Zedtown: Twin Cities

Roughly 600 humans began the latest Zedtown. 1 got evacuated at the end.

Yep. Around 600 started, and 1 made it out. True, there were a number more who survived (I believe around 100, though I could be wrong), but weren’t at the evacuation point at game end. But still, 600 go in and 1 comes out. That’s one hell of a Thunderdome.

20160529_113815 Woooooooo!

That was my third Zedtown, second as player and it was a joy to participate in. I continued my track record of A:not surviving and B: managing to hide from photographers, both of which I’d like to change in future. If I had to sum up how I felt, it would be with one word: ow. My legs ache, shoulders are sore and the fingers on my left hand were cramped from holding a trigger for several hours. Praise be to Deep Heat, the miracle substance! Mercifully the paranoia is fading, though we had someone run past us at the shops post game and we almost went for our blasters. That might have been awkward.

The Cons:
The cold. Nothing the orgs can do about that, but I was damn glad for the Driza-Bone I had on.

The line. Look, the queue at set up is part of the experience, but having clearer signage as to which line is for what faction would have been useful. We almost made it to the front of one line only to find that we were in the wrong faction’s line…

The Pros:

Really, everything else. The NPC’s were fantastic, the mods helpful and polite and any issues we had were dealt with promptly. Sure, there were technical issues with a couple of things and the game did start late, but those are minor quibbles.

The level of costuming was it’s usual high standard. There was one group clad in bright primary colours and tuts, Mario and Luigi, some nuns, one group in doctor’s scrubs and a seemingly endless variety of tactical gear, slings and combat webbing. My group? We were the squad ‘Those with Guns’, dressing old west style.

13254891_10153782092346461_667116875512524000_o “There’s two kinds of people in the world my friend. Those with loaded guns, and those who dig.”

When the game began paranoia kicked in incredibly quickly. There was talk of a corridor near Gold Base that held a zombie spawn point with an improved zombie said to be guarding it. There wasn’t as much paranoia over hidden zombies as I remember from the previous event, at least that I saw, mostly cause my group hadn’t ticked the OZ box.

We spent some time foraging for fuel coasters and dodging zombies, the numbers of which were still under 100. Early on the survivors far outnumbered the zombies, but that doesn’t help things much. Panic and nerves are high, especially with Original Zombies (Or OZ’s) hidden away in each faction. We ran from Alpha Zombies (We didn’t know they could be killed at the time) and ended up taking ‘sticky eggs’ (Ping Pong balls covered in something I think was lube) over to the shop, which was roughly 2/3rd’s of the map away. It was during that quest that the first of my squad was lost, and I was separated from the second. Much travelling, some running and wracked nerves managed to bring my egg to the shop to claim my reward, that being a disgusted shopkeeper giving me a coin to take the egg away.

Shop Assistant 2

The shopkeeper’s ‘assistant.’ Never did find out if they managed to open the safe.

We trekked from one side of the map to the other, escorting an NPC with a flashy whirly device, said to be able to turn the territory into an evac point. The members of Red Faction seemingly let us have it, possibly in the name of human solidarity. They outnumbered us, and we had zombies at our backs, but the flashly whirly device was kept safe through it’s countdown and the point was ours.

We got told to hold that point (While the rest of the group fought their way back to gold base), so we spent the next hour on the edge of the clearing watching lights moving through the trees, dealing quietly with any zombies who were nearby and trying not to freeze. The later it got, the louder the chants of “HORDE!” became and the more we tried to sink into the earth, both so as not to get spotted but also because it might have been warmer there. As the time ticked down, we decided to blast our way into the safe zone and ran for it. I’ll admit, I might have been tagged as I was leaping into the zone – I can only apologise and blame adrenaline.

zedtown-twin-cities-map The map itself.

We’d made it to the safe zone and evac, or so we thought… Given the number of zombies the safe zone was decaying and the clock was ticking. After a countdown, the zombies charged and it was all over. Well, except for 1 lucky sod, who had hidden away under all our corpses. Nicely done sir!

