MET Werewolf: Silver and Gold

Disclaimer: MET Werewolf is a role-playing game whose setting is fictional. Any references to any real people, places, and things serves to heighten immersion and does NOT reflect reality. None of this actually happened.

Tom stands before the Sept trying to hold back his nervous energy. His expression becomes a smile. Fake it until you make it. After all, his first tale went alright, didn't it.

'Greetings. Tonight, I understand I have not told the tale of November's mission. However, since the insert your denominational holiday is nigh, some around these parts call Christmas, this tale is a little more seasonal. It's also warning. It's also the tale of a new face. as Jimmy worked hospital duty to address a medical emergency in Stevens Point.

 A new Glasswalker joined the motley pack.

Two galliards, an ahroun, a ragabash, and two philodixes gathered at the bawn. While discussing Jimmy's absence,we learned of body parts replacing belongings at a children's play, Elf, in Stevens Point. Example finger for a watch, toe for a wallet. People swear there belongings were fine when they left but changed upon arriving home.

Beta of Sept acquired help to replace Jimmy. Rocko the Glass Walker Galliard. We introduce ourselves. Molly, Sean, Gracie, Jenny, and Tom.

We arrive at Ben Franklin. Rocko activates his gift Wolf Senses, while Jenny uses her gift Sight of Hidden Places within the school. 200 humans packed into the auditorium to watch the play. Molly uses Wolf Senses smelling human scents. Puberty, Perfume, etc. Males produce pheromones with urge to mate with everything. Women the need. Nothing has occurred today. Too much cologne and perfume. Many are sick with illness. Or so she relays to us anyway...

Play begins. We sit scattered amongst the crowd. Molly sat near me I am not a pack member. Obviously neither is Rocko...

Gracie notices a fast shadowy figure darting amongst the humans then departs. Informs her packmates Sean, Jenny, and Molly. Jenny uses Sight of Hidden Places. She notices a small child - a bogart is the shadow - had already gone downstairs! Informs packmates. Molly tells Tom (I will refer to myself in the third person from now on...). Rocko learns courtesy of the Mindlink gift that Rocko enacted with Jenny. Sean asks 'only one?' Jenny 'yes, do you doubt my gift?'

Tom, Molly, and Sean head downstairs following signs posted. Jenny and Rocko joins us as well. Gracie remains with crowd. Molly upset cause she is in homid form.

Upon reaching downstairs, Jenny activates Sight of Hidden Places. A cave exists underneath near the boiler room. Boiler room has a hole in the wall leading to cave. We discover it is locked. Jenny attempts to pick the chain and deadbolt. Sees no cameras. Fails to pick it. Sean shifts to Crinos yanks on chain. Chain won't yield. Rocko tries and fails. Molly yanks and fails. Tom weakly pulls. Jenny fails too. Molly angrily claws the chain shattering it. Jenny scoops chain links into her bag. All of them. Door is still deadbolted.

Jenny asks us to look away and uses her Bastet gift to release the deadbolt and opens the door. Smells musty of black mold. Those of us with Awareness wonder how the boggart entered and exited thru the locked door. Smells of death and decay.

 Tom 'So Jenny what should we do?'

 Jenny 'there is something in there that needs to be stopped.'

Drain is clogged with water covering floor. Dark but faint illumination from red light on machinery pierces the darkness. Those with wolf senses smell from far side a pungent, earthy smell. On far side of boiler is an opening large enough for child to pass through. We all shift into lupus forms.

 Tunnel leads to a cavern. Tom's fox form can walk normally while Jenny's lynx form can walk duckingly. The wolves crawl.

After an hour traversing back and forth we reach a wider cavern after 3rd 'link'.

Don't smell death and decay here!

The chamber is high enough that the Wolves can move normally. Homid formwould bump heads on stalactites. Lupus form it is!

