[UA] UA larp

[Gareth Hanrahan]

>  >>>I've been vaguely trying to some up with a ruleset, but haven't had
any
> deep insights (I think the game needs a randomiser, and there just aren't
> any good ones).<<<
>
> In my experience with Australian freeforms, the more streamlined the rules
> are, the better the game will run.

Oh, I agree, and wouldn't use a randomiser in a larp normally - but UA needs
some sort of chaotic edge I think.

> Dice and other things that flip or roll are just annoying when you have to
> stand up. I've always created rules based on cards, usually numbered 1 -
10.
> If two players are trying to do something, they summon a GM who deals each
> of them a card. All other things being equal, high card wins.

Eh. It's still a bit clunky. Better than dice, though.

> I've used a Saga-inspired system that tied the four suits of a standard
deck
> to four character abilities. If the card drawn matched the ability that
you
> were using, you got a trump.
>
> This could be applied to UA in the following way:
>
> Attributes and skills are rated from 1-9 instead of 1-99. otherwise, they
> remain unchanged.

I'm tempted to tie skills directly to stats - you don't have a firearms
score of 30, you've just got the firearms skill and use your speed when you
need a number. Skills become more of a binary thing - just to cut down on
the complexity of the character sheet.

> If you're trying to do something, you draw a card and compare it to your
> attribute or skill. If the card is equal or less than your rating, you are
> successful. If you are opposing someone else, the highest successful card
> draw wins.
>
> Each attribute and skill is associated with a particular suit of cards. If
> the card drawn is of the appropriate suit, it is a "match." Matches can be
> good or bad, as usual.
>
> Flip-flops are a bit trickier - you could use a redraw, but you'd want to
> keep track of how many times the player had used that ability.
You could probably use some sort of wild card thing instead of a redraw.

> Wounds might be represented by a negative to the card draw of some kind -
> perhaps a wounded person can't beneft from positive matches. I tend to
have
> only three "wound levels" - hurt, incapacitated, dead. I hate games where
> half a dozen people stand around making "challenges" for half an hour.
Yep! (stop channelling my thoughts...you're scaring me.)

> Magic would be annoying, because there are so many different effects to
> remember and I hate games where people have to carry around books. It
might
> be neccessary to prepare one-page cheat sheets for each school.
I'd boil it down to three or four effects per school, and make most
charge-building happen outside the larp.

> "Realistic" combat, of the sort popular in UK LARPs, would be at best a
> distraction and at worst a mood-breaker in a UA game, so I'd drop it.
Every
> freeform I've written has been based on character dynamics and
> character-driven plotlines, and excessive combat starts to hurt the
> structure of the game, anyway.

> Opinions?
I pretty much agree wholeheartedly with everything you've said here...it's
as good as any ideas I've had, but it still relies on cards, and I'd love to
get rid of them too, somehow.

> James O'Rance

Gar
http://www.mytholder.f2s.com



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