For Next Game:

Carry more snacks with me. I was starving and cramping up by the end. It’s not often I say I’d have killed for a Mars Bar, but I was close by the end.

A torch, preferably gaffa taped to the barrel of my main blaster. I hadn’t expected it to get quite so dark as it did, though we were up around the top of the map away from buildings and light sources. This didn’t help much when car headlights from the nearby street kept seeming like torchlight.

A different loadout. The Slingfire’s a fine weapon, but it fires a bit too slow and the reload is cumbersome. We’re torn between twin pistols (Hammershots most likely), or a full auto rifle (Most likely the Rapid Strike). At the very least something pump action, maybe one of the Rebelle Crossbows.

Night Vision Goggles. I kid, mostly. At the very least, a set of binoculars or scope would have come in handy.

Radios. Sure, they don’t fit the old west theme, but they could have been useful when we got seperated.

Costuming: More comfortable shoes for one thing. We’re looking at coming as Templars, from the roleplaying game Deadlands: Hell on Earth for the next event, both to keep the post apocalyptic theme going and to stand out again.

Time to go apply more Deep Heat. Ow…

A Fistful of Nerf Darts

So Zedtown is a few days (At the time of writing) anticipation is high, though their social media currently seems flooded by people making “Is my blaster OK” jokes after this post.

Loosely inspited by the group at UK game Zombie LARP who turned up as Morris Dancers, a housemate and I were kicking around costume ideas. The standard approach of tactical gear was out, as there’s plenty of other groups doing that.Labcoat clad corporate scientists was an idea, but we settled on dressing old west, mostly due to a shared love of the works of Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone. A drizabone thanks to Ebay and a holster from Artisan Leather Crafts and I’m ready to go.

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It took a while to narrow down that idea though – some of the others on the list are as follows:
Archers – everyone use Nerf bows or crossbows and cosplays as famous archers. One of my housemates has claimed Green Arrow and I’ve called dibs on Hawkeye. Hey, I like purple.

Hawkeye_Arrow_Stance

Arnold – Schwarzenegger characters, complete with either abs drawn on in texta or foam mucles suits. I’d expect a large number of T-800’s but me? Dutch Schaefer. Because zombies bleed, and if it bleeds, we can kill it. 🙂 Hopefully I’d also be able to make to when the escape chopper arrives… Normally I’d go as Conan (I’m about as close to REH’s Conan as Schwarzenegger was, though I’ ll defend the first movie till the cows come home), but since melee combat is banned by the system*, there’s not much point.

keep-calm-cause-if-it-bleeds-we-can-kill-it
There was an afterthought to that one, of going as 80’s action movie characters or the Expendables, but that’s more military than I prefer. I’ve got nothing against the guys who wear tac gear and carry around more foam (darts) than a mattress factory, but that style of play isn’t for me. Still, going as John McClane with a dart blaster taped to my back isn’t a bad idea.

Flash Gordon – Given how often ‘I love you’ in my house is followed by “But we only have 14 hours to save the Earth!” this seems a natural idea. My wife is very enthusiastic, more so to see me dressed as Prince Vultan than to play. I’ve already got the beard, though I’ll need to carry a loud hailer to come close to matching BRIAN BLESSED for volume. And we’d need someone called Gordon to frequently check in on. Granted, running in that kit wouldn’t exactly be practical, but that get’s you Zombie Vultan.

brianblessed-flashgordon

3 days to go. I should probably watch Commando and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly again in preperation…

*I’m fine with that by the way. As much as I’ve love to bring a longsword along with me, it’s nor worth the risk. 500+ excitable people, few of which would have any sort of training and that’s more potential for injuries than I’d be OK with. Besides, spending the game in a block of pikemen and musketeers would just be dull. Efficient, but dull.

Pirates!

Out on the endless ocean
We tear along the gales
With rum inside our bellies warm
And freedom in our sails

A wayward bunch of scoundrels
Assassins, thieves and slaves
The rich and blue bloods fear us when
We hunt upon the waves

Beneath the Black Flag – Miracle of Sound

So, thanks to a discovery recently, I’ve had a thought about running a pirate LARP. Mostly owing to Ian Sturrock, a British game writer, whose bio mentioned he’d run a game called Cutlass Island (described as a cross between It’s a Knockout and Pirates of the Caribbean), which has to be one of the greatest ideas known to mankind. Sliced bread? BAH!