Underground river about thirty feet wide with rapid current bisects the path, splitting it into a ten foot path upon each side. Tom uses a point of spiritual energy, i.e. Gnosis, and activates Blur of the Milky Eye as does Rocko. The floor under our paws is slick from moisture. Those of us without wolf senses can see visually because the cavern glows from a green fluorescence. Tom impatiently chooses to remain on the right side. Jenny decides everyone stays on right side to stick with Tom. My choice allowed us to avoid crossing the river. We gaze up to the 20' high ceiling 20' and move around stalactites and stalagmites scattered about. Tom followed by Rocko by Jenny by Sean then Molly bringing up rear single file. Tom cautiously moves forward failing to notice  what Rocko does. Tom springs a trap unbeknownst to him. Tom stops once...

 Rocko goes 'shh'. 

Too late. Tom is hit by a bag covering him and Rocko in silver and gold glitter. Our Blur of the Milky Eye is foiled! Henceforth, this tale is call 'Silver and Gold'. *Tom winks and his smile curls mischievously.*

Meanwhile, Gracie spots the same creature dart about a different crowd. Sends her packmates the message.

Tom's Awareness notices a set of glowing eyes toward end of cavern.

Tom 'there is a pair of glowing eyes looking at me toward the end of cavern.'

 Jenny 'Rocko cannot hear you'.

Tom 'okay.... uh there are five more pairs of eyes... ' as Tom stops and sound booms in chamber.

Jemny shifts to bipedal form pulling out maglite out of bag switching it on. When the light shines on the eyes, we see nothing. When the light moves past, the eyes re-open. Eyes narrow with anger. Jenny angles her light downward. One set of eyes moves slowly until hiding behind stalagmites. We hear raspy breaths and Tom bumps back  into Rocko

Rocko 'hey, don't do that until you know me more'.

 We see the creature is armed with a sword slung on its back. Jenny and Molly activate Luna's Blessing spending a point of Gnosis. They notice the sword is silver.

Via pack speak Molly 'can I kill it now'

 Jenny 'if it wields, it is on'.

 They notice the others are armed with silver swords too. The creature in front mumbles words. Molly and Sean use Sense Balance spending a a gnosis. Sean and Molly redouble their efforts sensing the balance to notice the target is more Wyld and can use magic.

Sean in Spanish and English 'who are you?'.

Jenny and Molly decipher that the creatures are fae, e.g. changelings. Jenny recognizes one of this race from inside a container over in Just Like Spotted Cow.

In broken English 'know... little'.

Sean 'you know ours better than we yours'

him 'why here?'

 Sean 'they noticed things above'

fae 'we give gift'

 Sean 'not exactly the kind of gift humans appreciate'

 Fae 'no gift...we give token'

Rocko 'what are tokens for'

fae 'provide protection'

jenny 'from what'

fae 'future problem'

Rocko 'what kind of problem'

fae 'dead not dead'

 Sean 'winter is coming'

 fae 'no winter ended'

jenny with fae lore realizes slumber, e.g. winter ended and going back to old ways i.e. tokens, informing us of her knowledge.

 Rocko 'tokens are scaring humans and don't understand value'.

 Fae 'change tokens?'

Tom 'that would be a good idea'

Sean 'they have forgotten old ways'.

 Fae 'token disguises humans'

Jenny 'they smell the tokens and think the humans are like them'.

Tom 'so tokens make the humans smells like the dead. What else can smell like the dead?'

 Fae 'dead liquid? You die they put inside you'

 Rocko 'embalming fluid'

 jenny 'formaldehyde?'

 Fae 'not strong enough. They are not here yet but they are coming soon.'

Sean 'where are they coming from?'

Fae 'where you keep the dead. Powerful necromancer  is coming he bring dead with him. Maybe rotting food items. Compost. Save  home.'

Rocko 'good idea. Composting can save people. Hipsters be safe. Don't worry about what they are'.

 Tom 'city of Stevens Point has a composting program so that's a start.

 Discussing amongst ourselves we realize Elite and Underworld influences would aid us in spreading the message and enforcing the changes to ward off the Winter Dead. Hey, can't infringe on anyone's intellectual property by calling them the Winter Dead. *Another sly smile and a wink spreads across Tom's face. He resumes speaking*

Tom 'we will talk with the humans about them composting more without mentioning that it is for their projection.'

 Sean 'how will we achieve this?'

