Here we’ve collected some random information for those who are new to (Finnish) larping.
Pj = pelinjohtaja = game master = GM: Plans, writes and organizes the game. The highest authority on the game site ;)
HOLD! : Shouting HOLD! Cancels the game. If you hear someone shout HOLD, repeat it loud and stop playing. Used at dangerous situations – if you see that someone is falling down a cliff, shout HOLD! loud!
Off- and in-game (off-time/in-time): Off –game is everything (happenings and objects) outside the game while in-game is all the things that belong to the game and exist in the game world. If a player is off-game (keeps a closed fist above his head), his or her character is not present in the game and the other players won’t react to what that player does. Avoid “offing” if only possible – it can ruin the atmosphere of the game and disturb other players. Many things can be sorted out in-game, use your imagination!
Player and character: Two totally different things. You are the player, the character is an invented figure – and the same goes for other players and their characters. If your character is stupid, that doesn’t mean you are – and the other way around: you might be smart but your character would maybe not be able to solve a riddle presented to him. In-game your character might get laughed at or insulted gravely, but not you.
NPC: “Non Playing Character”, more an actor that follows a manuscript written by the game masters and leading the story onwards than an individually playing player – read page: Player? NPC?
Briefings: In the startbrief the game masters inform the players about game rules, the setting and other important things concerning the game. In individual- and group briefings the game masters tell certain characters and character groups about things that other players shouldn’t know about – at least not yet ;) In the debrief the players tell what happened in the game to their characters – what they did, what they thought, what secrets they had and whether they reached their goals. The game masters are by the way very happy about any written debrief they can get from the players a few days after the game, be it a few random lines of feedback or a whole novel!
Concerning the character and playing:
- Don’t reveal any secrets, motives or goals of your character before the game. If you happen to hear about someone else’s secrets, remember that only you as a player, not your character, has heard about them!
- Learn the names of your contact persons, at least of the most important ones
- Learn the background of your character
- There might be some “silent moments” in the game when nothing big and important is happening. You might want to think on beforehand what your character would do during such moments – some handicraft, game, daydreaming…
- Don’t stress too much ;)
- If your character dies or fails in his goals, that doesn’t mean that your game would have been an unsuccessful or bad one. The player does the right thing when he acts like his character would do, even if he as a player would see that it leads nowhere.
- Once again: you and your character are two different things!
- Nobody has to do anything in the game that he or she doesn’t want to. If some situation turns too uncomfortable, you may tell about that to the other players. If the other one doesn’t believe you in- or even off-game, tell a game master about the problem. Inappropriately behaving players can be removed from the game.. Nobody can force you to do anything – the goal of the game is that it would be a nice experience for everyone.