Wed, Bed, Dead Plot Edition

Game Discussion
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So I know there are a lot of plots different folk love, would love to avoid, and are up for but wouldn’t necessarily go out of their way to be involved in. I also know that there are a lot of categories that color the experience. For example:

Content: Combat Mission, Puzzle Run Dungeons, strict social encounters etc…
Tone: Whacky, heavy, spooky, etc…
Backdrops: Reverie spelunking, Fae Politics, Vigormore rush, etc…

What are the kinds of things in a plot that make you glad you bought your ticket, and prioritize above another plot?

What are the kinds of things that you’d sign on for to round out your event, but aren’t going to be a highlight?

What are the kinds of things that are deal breakers, and make you feel like you’d be more comfortable hanging out and waiting on the next mod?

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While it is not the most realistic thing all the time, having the hook be a clear indicator of the content, tone, and backdrop of the plot or module itself is all I ask for.

Having a serious NPC come into town and imply that we will be marching in to combat, for example, and then having us end up in a goofy puzzle plot will only lead to confusion and players being involved in a plot they may very much not be in the mood for.

I have yet to encounter it here, but in the past I have experienced staff at other games trying to pull the bait and switch as a way of spicing stuff up or throwing players off their feet and it generally only results in grumbling.

If I see what looks like a silly noncombat plot hook, and I’m in the mood for that in that moment, I will bite. If not I will not, and I feel most players are in a similar boat.

While I know this does little specifically to answer your questions, there is pretty much no plot I could see being run in a Redfeather game that would be deal breaking or that I would never be interested in biting if it was hooked, it depends entirely on my mood. So long as the hooks are decent indicators of the plot or mod, I will be able to enjoy anything I involve myself in.

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What are the kinds of things in a plot that make you glad you bought your ticket, and prioritize above another plot?

I like simple things that don’t require a lot of knowledge about other plots. It lets people access things they couldn’t otherwise and encourages cooperation between people who don’t interact as much as they might want to.

What are the kinds of things that you’d sign on for to round out your event, but aren’t going to be a highlight?

I’m down for anything but in combat I tend to get pushed to the back so if there is also plot things going on I generally can’t get to it before it’s over.

What are the kinds of things that are deal breakers, and make you feel like you’d be more comfortable hanging out and waiting on the next mod?

Anything that I’m left alone on. My character is pure support on both social and combat encounters. She could do puzzles on her own but that’s about it and those are more fun in groups anyway.

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Ticket: Direct relevance to Dolan or to the community. I like It when the plot makes me want to learn more about what just happened. Example from the recent event would be the Golden Acorn folks.

Also if my skills as a character or as a person are necessary for completion. I think this goes for everyone. One thing I mentioned was that I would like to see challenges that require balance or acrobatics, things that are tied to the person not to a skill.

Sign on for: World building plot. A plot where I can learn more about Oak Harbor/ the Realms/ the world are things I would jump on for but might not be a highlight. Example from the last event would be the Nurya / Ayrun module or the Bestest Chieftiest Chieftain. Neither of those were directly related to me or my character, but through both of them I learned a bit more about the world, not necessarily from the mod but from interactions and needing to ask question.

Additionally, being invited to go on plot with people I don’t interact with as much could get me involved. I am still pretty new so getting invited to go with people I don’t know is nice.

Pass: Things that I would pass on are the ones that are more vague in delivery. I know they want to have suspense with not knowing what is going to happen, but I want there to feel like there is a need to go do the thing that is being presented.

Dolan / Ryan

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Ticket:
I know this will surprise everyone, but I really like lore heavy and world building plots. I love plots where knowing a bit about the world makes them make more sense, or lets you make correct decisions in places that would otherwise be ambiguous. I also really enjoy plots where I can help others succeed and feel awesome. I really enjoy enabling others to have fun. (Part of why I enjoy teaching IG; and part of why I have tend and the “un-” spells.)

Sign on for:
And for all I like lore heavy plots, sometimes a good entirely self contained plot is really fun – you get a goal, you go do it, and you are done. (“Rescue the cat from a tree” where we fought a some spriggans who’d chased a giant cat up a tree, was a plot I really enjoyed.) If I don’t get in a fight for a weekend I won’t be sad, but I do enjoy a good tactical fight. (The vigamor mod, where we had to split in to 3 groups; and that started each wave with a doorway was a lot of fun for me. I liked the tactics of splitting up, the limits of who we could bring in, and the constrained engagement area. )

Pass:
I dislike most puzzle plots. Note by puzzle plots I mean things like “figure out how to draw this thing with these tools; or assemble this tangram.” I don’t really like physical dexterity challenges like “swing across this rope” or “walk over this wobbly narrow thing” - its actually part of why Roderago has a cane so there is an IG reason why I can just opt out. I hate PvP (see above about what’s my ticket and you can see why) - if I make a person feel lousy by “winning” there’s pretty good chance I’ll feel even more lousy than them so there is literally no “fun” resolution to PvP for me.

