First Time LARPers - Session 1 Costs and Misc

[PhineasCain]

Hi there!

My partner and I have decided to try and give LARPing a go.  I have been a DM/GM for various tabletop RPGs for about 15 years (since I was 14yo), so am very excited to dive in!

We are both curious of what kind of costs we can expect for our first session (and if we wish to continue, what are the costs moving forwards?).

Also is there anything outside of the following we need to worry about?:

• Read the rulebook (and promptly forget 50% of the minute details)
  
• Choose race/class
  
• Contact Logistics, get entered in database
  
• Submit backstory
  
• Read invite/prelog
  
• Create an appropriate costume (following the safety rules of course)
  
• Prepare provisions
  
• Show up for our first session and be terrible!
  

I'm also curious if there is a "lack" of certain races/occupations.  I'd be interested in filling any niche roles if possible  

We are VERY excited and can't wait to start working on our characters!  I'm assuming we probably won't be ready until the February (or maybe March) event - but we are itching to get out there!

Thanks so much!

[Dr. Moran]

Hello! I'm Alex, one of the New Play Liaisons or NPLs, I'd be happy to answer some of your questions.

First off, your first game is free! Yay! And if forever reason you decide to attend an event that cannot be free (ex. one we have catering for or a Warcry event) then the next one after that will be. After that day mods tend to be around $30 with prelog and prepay and weekend events around 40$ with prelog and prepay. Prices go up when sign up opens for the games (roughly 2 weeks before the event itself).

That list of yours covers most of what you need to do. Dang, doing my job for me. I love you guys already. Make sure to remember to buy your character skills before game (though push comes to shove we can add them on site), we've had some people forget that.

Occupations wise we've got quite the mix but race wise Ralinwood has a lot of humans, Einher and High Elves, at least off the top of my head. We don't have too many Savar, I think only one or two Wood Fae, haven't seen a dwarf around in many a moon, etc... You get one free remort/mulligan/do-over after your first game though so if you come in as something and decide "nah, my human merc blacksmith is now a dark elf assassin with a bit of magic" that's completely ok, just email logistics and let them know before your second game. After that though you're locked in.

Hope this helps! You can also contact the NPL team at npl@underworldralinwood.ca if you have more specific questions.

[PhineasCain]

Hello! I'm Alex, one of the New Play Liaisons or NPLs, I'd be happy to answer some of your questions.

First off, your first game is free! Yay! And if forever reason you decide to attend an event that cannot be free (ex. one we have catering for or a Warcry event) then the next one after that will be. After that day mods tend to be around $30 with prelog and prepay and weekend events around 40$ with prelog and prepay. Prices go up when sign up opens for the games (roughly 2 weeks before the event itself).

That list of yours covers most of what you need to do. Dang, doing my job for me. I love you guys already. Make sure to remember to buy your character skills before game (though push comes to shove we can add them on site), we've had some people forget that.

Occupations wise we've got quite the mix but race wise Ralinwood has a lot of humans, Einher and High Elves, at least off the top of my head. We don't have too many Savar, I think only one or two Wood Fae, haven't seen a dwarf around in many a moon, etc... You get one free remort/mulligan/do-over after your first game though so if you come in as something and decide "nah, my human merc blacksmith is now a dark elf assassin with a bit of magic" that's completely ok, just email logistics and let them know before your second game. After that though you're locked in.

Hope this helps! You can also contact the NPL team at npl@underworldralinwood.ca if you have more specific questions.

Thank you for the assistance, wise elfen-one!

I thought I had read something about needing to do some things when you show up to the event...do you just report to logistics and they log you, then you can spend blankets (if you have any / want to) and then off to the races?

Also what is the expectation as far as remembering rules goes? If I were to have one major flaw, it'd be that my memory is terrible. Also my partner is very enthusiastic though she is far from a rules master (and its hard for her to find time to read a lot - she's quite busy, so I'll be walking her through it with most of my own slow-gained knowledge).

Just want to make sure we aren't bringing the experience down for anyone! We're dedicated role-players though, we love story and are very ready to get into character!

Anyways...thanks again Alex, we both really appreciate your help - hopefully we'll meet in the field soon enough!

[Dr. Moran]

Any time!

So if you've already put your character into the database, which it sounds like you intend to to, then logistics is just a matter of showing up and grabbing the envelope that has your character card inside. It's like a DnD Character sheet with all your abilities and stuff on it. They'll log you, if you haven't paid yet you can pay then, and you're off to the races (by the races I mean I or another NPL will talk at you for a while about some new player information). Blankets are applied during the prelog period. This is a time 2 weeks before events when the logistics database is open and you can make character changes. You get your blanket after event to apply towards the next one. If you have bought a new player package that pays for your unlock fee and you can apply said blanket before your first event and come in with a few more skills! (Information about new player packages can be found here http://www.underworldralinwood.ca/forums...p?tid=3368)

Rules wise, you don't need to worry too much. The book is rather long and there are a million spells and it's quite daunting to think you have to remember it all. Basically if you come in knowing what you can do and how to do it you're golden. The rest you learn as you go. If you get hit by a spell or effect by somebody and you don't know what it does, just ask. I've chased after a basilisk shouting that I need to know how Flesh To Stone works before. There is no shame there. When in doubt look for somebody in a yellow armband, they're an NPL and you can ask them anything you need to out of game. If they don't have the answer they'll know who will.

Don't worry about bringing anybody down, we've all been new players at some point. The biggest thing new players struggle with is often staying in character and from the sounds of it you guys are going to be fine in that regard.

[PhineasCain]

Any time!

So if you've already put your character into the database, which it sounds like you intend to to, then logistics is just a matter of showing up and grabbing the envelope that has your character card inside. It's like a DnD Character sheet with all your abilities and stuff on it. They'll log you, if you haven't paid yet you can pay then, and you're off to the races (by the races I mean I or another NPL will talk at you for a while about some new player information). Blankets are applied during the prelog period. This is a time 2 weeks before events when the logistics database is open and you can make character changes. You get your blanket after event to apply towards the next one. If you have bought a new player package that pays for your unlock fee and you can apply said blanket before your first event and come in with a few more skills! (Information about new player packages can be found here http://www.underworldralinwood.ca/forums...p?tid=3368)

Rules wise, you don't need to worry too much. The book is rather long and there are a million spells and it's quite daunting to think you have to remember it all. Basically if you come in knowing what you can do and how to do it you're golden. The rest you learn as you go. If you get hit by a spell or effect by somebody and you don't know what it does, just ask. I've chased after a basilisk shouting that I need to know how Flesh To Stone works before. There is no shame there. When in doubt look for somebody in a yellow armband, they're an NPL and you can ask them anything you need to out of game. If they don't have the answer they'll know who will.

Don't worry about bringing anybody down, we've all been new players at some point. The biggest thing new players struggle with is often staying in character and from the sounds of it you guys are going to be fine in that regard.

Fantastic! Thanks so much Ursel!

One last question (I swear!). The starter packages for new characters - is the cost for that just for the items, or does it also cover an event cost? If it doesn't cover the event cost, do you get physical items that represent the things in the kit or are you just paying for things that go on your sheet with real money?

Sorry just kind of confused about the total cost there when involving a starter package + event cost + log cost.

Thanks so much - you've made this so much easier!!!

[Dr. Moran]

The starter package includes a free blanket (which normally you only get after an event), covers the $15 character unlock fee (a logistics fee that you pay to start blanketing your character after the first game) and some IG items that you can use (so yeah, real money for a few in game starting items). A blanket is basically an event's worth of CP, so that's what makes the package worth looking at if you're interested. It's completely optional though!