LARP 2008 Rules

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General Rules

Play Pretend & Be Safe. Soda is wine. Pizza is cheese pie. Don’t hurt anybody. Don’t yell “fire” and freak out the hotel staff. Etc.
Stay in Character. You may need to leave the LARP to use the restroom, get something from another room, smoke, or lay down for a headache, but be courteous to the other players. If you need to leave for a few minutes, please “check out” by writing your name down on the white-board/easel with big paper explaining where you went and when you’ll be back. If you need to leave for longer than that, please alert a GM. Following this rule will prevent a lot of angst.
Have Fun. We’ve given you more goals to accomplish than is humanly possible in three or four hours. This is so that if one goal isn’t panning out for you, you can try another and not feel stuck or bored. Don’t feel compelled to accomplish all, or any, of your goals as long as you’re having fun. That is, after all, everyone’s primary goal!
Spirit of the Law. Similarly, don’t feel unnecessarily constrained by your goals. If circumstances change, feel free to adapt your goals or interpret them the way your character would. If it makes sense to compromise one goal in order to achieve others, go ahead. Especially if it would be more interesting or fun for the participants.
Get Involved. When you run into a storyline that interests you but isn’t on your sheet, feel free to get involved in it.
Work Together. You’ll need to share information to accomplish many of your goals. Talk to your allies. Strike deals to trade information with your competitors. Make sure other people are busy.
GMs Are Your Friends. If you have a question about your sheet, a concern about something that is happening, or a dispute about how two cards might interact, call a GM. Try to work it out on your own, though, beforehand.
Be Creative with Monetary Constraints. If you run out of money, don’t give up! Beg, borrow, gamble or steal.
Time is Relative. Firans don’t have watches, so assume the times on your sheet are general. If a clue doesn’t make sense because the time is off, someone is probably lying. But it also could be a mistake. Play it by ear.
Reward Good Behavior. Each of you will be given four “votes” (in the form of cards) for best male and female LARPer. If someone impresses you or makes you laugh or cry, give them a vote by writing their name on the vote card and dropping it in the GM’s basket.
No RL Drama. Keep the drama in-character. If you want to cry, wait until after the game is over.
How to Play Detective. Unless we screwed up, all the puzzle pieces to the mysteries you’re trying to solve are known to someone, or being held by someone, in the game. The best way to find an object is to ask everyone you know about it or listen carefully for clues as to its whereabouts. The best way to find a criminal is to determine who your one or two suspects are, and ask their friends and relatives, and even random people, if they know anything about your suspects. Methodically dig up every clue about them until you have their whole story and can either put the screws to them, or rule them out as a culprit.
Use your Props. If you have tattoos or jewelry, etc., in your larp package, determine from the context of your sheet whether or not you should be wearing it, and put it on or hide it somewhere on your person before the larp starts.
Flora & Fauna. Please call for a GM if you encounter any of the following: Lions, Bears, Krakens, Sharks, Wolves, Dragons, Teffies, Scorpions, Snakes, Spiders, Mermaids, Poisonous Cacti or Lillies, Killer Bees, Rabid Dogs, Firebombs, Etc.
Combat. Combat can largely be resolved without GM interference by the modified use of a rock-paper-scissors system, the rules for which are described below. If you don’t know how to play rock-paper-scissors, get someone to teach you before we start.

Instructions

Your sheet has specific information that you should conceal and reveal.

REVEAL information will cast suspicion on others and get you out of the fire. It may help you chase down clues—and things that seem irrelevant may turn out to be very important. So try your best to work this information into conversation with as many people as possible. (You may, however, wish to avoid revealing it to specific people. For example, it wouldn’t be out of character for a slave to wait until his master was out of the room before spilling his guts about said master.)
CONCEAL information may incriminate you or someone you care about, or may be just plain embarrassing. Use your best judgment about when to reveal it and to whom, and if you should evade the question or change the subject.
However, if someone asks you a direct question about something on the CONCEAL or REVEAL parts of your sheet, you may not lie about it. This is because even if information seems incriminating, it may turn out to help you later on. To repeat, you can evade or change the subject, but you CANNOT LIE.
You may encounter a situation where you’re not ready to reveal something, or you may simply not know the answer to the question you’re being asked. For these, you’ll have “Ask Me Later” cards. If, by the third round, you still don’t know the answer, you can check with a GM to find out if it was a mistake on your sheet, or if it’s being deliberately withheld.
You’ll also get some cards to help conceal your information. You have to show them the card, write the question on the back of it and your character's name, then give it to them. They’ll know you’re evading. If you’re clever, they won’t know why.
If your sheet lists a prop that you don’t have, ask a GM for it.

