immersed in a story. I'm playing my character, and I'm aware of context and other characters and whatnot to some degree, such that if something happens that's funny in an out-of-character way, I'll be amused, etc.

In LARPing, I'm immersed in the character. In some ways, this is kind of crappy. The character isn't thinking about the large-scale at all, and because I'm so immersed, I'm blind to all that. I'm blind to context, I'm blind to what's going on - all I have to think about is what my char's thinking about. Usually when I play MUSH characters, no matter how weird or eccentric or malevolent they are, I end up really liking my chars. I have a great deal of sympathy and compassion for them, even if they're out there eating babies or whatever.

In LARP, I don't have enough time in-character to see the motivations and forces at work and thus care about my char. I just react. So I'm playing a kind of unlikeable char right now, and in a lot of cases I just... am not terribly happy playing her. When I sit down and chat with people out of character about her, when there are gentler in-character moments, then she's okay. The rest of the time, though...

I think if there was a forum to talk more about it, it's go easier on me. Traditionally I've always been about half roleplay and half analysis anyhow.

Comments

[breklor.livejournal.com]

I loves me some LARPing :)

You don't have to like your character, you know. At least, not in the social sense - your character doesn't have to be someone you would take out for a beer. I've played characters that were dour, singleminded, or just plain unpleasant people to be around. Sometimes that's half the fun.

Although I can see your point that such a character would be difficult to "live in" in a LARP.

What game is it?

[greenstorm.livejournal.com]

I never 'like' my chars in the sense that I'd like to spend time with them in real life, and most of them wouldn't like me much either. There's ...the word I use in my own head is love, a sort of unconditional caring and understanding and empathy. Um... because I know a lot about them, not because they're in any sense good or nice people.

The thing about LARP is that the game doesn't innately allow me enough perspective to say, "Poor Volaya, she's being mean and bitter because she is conflicted over her nasty past, and that's why she's abusing her boyfriend." Instead I just get the abuse, because I'm too in her head to know about the perspective at the time, and the game (unlike the Chia MUSH) doesn't allow for that pull-back, look-at-the-bigger-picture that comes with either more knowledge or just discussion with the players afterwards.

I'm at Chris' LARP, http://www.quests-end.ca/

[breklor.livejournal.com]

Is that based on Werewolf (http://www.white-wolf.com/werewolf.html)?

My first-and-thus-far-only LARP character was a lot like me. I don't generally do that with RPG characters but for my first LARP I wanted something that would let me ease into the paradigm without having to juggle bizarre character traits.

I don't suppose there's... any more room in your LARP? :)

[greenstorm.livejournal.com]

You'd have to ask Chris, I think his website's on the page. It's based on white wolf's werewolf, with a recent system rewrite but the theme kept mostly the same, I think (have never learnt the whitewolf game). There are a lot of new players interested right now, but you could certainly start talking to him. The application process involves a lot of chatting. :)

[breklor.livejournal.com]

heh. :)

I don't know if I have time to take on a new game anyway; I was mostly just curious :) But perhaps I shall...

If you're interested...

[kurrs.livejournal.com]

Give this a gander...

http://bb.occult.ca/viewtopic.php?t=1479

And then feel free to e-mail me
storyteller quests-end ca

[greenstorm.livejournal.com]

Volissandain's an actual char 've played, and I do love her like crazy, f'rinstance. http://higiri.net/stuff/ssos.html

[breklor.livejournal.com]

Very kewl :) :)

[estrellada.livejournal.com]

how much background have you written/played out in your head for her? I find backstory really helps in relating to a character.

[greenstorm.livejournal.com]

There's a bunch of it. Mostly it's the fact that LARPing is 'too immersive' for the backstory, because in MUSH I'm remembering the character's backstory all the time, while in LARP I forget the backstory and just experience the current thing. When I have chances to connect back ot the backstory before/afterwards, then the perspective blooms out and it fits again.