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LARP Plot Tips: Organization
As with any other endeavor, organization is paramount to success. The better control you have on your resources, whether they're NPCs, costumes, or plotlines, the easier it is going to be to get things out the door.
Organization starts well before the event, where you're laying out your plot information, but covers everything from layout of the camp to timing events around meal times. Here are a few things that will help you organize various parts of the event.
Organize your Plotlines
Some people think that a binder with your plotlines is enough. Truth is, that item will probably walk away from you at some point in time during the event. One Way to avoid the impact of this is to have an electronic copy of your material on a laptop or flash drive. If it's on a flash drive, make sure that you have multiple formats so that it can be read on a computer without Microsoft Office.
I like to take it a step further and also have multiple copies of a cheat sheet. The cheat sheet doesn't have to have your full plotline on it - you probably know it well enough to get by. What it does have are names of places and people and brief descriptions of each. Nothing confuses the PCs more than when you change the name of an NPC on them mid-game.
Organize the Weekend
Once you get on site, the first thing you'll want to do after unpacking is to coordinate the weekend schedule with the other members of the plot team. You can do this ahead of time, but doing it on site gives you a better idea on what kinds of prop/NPC resources you have available. A white board is helpful, but not necessary, especially if you don't have a back room to put it in. A white board out in the open screams "Read Me" to players that stumble into the shack.
Be prepared to give an estimated time of setup, time to run, and number of NPCs required for each module. The more accurate you are with this, the better the game will flow for the players, which does wonders for the immersion of the game.
Organize the NPCs
Some plot teams run too hard Friday night, and then all the NPCs are asleep until noon on Saturday, leaving the players bored! Get an idea for how many NPCs you have and how much they can give you.
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One thing that helps me a lot is to come up with funny names for my plot lines and modules. Usually it involves the extensive use of puns and relates to what the plot line/mod is all about. So, a mod involving rustlers dressing up as Indians might be called "Red-necked Red Men." This little mnemonic device helps me to remember the module and its placement in the event.
I also find it helpful to use a standard format when writing up my plot lines. This makes it easy to scan the document and pick out the information I need. There's nothing worse than forgetting a name and KNOWING that you wrote it in there somewhere even though you can't find it. The standard format I use can cause some repetition of information, but its worth a little extra time writing to have all of the necessary info in every section.
I use the following format:
Plot Line
Mod Name
Synopsis
Location
Hook
Role-playing
Action
Rewards
NPCs
All NPC names are in bold and any important info is italicized. So mod write-up might look something like this:
Plot Line: Buying Groceries
Module: Getting to the Store
Synopsis: Benson's wife nags him about getting groceries and he decides to go to the store. He has trouble finding his keys until she reminds him they are on the coffee table. On the short drive to the store he has to avoid heavy traffic and talk his way out of a speeding ticket.
Location: Mod will be run in the living room. The couch will represent the car.
Hook: Benson's wife Elizabeth wants to bake a cake but she's out of milk and eggs. She nags him into going to the grocery and makes sure to remind him to buy her some lady things. She promises to rub his feet as a reward once he returns.
Role-playing: Elizabeth is annoyed that Benson has been playing video games all day. She's only baking a cake so she has an excuse to ask him to go to the store. She'll try nagging him at first, but if that doesn't work she'll offer to rub his feet when he gets home. She makes sure to remind him to buy her some lady things. If Benson forgets, she'll claim the oven is on the fritz and won't bake a cake. Benson's keys will be lost. He'll have a difficult time finding them unless he asks Elizabeth for help. If he asks her nicely she'll remember that the keys are on the coffee table, but if he's rude she'll pick a fight with him. The police officer is a local cop and he's in a pretty good mood. If Benson isn't a jerk he'll let him off with a warning.
Action: On the way to the store Benson will have to contend with heavy traffic. The couch will represent the car he's driving. In order to simulate the traffic, NPCs will throw kickballs at his head while he attempts to avoid them without standing up. If he's knocked out of the couch he will get into an accident on the road. Once past the traffic Benson will have to speed to get to the grocery on time. If he does he'll get caught in a speed trap. The local cop will attempt to give Benson a ticket but Benson might be able to role-play out of it and still manage to make it to the grocery on time.
Rewards: Elizabeth will rub Benson's feet when he gets home if he bargains her into it. Either way, Elizabeth will bake a cake unless Benson forgets to buy her lady things.
NPCs: Elizabeth (awesome wife level 10, nagging rank 4, baking rank 6), Police Officer (Enforcer level 2, Banter rank 3, traffic law rank 6)
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That is an absolutely epic module you've written out! I'm definitely going to try the couch/dodgeball thing.