Some thoughts on Writing a Larp.

Thinking about and working on the 4x larp rules set is interesting to me. Unfortunately it seems like it's not very interesting to many other folks. It is beginning to feel like too much work for too little audience. But it would be a shame to abandon the project completely. In the parlance of Entrepreneurship, time to pivot.

House and Character Preparation for a 4x Larp

Hypothetically you're joining a 4x larp. You've collected a number of friends, formed a house, and have decided what the general outline of the story for that house is... But what are the Houses from a rules perspective? Why are they formed, and what do they accomplish in game?

Relational Character design in a 4x larp.

Applying 4x to combat larp changes the perspective of play. Most larps focus on the individual player/persona combination as the fundamental unit of game play. Scenes, mods, plot lines, story what have you is all based on individual characters concepts. For this larp we're going to take a step back and have the House be the basic unit of character recognized by the game system. So lets take a look back at Relational Character Design in Larp, and use that to build the foundation of character creation in a 4x larp.

Siege Damage in a 4x larp.

The basis of Hit Location Larp is that all weapons deal one point of damage. No matter how experienced or how strong a players persona is, they still only deal one point of damage. What about portraying a character with "The Strength of 10 men", or a monstrous troll that attacks not with clubs but with whole tree's? Siege damage, or damage caused by massive weapons is the representation of massive damage. The combination of 4x larp and Siege damage should be interesting. Let's take a look.

Thoughts on Saftey

We've already discussed the specifics of safety during interactions between two players, but what about at the event level? When running an event some additional safety concerns arise. An event holder needs to be prepared. At the moment I'm not actually ready to write rules of safe play for a 4x larp. But here's what I think is important when writing considering writing safety rules.

Getting Started in 4x larp.

How does getting up and running in a 4x larp differ from getting started in a combat larp? There are many posts on /r/reddit asking for help getting started with larp. So many that I made my own getting started post, so I didn't have to keep repeating the same info. So lets head off that inevitable question by discussing how to get started with a 4x larp.

4x larp Event Template

Communicating a game idea is difficult, especially before play testing. Perhaps my intro did not help explain the concept of the 4x larp. There are tons of details that need ironing out. It might be helpful to walk through a 4x combat larp event, as I envision it at the moment. First we'll need to mention Event Write ups.

Why a 4x larp?

Larp Guidebooks or rule books have introductions which give the player an idea of what kind of game they are getting themselves into. For inexperience players most larps additionally have to answer the question "What is Larp?" This is super tiring, and has been done better by others. Leaving Mundania answers the basic question, and leaves us free to address what this game is doing differently. So let's introduce players to the 4x larp concept.

4x Larp Index

This post is going to function as an index page for a 4x larp guide book. It's a bit of a dry post, but a necessary one. As a work in progress it's going to change over time. Each section will get linked as it's written and fill in over time. What needs clarification? What needs to be cleaned up? What do you want to know more about? There will probably be a 'guidebook' version on a static page, which will have titles/headings which are less like a blog post, and more like a book. Here is the general outline as it stands right now.

2 methods for Resource Gathering in a 4x Larp

While thinking about building and play testing the 4x larp concept it occurred to me that the collection of resources is unnecessary. Earning resources from holding territory doesn't impact actual game play very much. It wouldn't change many tactical decisions, or add tension to combat. Collecting resources seemed like a tacked on concept with didn't really matter... So I removed it. And then I had a brilliant idea.

Concept: Larp + 4x

What would a larp be like if there were a strategic layer of activity above the combat itself? Would that help role playing? More importantly would that be fun? Would people get involved with the game because it contains that aspect? Here are some ideas about what a larp would be like if concepts from 4x strategy games were added.