Tom 'city mandates composting'

jenny 'homes will smell of death due to compost'

When we start to leave we hear growling coming from passage from which we came. Torchlights flicker and shadows loom from the tunnel into the cavern.

Sean 'they might be more of these guys'

Tom 'no, they seemed to bothered by light'.

 Jenny 'friend or foe'

 fae 'enemy. To arms!' The others emerge and charge over stalactites toward an army of skeletons and quadriped skeletons armed with torches and weapons.

Jenny 'we should help them!'

Everyone shifts to their respective Hispo forms.

Jenny to Rocko 'be careful with your boomstick or else ceiling may fall on us'

Our rage heightens to the third stage once we join the fray against 7 humanoid skeletons and 5 animal skeletons.

Jenny using a Burst of Speed maneuver closes with a humanoid skeleton  biting. Sean bounds at the same skeleton using the same burst of speed maneuver and bites. Molly steps toward a different humanoid skeleton and bites. Tom with burst of speed runs up to that skeleton and his bite misses. Rocko activate Razor Claws spending gnosis, choosing to be more Accurate. Moves halfway.

Animal and human skeletons close with Rocko. Human swings baseball bat hitting as does the Animal's bite. Jenny's skeleton swings and misses her. As does another. Two humanoid skeletons attack Sean with baseball bats. They batter into his flesh. Molly is hit by a bat and a bite misses. Tom is beset by human skeleton and an animal skeleton whose attacks miss.

 Gracie watches play.

The remaining animal skeletons engage the fae.

Rage actions.

Jenny willfully bites a humanoid skeleton as her rage increases due to frustrations over her friends being beaten and bit. The skeleton is crushed by her jaws. Sean experiences the exact same thing. Molly bites the baseball bat wielding skeleton. Tom bites human skeleton on him. Rocko willfully bites animal skeleton to dust. His rage grows as well.

Jenny engages baseball bat skeleton on Rocko. Acquires a Seethe trait. Willfully dispatches it. Sean willfully misses a human skeleton on him acquiring two Seethe traits. Molly bites one of her skeleton's head off. Tom willfully misses the humanoid skeleton engaged with him. Rocko attacks animal skeleton on Tom and wills its destruction! Human skeleton swings its bat at Sean and misses. Jenny is missed by a baseball bat. Tom is bashed by a bat . Animal skeleton misses Molly.

Rage actions

Jenny runs toward Tom's skeleton, while the skeleton engaged with her pursues her. Acquires a second Seethe trait but wills herself to strike a fatal blow to the skeleton on Tom. Sean bites skeleton to pieces. Molly acquires a Seethe trait while willing the fatal blow to an animal skeleton.

 Only Jenny's skeleton remains. Its heels brought it to Tom. Tom despite his willpower misses it, acquiring to Seethe traits himself. Rocko slays it!

The boggarts kills the two remaining.

Rocko identifies three wolves and two dogs as the animal skeletons. Molly acquired 2nd Seethe trait upon learning. Every one else acquires a Seethe trait pushing Tom and Sean to 3.

Revert to breed form to lose Rage. Molly stuck in Crinos until she finally calms down. Rocko searches thru bones for floppy disks. Molly growls 'you are weird'.

As we return to top after Sean uses Circle of Cleansing on bones and Rocko seeks out floppies inside school. The play had finished and people began clearing out. Rocko greets Gracie and discovers the computer lab locked. Thru windows sees nothing. Goes to nearby storage closet. Unlocks door and finds a box of dusty floppy disks.

Gracie loved the play and boggart doing his thing. Return to Caern.

Thus ends the Saga of Silver and Gold.

Next time.

Halloween '19: The Haunting of Little Rose Orphanage

The following is a work of fiction. A product of a live-action role-playing group playing a game Minds Eye Theater: Werewolf the Apocalypse. Any references to real world people or places is coincidental.

Tom approaches the Sept Leadership: 

*cough* *cough* Here is my accounting of the most recent venture. I will do my best to tell the story to the best of my abilities. (Tom has a zero rating in Performance)

The intrepid and experienced pack returned to the caern just after my meeting with all of you. I had arrived at this place of utmost import because a ghost and my jaggling fox spirit companion told me I should seek it out. First member of the pack I greeted was a lynx by shaking her paw. We gave informal introductions. One of them says 'Are you related to Huckelberry' 

'nope'.

