An Offer

Four days ago I called Jim for more information on a website we are building. We talked a bit about the site and then he mentioned if I would be interested in going to an anime convention. Having almost no interest in Anime but being bored out of my mind, I said "maybe". He told me to call him tomorrow about it. So I called him and essentially told him I was tight on money this month and needed the trip to be as cheap as possible. He said he had almost everything for "free" and we would be running a LARP for a convention. Naturally I told him I was excited. I have learned you always say you are excited if someone is giving you an "opportunity". I was excited because I had only played in 3 LARP games so far and I was looking for a new experience.

Knowing my friends who are interested in anime, I expected the convention to be filled with costumes of anime characters and other odd people running around. I was not disappointed. We got to the convention and they immediately got going on getting players for the game. At the convention I learned we were going to play Legend of the 5 Rings (L5R). I have never played L5R nor anything from the publisher which is similar.

I hung out at the table and soaked up all the good descriptions of the game they were giving to potential players. Before the game started, I read the rule book to figure out the mechanics of the game. However I have learned the rulebook and actual play is a lot different. So I watched the new player briefing closely. At the beginning of the game, we had a combat tournament for the warriors. This helped reinforce the specific mechanics I would need to perform. I have learned it is a lot different watching someone keep the game flowing and actually doing it.

Now most of my friends know I am a pretty shy guy. I don't approach or talk to new people very often. I like going to conventions once in a while because it brings me outside of my comfort zone. Boy, did this ever bring me outside mine. One of the things I tried to do was make sure everyone looked happy during the game. I stayed in one place for a while and just observed the player interactions. Answered a few questions with the most eloquent bullshit I could muster, remember I have never played this game, and generally be there for advise and consul.

That first day, one thing happened which I will remember. I was walking around and two players looked at me. I came over and they wanted to have an ambush. So I brought them out of the main room and into the hall so we could have some space to act it out. Started initiative and got to the first attack. The first attack was unsuccessful but it took a while, remember I have never played this game. So the guy who wanted to ambush really had to leave. He killed himself for attacking, the only honorable way to leave, and it was over. I told the head game master what happened and went on. This ambush became a reason the players thought there was an assassin ready to kill them.

The next day we went out again to get more players and I was the one to talk about the world. Remember I had never played this game. I made some stuff up while furiously reading about the world and embellishing on what I read. Since this was a convention we would only be playing for 2 nights and the majority of the people were new to the game. So it didn't matter what I said so long as it provided more information than what was on the introduction paper, it sounded good and it got the players excited about playing the game.

The second night Jim and myself setup a second room as a meeting hall. I had to babysit it but I was supposed to roam around once the game started. All fine with me, remember I had never played this game. The players came to the second room and I went roaming. Soon a major plot had developed and everyone I was escorting to the second room wanted an audience. None of the players would accept the audience. The line got backed up so much we had 4 of the 5 game masters at that room.

The game progressed but we needed 2 game masters for the room. So I looked for people needing help again and trying to get some involved. One of the new players wanted to check to see if they saw anything in the room. One person was actually invisible and the high ranking players talked about a "presence." So I agreed and set an extraordinary high value to find the invisible player. The guy drew 2 black jokers from the deck of cards in a row and an eight. So he scored a 27 on his check and I told him about the invisible player. Of course he alerted the high ranking players. Now I have played this game.

I had a lot of fun being a game master for the LARP. It involved keeping the mechanics straight, adjudicating decisions the players made, roleplaying NPC characters, keeping everyone involved in the game and making sure we all had fun. I also think I am judging people's emotions better than I usually do. Even though I am new to LARP, I think I may want to do this in the future. Maybe someone saw something in me and would like me to join their game as a game master. You never know what will happen.