I also really agree with this comment:

For example, sometimes I find silly plot lots of fun; sometimes I find them really immersion breaking. But if you hook it right, I’ll come when it’d be awesome and avoid it when I’m in serious-RP-only mood. (The Sven Olafson plots did an pretty amazing job with this much of the time.)

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As a new player I’m going to be less interested in mods that are based on ongoing plot. I think I will learn the most about Oak Harbor by asking questions and interacting with characters (e.g., hanging out at the tavern, going on a component finding walk).

For the most part I’m down with all types of mods but timing might play a factor in choosing whether or not I decide to participate.

I’m a front line player. I might be more inclined to go on a mod that I’m less interested in on Friday night knowing that I’ll be Refreshed Saturday morning.

I might opt out of a mod early Saturday as not to use up all my Slays, Fireballs, other skills and be less useful in a mod I’m REALLY interested in later in the day.

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Priorities:

  • Puzzles, lore, feelings, sneaking, social, rituals, interpreting symbolism.
  • I know others don’t always like these, but you can absolutely throw word puzzles and geometry puzzles or geometric constructions at me.

Good:

  • Music, dancing, crafts
  • Short term, self-contained mods - I like these and probably want to participate but will not be miserable if I miss them for some reason. It might be good to be involved in these to balance out interaction in arc plot stuff.
  • Physical challenges that aren’t just fighting, like ropes course activities, are for me a positive rather than a negative, personally.
  • I enjoy foggy scenes but also want things to be accessible to people with asthma, so (as noted in some prior PEL) think it may be good for mods with a foggy part to have things for people in non-fog areas to feel badass about or entertained by interacting with.

Sure, why not:

  • Fighting things that aren’t part of ongoing arc plot - I don’t really care about fighting random monsters, but I’m new here, and this is a way to know more about what’s in the area and get resources sometimes. Content to skip out on these, though.

Not really into:

  • Kobold mayhem?
  • Unrelated to this last event, I’m not really into tournaments and competitions in general. I’ll maybe participate if the rewards are things I care about, but these are not my cup of tea.
  • Gambling card games - I am, in general, not fond of poker or gambling card games. I’m going to keep going along with the Locus of Compulsion plot for other reasons, but OOC I’m pretty disinterested in participating in any casino card game, full stop. This note can be a cue to staff that I am going to seek other ways to interact with that plot so I don’t have to be involved in playing casino games myself. This is a good opportunity to let other PCs take point and have fun with that part of what’s going on. …I like Whist and would probably like Bridge, since those involve a lot of figuring out shared strategy with what your partner’s played cards are signalling, but I don’t think I want this in a LARP context.
  • Auctions.
  • This is more a note for other players, but I don’t really care for “Wed, Bed, Dead” as a downtime activity. I have Tarot cards with me, though, and will happily substitute that as a thing to do around the tavern or teahouse.

None of those are strong enough objections to ruin my event.
They’re also not necessarily strong enough objections for me to avoid getting involved, except maybe kobolds.

[This is Kep, player of Öykü - covered in embroidery plus a head scarf.]

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I’m extremely new, so bear with me… My favorite adventures are generally the physical challenge/trap modules (although your kind of traps are very different from what I’m used to) with light combat. Jumpy stones, swinging, crawling, etc. while having to fight baddies are all super fun for me.

Most of the lore is way over my head right now, so I’ll generally avoid lore heavy plot unless I’m guarding the smart people while they do stuff. :slight_smile:

Also, I was a bit thrown off last game by the rooms on some modules where combat was disallowed. That immediately broke the immersion for me, because my character was restricted in his actions for no apparent reason. I would understand if our weapons couldn’t pass through a barrier or were suddenly made too heavy to carry or something. It’s not that I missed the combat, it’s the restriction that threw me off.

