Question about Vampire LARP

[GoblinGilmartin]

So, I've been looking more and more into VtM. And i got to wondering about VTM LARPs. Specifically a Larp in my area (Seattle, Western Washington), but if no one knows about it, just general info will do.

What happens at one?
How in character do people get?
If you sign up, are you allowed to be casual about it? like, not show up every time?
Where do they usually happen?
How many people are usually involved?
Are the Larps overseen by White wolf or connected in any way?
I've looked up some people who have been playing for years. How do you fit in with them? Will you get kicked aside? I saw a video (Spoony Experiment) on Vampire larp and how it's hard to get in.
Do you need another player to Sire you?
Sorry I asked so many questions, just none of the gamers in my area are VtM-ers, and it's hard to get an accurate read from google.

edit: could i start my own larp? I live out of the way of the conflict zone, in Everettm about 30 miles north.

[Kesnit]

I cannot speak for the particular one in your area, but in general...


What happens at one?

Whatever the storyteller and players devise. Since this is an existing game, there will be established plots. If you decide to go, finding those plots should be easy (or at least, finding some of them will be), so get yourself involved in those that would interest your character.

As for how people act in general, its like being in a play without a script. You become your character and do and say what your character would do. There will also likely be an OOC area.


How in character do people get?

Depends on the person. Some people will wear elaborate costumes, speak with accents, etc. Others wear normal clothes and put on stickers to describe their character.


If you sign up, are you allowed to be casual about it? like, not show up every time?

LARP is a hobby. RL is RL. Hobbies should never interfere with RL. If you get there and find the group demands you show up every game, get out.

That said, you will likely only get XP for games you show up for (though you may also get some XP for sending in downtime actions between games). So it is in your interest to show up when you can so you can develop your character.


Where do they usually happen?

The ones around here play at people's houses. I know of a group that plays at a coffee house after business hours and another that gets rooms on a college campus.


How many people are usually involved?

Depends on the group. The LARP community here draws in 20-40 people per game, but I live in a major metropolitan area. (Those are also the number for nWoD games. I don't play oWoD, so don't know how many people do.)


Are the Larps overseen by White wolf or connected in any way?

Depends. White Wolf has cut its connection to the LARP groups, but there are nationwide organizations of LARP. You could also be looking at a troupe game. If the game is run by Mind's Eye Society (formerly the Camerilla), that's a national group. (There are others, but that is the one I am most familiar with.)


I've looked up some people who have been playing for years. How do you fit in with them? Will you get kicked aside? I saw a video (Spoony Experiment) on Vampire larp and how it's hard to get in.

This depends on the players. My fiancee has played in several different locations and never had a problem being accepted. However, you have to take some steps yourself. If you hide in a corner all evening, you are much less likely to fit in than if you mingle and talk.


Do you need another player to Sire you?

If it's an MES game, no. If its a troupe game, they may require a PC sire. (Not likely, though.)


edit: could i start my own larp? I live out of the way of the conflict zone, in Everettm about 30 miles north.

You can start a troupe game, which requires nothing more than finding players and a site. If you want to start a chapter of one of the national groups, you will need to talk to the established groups out there. (Most likely, you would be linked as a chapter under an established group.)

[The Glyphstone]

So, I've been looking more and more into VtM. And i got to wondering about VTM LARPs. Specifically a Larp in my area (Seattle, Western Washington), but if no one knows about it, just general info will do.

What happens at one?
How in character do people get?
If you sign up, are you allowed to be casual about it? like, not show up every time?
Where do they usually happen?
How many people are usually involved?
Are the Larps overseen by White wolf or connected in any way?
I've looked up some people who have been playing for years. How do you fit in with them? Will you get kicked aside? I saw a video (Spoony Experiment) on Vampire larp and how it's hard to get in.
Do you need another player to Sire you?
Sorry I asked so many questions, just none of the gamers in my area are VtM-ers, and it's hard to get an accurate read from google.

edit: could i start my own larp? I live out of the way of the conflict zone, in Everettm about 30 miles north.

Kesnit covered most of it pretty well.



What happens at one?
How in character do people get?

