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Shade's LARP List :: View topic - Ecology for Artifice LARP
To begin with, I chose White Wolf's Dark Ages Mage as the premise of Artifice because the mage Fellowships had conflict written into them. Conflict is the bread and butter of any LARP, in my opinion, and the Fellowships are described as being at odds with each other based on philosophical and magic practice differences.
The Circle of Red, which is normally not a player Fellowship, adds a group that must rely on disguise and lies to survive as they would be destroyed by the other Fellowships for summoning and worshiping foul spirits to the earth. The Circle of Red represents personal corruption.
Because of the time period, vampire Clans Tremere, Giovanni, and Lhiannon are available. The Tremere are engaged in warfare with the Order of Hermes mages, seeking to kill or embrace them all. Giovanni are merchants who seek after any power they can get their hands on, and since they were once mages themselves, they know where to look. Lhiannan are druidic, once-Old Faith mages who believe the island town the game takes place belongs to them, and they are quite territorial.
The Fenrir and Shadow Lord werewolf Tribes believe the town belongs to them because of the presence of the Cray, a place of magical power. They especially despise mages and vampires Fenrir and Shadow Lords do not generally get along, but they may work together against the Black Spiral Dancers, who wish to taint the Cray.
The Umbrood, or spirits, are really there as 'tools' for the mage, vampire and werewolf characters to use against themselves. But the Umbrood can act on their own, since they too are played by players.
The game takes place in a small town called Douglas on the Isle of Mann. In 1230, the Isle of Mann didn't really belong to any country, though the surrounding Ireland and England stake a claim over it. Even the Norseman (Valdaerman and Fenrir) believe the Isle belongs to them. Because of this, there is no set 'standard coin' provided to the players, nor is there a set of medieval laws handed down from a king. The economy is barter, and the players are encouraged to use it or even introduce coin if they like. The laws are at least 'don't kill, don't steal' sort of laws, and the players are to decide what laws they want, who enforces it, and how punishments are done. In short, the players create the town by the characters they play.
The Cray is the center of the game, at least to start with. The Cray is a place at the campsite surrounded by cabins that players can stay in. Anyone can use the Cray to perform rituals and step into the spiritworld, but only if the Cray is dedicated to that person's faction. So there will be those who want to have the Cray under their watch...I foresee some battles over it.
Joined: Aug 24, 2002 Posts: 746 Location: New England
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 9:30 am Post subject:
I don;t knwo why. But I thought Clan Toreador would be available.. Sorry I am heavily biased when it comes to my favorite Clan. _________________ Just when you thought the worse was over. Here I am. :0)
Joined: Oct 17, 2003 Posts: 264 Location: Seattle, WA
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 10:43 am Post subject:
Nat can correct me if I'm wrong, but as this is a game based around mages and magic she wanted to keep non-mage groups to those who could effectively affect such or are tied to such because of their background.
Toreodor are available in the game she's run Mortal Tears and that is continuing on under the name Shadow Accord.
Joined: Aug 24, 2002 Posts: 746 Location: New England
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 10:49 am Post subject:
[quote="dicemistress"]Nat can correct me if I'm wrong, but as this is a game based around mages and magic she wanted to keep non-mage groups to those who could effectively affect such or are tied to such because of their background.
Toreodor are available in the game she's run Mortal Tears and that is continuing on under the name Shadow Accord.
- Amber E.[/quote]
I was commenting on what Tailana said. *shrug* But that's ok. _________________ Just when you thought the worse was over. Here I am. :0)
Joined: May 21, 2004 Posts: 221 Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 11:52 am Post subject:
While there are many Clans that exist in the Dark Ages, Toreador being one of them, Tremere, Giovanni, and Lhiannan have ties to mages in some way. Hence why just those three Clans are available in Artifice. I should have said that in my initial post
The same goes for the Werewolf Tribes in Artifice. The Fenrir believe the Valderman mages are evil because they worship Odin. The Shadow Lords will work with any creature to accomplish their goals, and are known to form alliances with mages. The Black Spiral Dancers have a loose alliance with the Circle of Red, they have similar goals.
