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LRP Review - BIF December 2008 |
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Written by Calliesky
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Sunday, 01 February 2009 |
Okay, so I don’t post much and I certainly don’t do reviews. But I’m gonna try this anyway.
Post Script – apologies for the length of this, in the words of
the elven Troubadour “I talk a lot and say very little”.
In very short: not the best story I have experienced at BIF but
certainly not the worst. A lot of effort put into the background and
setting but with little outside competitions to pique a player’s
interest.
Obviously a lot of preparation went into this weekend, a lot more
than is generally possible for most games. And the benefits of this
showed, but I don’t think it should be expected of every single event.
A full year’s training for individual NPC’s and the provision of a
large amount of personal equipment definitely improved the setting but
is probably unsustainable in the long run.
From a Player perspective this preparation included set pieces such
as the rather somewhat amusing archery target (a knight on horseback as
seen from the rear), the Duchy flags, retinue colours, shield emblems,
distinctive costumes for many NPC’s and the tourney area itself. On
every one of these I say congratulations, it all improved the
atmosphere despite the weather.
Well, there was one problem with atmosphere. Yes it would be great
to have the entire event outdoors, but under such weather conditions I
think it was a bad move to outlaw use of the wonderfully warm and dry
hall. The outdoor tavern was good, but it could not house all the
players at once, let alone them plus the numerous full time NPCs
constantly among us. Had chairs or furniture been added to the large
bell tent as well there may have been decent shelter for all within the
tourney area, but that hall would have provided the chance for players
(and NPCs) to dry off and gather to exchange information. I believe one
reason why some stories did not play out was lack of player interaction
amongst themselves. With no where to sit and chat comfortably and
privately some story pieces were not discussed and may have contributed
to the disjointed nature on the stories’ unfolding. If such a resource
is there, use it!
Other preparation . . . costumes were great, as was the use of so
much armour – I think this was entirely private equipment leant to the
club. Looked good anyway. Hope it doesn’t rust easily . . .
That year of training showed amongst many of the NPCs too. The
distinction between the two groups of NPCs (NPC and ‘monsters’) was
clear right from the start, and while it did make for great immersion I
often felt very sorry for the ‘monsters’. They could not take shelter
with the rest of us and seemed to spend a lot of time watching events
from afar, either as a scouting orc or simply from the monster hut.
Having them serve at dinner helped greatly in making it into a truly
feasting atmosphere, but again I would be perfectly happy to serve
myself or my table in character to give the hard working guys a break.
As for the NPC side — the Knights, Squires and Steward — well done
all round. I think only once in the entire weekend did any NPC have to
check with a GM for an answer when I asked a question of them. And
believe me I asked a lot of
questions. Full backgrounds and political knowledge made for great
interactions, and characterisation up kept the entire time by all the
knights meant that one’s change of personality was immediately
noticeable.
Alright, the meat of the matter. The story is really what I come
to LARP for, it’s what makes or breaks any game. I would be perfectly
happy to come to an event that had absolutely no NPC costume, no feast
or set dressing (and have in fact been to and really enjoyed one such
event). Fantasy is all about imagination, and if one can’t use this to
fill in any of these gaps then one may as well go paintballing or such.
Story — there was one, or three in the Writers accounting.
The only one I found or participated in was the Tourney itself.
Like most people on Friday night I investigated the basis of the event,
spoke with each Knight and chose a side. I found it very difficult to
understand why any of the PC’s had been invited at all, but having been
asked it seemed kinda rude to say no. That being done the entire
weekend became focussed on the competitions of the Tourney, to the
absolute exclusion of all other events. Admittedly my retinue had
severe personnel difficulties throughout the weekend, with one fighter
killed on the first morning by an orc attack and another in the evening
battle. The sheer number of competitions did indeed allow little time
for anything else, and I must agree that should it be attempted again
the event – event – event – large break model would be better. Perhaps
the number of competitions themselves could have been reduced, but all
that is past now. In review I feel that there was so much focus on the
Tourney that it actively precluded pursuit of any other story. I heard
in passing of the ancient alter and its writings, but had no chance
whatsoever to go out and look for myself, and if there were any other
storylines available within sight of the Tourney grounds I was
completely oblivious. So, many competitions later came the feast and
ball.