Whatever the storyteller and players devise. Since this is an existing game, there will be established plots. If you decide to go, finding those plots should be easy (or at least, finding some of them will be), so get yourself involved in those that would interest your character.

As for how people act in general, its like being in a play without a script. You become your character and do and say what your character would do. There will also likely be an OOC area.
There will almost always be a designated OOC zone. When you're in the IC zone, you're typically expected to stay IC.


If you sign up, are you allowed to be casual about it? like, not show up every time?
It's a hobby, not a job. As far as the MES goes, as long as your membership is current ($20/year), you can show up to as many games as you want, or as few, though you're limited in how much total XP you can acquire monthly. For the most part, showing up to game means you get involved in plot and earn XP to further advance your character, but you are not at all required to attend, and you can easily stay up-to-date and involved via email/IRC RP.


Where do they usually happen?
How many people are usually involved?
Our local domain meets in two places. For Old World, we play in a sitting room/lounge on my college campus, a space signed out monthly by the school's gaming club. We tend around 20-25 people per game. Our NWoD game is hosted by one of the players in his house, not far outside the city. I run that game, but it's much less popular locally, we never have over 10 players.


Are the Larps overseen by White wolf or connected in any way?

Depends. White Wolf has cut its connection to the LARP groups, but there are nationwide organizations of LARP. You could also be looking at a troupe game. If the game is run by Mind's Eye Society (formerly the Camerilla), that's a national group. (There are others, but that is the one I am most familiar with.)
White Wolf is no longer involved directly, so there's a few types of games:
1) Troupe games. Just the local players hanging out and LARPing together. Every troupe game is completely unique in what rules they use, what XP system they follow, etc., so if it's a troupe game you're looking at, you have to talk to the head storyteller or one of the players.
2) One World By Night (or Obiwan for short) is a national-structure LARP club that exclusively does Old World of Darkness games. They split from the Camarilla Club back when White Wolf stopped publishing the Old World, and have survived since then. They've got a semi-unified structure, though since I'm not a member I can't elaborate.
3) The Mind's Eye Society, or The Club Formerly Known As Camarilla, is a worldwide-structure LARP club that does both Old World and New World games. They used to be the White Wolf official fan club until they got cut loose, and are now a non-profit organization. Has a single, unified set of rules and house-rules used by every game involved in the club (called Addendum). Very organized chain of command in terms of storytelling and cross-group coordination for characters and plots, from global down to local games. Most non-troupe games you find are likely to be MES, we're all over the place.


I've looked up some people who have been playing for years. How do you fit in with them? Will you get kicked aside? I saw a video (Spoony Experiment) on Vampire larp and how it's hard to get in.
Spoony is a jerk. If you've got a good group of players, they'll welcome newbies OOC, even if they're utter jerkwads to you IC (varies by genre - in, say, Old Vampire, it's expected for elders to abuse young vampires, while in New Changeling every new face is one more companion and for the most part welcomed). No different than tabletop gaming groups, in that you can have goodies and baddies.


Do you need another player to Sire you?

If it's an MES game, no. If its a troupe game, they may require a PC sire. (Not likely, though.)
Word. Though having a PC sire is always nice, for being established in the world...and the benefit of the global structure is that it doesn't need to be a PC locally...my current OWoD character's sire lives halfway across the country from me.



edit: could i start my own larp? I live out of the way of the conflict zone, in Everettm about 30 miles north.


You can start a troupe game, which requires nothing more than finding players and a site. If you want to start a chapter of one of the national groups, you will need to talk to the established groups out there. (Most likely, you would be linked as a chapter under an established group.)
Word^2. The MES is arranged geographically, so if your location is close enough to an existing chapter/domain, you'll be told to join their game rather than forming your own chapter. If there isn't a game within a reasonable distance of you and you have a sufficient group of players interested, you can form your own chapter. For troupe games, see above.

[laeZ1]

I'm a member of One World By Night, and the others have covered all of the important points. To answer your first question about any games near you, I can say without a doubt that there is no OWBN vampire game in seattle, even though by genre it's held by the Camarilla.

I'd like to further drive the point that even though the people who play -are- gamers (and as much as we'd like to deny it, lots of us gamers are powerplaying jerks), the community I've interacted with has been nothing but nice... out of character, at least.:smallbiggrin: