KaijuFest was supposed to be a LARP about a group of actors and film makers getting together to make a kaiju movie. I wasn't going because I had a dance show on the Saturday evening, so I didn't look into it too closely. However, thanks to the lockdown, both KaijuFest and the dance show were cancelled, and the organisers came up with online alternatives. In the case of the dance show that was a YouTube livestream with videos of dancers and other performers. In the case of KaijuFest it was...RadioFest.
Rather than the full weekend that KaijuFest would have been, each RadioFest event lasts only four hours. A team of actors, writers and foley artists get together to produce a radio drama. The script is unfinished, the props are missing, nobody has been cast and corporate sponsorship rears its ugly head, but somehow it has to get done.
Three RadioFest events have already run, with three more to come, each with a different starting script. I signed up for event 3 with the title "I, Madman", joining the writers as Yolanda Hall, a writer of sleazy horror novels. The event began with everyone gathering in the green room for introductions, and then we split off into our respective groups.
My fellow writers were Matthew Scattergood, a writer of romance novels, and Vyron Savage, a writer of detective novels. We were given our outline script, a story about a man who finds a way to see the future and then sees his own death. Matthew wanted the script to be an exploration of one soul's descent into madness. Vyron wanted lots of hard boiled detective action. I wanted lots of horrible murder, and if at all possible, a love interest. Amazingly enough, we actually gelled pretty well in the end, besides an argument about whether or not we should have a happy ending.
Now and then one of the actors dropped into our room to ask questions and make requests. Request 1, for some more female characters, we were able to immediately grant, having already changed the lead character's name from John to Vivienne. A later request proved more problematic. The initial script started out in a gentleman's club, but Vyron thought it should be set in a dive bar on the mean streets of Chicago, and I heartily agreed. However, the actors had all been practicing their RP accents, and insisted they couldn't possibly do Chicago. The compromise was that it was now set in a pub in the east end of London - although the RP accents remained.
The script progressed through various iterations as we met with both actors and foley artists, and found a way to name drop our sponsor's product. And finally, we were ready to record.
Recording was done largely in one take, with occasional interruptions from the writers. ("When we said we wanted crowd noises, we didn't literally want you to say rhubarb!") And if the technology worked, the end result should have been recorded so we can all listen to it again.
With LARP off the table for at least the next couple of months, games like this are as close as we're going to get, and the organisers have done a superb job with RadioFest. I've signed up for event 6 to play Yolanda Hall again, and while all the writer slots are filled for event 5, I'm very tempted to give the foley artist game a try. While there's still a little room for improvement, the organisers are actively seeking feedback to make this the best game they can, and the fact they've pulled it together in such a short space of time is spectacular.
Eventually we'll all be allowed out again, and LARP can resume, but I hope online events like this will continue all the same.
Showing posts with label LARP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LARP. Show all posts
Monday, 30 March 2020
Tuesday, 3 December 2019
Serenity LRP event 19: Signal
"Welcome to event nineteen. Of four."
Despite being intended as a short spin-off from a Stargate game, Serenity LRP has proved remarkably durable. This event, 'Signal', was the 'season finale', where an ongoing plot that started at the event where I first started playing (which also happened to be the current plot writer's first event as plot writer) reached its climax.
At each event there has been a broadcast from a pirate radio station calling itself the Voice of Truth. The setup for this event was that the Voice of Truth was asking for our help. This saw us fly our ships down onto a cortex relay and fight our way through a multi-level complex before finally locating the Voice of Truth and enabling one crucial broadcast. One that we, the players, do not yet know the contents of.
This game was pretty much a masterclass in how to run a larp. If you know Firefly, you know the kind of characters people play, and it didn't matter if you were a fighter, mechanic, medic, cortexer, companion or pilot, there was something in this event that made your skills critical. I did have moments of feeling rather bored, but this is entirely my own fault for making a character who can't do much besides fight, and each time it wasn't long before I got the chance to be useful again.
Set dressing is one of the stand-out features of Serenity LRP for me. Games take place on scout campsites, usually ones I've been to many times before, so making me feel like I'm actually on another planet is going to be a challenge.
The main building played the part of each of the five floors of the underground complex. Each time we changed floor, the sequence went:
All leave via door A.
Head down a tunnel (actually a series of tents and gazebos, all superbly set dressed as infirmaries, maintenance rooms, drug labs, etc.)
Walk through a large open space, beset by reavers/snipers/automatic laser weapons.
Reach the next lift (actually a gazebo)
Enter the building again via door B.
By which time, the building had had its level number signs changed and the furniture rearranged.
Some suspension of disbelief is always required, of course. It rained quite a lot over the course of the weekend. We, the players, put the fact that we were getting rather wet in the large open areas down to a faulty fire suppression system and condensation dripping from the ceiling.
Sunday morning was slightly delayed by outside circumstances. Specifically, a group of cub scouts arriving on site ready to go on a hike, just at the point when the game team were trying to set up the horrific experimentation lab full of corpses and brains and other things that cubs themselves are probably OK with but which their parents might have objections to. Someone had told them that since they weren't using the site itself, only meeting there, they didn't need to tell the site. Someone is going to be getting a major chewing out for that one.
Once the site was free of impressionable young people who shouldn't be exposed to larpers with assault rifles, we were able to begin the final assault. By this point in the event I'd already been shot, stabbed, gassed and irradiated. I was now able to add 'fell off a bridge'.
If you've seen Serenity, and remember that bit near the end where Mal is racing the operative to Mr Universe's transmitter and there's that bridge with the massive fan spinning underneath? That bridge. Luckily my friends were able to pull me back up.
A fitting finale to an amazing season. My character has been left with new traumas (fear of heights being the main one) but a sense of optimism, and I can't wait to see what Season 2 is going to bring.
Despite being intended as a short spin-off from a Stargate game, Serenity LRP has proved remarkably durable. This event, 'Signal', was the 'season finale', where an ongoing plot that started at the event where I first started playing (which also happened to be the current plot writer's first event as plot writer) reached its climax.
At each event there has been a broadcast from a pirate radio station calling itself the Voice of Truth. The setup for this event was that the Voice of Truth was asking for our help. This saw us fly our ships down onto a cortex relay and fight our way through a multi-level complex before finally locating the Voice of Truth and enabling one crucial broadcast. One that we, the players, do not yet know the contents of.
This game was pretty much a masterclass in how to run a larp. If you know Firefly, you know the kind of characters people play, and it didn't matter if you were a fighter, mechanic, medic, cortexer, companion or pilot, there was something in this event that made your skills critical. I did have moments of feeling rather bored, but this is entirely my own fault for making a character who can't do much besides fight, and each time it wasn't long before I got the chance to be useful again.
Set dressing is one of the stand-out features of Serenity LRP for me. Games take place on scout campsites, usually ones I've been to many times before, so making me feel like I'm actually on another planet is going to be a challenge.
The main building played the part of each of the five floors of the underground complex. Each time we changed floor, the sequence went:
All leave via door A.
Head down a tunnel (actually a series of tents and gazebos, all superbly set dressed as infirmaries, maintenance rooms, drug labs, etc.)
Walk through a large open space, beset by reavers/snipers/automatic laser weapons.
Reach the next lift (actually a gazebo)
Enter the building again via door B.
By which time, the building had had its level number signs changed and the furniture rearranged.
Some suspension of disbelief is always required, of course. It rained quite a lot over the course of the weekend. We, the players, put the fact that we were getting rather wet in the large open areas down to a faulty fire suppression system and condensation dripping from the ceiling.
Sunday morning was slightly delayed by outside circumstances. Specifically, a group of cub scouts arriving on site ready to go on a hike, just at the point when the game team were trying to set up the horrific experimentation lab full of corpses and brains and other things that cubs themselves are probably OK with but which their parents might have objections to. Someone had told them that since they weren't using the site itself, only meeting there, they didn't need to tell the site. Someone is going to be getting a major chewing out for that one.
Once the site was free of impressionable young people who shouldn't be exposed to larpers with assault rifles, we were able to begin the final assault. By this point in the event I'd already been shot, stabbed, gassed and irradiated. I was now able to add 'fell off a bridge'.
If you've seen Serenity, and remember that bit near the end where Mal is racing the operative to Mr Universe's transmitter and there's that bridge with the massive fan spinning underneath? That bridge. Luckily my friends were able to pull me back up.
A fitting finale to an amazing season. My character has been left with new traumas (fear of heights being the main one) but a sense of optimism, and I can't wait to see what Season 2 is going to bring.
Saturday, 26 October 2019
How to get into LARPing
If you like the idea of LARP but aren't sure how to get into it, here's a few ways.
Your mate wants you to LARP. They will make it happen.
Pretty much every LARP group has its own FaceBook group, where you can talk to the existing players and get a feel for what its like. And once the algorithm starts to think you're interested in LARP, it will start recommending groups to you.
You can usually get away with minimal kit, because the team running the game will have a bunch of things you can borrow, and you can usually book a monster ticket for free, meaning you'll have minimal expenses beyond travel and food. If you're unsure about how you're going to get on with LARP, monstering is a great way to find out.
Obviously this is all based off my own experience, which is primarily with weekend-long larps with costumes, kit and usually weapons. I know absolutely nothing about parlour larp, or mind's eye theatre type games.
But if the idea of a full weekend of dressing up in a costume and fighting evil for a weekend appeals, it's out there and waiting for you.
Ask your mate
The easiest LARP to get into is the one your mate plays. They're probably mad keen for you to go, and will want to fascilitate it by doing things like offering you a lift to site, loaning you kit, helping you make a character and so on. If it's a camping LARP and you've never camped before, your mate will know all the things that make camping unpleasant and how to avoid them. If it's a larp with weapons, they can help you with a bit of fighting practice beforehand.Your mate wants you to LARP. They will make it happen.
Go to LarpCon
Don't have a mate who LARPs or don't fancy the LARP they play? Go to LarpCon. A bunch of LARP organisers have stalls at LarpCon, and will be delighted to tell you about their game. There's also a bunch of kit traders, so you can pick up costume and other kit at the same time. And in the evening is the Larp Awards, where you can learn even more about the different games available, and which ones are likely to suit you in terms of genre, size, family friendliness and other considerations.Get on FaceBook
There's a massive LARP community on FaceBook, and UK LARP EVENTS is a pretty good place to start. Not only are there adverts for a lot of upcoming games, there are also occasional posts where someone asks for recommendations in a particular genre and/or location, and usually gets a bunch of good suggestions.Pretty much every LARP group has its own FaceBook group, where you can talk to the existing players and get a feel for what its like. And once the algorithm starts to think you're interested in LARP, it will start recommending groups to you.
Be a monster
In association with all of the above, a great way to get into LARP is to be a monster. Unlike tabletop, where the GM plays everyone who isn't the PCs, live games need some actual humans to put on goblin masks and go and get killed. You can learn the rules without worrying about getting your character killed, because you don't have a character. You can try out a bunch of different skills and character types and find out what you enjoy without committing to anything. You can meet the existing players and see how you get on with them.You can usually get away with minimal kit, because the team running the game will have a bunch of things you can borrow, and you can usually book a monster ticket for free, meaning you'll have minimal expenses beyond travel and food. If you're unsure about how you're going to get on with LARP, monstering is a great way to find out.
Obviously this is all based off my own experience, which is primarily with weekend-long larps with costumes, kit and usually weapons. I know absolutely nothing about parlour larp, or mind's eye theatre type games.
But if the idea of a full weekend of dressing up in a costume and fighting evil for a weekend appeals, it's out there and waiting for you.
Friday, 18 October 2019
Crying at LARP
Last weekend, while enjoying some post-game coffee and cake, I noted to the organiser and his wife (the organiser of my other favourite LARP) that they were three for three on making me cry at their events. Hopefully I got across that this is a good thing.
I've cried at LARP before, but it's not always a good thing. I remember crying once because lot of people were shouting angrily. My mental health is generally good and the kind of content that requires a content warning isn't something I need to avoid, but angry shouting upsets me pretty badly, and I was in a position when I couldn't just walk away. I'm very grateful to the person who spotted something was up and got me out of the room.
But at these two LARPs it was different.
Two characters having an argument.
So obviously there was an aspect of the angry shouting mentioned above, but this time there was also my character's reaction. This was her new home. She'd only been there a few hours. And it was the first time she'd ever felt something resembling hope, to the point where she didn't even know what she was feeling. Into this last and first desperate hope came this sudden note of discord, and it terrified her without her even knowing why.
A room with natural light.
My character had not seen natural light in months, maybe longer. We found our way into a room where a light well brought brilliant sunlight down into the darkness of the undercity. Those who had lived all their lives in the undercity covered their eyes, blinded by the light. My character stared at the sunlight, shedding tears of joy and regret.
Inflicting pain.
Touching the bones was bringing back a memory related to his missing eye, but it was causing him pain and he kept snatching his hand away. He told my character to hold his hand down so that he couldn't let go. She did so, and he began screaming. She wanted to let go and make it stop, but he'd told her not to. She held on. And then he collapsed, unconscious and bleeding. She'd done that to him. She should have let go.
So the difference is that it's not really me crying - it's the character. But the game is so immersive, and the moment so powerful, that I'm not just roleplaying my character's emotions. I'm feeling them.
This happens a lot at these two games, but it's when I start to cry a fictional character's tears for them that it's most obvious.
I've cried at LARP before, but it's not always a good thing. I remember crying once because lot of people were shouting angrily. My mental health is generally good and the kind of content that requires a content warning isn't something I need to avoid, but angry shouting upsets me pretty badly, and I was in a position when I couldn't just walk away. I'm very grateful to the person who spotted something was up and got me out of the room.
But at these two LARPs it was different.
Two characters having an argument.
So obviously there was an aspect of the angry shouting mentioned above, but this time there was also my character's reaction. This was her new home. She'd only been there a few hours. And it was the first time she'd ever felt something resembling hope, to the point where she didn't even know what she was feeling. Into this last and first desperate hope came this sudden note of discord, and it terrified her without her even knowing why.
A room with natural light.
My character had not seen natural light in months, maybe longer. We found our way into a room where a light well brought brilliant sunlight down into the darkness of the undercity. Those who had lived all their lives in the undercity covered their eyes, blinded by the light. My character stared at the sunlight, shedding tears of joy and regret.
Inflicting pain.
Touching the bones was bringing back a memory related to his missing eye, but it was causing him pain and he kept snatching his hand away. He told my character to hold his hand down so that he couldn't let go. She did so, and he began screaming. She wanted to let go and make it stop, but he'd told her not to. She held on. And then he collapsed, unconscious and bleeding. She'd done that to him. She should have let go.
So the difference is that it's not really me crying - it's the character. But the game is so immersive, and the moment so powerful, that I'm not just roleplaying my character's emotions. I'm feeling them.
This happens a lot at these two games, but it's when I start to cry a fictional character's tears for them that it's most obvious.
Thursday, 17 October 2019
Trying a new LARP: Macabre
As the rain hammered down to the point where I had to put the wipers on max and slow down to 50mph to be able to see enough to drive, I began to wonder if camping was really the right choice for this weekend. I consoled myself with the thought that if it was really horrific I could just leave everything in the car and drive home to sleep. It was only an hour away. Or would be, if I wasn't having to drive at 50mph.
But by the time I arrived at the Grange, the weather had cleared. I pitched the tent, assembled my bed, then went and hung around the player area to meet people. A bit nerve wracking, since the only person I already knew was Leah, but fortunately this game is full of lovely people - even if one of them did make a joke about LT that's so old it was old when I started playing LT twelve years ago.
I was there for Macabre, a Renaissance horror LARP, set in a kingdom ravaged by war and the black plague. At the time of the game, however, there are much worse things to worry about than mere war and pestilence.
Into costume. I was worried by my ongoing failure to find the kind of dress I was imagining (something Landsknecht-esque), despite a fair amount of shopping at the LT summer events, but looking at the event photos reassured me that I could get away with something a bit more 'generic peasant'. So my actual kit was cannibalised from three other costumes with only the white surcoat as a new piece I picked up second hand. I think it worked, and I was warm, although I think a less blingy cloak would have looked better. I own two other cloaks, but the fleece one I wear at LT didn't seem to fit, and the proper medieval wool one I already know is too big and heavy for prolonged wear. So I went with the shiny cloak as the best option.
I'd decided to play a leper with impaired vision, and I'd been wondering how to phys-rep that. I considered contact lenses, but the idea of putting anything in my eyes worries me a bit, so I decided on the simpler option of veiling my eyes. This would have the additional benefit of being easy to remove if I needed better sight. I looked up some medieval head wraps, and settled on one that looked comfortable, was historically in keeping with the setting, and could be slightly modified to cover my eyes.
This proved to have a number of benefits:
1. Stuck my hair in a plait on Friday, left it in all weekend, zero effort hair and still clean when I got back.
2. Kept my head warm.
3. Made me look different, which helps me get IC.
4. Visual reminder for other players that this character can't see well.
5. Blurred writing to the point where I couldn't read it, making it a whole lot easier to ignore any writing I encountered.
And despite appearances, I could see reasonably well through the veil, especially in daylight - the only time I had to lift it up was at mealtimes (I needed to see my dinner) and when walking back through the woods after it got dark (I needed to see the ground). I think some of the players may have underestimated how well I could get around unassisted. Or maybe they were just roleplaying being really helpful?
Into the game itself. Macabre avoids the usual larp problem of new people having no idea what's going on by making every character an amnesiac, so nobody knows what's going on. The existing players know that new people will walk in knowing maybe their name and a couple of basic things about the setting, and they behaved accordingly, attempting to fill in the new players about what was going on in the world. In this game, being unable to remember the names of the people you spend all your time with and what happened two days ago is more of a feature than a bug.
Each character starts out with some hazy memories. I had two interesting ones and one kind of horrifying one. I was wondering how to bring them up, but both of the first two got triggered by events in game, giving me the perfect opportunity. As it turned out, one of the interesting memories turned out to be far more horrifying than I could have imagined, and my character is now attempting to come to terms with the things she's done in the past.
What impressed me most is how seamlessly my character's memories slotted into the existing story. It's like the organiser knew right from the start that my character would be joining the game at event 9, despite the fact I didn't get my character done until a few days before the event. I don't know how he does it, but it was an incredible experience.
I didn't know what I was looking for in this larp, but apparently I found it.
Two things really add to the immersion of this game: the build, and the food. In addition to the usual marquee, a set of temporary buildings are constructed for the event, to create key areas like the lab, the shrine and the leech pool. The set dressing is superb (if in this case a little soggy, thanks to the aforementioned deluge). All meals are held in character, and are a strong focal point for the characters. Meals are a great time to hold an important discussion, since we're all sat down at the table together, and nobody is going to be moving very much for some time after the giant piles of food that emerge from the kitchen at regular intervals. The cloister appears to be operating on a two day week, consisting of Friday and Pieday.
I was not ready for Pieday.
My only regret is that I didn't join this game until its ninth event. This game isn't for everyone, but it's absolutely for me. 10/10, would sob into a flesh golem's shoulder again.
But by the time I arrived at the Grange, the weather had cleared. I pitched the tent, assembled my bed, then went and hung around the player area to meet people. A bit nerve wracking, since the only person I already knew was Leah, but fortunately this game is full of lovely people - even if one of them did make a joke about LT that's so old it was old when I started playing LT twelve years ago.
I was there for Macabre, a Renaissance horror LARP, set in a kingdom ravaged by war and the black plague. At the time of the game, however, there are much worse things to worry about than mere war and pestilence.
Into costume. I was worried by my ongoing failure to find the kind of dress I was imagining (something Landsknecht-esque), despite a fair amount of shopping at the LT summer events, but looking at the event photos reassured me that I could get away with something a bit more 'generic peasant'. So my actual kit was cannibalised from three other costumes with only the white surcoat as a new piece I picked up second hand. I think it worked, and I was warm, although I think a less blingy cloak would have looked better. I own two other cloaks, but the fleece one I wear at LT didn't seem to fit, and the proper medieval wool one I already know is too big and heavy for prolonged wear. So I went with the shiny cloak as the best option.
I'd decided to play a leper with impaired vision, and I'd been wondering how to phys-rep that. I considered contact lenses, but the idea of putting anything in my eyes worries me a bit, so I decided on the simpler option of veiling my eyes. This would have the additional benefit of being easy to remove if I needed better sight. I looked up some medieval head wraps, and settled on one that looked comfortable, was historically in keeping with the setting, and could be slightly modified to cover my eyes.
This proved to have a number of benefits:
1. Stuck my hair in a plait on Friday, left it in all weekend, zero effort hair and still clean when I got back.
2. Kept my head warm.
3. Made me look different, which helps me get IC.
4. Visual reminder for other players that this character can't see well.
5. Blurred writing to the point where I couldn't read it, making it a whole lot easier to ignore any writing I encountered.
And despite appearances, I could see reasonably well through the veil, especially in daylight - the only time I had to lift it up was at mealtimes (I needed to see my dinner) and when walking back through the woods after it got dark (I needed to see the ground). I think some of the players may have underestimated how well I could get around unassisted. Or maybe they were just roleplaying being really helpful?
Into the game itself. Macabre avoids the usual larp problem of new people having no idea what's going on by making every character an amnesiac, so nobody knows what's going on. The existing players know that new people will walk in knowing maybe their name and a couple of basic things about the setting, and they behaved accordingly, attempting to fill in the new players about what was going on in the world. In this game, being unable to remember the names of the people you spend all your time with and what happened two days ago is more of a feature than a bug.
Each character starts out with some hazy memories. I had two interesting ones and one kind of horrifying one. I was wondering how to bring them up, but both of the first two got triggered by events in game, giving me the perfect opportunity. As it turned out, one of the interesting memories turned out to be far more horrifying than I could have imagined, and my character is now attempting to come to terms with the things she's done in the past.
What impressed me most is how seamlessly my character's memories slotted into the existing story. It's like the organiser knew right from the start that my character would be joining the game at event 9, despite the fact I didn't get my character done until a few days before the event. I don't know how he does it, but it was an incredible experience.
I didn't know what I was looking for in this larp, but apparently I found it.
Two things really add to the immersion of this game: the build, and the food. In addition to the usual marquee, a set of temporary buildings are constructed for the event, to create key areas like the lab, the shrine and the leech pool. The set dressing is superb (if in this case a little soggy, thanks to the aforementioned deluge). All meals are held in character, and are a strong focal point for the characters. Meals are a great time to hold an important discussion, since we're all sat down at the table together, and nobody is going to be moving very much for some time after the giant piles of food that emerge from the kitchen at regular intervals. The cloister appears to be operating on a two day week, consisting of Friday and Pieday.
I was not ready for Pieday.
My only regret is that I didn't join this game until its ninth event. This game isn't for everyone, but it's absolutely for me. 10/10, would sob into a flesh golem's shoulder again.
Friday, 11 October 2019
Horror in Sci-fi
One of the players at the larp I was at last weekend has said that if you're going to introduce horror elements into a non-horror game it needs to be signposted and possibly have content warnings. And she's right. You should do this in any larp, regardless of genre. Even horror games. Especially horror games. (This incident doesn't seem to have been anything more than a case of inadequate signposting, but does demonstrate how easily things can go wrong, even with well-intentioned refs who care about their players.)
But I'm going to disagree with the person who described introducing horror elements into this game - a sci-fi larp that cites Star Trek, Mass Effect and Firefly as major influences - as a genre switcheroo.
Sci-fi horror is obviously a thing. As far as I'm concerned, three of the greatest haunted house horror movies ever made are Alien, Event Horizon and The Thing. The body horror genre is full of sci-fi, with films like The Fly and Slither immediately coming to mind, where either weird science or aliens provide the impetus for the horror.
Then there's things that aren't explicitly billed as horror, but are nonetheless scary and full of horror elements. Films like Super 8 and Cloverfield, or the biggest sci-fi influence on my childhood, The X-Files, have no shortage of scares.
And then there's sci-fi that's not intended to be scary, yet still brings the scares from time to time. Star Trek has the Borg. Even Red Dwarf has the polymorph. (Anyone who's encountered mimics in D&D probably has the same reaction as me to a monster that can look like anything, even before we get to the emotion-sucking aspect.)
Sci-fi and horror simply go together. Themes of weird science going wrong, hostile aliens and technological breakdown in the harshness of space are genre staples. Sci-fi doesn't have to include horror - I can't think of anything horror-related in Star Wars, for example - but they are close enough that horror themes showing up in a sci-fi shouldn't be a complete surprise.
Which brings me to Firefly.
Firefly isn't a horror setting. Space western is the normal description, and when I run a Firefly game, I aim for that vibe because if I signed up for a Firefly game I'd be hoping for something that would fit in on the show.
That said...
"If they take the ship, they'll rape us to death, eat our flesh, and sew our skins into their clothing. And, if we're very, very lucky, they'll do it in that order."
―Zoë
My convention scenario starts with the PCs going to investigate an abandoned ship, and I'd like to think that people who sign up for a Firefly game are going to be genre savvy enough to realise ships don't get abandoned for no reason. What happens after that depends quite heavily on the players, but horror themes, particularly those that come up in the show, are always a possibility. (With the exception of reavers doing the thing Zoe describes, for obvious reasons.)
It's not surprising to me that a larp that cites Firefly as one of its primary influences might include elements of horror. The same goes for tabletop RPGs like Coriolis, which claims both Firefly and Alien as influences.
I've never really thought of myself as a horror fan, but I love sci-fi horror. I hope to see more of it in both larp and tabletop.
But I'm going to disagree with the person who described introducing horror elements into this game - a sci-fi larp that cites Star Trek, Mass Effect and Firefly as major influences - as a genre switcheroo.
Sci-fi horror is obviously a thing. As far as I'm concerned, three of the greatest haunted house horror movies ever made are Alien, Event Horizon and The Thing. The body horror genre is full of sci-fi, with films like The Fly and Slither immediately coming to mind, where either weird science or aliens provide the impetus for the horror.
Then there's things that aren't explicitly billed as horror, but are nonetheless scary and full of horror elements. Films like Super 8 and Cloverfield, or the biggest sci-fi influence on my childhood, The X-Files, have no shortage of scares.
And then there's sci-fi that's not intended to be scary, yet still brings the scares from time to time. Star Trek has the Borg. Even Red Dwarf has the polymorph. (Anyone who's encountered mimics in D&D probably has the same reaction as me to a monster that can look like anything, even before we get to the emotion-sucking aspect.)
Sci-fi and horror simply go together. Themes of weird science going wrong, hostile aliens and technological breakdown in the harshness of space are genre staples. Sci-fi doesn't have to include horror - I can't think of anything horror-related in Star Wars, for example - but they are close enough that horror themes showing up in a sci-fi shouldn't be a complete surprise.
Which brings me to Firefly.
Firefly isn't a horror setting. Space western is the normal description, and when I run a Firefly game, I aim for that vibe because if I signed up for a Firefly game I'd be hoping for something that would fit in on the show.
That said...
"If they take the ship, they'll rape us to death, eat our flesh, and sew our skins into their clothing. And, if we're very, very lucky, they'll do it in that order."
―Zoë
My convention scenario starts with the PCs going to investigate an abandoned ship, and I'd like to think that people who sign up for a Firefly game are going to be genre savvy enough to realise ships don't get abandoned for no reason. What happens after that depends quite heavily on the players, but horror themes, particularly those that come up in the show, are always a possibility. (With the exception of reavers doing the thing Zoe describes, for obvious reasons.)
It's not surprising to me that a larp that cites Firefly as one of its primary influences might include elements of horror. The same goes for tabletop RPGs like Coriolis, which claims both Firefly and Alien as influences.
I've never really thought of myself as a horror fan, but I love sci-fi horror. I hope to see more of it in both larp and tabletop.
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