Still recovering from my event , but have a couple hours to kill at the airport so thought I’d write about the 2018 Alliance LARP National Event.
Location
Was at the Sky High Ranch at Woodland Park, Colorado. This site was huge. I do not have the exact measurements but it was at least a mile in one direction and perhaps half a mile in the other. Had very clear defined paths with a few deer trails. There were a few groupings of buildings – making it almost feel like separate sections of a frontier city. The sheer acreage though meant that to get from one section to another could take anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes, depending upon where you were starting from.
Most of the cabins were just wooden buildings without electricity or even windows but I saw a couple that had lights and glass – not sure if these were ‘special’ buildings that weren’t meant for sleeping in. And the obligatory ‘tavern’ was one of the more ‘rustic’ looking ones with solid wooden tables, benches and not a great deal of camp decorations. Lighting was done by holiday string lights along the ceiling but it never detracted from the environment.
The paths would vary from being almost level to having some steep inclines. And the main stairway that led from the parking lot (which was completely out of view unless you went to the buildings on the other side of the lot – and then the cars were once more out of sight) was so steep it was literally named “Cardiac Hill”. I have suffered leg strain before at games but by the second day, I couldn’t squat more than a few inches without pain burning through my quadriceps. Now take into account with that that I’m from the San Francisco Bay Area which is basically at sea level and this site was at an altitude of 8,300 feet so I’m sure between this and my constant hunting in the woods for things added to that pain.
Altitude sickness was something that had to be taken into consideration . A couple of times my legs went wobbly and there were a few times I became more agitated than normal. But I was extremely careful to pace myself with breathing, running, hiking, etc. And a constant intake of water helped out immensely.
The only real issue I had was one of comfort – and that was the facilities. There were rumor of showers that could be available but I don’t know where they were as they were not allowed to be used (I believe due to the possibility of freezing the pipes). In addition, I think there was only one modern toilet on site that was also off limits because the last time it was allowed at an event, players clogged it beyond use. There were a couple of ‘modern’ outhouses that weren’t too bad (you had to bring a light in) but for the most part, it was a piece of plywood with a hole in it covered by a toilet seat. But as I spent very little time in them compared to the rest of the event, it wasn’t too much of a distraction from the game.
Plot
The game itself is what we are there for. Putting on one for over a dozen different chapters has its inherent issues. The designers tend to have minimal, if any, background what the other chapters are doing story wise. There are quite often major differences in culture, tactics and even some rules variants that to put them all into one single game would be a monstrous undertaking. So the story of a new shard being found and those that attended decided to help with the investigation and exploration of it makes it a very simple design for reasons and goals ito be there. And it was also done with a good deal of methodology. A rough topographical map was presented with a five by five grid on it and as the Scouts (more about them later) did their reconnaissance of the grid area, a tile of areas of interest was inserted onto the map and then investigative adventure parties were created and headed on out. This system worked very well as it kept a large number of players (over 110 I believe) moving and involved. The logistics area had a flag system where if a green banner was flying, it meant they were free for any adventures or requests from players. Yellow meant that they had one or two events currently underway but could probably handle a simple request and red meant that resources were all but unavailable due to them entertaining so many players.
So when an event/mod was ready, a Scout would approach the players, inform them that the other scouts had cleared most of the way for them and they could now go investigate the tower or swamp or river or whatever else might have been a point of interest. I only went on a few of these events (I believe about four) but they were good. The NPC’s seemed to know what they needed to do, the balance of the fights seemed good or perhaps a bit in the player’s favor but there was a lot of things that happened in these battles that tend to rarely happen in other games I attend. First, my ‘special’ attacks worked. The “Terminate” ability allows me to throw a weapon at someone and if it hits them, they immediately drop to zero points and are rendered unconscious, bleeding out. Most of the time though, a defense is called to block it. Magic Armor, Dodge, Cloak, Phase, etc. But when I hit the bad ;guy with it, he went down without a whimper. I even heard that the Big Bad Guy of the even did not have a magic armor of his own which meant that he was able to be simply knocked out by someone who was able to be sneaky enough to hit him from behind.
In addition, fighting was almost always never the only option. Talking about nature, offering trade for things, negotiating, showing someone a better way to do things or even reciting a piece of lore was enough to allow players to complete their objective without bloodshed. Not that there weren’t fights but to have that second option is also, from my experiences, a rarity. And with the big bad battle the last night of the event, something happened that I cannot remember when, if ever, seeing it at a game like Alliance LARP. The… I’d say 2 hour continuous battle went down without a single major hold being called. There were a couple of short, minor ones for rules clarifications or to just quickly make sure someone knew that they got hit with something but never was there a battle wide hold.
And despite there being battles, there were also “puzzles” to solve, from finding the tenants of nobility to freeing souls trapped within a stone for centuries to finding and cataloging strange bronze plaques of nature scenes created by Hoblings – a race that is not native to the shard. This gave a depth to the game and a history to want to explore. And, on a personal preference note, they had quite a few rogue encounters. I picked more locks at this event than I have in the last dozen. Oh, and there was a fae ‘party’ in the tavern that was a whole set of puzzles and riddles to figure out in a certain time period. Children as well as adults worked well to get it done in a rather chaotic cohesive way that ended the encounter with a lot of fun, party like energy.
The People
None of this matters though if the people attending the event don’t breathe both life and fun into it. And they did this – from the chapter owner to the newest player, they were fantastic. Staying in character wasn’t an issue for them and it was a rarity that people broke it – outside of game clarifications that is. And when clarifications were needed, they were made quickly and politely. People were friendly and helpful and many of the players held various parties and gatherings to help increase not only the atmosphere of the game but the mood of the people as well. As with every game, we always thank the NPC’s but I want to point out at this game that I rarely saw an NPC stuttering or looking for a GM when a player asked a sideways question. They went with what they felt their character would say and do and it so helped to feel that you were talking to a rat person and not just someone playing one.
Well that’s it. Hope this sleep dep report was entertaining to read.
Editor note – This is late in being published as I’ve been working non-stop since returning from the game and today is the first day that I had to check the report for spelling errors – but I didn’t change any of it to keep that ‘immediate afterglow’ reporting.