LARP Rounds

Round 1 (30-60 minutes)

Read everything. If you’re not sure whether or not you should be hiding your prop, come ask a GM.
We’ve assigned everyone a location. It’s important you’re at the right starting location.
Role-play with the people at your location but do not leave the location until you have permission of a GM.
Do not role-play with people at other locations unless and until a GM gives you the go. If you think your location is ready to move on to round two, flag a GM.
GMs will not let you proceed to the next round until everyone at your location has made their official statement. Read your statement as an actor would read a script. Role-play with each other. Ask questions. Make accusations. Use the information on your sheet to draw out everyone’s stories.

Round 2 (60-90 minutes)

Once the GM is satisfied that your location has done about all they can do with Round 1, he or she will give you packets for Round 2.
Read everything and TAKE YOUR TIME. These packets contain additional information and props. These are generally a FULL PAGE of information, so read carefully and be patient with others.
You may leave your location and role-play with other people. Remember though, all the information from round one is still relevant and can and should be used. Round two information and goals are additional.

Round 3 (60 minutes)

At some point during the LARP, the GM’s will call a start to Round 3. Return to your locations to pick up your Round 3 information and props.
Continue role-playing with the new information.
When the GMs call a close to the LARP, they’ll lead a question and answer session to find out what really happened.

LARP Combat System

If you try to attack someone with a weapon or your fists or if you try to capture someone, or throw someone off a boat, you will use these rules.

In a Nutshell…

Everyone who is fighting pairs off and plays Rock-Paper-Scissors. Loser gets an Injury. Four Injuries makes you Dying. Repeat until someone surrenders or is Dying. If you have a weapon and they don’t, you automatically win. Or if both sides agree, fight a combat for capture, in which case the first person to lose is Captured.

Combat to the Death

If you want to injure and even kill someone, use these rules.

Pair off with the person you want to fight. Play Rock-Paper-Scissors with them. The loser gains one Injury.
If you gain four Injuries, you are Dying.
Anyone can surrender at any point before Rock-Scissors-Paper; they become Captured.

Combat for Capture

If you don’t want to kill someone and only want to capture them, use these rules. If both sides do not agree to a combat for capture, it is a combat to the death (and you use the rules above).

Pair off with the person you want to fight. Play Rock-Scissors-Paper with them. The loser is Captured.
Anyone can surrender at any point before combat cards are revealed; they become Captured.
You can change your mind before Rock-Scissors-Paper and make it a combat to the death.

Captured

If you are Captured, you cannot get away without extraordinary means (that is, some special card).
If you are Captured and being guarded by someone with a weapon, they can kill you at any time.
They just announce that they want to kill you and you start Dying (you have 4 Injuries total).

Weapons

If you have a weapon and they don’t, you automatically win. Some cards let you use fists or other things as weapons.

Bows and thrown weapons use normal combat rules (both sides do Rock-Paper-Scissors) but the person with the ranged weapon (bow, etc.) isn’t injured if he loses.

Injuries

Injury has no mechanical effect on you until you are Dying (four Injuries), but it’s lame if you don’t play out the challenges of being injured. Injuries don’t go away or heal naturally. Some people have special cards that can heal you though. Remember how many Injuries you have.

Dying

If you are Dying, you are fatally wounded and will die at the end of Round 3. We will tell you when to have your death scene. Until then, unless healed using healer powers or a card, you must use these rules:

The Dying may not fight, escape, or shout.
The Dying may move only with extreme difficulty, and very slowly at that.
The Dying should role-play a slow-killing fatal wound of an appropriate nature.
The Dying can talk quietly and role-play that way.
The Dying cannot be healed.

Flora, Fauna, and Monsters

If you run across a scary creature of any kind, call a GM. The GM might play Rock-Paper-Scissors so you can fight the monster.

Healers

If your character is a well-known healer, you should have healing cards. If they sit in the same place for 15 minutes under your supervision, and you use a healing card, you can heal 1 of their Injuries. You may only ever heal 1 Injury on a particular character. Remember whom you’ve healed.

Rock-Paper-Scissors

Don’t know how to play Rock-Paper-Scissors (sometimes called Ro Sham Bo)? That’s very sad, but we’ll teach you.

Both people make a fist.
Both count to 3 together. “One, two, THREE!”
Pound your fist in the air with each count.
On the “THREE!” each person reveals an open palm (“Paper”), a peace-sign (“Scissors”), or a fist (“Rock”).
Rock breaks Scissors. Scissors cut Paper. Paper wraps Rock.
That is, Rock beats Scissors. Scissors beats Paper. Paper beats Rock.

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