User Blog:
LARP Plot Tips: Simon Says

LARP Plot lines generally follow the same template.

1. Talking module
2. Fighting module
3. Talking module that devolves into a fighting module
4. Treasure

Players grow accustomed to this and begin to expect nothing but talking and fighting modules. Want to throw them for a spin?

Try a "Simon Says" module.

I'm not talking about plain old Simon Says. What I'm referring to is designing a module with visual/audible cues that link to physical/vocal responses. Each module can have a different way of providing those cues and different consequences for failing to do it.

We once ran a module where the players were heading to a specific location and they could get there one of two ways. The slow, dangerous way was to walk miles through undead-infested wastelands. The fast, more dangerous way was to take a raft down a river filled with interplanar conduits that were easy to fall into. The players chose the river, so we started the Simon Says module.

There were various cues based on what we learned white-water rafting - Forward, Reverse, Left Turn, Right Turn, High Side, and Paddles up. When the marshal called out a command, the players had three seconds to respond. Failing at certain commands would either cause the boat to drift towards a portal or have players on the boat fall into the river and into a portal. As always, we allowed the players to think outside the box. Some players used items or magic that gave them a burst of strength to make up for others who didn't perform the correct response. One player even used a pin to keep themselves on the boat in case they messed up.

Here are some tips for setting up “Simon Says” modules.

Give benefits to players who are familiar with the situation in-game(IG) and out-of-game (OOG).
For the example above, we used the actual terms that guides use in white water rafting. Players who were familiar with white water rafting in real life had an advantage as they knew the commands. In addition, if a character had a skill or experience with rafting down that river, we would give them one free pass. If people messed up and they shouted “pass”, their character would do some sort of heroic stunt to prevent disaster. Associate physical actions with physical modules and mental actions with thinking modules. While steering a raft is a physical action, using the same responses for testing a character’s etiquette would not be appropriate.