 Everyone gives formal introductions Joe (sept leader, Japanese kitsune) and master of rite mention Little Rose. We were to investigate and deduce how to cleanse.

Jimmy drives avoiding Stratford toward Little Rose going through Marshfield stopping at Thad Chicken in Arpin. The lynx offers a treat to me. It's cat food. 'Uh, no.' Jimmy reaches over while driving grabbing a handful.  While driving through Marshfield the pack doesn't detect anything out of place...  The day has become night by the time we leave Marshfield. Between during Marshfield and Little Rose, we see  a sole house which has a white picket fence on both sides of the house. In fact, the white picket fence is perpendicular to the street and exists on both sides of the road too. No lights. No one outside. The lynx asks Tom, yes I am speaking of myself in the third person and will continue to do so henceforth,  what he thinks.

'Not as experienced as you all so I leave it you?'

 Jimmy continues driving.

We reach a crossroads in Little Rose.
Abandoned Building lit up with sign ' misspelled Academy Orphanage'. Across street field and forest. Across other street is a gas station. 'Just like Spotted Cow' neon purple inside widow of 2 story building. Across is abandoned lot. *Tom's faces scrunches up in recollection* I had seen three separate groups of ghosts by the abandoned orphanage.

'there is a lot of dead people there'

jimmy ' you see dead people?'

 'Maybe... there's 4 or 5 kids, 4 or 5 teenagers, and an old hag'.

Around this time I recollected who the members of the pack are:
 Brad the  black fury cliath galliard is a loremaster
 Jimmy fostern theurge.
Jenny the lynx is adren.
 Then there is Sean Moore.

Upon learning none of them can see the ghosts themselves, Tom mentions a tincture with which group can see ghosts.

Jimmy and Tom go speak with the ghosts. Kids front yard. Teenagers  2nd floor thru windows. Old hag atop roof glowers at me. Speak to the kids in English. No response until they speak to Tom. He doesn't understand. The appearance of the kids little boy slacks, dress shoes, combed over slick black hair. Formal dress code.

 Jimmy '60s or sooner'.

 2 girls wear long dresses with long straight hair. Black and brown hair.
 Jimmy 'hmm 40s to 60s'.

Old hag chiselled nun face. All their clothes are in tatters. 5 kids are happy. Jimmy recalls there was a fire based on research and dilapidated look. Tom sees flashes how it used to look
 Mouths moving. Can't hear words but laughing. We do charades eventually learning can't enter because of the kids. Can't hear the hag due to kids.

I mention at this point that the Tincture requires consecrated grave dirt. Brad mentions cemetary with abandoned catholic cemetary on hwy 153 between Little Rose and Stratford. We ride there. We maintain there graves. Jimmy the horticulturalist identifies weeds which we rip up and toss onto road. Clean plants off graves. Acquire consecrated grave dirt after hour and a half. Need rosemary and ashen bark (which we get from charring bark from an ash tree).

 Tom performs the special Kitsune rite. Create 6 vials of drinkable tincture.

 Everyone else drinks.

 Jimmy doesn't take 1 point of damage from the toxic properties due to his tendency to drink moonshine, i.e. bone gnawer. Everyone heals the damage. Got extra vial. Jenny hacking as we arrive.

 They see dead people.

 Jenny 'she is as mean looking as you claim'.

 Jimmy, Jenny, and Sean with Airt Perception see a haunted castle on path. Don't see kids nor teenagers. Resemble Wicked Witch of West. Skin rotting away. She is holding a book with a cross on it. All 3 of them notices a cross switches direction. Skin darkens grows purple when spin downward. A lightning storm causes flips. Jimmy relays what they saw within the Umbra.

Sean the Get 'I want to take on the guy with the big knife!' Upon hearing Silent Hill references.

 Jenny 'we need to stop her'. But then realizes the ghost children are the problem.

 Tom guesses words phonetically and enters into Google translate. Italian. Eureka we deduce they are Italian immigrants.

