Playing in Threads

From ThreadsWiki

Contents 1 What is it going to be like to play 2 Overall Goals – Where is the Campaign Going? 2.1 Story and Roleplay Oriented 2.2 Character v. Character 2.3 Player v. Player 2.4 Individual Storyline and Plot 3 Cast and Players 3.1 No Multiple Personalities 3.2 Multiple Characters 3.3 The Golden Rules 4 Summary 4.1 Creating Your Character 4.2 Good Ideas and Pitfalls 4.3 Submissions

What is it going to be like to play

Overall Goals – Where is the Campaign Going?

While preserving the legacy of our previous three campaigns, Threads is designed to meet the challenge of the present day and meeting the needs of players. While all signs suggest that Threads will be a larger campaign with more powerful motivations than its predecessors, we aim to keep an intimate atmosphere by encouraging direct communication with the Staff, and listening to all the players.

Anyone who played or even heard about them could see that 1936: Horror and 1948: Signals were very similar campaigns. Threads of Damocles will be a significant departure. While we'll apply all the lessons learned in seven years of campaign production since MMFC, Threads will be a significantly new campaign with some new modes of thought and ways of doing things.

In the next few pages, we'll discuss what Threads is going to be like. You're welcome to skim or not, and to pick out topics that interest you and read as much as you want. The idea of this document is to provide a good overview of what Threads will be like both to players and writers.

Story and Roleplay Oriented

Probably the best quality for success in Threads is a commitment to serious roleplaying. If you enjoy roleplaying more than trying to "win" against other players, or rules and dice rolling, Threads can meet your needs for a meaningful roleplay experience.

There is a very good model called GNS which tells a lot about what players get out of RPGs.

To give the short version:

• Gamist decisions concern competition and challenge,
• Narrativist decisions concern story and theme,
• Simulationist decisions concern experience and celebration of source material.

To put it simply, Threads is going to be much more Simulationist and Narrativist than Gamist. That means that story and roleplay are going to come before rules and competition. That means that while rules exist to alleviate conflict, we're going to appeal to the players better nature to "go along" with genre and storyline to make a better more entertaining game.

Character v. Character

Threads is more for players who enjoy getting along and working in harmony with other people towards shared goals than about cutthroat fighting. That doesn't mean there can't be some fun competition.

Rivalry should be seen as the sort of rivalry that occurs within a company or team, not the sort of rivalry that takes place between enemies.

This makes the fact that we aren't "gamist" fairly important – just because the rules allow you to cut the throat (figuratively or literally) of another player doesn't mean we're obligated to let you. We're willing to enforce genre as well as "rules" and the genre does not suggest that players need to attack each other brutally.

Player v. Player

You'll do well in Threads if you have principles as a player and like building better than tearing other players down. Threads is trying to offer unprecedented space for players to build their own vision. The catch is that you have to refrain from tearing other players down, even if you think they're kind of silly.

Not all players get along, and we know that. Putting everyone together in a pressure cooker and forcing them to work closely together doesn't necessarily help. In Threads, we are looking for a more diverse campaign with more intimate and individual scenes and less constantly butting heads with other players you don't get along with.

In return, we have to be somewhat harder on cattiness and divisive behavior. In the current campaign we're seeing a tremendous amount of "the grass is greener" syndrome, where players firmly believe that some other player is getting more stuff and having more fun – often the same two people believe this of each other. We're going to encourage players to tend their own gardens, and build them constructively, rather than throwing stones at others.

Individual Storyline and Plot

We're looking at a more "community" based campaign, where individual players and groups are able to recognize more of their vision by creating the story. To some extent Threads is a sandbox, where we put more effort into maintaining the world, and slightly less into forcing a single "uberplot" storyline. We'll give more focus on shared group storylines for players who want them, and less for players who really don't want the GMs driving their action.

A lot of the action of the game will be going on adventures, and you'll need to create a character who is willing to do that, and has something to offer. You'll also want to create a character who can get along with everyone at least well enough to work together. We've found that bristly and abrasive characters work well in books and movies, but less well in LARP where the authors cannot make them the "hero."

We know that we're faced with a challenge and an opportunity in Threads. There is a culture of contempt for player driven activities in games, driven by jealousy and insecurity. We don't want to see that and we are going to fight against it.

In the world of LARP, "I am dramatic, You are psychodramatic, and He/She is geeky." Virtually every plot we run and every personal interaction can be made to sound stupid to someone who is not involved in it. We all know this from trying to explain LARP to non-larping friends in a way that doesn't sound stupid. It is clear that if we allow players to create more of the story there will be elements that are geeky and self-referential.

