Intercon I: Thursday Thing, aka PreCon

Technically, this was a Thursday Night and Friday Afternoon Thing. Before the larps began at Intercon I, there were a series of panels about larping, allowing us to learn refinements of the craft and to meet each other when we were out of character.

NOTES FROM VOICE AND CHARACTER

Brad: Heard someone say that a larp character is you with some aspect of you turned up to eleven.

Someone else: That's a nice shortcut.

Long Term Advice: Avoid doing what will come to grate on you!

Conner: Some people try accents. And 45 minutes into the game, they will be Scottish. Or Russian.

Jim Macdonald noted that the "Roleplaying Hint" in the character sheets he writes is his chance to address the player directly. Fr'ex, "If you haven't figured it out, you are completely insane."

GMs should budget for what they have assumed are impossible goals happening.

NOTES FROM CASTING QUESTIONNAIRES

Who's been frustrated by one? Everyone raised their hands.

One you wrote yourself? Again, everyone raised their hands.

Writing a casting questionnaire is something of a black art. We want to know what you do like. We need to know what you don't like.

Some people write, "I'll play anything." This is a mistake. It doesn't actually help the GMs figure out how to cast you.

Cast based on the questionnaire, even if you know the person. One GM cast his girlfriend based on what he thought she wanted, not on what she said she wanted in the questionnaire. She went out of game for two hours, crying, and this pulled him out of the game for 90 minutes, comforting her.

How long should a questionnaire be? This isn't necessarily the correct question. Try: How long should it take to fill out the questionnaire.

Consensus: No more than 5 minutes.

Also, as a GM, how long a questionnaire do you want to read? Ask yourself:

What do I need to know

• about my players
• about my characters to match them up

Then make the questions accordingly.

Connor: Add one or two questions to screen for those who shouldn't be playing the game.

Chad: Add one or two off topic questions to learn more about the players. E.g. define a word without looking it up in the dictionary.