The translation  is 'What a bunch of idiots maybe we should kill them,

Tom 'uh oh,'

Translation 'and consume their souls'

 Tom's face grows pale.

  Jimmy Google 'fire kills ghosts'

We realize we must destroy their  bones!

 Jimmy 'should we scout around and see if any graves around?'

Tom digs where lone boy whose acting less than others are. With jenny's aid, dig a foot. The boy retaliates by draining a willpower from Tom. A white energy goes to him and become more solid. Jenny shifts into crinos to defend tom. Jimmy succeeds in using his gift activate major owl spirit. Gracie uses cane to hurl sorcerous fire at the ghost boy, burning the ghost. Sean and brad stand there. Brad tug of wyld to speak with owl spirit. Tom back away from hole while google translate a phrase in Italian. Boy moved toward Tom. The ghost boy repeats his attack on and Tom fails.

Our rage increases.

Jenny 'hey!' Withering Gaze boy. Jimmy commands the owl spirit 'go find the bones for the kid'. Pecks at spot Tom was digging. Moves by boy and owl spirit next to hole. Gracie blasts to the ghost almost to the point of nothingness!

 Sean heads to gas station to get gas... no pumps. Shifts to Crinos. Tears it off. 6' down pool of gas.  Investigates for a siphon and finds a 10' hose and bucket.

 Brad shifts to crinos moves by hole and digs. 3' deep. Tom hops in and haplessly moves dirt.

Our rage increase...

Crinos Brad burn rage to dig faster hits rock. Digs a foot. Jimmy rage digs 6". Jenny hops in digging. Down a foot. Gracie fire blasts and dissipates the ghost. White orb returns to Tom regaining willpower. Jimmy digs and tells owl spirit to keep watch. Removes final 6". Covered in dust. Brad huffs puffs and blows dust away.  Blows dust away but slips and breaks one the bones in his left leg bone! Spurting blood all over. Sean brings gas bucket over to whole. Sighs. Tom sort dust and can't find the bones because of Brad's blood.

Our rage increases...

Jimmy asks Gracie to eat Brad's rage. Jenny searches for bones. Jimmy searches for, finds, and digs out the bone! Gracie eats Brad's rage with Calm the Heart. Consume 2 rage from Brad. Sean grabs bone from Jimmy, sets the bone inside bucket, and sets  ghost's bone ablaze.

Ghost boy doesn't return and those with Airt Perception notices the castle and storm gone. Kids smile and depart. Witch becomes normal. Book becomes bible.

Jimmy offers gnosis chiminage to the owl spirit.

The experienced pack discovers the Orphanage land is for sale. Jenny buys property intent to set up a pet therapy for troubled kids nonprofit.

I hope you find my tale to your liking and serve as a record of the deeds of this esteemed pack. Much thanks for I have much to learn from them.

*End tale and in-character.

I felt my first LARP session in a couple years was perfect Halloween tale even for Werewolf: The Apocalypse as it had all the trappings of an excellent ghost story. This time I decided to strip out the game mechanics although I might include them next time.

Halloween  is four days away!

Happy Gaming and next time!

RPG Rule/Sourcebook Reading Epiphany

Talk about back-to-back epiphanies! Yesterday, I blogged about my epiphany in accepting $3.99 comics. Well, earlier today I had another concerning reading table-top role-playing game rule books and source books.


Back during my Golden Age of Table-top RPG gaming, I would avidly buy and borrow tomes of gaming lore for a variety of game systems and settings to peruse the contents within. Didn't matter if was actively playing the game or not. If fact, not was more often the case, and like a gaming Prometheus I would, occasionally like Sisyphus try to, introduce those new games and settings to various gaming groups. Admittedly, much of my success hinged on how well I learned the rules and settings and whether or not it fit that particular group's tastes...


Then came the Dark Age when I barely gamed at all. My RPG purchases became more sporadic and impulsive not to mention, following the trend of the industry, more digital. While I have embraced digital, I am at heart a lover of physical books so I don't pore over the digital tomes as much as I did the ink-and-paper variety. Furthermore, as I gamed very infrequently, I read infrequently too.


Then I started gaming again.