I also avoid PVP if at all possible. The Kobold Chieftain competition was about the max level I will participate in, and even that made me pretty uncomfortable. I took away some roleplay moments from other players, which I definitely regret even through those players have been great about it. That’s just not the kind of game I want to play. I don’t mind fighting other PCs when appropriate (Hi Dave!), but actively working against them feels very wrong.

Other than that, it all depends on the story/hook involved. Right now, Yngvar pretty much hates Kobolds, so he’s not going to go on modules to help any of them without good reason. Going on an adventure to find the Lost Treasure of Nuna always sounds great to me, though!

Mike Flynn (Yngvar)

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There’s very little I actively dislike! That said, there are some things I will go after during game more strongly than other things.

Top tier: Things that Zelai regards as his duty always get top prioritization from me. Generally speaking, that’s Hurzicht business, Great Animal Spirit business, and Spriggan business. I actually care very little about the actual activities I’m doing in the mod - I will fight or solve riddles or do stealth (I have done essentially no stealth mods before, but doing the stealth mod to rescue Tug’s sapling was great, because it was a thing Zelai really cared about). As long as it’s important to Zelai, I will enjoy it. If I can spend time sitting and talking with people to learn more about the world lore and metaphysics of these things in particular, that is absolute A-1 Best Experience for me, but I recognize that that’s a significant drain on Staff time for a small number of players entertained.

Enjoy but don’t need: Big, ongoing plots and “popcorn” or random town attacks. I like having some combat and being reminded that it can pop up at any time. I like being involved in ongoing plots and learning more about the world through them and establishing a sense of continuity. Things like The Locus of Compulsion, the Pattern ritual, and the nightmares in Aethis are things that I continue to participate in because I’m enjoying the story, but when mod space is limited or if I’m not around, I am happy to yield my spot in them to other people.

Take it or leave it: One-off plots and silly plots. Zelai hates silly plots, but Matt enjoys them sometimes, so Zelai will occasionally go on silly plots (or allow himself to be pulled into them) and he will grump the whole time, but rest assured, I’m having fun. Characters like Zelai exist at least partially to have their precious dignity stomped on; the “This is several levels of irregular!” moment during the Sven Olafson Contract scramble remains one of my favorite RP moments to date. Silly plot and one-off things are a “sometimes food” for me, I’ll do them if I am sitting around and people want an extra Druid along, but I never feel like I need them and actively seek them out only rarely.

Actively avoid: Fae politics. This has nothing to do with what Matt enjoys; Zelai has just worked very hard to avoid Fae entanglements and he’ll continue to do so. If someone needs help fulfilling their duty to a Fae creature, Zelai may help them, he just never wants to end in a position where he might end up beholden to the Fae himself.

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This is totally a character-by-character kind of thing for me, but the only character I’ve played at WW is Ralkurian so these answers apply to him:

Plot I will take every time:
Directly effects his family, or the very short list of people he considers friends.

Round things out plot:
Alchemy or component hunt

Actively avoid:
Most mods…

See for me good LARP isn’t defined by modules. It is defined by the immersiveness of the world. To achieve high immersiveness is largely a player-driven feat and something the staff can facilitate with setting and monsters. While we have a fair number of “Tabbard Monsters” the difference in immersiveness from a tabard monster to a high-detail monster, is quite different. Thankfully, I (and many other players) have an active imagination that can suspend the disbelief and make most of these monsters “real.” However, the less work my imagination does, the more lost in it I get.

There is a lot of value in modules for sure. It allows you to change a setting quickly so you can be “somewhere else.” The problem with that is, its not “Live-Action Beat-Sticking” it’s Live-Action Roleplaying. So farming mods has never been my thing, because the hooks aren’t personal enough to Ralkurian. He’s very much bent on self preservation, so if the reward for doing a thing isn’t clear, or likely, he is unlikely to participate (that has changed recently for OOG reasons and need for distraction from real life).

I very much prefer getting roped into a plot from a friend who has a personal investment in it, rather than an NPC I don’t know coming up and being like “I don’t know you, but somehow I’ve heard you’re a heartless killer. Wanna kill grindelow babies?” Hard pass.

First of all…Ralk isn’t heartless. In fact…he doesn’t always death strike mobs…on purpose.

He kills for a short list of reasons, and they are deeply rooted in his character, they aren’t something he often deviates from. I often categorize him as Lawful Neutral, only the law in his case is his code/cultural laws, not the law of the land.

TL;DR:
If my character doesn’t have a real good reason, most of the time I’d rather just RP with other players and talk about life, the stars, music, stories, and the morality of killing or not killing people. RP>Beatstick

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