Another thing about the Isle of Mann that I worked on for Artifice specifically. The general knowledge of the island was that it was ruled by the Fae, and because of their magic, the Fae altered the fabric of reality in minor ways. While it offers some really interesting quirks, I did this to explain the rules,. The rules are so different from typical White Wolf that the players need an IG explanation for them since the rules do effect how their characters interact. This will also hopefully deter the folks who know WoD rules like the back of their hand from wondering why the rules doesn't follow what they know. If that makes sense... _________________ Club Crimson: a Vampire Nerf game - http://www.biomechine.net/clubcrimson/
Frontiers: a Western Steampunk game - http://www.biomechine.net/frontiers/
Joined: Aug 24, 2002 Posts: 746 Location: New England
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 12:04 pm Post subject:
[quote="Tailanna"]While there are many Clans that exist in the Dark Ages, Toreador being one of them, Tremere, Giovanni, and Lhiannan have ties to mages in some way. Hence why just those three Clans are available in Artifice. I should have said that in my initial post
The same goes for the Werewolf Tribes in Artifice. The Fenrir believe the Valderman mages are evil because they worship Odin. The Shadow Lords will work with any creature to accomplish their goals, and are known to form alliances with mages. The Black Spiral Dancers have a loose alliance with the Circle of Red, they have similar goals.
Another thing about the Isle of Mann that I worked on for Artifice specifically. The general knowledge of the island was that it was ruled by the Fae, and because of their magic, the Fae altered the fabric of reality in minor ways. While it offers some really interesting quirks, I did this to explain the rules,. The rules are so different from typical White Wolf that the players need an IG explanation for them since the rules do effect how their characters interact. This will also hopefully deter the folks who know WoD rules like the back of their hand from wondering why the rules doesn't follow what they know. If that makes sense...[/quote]
Thank you for the info. _________________ Just when you thought the worse was over. Here I am. :0)
Joined: Jul 12, 2002 Posts: 1060 Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 5:34 pm Post subject:
Awesome, thanks Nat.
That sounds like a great setup in terms of the factions. They have a lot of reasons to be at the location, and reasons to interact with members of other factions.
The Red Circle seems like a great "Enemy Within" inter-factional secret group, and it's great to see it represented by PCs. This is a core aspect of player-driven larp, I think, that all the groups in conflict are played by players, so that the feedback loops of interaction are player-driven, rather than having GMs or NPCs in the middle making calls about what would be "appropriate" for the game. It creates a dynamic simulaton of the setting, where players are all on an equal footing in attempting to interact with the network of other players to achieve their goals.
Inter-factional groupings are a great way to stop play decending into pure factional conflict. For example, the UK larp Maelstrom has countries that are in conflict, but then characters from those countries can also belong to trade groups (Trading Houses) and religions that in some cases cut across country boundaries. This creates nuanced factionalisation, where members of "enemy" countries may also be allies in terms of trade or religion. If the factionalisation is too clear-cut, the game may lean towards factions just wiping each other out - which is okay now and then, but constant warfare doesn't provide as many opportunities for roleplay as delicate negotiation, and constant PC death leads to player disaffection and a thinly-developed setting.
What rule mechanics do you have in place to support the simulation? I noticed that the Cray can be used for various purposes, including some sort of mana harvesting, is that right? By mana I mean whatever mechanic you'll be using to power magical abilities. Will their be a kind of mana economy among the players, and is mana transferrable? If so, you may find that mana will become the default currency. That's the kind of thing I mean by mechanics that support the simulation - if mana is transferrable, a lot of interactions will spring out of its trade. The same thing will happen if some people are capable of trading any sort of resource, or transforming one type of resource into another. Interactions will spring up out of the desire to have value added to resources by specialists, much like in the real-world economy.
Do you have any secret "levers" built into the setting, ways that the PCs can discover to manipulate the setting? When such "world mechanics" cause flow-on effects on other PCs, they become part of the dynamic simulation of the setting, creating another form of feedback loop in the interactions. For instance, if a PC or group can alter the setting to their mechanical advantage, then other PCs or groups who become aware of this will attempt to also change it to their advantage, and an ongoing struggle can ensure. Is there anything of this sort built in?
I like the sound of the Umbrood characters being "used" by other characters. This sounds very much like an mechanical ecology, because it gives the Umbrood PCs an ongoing reason to be interacting with the other PC types. If other PC types were able to perhaps empower or transform the Umbrood in some way, that would further enhance this effect, giving the Umbrood reasons to want to be "used" and to form alliances with specific "users". This sort of "client relationship" has a lot of potential for haggling, cooperation, relationship building, betrayal, and vengeance for betrayal.