First, it was Dungeons & Dragons 5E. I bought the three core books and the Ravenloft-related one. Other than quick glances at the DMG and Monstrous Manual and skimming Curse of Strahd, the only book I have read was the Player's Handbook. What reading I've done has been utilitarian at best. Reading only the most pertinent of subjects. My most recent play experience I decided to play my Cleric instead of my Paladin because my cleric was the one I was most up-to-date on! So yeah, I haven't read all of the 5E Player's Handbook. I read more of 4E's version...


Second, I LARP'd Werewolf: The Apocalypse again. Granted, it was only once. But once was enough to get me to not go 'oh larp is this weekend, oh, okay, I won't be there.' Unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to LARP again but it has been enough to get me to buy By Night Studios new MET: Werewolf The Apocalypse. Did a quick once over too. Alas, since I haven't actually made a firm commitment to play, I haven't perused the new rules further. Let alone created a character.


Third, Shadowrun entered my life once more. Shadowrun 5th edition core was a book I picked up on a whim. Did a quick once over yet didn't start reading it until I started play Shadowrun as part of Shadowrun Missions. Here's where the epiphany comes in...


Before each session I would read a little of the Shadowrun book and then read another section afterwards. Much of the time I'd peruse the same section in order to gain familiarity. Mostly, SR5 would receive the most usage, not counting at game, within the week after a game. Specific rule elements that cropped up during a session would induce interest such that I would seek greater familiarity and knowledge. Then, there was a period of about two months during which no Shadowrun was played. I barely cracked open the book. Going into the session, I couldn't even muster the desire to skim the book the freshen up my rule knowledge.


After the session, the Shadowrun 5th edition core rulebook practically became my favorite book. I found a little time each day to do a little reading. Whether it was fluff, simple mechanics, or areas of the rules that we hadn't encountered until then, I poured over said tome in search of answers to questions and immerse myself within the setting once more.


So I have come to the conclusion that what once I would do leisurely, I now do utilitarian. I realize now that only read what immediately relates to my gaming experience. Whether or not it's more of a symptom of my long gaming drought and such narrow focus will eventually be expanded to games and settings that I am currently not playing remains to be discovered. What I understand now is that in order read game rulebooks and settings, I must game.


Till next time, happy gaming.

My Thoughts on Comic Book and Misc News of January 2017 Part One

My look at how quickly time flies. Was the beginning of the month since I last blogged. Plus I never did write my final installment of my 12ish Days of Blogging! As usual, life and burnout happens. After a couple days past the sixth, I decided my official final chapter just wasn't to be. Fret not the promised review is still forthcoming. In the meantime, I decided to get back in the swing of things with commentary on various news tidbits in the world of comic books and maybe some genre and RPG stuff too.


Sworn into office holding Captain America's shield - An elected official sworn into office holding Captain America's shield! Very, very cool. Politics can be quite heavy so some levity is always nice one in awhile.


Actual X-Men in upcoming X-Men Show - If there was one disappointing strike against Marvel's Agents of SHIELD show was that appearances from the characters that appeared in the movies turned out be much, much rarer than many expected. So kudos to those behind the upcoming X-men television series from FOX announcing actual X-Men will appear in the show. They're just coy about whom. Okay, fine. As long as the show doesn't wait until Episode 6 for Maggot to appear...


Avengers Project - Upcoming Marvel games courtesy of Square Ennix? Cool. I'd comment more but I, er, couldn't get the video to load...


Did Princess Leia's mission change? - Must confess I was too busy fan-boying at Leia's appearance in Rogue One to be bothered by the inconsistency in her mission. Here's the reason for the change or if you want to take the long path the novelization explains as well.


Uh, oh Game of Thrones cast getting into trouble - While filming for seventh season of Game of Thrones, the cast and crew got into trouble for not having any off-road permits for filming in Iceland. Who says there isn't bureaucracy north of the Wall?


MET: Werewolf Errata - By Night Studios released a shiny version of Werewolf for Live-Action Role-play. As is the case in the gaming industry nowadays, here's the errata. Did pick up a copy of the ebook recently so I'll comment more on that and the recent errata once I get around to writing a review...