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So, the ship has been sunk (By storm, battle, or kraken) and the survivors struggle to shore, dragging what weapons and supplies they can, and must now decide what to do. That was the basic idea, closely followed by the possibility of running it on a beach somewhere for that extra bit of atmosphere. Finding a good location is a start, preferably free of civilians and with a fire pit or two nearby, though having gamed on public beaches before it’s not an insurmountable hurdle. (I’m still curious to know what that fisherman must have thought of the group of heavily armed crusaders walking down to the beach during the first St Wolfgang’s Vampire Hunters.)

Do they elect a new captain, break into petty recriminations or just get roaring drunk? Are there survivors from other ships, leading into an uneasy alliance for survival? Or are the others plotting to wait till they sleep and cut their throats? Paranoia’s always a fun tool in a GM’s arsenal, with the occasional glimpse of something through the trees, or sentry’s being picked off unawares. (During St Wolfgang’s we didn’t spot the first vampire till near midnight, which only made the wait more maddening) Players don’t necessarily have to play pirates or sailors, they could be merchants, travellers, apprentice sorcerers or any sort of character with a reasonable excuse to be at sea.

Alestorm

Could there be food and fresh water inland? It’s possible. There could also be mysterious natives from an aeon’s old civilisation, escaped slaves desperate to escape or degenerate cannibals. There could be survivors of other wrecks desperate to escape or other horrifying monsters. It could even be the legendary island of the scantily clad nymphomaniacs where the rivers flow with wine, but you aren’t that lucky are you? Does someone have a map (Maybe even one not written on human skin), heard rumours in a tavern or have you delved into the iron-bound books of Vathelos the Blind in search of hints of what grisly fate awaits you here? Or is it just wrong place, wrong time?

I’m not interested in debating rule’s systems at the moment. All I do know is I’d prefer to keep things as rules light as possible, which brings to mind the ruleset used for Hyborian Tales. Perhaps an adaption of Barbarians of Lemuria (A system I adore), the career stytem fits well. Weapons would be LARP safe, possibly with Nerf bows and crossbows mixed in. Alternatively, it could come down to card draws or rock paper scissors for combat, but I really enjoy live combat, so that’s not my preferred approach. Could be put to a vote of prospective players. Moving along…

Capture-of-Blackbeard

As for what setting, well, that’s another matter. I don’t know Seventh Sea (Though I really should) or Mage: The Sorcerer’s Crusade, which at the moment leaves A: the real world, or at least a modified version of such (Possibly adding voodoo and other sorcery, such as from Green Ronin’s Skull and Bones campaign setting) or B: Conan. Real world is easily identifiable (And easier to costume), but runs the risk of descending into cliché. I can’t throw stones at that, as most of my previous games were powered by them, but I’d like to have more than people yell “Arrr” at each other for several hours. A bit more historical murderous savages, rather than the sanitised movie version. (This would mean warning players beforehand and having spare crew roles for dead PC’s as well)

Then, Conan. It’s a setting I adore, being a huge fan of the original stories and where no shortage of piratical shenanigans can be had (In his time Conan sailed with all 4 of the Hyborian Age’s major pirate bands), along with oceans over flowing with lost islands stuffed full of monsters and loot that’s worth the ransom of kings. There’s an eternal enmity between the Barachan Pirates and the Zingaran Freebooters, while the Red Brotherhood of the Vilayet Sea plunder the Turanian galleys, striking back at those that held them as slaves. The last major pirate group of the setting is the Black Corsairs of the Southern Islands, from whom Belit, the Queen of the Black Coast emerged to sweep the coast with fire and sword. I’d be most likely to set a game on the western oceans, which also leaves open the Picts (The Picts of the Conan saga were more like American Indians rather than the proto-Scots of Howards Bran Mak Morn tales) and if we go really far North, the Vanir (Read Vikings). Either way, the chance of hell or plunder is a good one.