We'll use the following guidelines to help us shine a light through this murky realm:

• Peer Groups – to a certain extent keeping material current and in game relies on various players "representing" it by reporting favorably about it in feedback.
• Don't "dis" others - we're not going to be very tolerant of "negative representation" – if you don't like something you don't have to promote it, but don't wreck it for other players.
• Scope – personal material that only affects a few players isn't a big concern to us. We may not do much with it if it isn't more widely represented, but we aren't going to quash it either. Let people have their fun.
• Diversity – there will be times that you end up in a scene where you have to deal with some plot or material you are not very interested in. But there will be fewer of these times, if you're able to be engaged by a reasonable number of plots, because we'll have more diverse tracks running.
• Inclusiveness – writers and contributors who show that they can produce inclusive plots and material will get more exposure, time and resources. We'll have to be pretty brutal about this and we will.
• No Control Freakiness – some players get very upset and disoriented if they feel the GMs don't have a hard grip on the game. Sally says she's crossed the river, and players come running to the GM to see if Sally registered that action. We aren't that kind of GM team. If Sally hasn't hurt anyone else's storyline, we probably don't care. We aren't going to go spend a lot of energy reviewing everything Sally did to make sure it's "okay" in the world. We won't be control freaks, and we won't empower players to be control freaks on our behalf. Relax and let people play.
• Character Driven Storylines - Getting involved. Sadly we tend to see players almost always shy away from player generated material and storyline, unless we somehow disguise it and put a "GM Stamp of Approval" on it. In Threads, we'll be encouraging players to look at the stories created by their peers as an area to get involved.
• Uberplot – we will supply a certain amount of "overarcing" plot in Threads, though we're not looking to it to generate as much as in 1936 or 1948. Uberplot will tend to be a high level function that sets the basis for scenes and adeventures. We'll also be allocating Uberplot based on two principles. Writers may build personal plots and push characters to get involved in them.

Here's what we'll take into consideration:

• Preference – some players want to be heavily responsive, and be in a position to play romances, personal plots, etc. We're going to ask the degree to which players want to be involved in High Level Plot.
• Response – some players tend to reject or be very "finicky" about plot involvement. We're going to try to give a lot of good advice, specific and general on plot involvement. The catch is, if we hand you a plot hook, you have to take it. The GM staff is not going to be in a position to continue to produce new plots for you to sniff at until you find one you like. Players who grasp plot with both hands will have plot, players who turn up their nose won't. We'll try to give you a lot of help in recognizing opportunities, however we can't rescue you indefinitely.
• Cooperation – when you see a group of cats or dogs being fed, there is always one cat or dog that tends to push the others out of the way. Often this is unintentional – but we're not cats and dogs, and we should know better. Plot is never going to be written for one or two players. Players who show that they can be cooperative and pass plot to others and involve them will tend to be favored in the writing processes. Note, however, that most players who end up with a lot of plot do so because they are willing to lead, and are perceptive and active. We are not going to be provoked against people who emerge as group leaders just because they have taken a position of leadership.

Cast and Players

Seven years of experience have taught us that Cast without any real attachment to the storyline or characters have little stake in the Campaign, and tend not to have a very good time. We're promoting involvement

No Multiple Personalities

We are going to state outright and up front – we do not want to see and will not approve concepts for "piggyback" characters of any type. Multiple personalities, multiple disguises, shared bodies, whatever. One body = one character. We aren't equipped to GM for and plot "multiperson" characters, and we aren't going to try.

Multiple Characters

We are going to cautiously allow secondary characters. Players will need to declare a primary character and that is the character that we will focus on supporting. We strongly recommend that players wait until after the campaign begins or at least is well introduced to design secondary characters. That way they can fill genuine voids in play experience, and fit into the game well. We are also going to be inclined to identify failed concepts more readily than in previous campaigns and put in less work trying to rescue a character that is simply not playable. We'll be more likely to encourage you to move to a secondary character, or create a new character and drop the problematic one.

The Golden Rules

Our two guiding principles are fairly subjective. Unfortunately we can't allow their relative subjectivity to undermine the fact that they are necessary to managing the campaign. Choosing to play Threads with the staff as presented is choosing to accept the subjective judgment of that staff as the core guideline.

• We reward fun, and stop unfun

If you are making fun in the game for others (first) and yourself (secondarily) that's good and we reward it. Because we are not gamists, that's going to take precedence over most other things. Entertainment is good. Likewise if you are creating unhappiness and misery, we are not obligated to let you continue, no matter what the rules say. We are going to stop you and try to redirect you to doing something more constructive.

• Know when to lay off

Some people know how to tell a joke, others don't. If you ask a comedian "it's all in the timing." The same thing is true in LARP. We can't write something that teaches you timing. If you want to be active in creating more fun, we expect you to have some feel for it. When in doubt, back off. Err on the side of not provoking other players, not causing problems and playing well with others.

Summary

Threads will be a new type of campaign and a new experience. We'll try and provide leadership, and the necessary information for success. But we'll need players to bring a passion for roleplaying and an open mind. If you have those things, you'll do very well in Threads.

Creating Your Character

Good Ideas and Pitfalls

We've learned a lot in seven years about what works and what doesn't in Campaign Characters. Before you create your character, read our Guidance on Characters. We'll refer back to this when we discuss your concept.

Submissions

We aren't ready to begin formally taking submissions yet. What we suggest instead is that you post your concept to the relevant world list, or if there isn't a relevant list, to the Penn State List.

Threads of Damocles is an ambitious project. The core Threads staff brings substantial expertise from experience in production on more than eight previous campaigns in order to bring you the best possible LARP. We hope you'll join us.