Starlin has earned more in royalties for KGBeast?! - Recently, comics creator Jim Starlin, creator of Thanos, Drax, and Gamora, announced he's earned more on royalties from KGBeast than his Marvel creations. Say what?! KGBeast was in Batman vs Superman?! Guess, it was a minor appearance in his civilian identity. Don't recall it being a big part so that says much about how much in royalties Marvel pays creators from its films. Maybe they'll cut Starlin a bigger check seeing how several upcoming movies (GotG 2 and the two Avengers Infinity War films) owe a huge debt to him...


More GoT cast pics - More Game of Thrones cast pics along with cast sightings while filming in Iceland. Awesome.




Well, eight links/news stories is enough for one installment. Since January isn't over yet, there'll be a Part Two. January 2017 Part Two will include my commentary on DC's pricing changes for Rebirth. That may or may not be lengthy and veer and the ranting side. Time and my mood will tell.


Till next time.

A Glass Walker Calls Out a Black Dragon...

Three years. That's how many years have passed since I last LARP'd (Live Action Role-Play). For over half a decade, LARPing was among my regular activities. The setting of choice was White Wolf's Old World of Darkness. Vampire, Mage, Changeling, and Werewolf were the settings of choice. While Vampire was the first setting that I LARP'd, Werewolf has become the dominant setting and the one that I have now played the longest. Werewolf via interconnected chronicle (the WOD term for campaign) networks and the lack of rebooting is also the setting for my longest played character. A Glass Walker Theurge is my longest played character in both LARP and entirety of gaming experience. Said Glass Walker has been played on and off sporadically since 2004...


Until about three years ago, I'd occasionally play that Glass Walker at the very least once a year. So for three years, I didn't play that character,  didn't LARP, nor read/played/thought about the Old World of Darkness.


Yep, real life does intrude on one's gaming life.


Recently, my schedule and circumstances enable me to revisit that Glass Walker Theurge, my longest played character. I'm emphasizing that latter point precisely because that realization just hit as I type!


In any case, I was LARP and OWOD (oh wait, NWOD is referred to as Chronicles of Darkness so I can use the old acronym!) rusty. Fortunately, the session was light on improvisational theater and character quest was more along the lines of follow-the-leader. Besides, one quirk of the character was that he never achieved a rank above foster (rank 2) so the character didn't have too much power or responsibility that my rustiness was too much of an issue.


The pack's goal was to defeat an evil spirit within an umbral (spirit) realm. Within that specific realm, the pack discovered that the spirit had taken the form of a black dragon. The 'black dragon' despite being within line of sight was too far away for the characters to engage. Didn't help that was in the middle of a lake. As a Theurge, the character can command spirits. So ala Scorpion from Mortal Kombat, the Glass Walker Theurge commanded the spirit in the form of black dragon to 'get over here!'. He succeeded. The spirit than used a power that effectively removed my character from the fight. Fortunately, the PC's not so nullified were able to defeat the spirit/black dragon.


Thus, a glass walker called out a black dragon. One of the unique perks of Werewolf: the Apocalypse that I missed indeed. Hopefully, this session marks my return to LARPing and playing in the World of Darkness. If not regularly, I hope the forays are at least annually. Not an island within a sea of years.

Guess, My Character Wasn't as Cool as I Thought...

Every gamer experiences those moments where their PC accomplishes great things. The rush one feels when any given game's challenge-resolution mechanic (CRM) enables a character to perform far better than one expected. Heck, some game's CRM have in-built eureka moments such as Dungeons & Dragons critical successes. Critical successes help create the excitement that stem from an RPG session. However, much of that excitement relies on the purity of that eureka moment.


Now I have been slinging dice, along with other forms of CRM, for around twenty years. Over the years, my appreciation for that visceral feeling that one experiences when the CRM works in one's favor has grown. Not only when it pertains to my experience but the experience of the GM and other players. After all, table-top and live-action role-playing games are communal so one's fortune or misfortune may impact how others enjoy the game. In a roundabout fashion I have come to appreciate the sentiment expressed in forums such as Knights of the Dinner Table of limited natural 20s! Watching the videos of Vin Diesel playing Dungeons & Dragons circulating the internet and palpable excitement whenever a critical occurred certainly help foster my new appreciation.