hyboria

There were some seventy of them, a wild horde made up of men from many nations: Kothians, Zamorians, Brythunians, Corinthians, Shemites. Their features reflected the wildness of their natures. Many bore the scars of the lash or the branding-iron. There were cropped ears, slit noses, gaping eye-sockets, stumps of wrists—marks of the hangman as well as scars of battle. Most of them were half naked, but the garments they wore were fine; gold-braided jackets, satin girdles, silken breeches, tattered, stained with tar and blood, vied with pieces of silver- chased armour. Jewels glittered in nose-rings and earrings, and in the hilts of their daggers.

Robert E Howard – Iron Shadows on the Moon

The main method of advancement among crews is simple and to the point – have the support of enough of the crew, then kill the captain in a fair fight and you’re sweet. But, how can you can be sure of their support? Have you led them to enough loot, or are they drunk enough? Or are you just going to have them all killed ‘accidentally’ and thuse leave yourself with a larger share of the loot?

I guess the only other thing to work out at the moment is what they’re going to do outside that – what’s the final goal for the adventure? Survive? Make it through the night, or to another ship? Or find the horrific monstrosity guarding the treasure at the heart of the island and kill it? Or a combination of all three? *ponders*

Going down to Zedtown

(Disclaimer: the following is written entirely from my point of view. Any and all inaccuracies, misconceptions and typos are mine.)

Rumours swirl of dark events in the city. The CDCP have set up quarantine zones throughout the area, but are denying anything is wrong. Whispers speak of the walking dead and other, darker, creatures. The Apocalypse has come, but will you survive the night? Gather your comrades and load your weapons amigo, and welcome to Zedtown.

Zedtown is an 850 player zombie apocalypse Nerf war that ran at Sydney Olympic Park last Sunday. Basically, it’s a giant game of tag played by adults with toy dart blasters. The basics are as follows: if you shoot a zombie, they have to return to re-spawn. If a zombie tags you, you become one of them. Simple. That’s really all you need to know, though being able to engage the following helps:

Your inner 10 year old.
Your inner paranoid maniac.
The feeling of machismo you get when sugared up and watching 80’s action movies.

At the start of the game, the humans are split into 3 factions (Red, Yellow and Blue), with a small number of zombies released about 20 minutes in.There’s also 3 special zombies, known as Original Zombies, or OZ for short. The OZ’s are special in that they’re in disguise, resembling normal human survivors, and from 5 minutes in can start tagging them and turning them into zombies. This results in Cold War levels of paranoia, with a frantic race to try to identify them being one of the few things that the factions will work together as one to complete. The squad I’d joined up with (Not knowing any other players in my faction) kept weapons trained on me for most of the opening hour (To be honest, I can’t blame them), with a joke from another player almost leading to shots being fired. Nerves were starting to fray early. This event had introduced survivor vs survivor fire, which seemed to work well, despite some complaints leading up to it. (Basically, if you got shot by another human, you had to go back to your faction’s base to respawn.) It added an extra element of ‘Humans are dicks and will fuck each other over happily!’ when the sensible response is to combine forces and fight as one. Maybe next event…

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The pre game briefing, shortly before all hell broke loose.

I’m now horribly tempted to sign up as an OZ for a future event and keep myself hidden until about an hour to go. Rest assured I’m not actually going to, cause that shit takes effort and I have a horrible poker face (Seriously, I’m an awful gambler – even in video games). But the looks on people’s faces if you could pull that off would be magnificent.)

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Who else would you trust to save the planet?

