LARP planning 2013

Minjask: Hey, James. How are you with LARPs?

James: I've only played one or two LARP games a few times, but I think they're cool. Why you ask?

Minjask: Well, I've been asked to help organize one. At Bronycon2013. I'm on Programming staff.
And the only knowledge I have is what I know from online roleplaying, which basically consists of how to spot a bad persona profile.

James: Ah, I may be able to help you
Me and Matt went to one of the LARPs last Bronycon

Minjask: That's why I came to you first

James: Alright, so, first things first. What system are you using?

Minjask: system?

James: Is there any particular system? Like for stats, etc.
Or is it just free form?

Minjask: um, we're still in the developmental stages. What we have so far is:
"Hey guys, we should totally do a cosplay roleplay."
"Isn't that a LARP?"
"Yeah. So who knows how to do that?"
"..."
they picked me for some reason

James: Lmao
That really makes me wish I was going to Bronycon
But I'm more than happy to give a helping hoof

Minjask: thanks a bunch

James: Okay, so let's worry about a system later
That's not as important.
Most important thing in any role playing game is the overarching story
First, will it be slice of life? Will the players have to defeat an evil threat to Equestria? Maybe just solve a problem in town?
Will it stick more to canon in terms of story development, or will it be more maturely themed?

Minjask: Those are great questions. I can bring those up with the rest of staff. Um, may I ask why the story comes first? Not doubting, just looking to learn.

James: Well, I wouldn't say it's only the story. More like the world.
Yeah, that's a better word for it.
See, stats and systems are just numbers to crunch. So you have this much strength. That's nice. Now what?

Minjask: okay, so, you're saying we should have a story arc and a world planned? Do you think it would work if we allowed the attendees to come up with their own? Again, merely exploratory questions

James: Well, I'm not saying make a whole huge world, but have a basic guideline for the story. Create different objectives, planned NPCs, planned challenges, etc. The fluff and flutter comes from on the fly stuff involving the GMs and players
So if a player has an idea for their backstory outside of that area, go for it
But if, for example, it's some life-changing event that everyone should know about in the area you're in, you should ask them to change some stuff around or play as a different character. No single person should be stealing the spotlight before game has even started.

Minjask: okay, cool. thanks. I'm guessing we should appoint some type of DM?

James: I remember what they did with the LARP I went to last Bronycon, they had about four people who gave the story while playing characters as well
Note that said characters were mostly in the background and only helped when needed or when it made sense
So the main guy played as an older pony, and eventually he just organized everything after his character had nothing to do with the plot anymore.
Meanwhile, with our groups split to go searching in different areas, one member of each group (a GM) played out the story while playing as their character.

Minjask: That's a pretty cool system

James: Another thing you may want to think about
Open registration, or do they have to register at a certain time before the con?

Minjask: I was thinking precon sign ups. it would allow me to screen the persona profiles to help ensure a more enjoyable experience.

James: I remember last time it was kind of jumbled up, since you had to register only the day before the event (the LARP was on the second day)
So everyone just kind of made their characters there and they ended up either being not well thought out or totally awesome, depending on the player
Mine was... kind of lackluster.
Meanwhile, we had an Orange-themed Unicorn named Clementine be pretty much the best character there. Mostly because he always carried baskets of oranges with him and all of his magic was orange-related.
I especially loved when he helped to teleport everyone with the help of the other unicorns, he made everyone all sparkly clean because his spell was infused with the power of "orange cleaner"

Minjask: haha, that's actually pretty creative.