Article: Creating a LARP Group: Where do I Spend my Money?
Written By: Bill T
Date: 26 Apr 2010

You've been working hard, building your game up and promoting it to the outside. You've started to get a decent playerbase, and you're running an event every month. With all this success, you've got to the point where you can spend about $100 towards the event, after paying for insurance, camp fees, and royalties (if applicable). How do you spend it?

Honestly, you can spend it whatever way makes you happy and improves the game. But what if you're not sure what would do that the most? Here's my suggestion for splitting the money you spend on improving the game.

15% - Disposables
25% - PC Props
30% - Plot Props
30% - Infrastructure

Disposables (15%)
Disposables are the props and equipment that you're going to use and throw away when the event's over. While these can make your game interesting and fun, it really is a shame to waste too much money on something you can't use later. Common disposables include make-up, flagging tape, silly string, and anything else you might only get a small amount of use out of. You might only have to buy make-up or flagging tape once per season, so split the cost among all the events that use these items to get a better idea of how much more you can spend on disposable items.

PC Props (25%)
Player Character (PC) props are items that you will give out in game. This can be anything from weapons to jewelry or art. Players love receiving OOG props to go with their IG items, and putting these props into game is going to help maintain immersion and atmosphere. You will probably find you get a lot more mileage by putting multiple, low cost props into game instead of one expensive prop, but occasionally it will be appropriate to put a high quality item into game.

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View Comments (3)

I only have one problem, where can I get really cheap if not free land in the east midlands, UK?
Posted by tom on 1 October 2010 20:36
This article is aimed towards groups that are starting up, and so more emphasis is put onto Infrastructure and Plot Props. But the 4 categories and the tricks on picking your percentages/reviewing how well they worked for you can apply to any game.
Posted by Bill T on 28 June 2010 16:24
A nice generalization that may get a group manager thinking about their needs, but doesn't get very specific and the percentages don't take into account what a group already has or what resources they can take advantage of. Not sure that such a limited article could.
Posted by Thax on 10 May 2010 16:29

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