Other random moments of awesome: Incredibly Shouty Guy and his slightly quieter counterpart, Slightly Less Shouty Guy Who’d Lost His Voice. The incredibly efficient Russians and Red Berets. Walking with a horde of zombiers to the last enclave of survivors chanting “ONE OF US!” The observation from a squad member that the factional conflict is showing us how racism works (We hadn’t met them and already hated Blue and Yellow) and discussing whether hiking up my kilt at zombies would break the rules (Yes, I was wearing underpants. I don’t kilt up without them, no matter how much my wife complains) The Holly Jolly Christmas Squad (Who attended the previous game dressed as the Brides from Mad Max: Fury Road), and the dancing zombie with a speaker on his back (I’m guessing in homage to Doof Zombie from the last event who apparently had thrown his back out and couldn’t attend). Escorting a zombie close to our base who claimed to want to talk peace. It was an interesting idea (Leaving aside the whole ‘zombies wanting peace thing’ which was pretty bloody weird), but an NPC corporate exec shot him, so that idea went down the gurgler pretty quick. And at some point I’ll make it out to investigate the bar that’s hidden somewhere in the play area.

Survivors, strut!

FUN FACT: We also discovered that yelling “WOAH” repeatedly and randomly pointing guns at people is an impressive distraction tactic.

At first, the zombies are seen in small groups, and a group of survivors who don’t panic can deal with them without too much trouble. There’s also the Witch, a fearsome creature considered unkillable (Rumours persisted she could be pacified with sugar, with our faction being issued with fun size Snickers bars just in case). Initially restrained by the CDCP (You could go visit the cage she was in!), she broke free about halfway through the day and roamed the grounds, a terrifying scream announcing her presence. She swiftly became an object of such fear that large groups of players would simply run rather than confront her, which worked wonderfully. Case in point: late in the game (After I’d become a zombie) we were pursuing a large group of players who’d formed a defensive line. It was Mexican standoff time and all we needed was the guy who’d been whistling the theme to ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ to turn up to help soundtrack things. Then one of our group screamed and the players (Who had been looking rather cocky up till that point) broke and ran immediately. Causing fear is a wonderful thing.

The CDCP and their… creation.

It’s when the numbers start getting higher (And they do) that things start to tip in the zombies favour. Watching the survivor count, or the faces of other players, drop when the count is announced get’s tense. In fact, it’s remarkable easy to buy into the whole experience – at a certain point it stops being a game and turns into a desperate life or death struggle, albeit one that we all survive. And that’s even before it got dark, which amped up the paranoia even further. Walking through the stadium watching over the group planting beacons, then hearing the zombies scream over the other side was a real “oh, bugger” moment. It was shortly after that when I got tagged, while hiding behind a fence. I was a bit miffed, but I’d laster till nightfall, much farther than I’d expected to get, so I was well chuffed.

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In all fairness, if you thought she was coming round the corner, you’d run too.

FUN FACT: Cowardice and unfitness is a remarkably useful survival strategy! Not a good or efficient one, but it worked well for me.

From 850 survivors at the start, only 13 brave and lucky souls made it out to be evacuated. A mere 13. Around 48 made it out of the last event, and that only had 700 players. The Blue and Yellow bases both fell relatively early (I believe it was still light – I didn’t spend much time at Blue), and there seemed to be a last stand late at the Red base, but I was walking back to the re-spawn area and missed it. It was a glorious day, albeit one that my legs are still complaining about.

Looking to survive the next event? Here’s some tips that may help you!*

Comfortable footwear. I can’t stress this enough. Comfy shoes are a must, even before weapons. You can make it through the day with minimal firepower, but you still need to be able to move.
Bathrooms. Shelter is useful, as are comrades who’ll watch your back. But knowing a safe spot to pee is incredibly useful. Even more so when you badly need to and realize the closest toilet is in enemy territory.
Comfortable costume. It will be hot, you will be running. Being decked out in masses of camo gear may feel awesome, but there’s no point in wearing it if you’re going to melt. I can’t throw stones though, as I (For reasons unknown but I’m claiming awesome) decided to wear a kilt. Why? Breeze. Breeze is good.
Stake out sources of water and food. Ideally, you’ll have a bottle of water (Which you’ll need) and some snacks in a back pack, but more never hurts. Don’t forget though: the zombies also know this.

As for weapons, there’s two main schools of thought on this. The first is pack a pistol, maybe a small rifle and go lightly armed, relying on stealth, speed and cunning. The second is to tool up with the largest most intimidating blaster you can find, carry enough ammo to last you through a small war (Or a Schwarzenegger film) and spend the day quoting Jesse Ventura from Predator. Both schools of thought have their adherents and it’s not up to me to pass judgement. I prefer to run lightly armed myself, mainly because I’m lazy and unfit and prefer to have less stuff to carry to and from the event. Whatever works for you and, more importantly, let’s you feel like the lead in your own action movie.