I think that a mixture of mechanical reasons for PCs to interact with non-mechanical "colour" reasons (like the factionalisation) can make for a great setting simulation, where PCs are part of a sort of boiling stew of PC-PC interaction that feels grounded in the setting and doesn't require GM intervention to keep things moving.
The advantage of simulation larps of this sort for GMs is that they run themselves, and can more easily be scaled up to larger sizes.
From the players perspective, the advantage is that there is no GM fiat. The PC can attempt to do anything, including attempting large-scale changes to the setting, and the result of that attempt is entirely based on the reactions of other PCs. Thus the player has the satisfaction of knowing that the success of their actions will depend on their skills at working the setting and the other PCs, not on whether the GMs think it's a good idea. Also, there aren't any NPCs to interact with who feel like two-dimensional advocates of GM plot, everyone is a fully-realised character who is in the same position as you. NPCs often feel somewhat artificial.
Joined: May 21, 2004 Posts: 221 Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 1:37 pm Post subject:
Your welcome, BaronBlackRose and Ryan
To answer Ryan's questions...
'Mana' or Essence as it called in the game, is transferable amongst certain faction types. The Djinn, for example, can only drain essence from other character's that have chosen to be a follower to that Djinn. Hence a Djinn wants to try to get as many followers as possible to enlarge their resources. There are several different ways for characters to refill their Essence and it either involves draining other characters or destroying certain items that are replaced by characters with the right skill.
As for players changing their environment, the town the characters exist in does not have a preset foundation of law and order. Its like a clean slate that is open for players to build themselves. I know of a group of players that are planning on establishing the tavern and inn. Another group wants to set up law and attempt to enforce it, and yet another is looking forward to establishing merchant trades in armor, rituals, weapons, etc. and all of this is a breeding ground for the criminals to interact with. I foresee in-character arguments over how all this should be accomplished. All of these actions will be noticed by all the players of the game, and I believe that it is much more satisfying to actually see the fruits of your role-play labor.
Joined: Jul 12, 2002 Posts: 1060 Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 8:12 pm Post subject:
Quote:
'Mana' or Essence as it called in the game, is transferable amongst certain faction types.
Cool, that sounds like a "yes".
Quote:
As for players changing their environment, the town the characters exist in does not have a preset foundation of law and order. Its like a clean slate that is open for players to build themselves.
And that sounds like a "no", at least in the sense I was meaning. That sounds like roleplay-based environment changes. What I was meaning was mechanics-based environment changes. An example would be if the Cray was able to be changed into various states by PCs, and those different states would have game mechanics effects. For example changes to the Cray might in turn change the availability of essence to the different factions, or be used to uncover surprising information that changes how the factions see each other, or make the Cray able to be used for new purposes, such as transforming one type fo character into another or crafting a new type of item.
Joined: May 21, 2004 Posts: 221 Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 8:25 pm Post subject:
Ah I get you and it is a "yes". There is a ritual that dedicates the Cray to a faction meaning only that faction can then use the Cray. Characters can change the dedication or get rid of it or share the dedication with one other faction.
The cray can also be used to step into the Umbra, and as a ritual circle for performing rites and summoning Umbrood. Points costs are lowered if the Cray is used.
However, the Cray is really the only place in the game where that happens, but the Cray is meant to be the focal point of conflict between the factions. _________________ Club Crimson: a Vampire Nerf game - http://www.biomechine.net/clubcrimson/
Frontiers: a Western Steampunk game - http://www.biomechine.net/frontiers/
Joined: May 21, 2004 Posts: 221 Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:33 am Post subject:
[quote="Magpiebones"]The Giovanni were never mages. Necromancers yes, but never mages.[/quote]
Thats the beauty of the old World of Darkness...there are so many source books that in many cases there doesn't seem to be a right answer. Giovanni were once mages in one place, and in another they were sorcerers, and in another they were just humans. In short, there is no real right answer, its whatever works best for your game _________________ Club Crimson: a Vampire Nerf game - http://www.biomechine.net/clubcrimson/
Frontiers: a Western Steampunk game - http://www.biomechine.net/frontiers/
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