I’ll get the update stuff out of the way first, as the rest off this entry will be me venting ideas stuck in my head the last week. Last weekend saw Blacktown Medieval Fair, and while talking about swords, playing with swords and trying to convince people their lives would be improved by learning how to use swords was a heap of fun, it was also damn exhausting. I’ve also left feedback with them, politely asking the soundtrack please have more than the same 5 or so songs and could event the MC be sent on a Responsible Service of Alcohol course, as advocating for people to start drinking when the hotel opened at 11am, not to mention something alone the lines of ‘If you can’t drink them, give them to your kids’, was kind of horrifying and surely a relic of ages past. I was responsible with my shopping, with my main purchases being some frog earrings for my wife (Yes, even at a medieval event I can find frog items for her – BOW DOWN TO MY POWER!), a bloody guillotine pendant for a housemate (The smile that came over her face when I gave it to her was more than worth it, to say nothing of the fact that she immediately put it on) and a LARP cutlass for myself. It’s very pretty, and started my brain going, which will likely comprise the rest of this entry…

You see, that re-awakened the long held passion my brain has for all things to do raising the Black Flag (Ooooo-er!), whether I want it to or not. I mean, I haven’t helped that by starting a re-watch of Black Sails, or listening to episodes of Larps and Tarps where they discuss playing in the game Hoist the Colours, which led down a rabbit hole of trying to find cap gun flintlocks, possibly not helped by reading a recent discussion on the Drachenfest Australia group regarding their use in that game, as opposed to band guns. Furthermore, playing the remaster of Secret of Monkey Island, as much fun as that is, has reminded me of how utterly incompetent I am at puzzle games. Praise be to internet walkthroughs and hints, as I’m old enough to remember having to buy magazines to get them. Yes, I’m old, and get the hell off my lawn. I’m torn between what to buy when I finish it, the leading choices being either Sea of Thieves and Skull and Bones.

So, yeah, my head has been slightly occupied. Old ideas have been returning to the fore, and thoughts of games starting with the shattered remnants of a pirate armada washing ashore on some unknown, foreboding island. That might have been accidentally borrowed from Hoist the Colours, I’m not sure. Either way, I might save that one for next Pheno, given the pirate RPG I helped kickstart should have arrived by then. I’m certainly happy to be having ideas again, even if they’re old ones I may have forgotten about. It’s also led to a lot of contemplation about trying to run it as a semi regular thing, or possibly go quite, quite mad and try to run a LARP again.

It’s kept my head busy at least, which has been nice. Thoughts of how much weird in the setting, when should that be introduced (As bloated as the later films got, the first Pirates of the Caribbean film did a great job of slowly introducing the ‘stranger’ parts of the setting), and indeed, should it be based in history at all? Basing in the historical Golden Age of Piracy, albeit modified, gives a good starting point and ready made villains in the British and Spanish navies, not to mention the East India Trading Company, whereas a more fantasy approach gives a larger scope for options, but at the risk of being a bit everything and the kitchen sink. I’ve seen more than a few fantasy LARPS that have no shortage of races, each with it’s own ability, and leaves them, to me, lacking in focus and fodder for min-maxing. Again, that’s a me thing, and is no way intended as a pot shot at others, as I’ve been guilty of taking part is such behaviour in the past. I’ve spoken before about the effect that Path of the Warden had on me, and it’s rules light approach has continued to do a number on what I want in a LARP. Combine that with reading Hoist the Colour’s design document, and well, it’s certainly sparked a desire to try writing something again.

Mind you, that hasn’t started yet, as between work and family my time and focus to sit down and write has been lacking. All I have so far is my long held wants at LARP, such as phones away during game and a phrase resembling “Permadeath exists fuckos, so get used to it!” in the rulebook. The former owing to them being distractions, that I’ve fallen victim to all too many times in the past, be that checking something during a quiet moment in play, or trying to maintain immersion with people taking video in the middle of play. Hell, I remember one game where one person was commentating while taking video, which more than shattered any remaining immersion. Take photos, at the start and end of the day, but between then, leave it to the crew and put your phones away. The latter being because I really like the risk of death in a game. I don’t want characters dropping like flies, and I can understand not wanting to die given you’ve put so much effort into costume and background, but what is adventure without risk? It brings that feeling similar to a convention one-shot game, where I have 3 hours to get stuff done and have no illusion of playing the character again and induces a certain hell bent for leather approach to my play, that’s frequently absent in longer running campaigns. I’m sure I’ve spoken on this before, but there’s likely new readers since that time.

Again, all of this is speculative, as it’s likely that given a few more days this hyper-fixation will fade and be replaced by something anew. It’s a blessing and a curse. It’ll likely be another half written Google Doc to add to all the others, but something that get’s in the head even slightly in gear is better than none. Still, anything to get it out of the system and let me get back to other things – I mean, Ravenswood is coming up soon, and I’ve been meaning to at least start re-reading the Rivers of London books in preparation, and writing up my character’s IMDB entry.

Anyhow, time for bed. Be seeing you…

*In short, a few years ago a group of friends were at a weekend game where a couple among them, who shall remain nameless, were in the fresh and vocally enthusiastic, shall we say, stage of their relationship, or so I heard. This led to an idea of the Fuck Tent, which I shall explain. Buy a cheap tent, set it up a sensible distance from the game zone, and stock it with condoms, lube and sanitizer, with a roster outside. For a small fee, people can book the tent for whatever they wish (IC or OC, we don’t discriminate), with the expectation they clean it when they’re done, and leave it for the next booking. The hope was for bookings to cover the cost of the tent and supplies, as said tent may be too ‘tainted’ for other uses and may indeed be ceremonially burned at the end of the event.