There’s no word on the next event, but I’m itching for it. One of the housemates and I are planning to costume like we’re in a spaghetti western. Between us we should be able to handle a fistful of zombies…

NOTE: All photos were taken from the Zedtown Facebook page.

*Tips may not actually help. I claim no responsibility if my advice get’s you tagged in the first 30 minutes.

Bond, James Bond…

Musing recently about the lack of an Assassin’s Creed style James Bond game (How has this not been done already?), the thought, as my brain frequently does, turned to LARP. What followed was a couple of minutes of brainstorming with a housemate and a train ride or two of writing.

1: SPECTRE

It’s that time of year when Number 1 summons all of SPECTRE’s top brass for the annual meeting. Sadly, owing to the activities of a certain British secret agent who shall remain nameless (*cough* Danger Mouse! *cough*), things aren’t looking too good. Can you wheedle enough cash/resources/favours out of the other top brass in time to please Number 1? Perhaps you’ve been skimming and need to get some fast cash, dislike another boss enough to frame them to want to move up the pecking order or are you just James Bond in disguise?

So, what sort of shenanigans can SPECTRE’s top brass get into before Number 1 show’s up? Each member will have a different area of expertise (Smuggling, trafficking, extortion etc) and a certain amount of resources. Naturally, everyone is running short on something and everyone should have something the other wants. Oh, and evereyone hates each other. No honour among thieves after all.

2: PRE CREDIT’S SEQUENCE

Obviously/sadly most LARP’s won’t have the resources to build a lair in a hollowed out volcano, but the pre credits scene from Goldfinger, something resembling that is more doable. What follows is a 10-20 player NERF war scenario.

In short: M has ordered James Bond to blow up a SPECTRE facility, preferably without being detected. Runs should be from 10-20 minutes each (Depending on the venue size), with Bond’s player changing each time.

1 player is James Bond, everyone else is a SPECTRE mook. Bond must infiltrate the enemy base, plant the explosives and get out unseen. He has a silenced* pistol with 2 full loads of ammo, the explosives he needs (Set to a short timer), and his wits. His pistol will kill anything in one shot (No matter where it hits), but he has limited ammunition and probably be shouldn’t be pissing about trying to kill everyone he can when there’s women with sexual innuendo based names he could be trying to seduce. Priorities right?

The mooks start out unaware of Bond and wander the area at random. They can be taken out either with pistol fire, or by incapacitating them with either a tap on the shoulder (Simulating the Bond/Shatner/3^rd Doctor shoulder chop) or by wrapping something soft around their throat from behind – maybe crepe paper or a sock, this takes them down immediately. Bond’s player can drag them into cover if they wish (with the help of the knocked out player). Any mook dragged into a bush must hide and can give no information if found by other players.

The mooks all carry machine pistols (fly wheel guns, in order to distinguish themselves from Bond’s gun). There are several alarms bells scattered throughout the map, as well as the location that Bond has to set the explosives at, which will change with each run. (This is done to stop sneaky players noting where everything is in order to help themselves along.) All mooks will know where the alarms are– if the alarm bell is rung all mooks should head towards the alarm area.

(Whether or not Bonds player wants to wear a tux underneath their spy clothes isn’t necessary, but is highly encouraged.)

The difficulty could be boosted by adding more mooks, shortening the time or allowing them to make a loud gurgling sound when taken down. Alternatively, you could add a SPECTRE assassin stalking Bond (See the opening scenes of From Russia with Love), or another freakish henchman such as Oddjob or Jaws. I’ve not seen a LARP safe version of Oddjob’s hat, but I’m sure one could be worked up.

*Obviously we can’t fully silence a Nerf gun, but between the mooks having motorised guns and playing dumb, we should be able to represent it.

