Creating crossover between tabletop RPG and live-action crowds

[themaxx]

We've been running a tabletop focused game convention for twelve years now, and are interested in bringing more LARPs into the mix, both because we love the form and because there's some very cool new stuff going on in that space.

What would you do, in the context of an annual hotel convention, to help tabletop gamers try out some LARPs and likewise to help LARP players try out some new tabletop experiences?

Would love your feedback, anecdotes or suggestions. We've got a series of five LARPs, from very emotional to very detailed to very silly, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens.

 

[1d4cast_James]

This past year, I started my own convention, 1d4Con. Our focus was only for tabletop games, but I had 2 LARPs (owbn vampire and werewolf) ask for space. I like both styles of play, so we decided to give it a shot and rent extra space. The LARP pretty much had their members there, but not a lot of sign ups from the tabletop crowd. I was kinda surprised that there really wasn't any crossover.

As a gamer of both styles, I have noticed that people who are exclusively tabletop gamers tend to look down on LARPers. I don't fully get this as most LARPers are also tabletop gamers. The media does give a lot of stereotypes to LARPers, so that may be the issue.

Education and example may be the only way to sell it. People need to know what a LARP is and isn't as well as what to expect from that experience. I'm still trying to figure out how to do this for my own convention.

 

[themaxx]

We've also had LARPs attend that brought their own player base, but then I noticed fairly low crossover.

This year our LARP selection is varied: some really easy entry, some requiring more time to digest characters, but none of the ongoing campaign LARPs like OWBN. I had been hoping to appeal to the gamers that form our core, the ones who love story and narrative and exploring character motivations and emotions.

I suspect some of the smaller and easier to run on-the-fly LARPs will go off, while the higher prep ones will not reach critical mass, and I'm just not sure why.

 

[Umbran]

Our focus was only for tabletop games, but I had 2 LARPs (owbn vampire and werewolf) ask for space. I like both styles of play, so we decided to give it a shot and rent extra space. The LARP pretty much had their members there, but not a lot of sign ups from the tabletop crowd. I was kinda surprised that there really wasn't any crossover.

I'm not surprised. OWBN is designed for you to have a long-standing character. There'd be an expectation that the folks playing in the game had established characters, and likely established relationships. That can be a daunting social barrier for a new player, and probably seen as not worth the effort for a one-shot.

If you want to encourage crossover, your games (both tabletop and live-action) should probably be self-contained and stand alone, without folks bringing in established characters, or requiring the player to have much world or rules knowledge beforehand.

Education and example may be the only way to sell it. People need to know what a LARP is and isn't as well as what to expect from that experience. I'm still trying to figure out how to do this for my own convention.

I think folks get into live-action games largely the same way as they get into tabletop - someone they know invites, educates, and brings them in. If you lack the established social connection, trying to encourage them to do something new when they already have a room full of stuff they already like can be difficult.

One possibility - get a couple of "horde-style" live action games. This construction is like most TV shows - there are a handful of central cast characters, and then a horde of extras. The cast play the same characters for the entire game, and the extras come in, play a role for ten minutes or half an hour or whatever, and then walk out again. Maybe they pick up a new horde character, or maybe they decide to wander off and do something else.

I've had some luck with occasionally wandering over to a room of tabletop players and saying, "Hey, folks! I need four people to play badass bikers causing trouble in a diner. It'll take like ten minutes. Any volunteers?" They get a really short taste of live-action play, with no real commitment to spend four or six hours at it.

 

[themaxx]

One possibility - get a couple of "horde-style" live action games. This construction is like most TV shows - there are a handful of central cast characters, and then a horde of extras. The cast play the same characters for the entire game, and the extras come in, play a role for ten minutes or half an hour or whatever, and then walk out again. Maybe they pick up a new horde character, or maybe they decide to wander off and do something else.

Do you have any examples of games that fit this model and were successful for your recruiting efforts? I've not played anything like that, but would be happy to give it a shot.

 

[Umbran]

I suspect some of the smaller and easier to run on-the-fly LARPs will go off, while the higher prep ones will not reach critical mass, and I'm just not sure why.

Well, you said it yourself - they are higher prep. Don't expect new folks to invest much in the experience before they know if they'll like it!

I'm a veteran live-action player. I will pay an $100 entry fee, and pay for a hotel room and costuming, and drive eight hours to play a weekend-long game. I would *not* have done that sight-unseen for my very first live action game. My first game was running at our local sci-fi con, and a friend of mine said, "Hey, you should come play this, it'll be fun!" They told me about it, I trusted them, and it cost me nothing beyond what I was already going to pay to go to the con.

If you want folks to try something new, you have to make it *easy* for them to do so. Pregenerated characters. Simple rules that are quick and easy to pick up. Only short readings about setting required to play. Only basic costume requirements - real-world settings can help with that.

Get games that are about things that folks already know about - Cthulhu, Firefly, or other known media. Vampire and werewolf have a lot of preconception-baggage, so don't expect new players to try them. Don't expect them to start with live-combat - as running around swinging a boffer sword will seem like a bit much to a tabletop-only player.

 

[themaxx]

Thanks Umbran, makes perfect sense. Anything come to mind that you'd be able to run?

 

[Zhaleskra]

I LARPed once. The transition from tabletop to LA didn't jive with me somehow.

 

[Umbran]

Thanks Umbran, makes perfect sense. Anything come to mind that you'd be able to run?

Me? I would have to look a the Game Bank. My wife and I have a game we've run a couple of times, but it is large (30 or so players), and I expect that to be a little big for a convention that doesn't have a solid tradition of live-action games.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

If it were at a convention, and there wasn't any other strong competition, I'd give it a shot. Generally, however, I just don't feel much of a draw to LARP. I'm probably just weird in my reasons, but on the off-chance I'm not and it could be of use to you, let me explain my own psychology regarding it.

1. It's social stigma enough to play TTRPGs. Having to admit to LARPing also is just losing even more capital with your typical non-role playing crowd. (Sad but true.)
2. It's easier to imagine the scene without props and costumes. Sure, if we were wearing completely authentic costumes in completely authentic settings, and we all played characters that we could more or less make ourselves exactly look like--then it wouldn't have that problem. Well, assuming we're also dealing with events that we can make happen. So that rules out dragons. Glowing eyes are going to take some work to pull off, etc. But in general, it's just easier to keep it all in the shared imagination, rather than having to selectively delete elements of the scene in our mind while filling in others.
3. I'm unsure about how satisfying the rules systems are. Rock-paper-scissors (in addition to #2 above) just seems rather poorly suited to any kind of complexity of task resolutions.

I think those are the main ones. One thing that I should also point out is that, for me, it has absolutely nothing to do with being disinterested in acting. I'm the DM who is always gesturing animatedly, giving different voices and styles to NPCs, sometimes even standing up, moving around and acting out NPCs. If I had an opportunity to act out the game in some sort of VR environment, I'd probably love it (assuming the tech is up to my expectations).

So, make of that as you will.