Article:
LARP Plot Tips: Using Games of Chance or Skill

Plot members are always looking for new ways to break the normal fighting/talking template that most modules follow. In the past I wrote about Using Simon Says, but there are other ways to spruce up basic modules, without a lot of extra work.

I'm referring to using Games of Skill and Games of Chance to add a mild twist.

The goal in using Games of Skill is to make the players perform actions that may simulate a situation that is hard to implement in-game. Games of skill can vary from playing a game of chess representing the movement of troops to throwing darts at a dart board showing how successful a sniper was in hitting his mark over a mile away.

In comparison, Games of Chance are often used to determine the outcome of some sort of physical event for individuals, or perhaps to select the next required action that the players might need to perform. These actions could be simulated by rolling dice, drawing cards, or drawing out of a hat.

Here are some things you'll want to think about whenever you're trying to integrate Games of Skill and Chance into your modules.

Skill Games Aren't for Punishment
Many players come to LARP games in order to be what they can't be in real life. By implementing a game of skill, you are asking the player to perform some OOG that has nothing to do with the fantasy. For that reason, be careful to stay away from punishing the player for average performance. You can help keep it fun by either making the challenge easy to accomplish, or to reward the player for excellent performance rather than punish them for doing poorly. Remember, if the player thinks their character is going to suffer because they lack OOG skill, you'll elicit the opposite response from what you're looking for.

Chance Games Should Add Flavor
Like when using games of skill, games of chance should be used to add flavor in the game, rather than punish players when a game of chance goes wrong. Now, I'm not saying that you can't inflict any kind of restrictions on players based on the outcome of a game of chance. Players will feel slighted if they receive a much harsher penalty than another player, just because they got unlucky. The trick is to have the different outcomes on par with one another, or once again to provide benefits instead of punishments, when it's appropriate.