Character Generation: The Odyssey

First off, in some unrelated good news – Skindred are working on their latest album, Testament are halfway through theirs and the rumblings about Iron Maiden recording (combined with their most recent Christmas card having an anagram of the word tour on it), which means I’m going to be one happy head-banger this year.

Anyhow, the actual point of this entry: Characters. They’re the second most annoying thing about RPG’s, I find the first being choosing names for said characters. Most people will have one or two ideas, and settle on one without too much trouble. I’m the opposite. Ideas pour out of my brain in a flood and like floods, most of them tend to be awful. It takes a lot of sifting through the garbage to find either A: a workable concept that’s going to be fun to play for more than two sessions and B: something I’m going to be able to play well. There’s no point in playing a character that I know I’m going to be shithouse at, unless the plan is to completely sabotage things and that’s just not that fun.

BE WARNED: I’m not just going to tell you about my character, I’m going to tell you about characters I’m not playing.

So, there’s two LARP’s I’m looking at playing in – the first is Clans of Elgardt, a fantasy LARP. Now, given it’s roughly based on Medieval Europe, you’d expect some sort of crusader or barbarian (Especially given my beard at the moment). Nope! Instead, I’m planning a character from the shifting sands of Kharmen, a desert region where the locals ride ships on the sand that are greased with stomach acids from the Dragon Snakes of the area. It’s no shirtless Viking with axes out the wazoo, but it’s still pretty fucking metal. (If you disagree, please remember Iron Maiden wrote a song about Dune and it doesn’t get much more metal than that.)

There was also the following exchange with my wife:

ME: Basically, it means I’d be dressed like Ardeth Bey.

WIFE: Who?

ME: Oded Fehr, from The Mummy.

WIFE: [BRIEF LOOK OF SHOCK, FOLLOWED BY NOISE BEST DESCRIBED AS PURRING] Yes, you could do that…

Now I’ll admit that choosing a character based on the reaction of your spouse to the costume is far from the most optimal way to do things, BUT IT’S THE ONLY WAY I KNOW. Besides, I still remember the look on her face when I took her to her first LARP and emerged dressed as a pirate. She was happy. [FADE TO BLACK] The other advantage of this is I’ll mostly be dressed in light linen/cotton robes that means I’ll be able to costume in the Australian summer and not DIE IMMEDIATELY of heatstroke, which is a really useful thing.

The second is Horizon, a game set in the world of Warhammer 40,000 from the Games Workshop miniatures game. For those of you not familiar with the setting the phrase ‘In the GRIMDARKNESS of the GRIMDARK far future there is only GRIMDARK‘ should sum it up nicely.

I’ve been kicking around a bunch of ideas for the last few weeks, most of them unworkable or little more than a one-note joke. Now, I did finally decide on one, but first, here’s the ideas I didn’t choose. Hey, you were warned.

The first was a Scum (Yes, that is a character class), who makes a living modifying and selling weaponry. The twist is, he’s actually working for an Inquisitor, who’s told him to keep being useful and he won’t get shot. There’s the hope of becoming one of his acolytes, because I’d love to enter a room and yell “Imperial Inquisition!” and watch the resulting mess of cries of “WHAT?” and “I wasn’t expecting that…” Dick move, but a hopefully amusing one. Next was a former Imperial Navy pilot turned smuggler (Gee, I wonder where that idea came from…), with the third a Preacher formerly attached to an Imperial Guard unit, who carried a prayer book and flamethrower. (In 40K, a fire and brimstone approach to religion tends to feature real fire.)

However, the idea I settled on was a Rogue Trader, but one born on a Forge World What is that you ask? Think a merchant ship captain with far too much power who was born on a wold that’s a giant factory ruled over by priests who worship technology despite having no idea how to build most of it. It’s an odd mess, but so is most of the 40K setting. I’m still sorting out the finer details (Personality, family members etc), but it’s coming together quite nicely and gives me the chance for some elaborate costume, which as you should know by now, is half the reason I LARP.

Mmmm head tubes. Sexy, sexy head tubes.

So yeah, that’s been where most of my spare brain power has been devoted of late. Until next time, be seeing you…

shoutybeardything

Category LARP