While playing a session of the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons, I had a chance to play the new iteration of the Barbarian class. Before play, I only briefly perused the class so I had a shaky grasp of the new Barbarian. Heck, I created my character on the fly within ten or twenty minutes! So while I was playing my character, I was pleased with his performance in combat as he downed his foes. Even had a critical hit! Here is where we reach the title of this particular entry. After the gaming session, in which the character leveled, I read the next level's abilities. Turns out I had misinterpreted the Rage mechanic and was using a souped-up version of a second level ability. In short, my character was far cooler than he should have been.


Years ago, accidental coolness would not have bothered me. I would have shrugged it off. Others would bring it to my attention. We'd argue and then refinements would be made. In a fashion, I'm glad to realize that I have matured as gamer. That I can accept an 'oops' moment when I play and realize its potential to disrupt that further games and adjust appropriately. Fortunately, role-playing games are just games and communal ones at that. As long as I am honest about my eureka moments, and work to maintain such honesty, its okay. Its just one's ego as it pertains to a fictional construct in a game. Besides, misreading rules is part of the game!

2nd LARP Session Today

I will attend the second larp session in about a year tonight. Why so significant? One, as stated, its the second session in about a year that I have attended. Years ago, LARP was a hobby of mine. Half my gaming consisted of LARPing. In fact, I had accepted that LARP was a thing of the past until recently. Unfortunately, that brings me to the second point of significance. I have no idea when I will LARP next. Thus, tonight's session has importance.

LARP tonight

Tonight, I am actually going to a larp. Its been about a year since the last session I attended. This LARP, in particular, is a TGN Werewolf the Apocalypse chronicle located in Stevens Point. As one of the founding players of the Point Larp, the game has a lot of sentimental value. Due to my schedule, I haven't been able to play as much as I would like. So for two nights only, I'll actually be able to play. Hopefully, its something I can come back to.

Speculation on the shortage of area LARPers

Over on Mike's blog, he laments on the lack of LARP'ers. For ease of reference, here's the link.

http://mikelrysk.blogspot.com/2009/01/wod-where-did-you-go.html



I understand where Mike's coming from. Having played and ran LARPs I know firsthand how hard it is to recruit new players for a LARP. However, Mike omits one crucial detail. He's really complaining about recruiting players for the currently on hiatus Werewolf LARP. That's important because there's two layers, both a macro and a micro, to the problem.

I'll cover the micro layer first. First, central wisconsin has low population than other areas that have LARPs. In other words, the population may not be large enough to have the needed diversity. Culture requires diversity and without it fringe cultures such as gaming have a hard time thriving. LARPs require both a more diverse and larger population that other types of gaming. I'm not saying Stevens Point doesn't have such a culture, but a lot of that comes from the university. However, reliance on students is a catch-22.

The worrying fact about central wisconsin, and to extent other places in the country, is the lack of quality game stores. Its sad when I have to go to a book store to see a diverse product mix. So even if the old stuff were still readily available I'm not sure one could actually acquire a copy in this area without ordering it. Which still means one has to become both aware and accept LARP. I knew about LARPs because I read about it in a tabletop book.

Macro layer

Even though I knew about LARP I was still leery about. If it wasn't for a group that came across as both normal and accessible I would never have participated in LARPs as much as I did. That's right, if the people who introduced me to LARPing came across as strange and couldn't communicate well, I would be one of those gamers who refer to their LARP experience with scorn. Granted, as time went by, I discovered that they were as eccentric as any other gamer. However, my first impressions of them were that they normal people who could articulate all the intangibles of LARPing clearly to me.

Another reason is that gamer culture is a fragmented bunch. There are card gamers, tabletop role-players, LARPers. Granted, there are gamers that do two or all three things but the point remains a separation exist. I can go on but that could be its own post/entry.

More commentary later. Although it might be more general in nature. Not so much focusing on why gamers aren't LARPers but LARP and WOD (both new and old). Heck, I have been planning on discussing gaming in general since I started this blog. So my comments may take time.