The ball was great, something very different that added to the
festive or noble nature of the weekend. The feast was good too – chefs
must have worked very hard, and thanks to the ‘monster’ servers too.
The battle on Saturday night was truly scary. I don’t know its exact
purpose, but from this poor non-fighter’s point of view it was more
than deadly. If the point was to scare the be-jeezus out of the players
then it worked. I do not blame any of the characters who chose to run,
and am truly surprised that only two characters died. I understand that
my perspective may be skewed as I apparently only tangled with the more
powerful monsters, but faced with an opposing force whose numbers
almost equalled our own and whose individual power on average exceeded
that of the players I too gave serious thought to fleeing. If it was
meant to be unwinnable, well done. If not, maybe a closer review of the
PCs present may be required before deciding on the power level with
which to face them. I know that the monster chasing me was essentially
‘called off’, and that was after it had killed me (all hail the mages
who saved more than one life in that battle). I don’t know if there was
any other re-writes mid battle, but it was clear this did not go the
way anyone expected. At this point I believe at least one more
storyline came into effect, but as to me it was only hearsay I can’t
comment. By the time it was all over the best I can say is that the
loyalty the NPC Knights had managed to engender in at least some of the
players is all that kept the entire camp from fleeing altogether. It
kept me lying in wet grass for two hours ‘playing possum’ to ensure
their survival, and that is the highest praise I can give those NPCs.
The fact that the morning bought an instant return to competitions
with barely a nod to the events of the night was a major let down.
Okay, so the Tourney must continue despite all interruptions, but it
felt more like someone had just changed the channel from an action
movie back to a reality challenge program. “The Duke will come and take
care of everything” was the explanation, whilst the PCs were to return
to the endless bouts in the ring. Maybe this was the time other
storylines were meant to be played out, I don’t know, and yes the
challenges on Sunday were more difficult owing to the fact that
retinues were depleted, my own having lost over half its members by
then. The Duke arrived, many congratulations to the PCs, end of story.
A very abrupt end to a story in which the PCs had not the chance to
achieve anything on their own.
A few comments on the competitions and their judging. Overall I
thought the judging was good, leaving it to one person to decide gave
the event a little more realism. Yes we lost the competition we thought
we most deserved, the open craft. I have no idea what criteria was
involved in this and can only conclude that a character’s skill level
must have been taken into account in this instance rather than player
effort. Yet in each case that my team won a competition it was
unexpected, and based entirely on player ability rather than character
points (indeed, one did one’s best to roleplay a complete lack in a
skill and still won that competition).
I understand that the difficulties in the RogRog hunt arose from
players wanting to use character skills. My team really enjoyed that
event and from our perspective it worked fine. We made a conscious
decision not to use the individual character skills we possessed,
having seen that there was no way GMs could effectively take these into
account, and instead approached the task as a team. I think if it had
been run one team at a time it could have been a great contest, and I
look forward to seeing it re-written into a future event.
I think that some clearer distinctions would need to be made if another
such competition based story was to be run. When and how character
skills would be used versus player skills (example the craft, archery,
some of the fighting bouts); more time allowed for PCs to simply be
themselves, to share information and plan; and to have a clear
timetable of which competitions would be held so that PCs could know
when and where they are needed.
Overall, I had a good time, and I think most others did as well. I
don’t rate weekends in stars or numbers, but rather I compare each
event to all the others I have attended. Of the thirteen BIF events I
can recall I would rate this around seventh, maybe eighth (7/ 13, as in a little above the average.) — not the
best story I remember but certainly not the worst. A lot of effort put
into the background and setting but with little outside competitions to
pique a player’s interest.
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