NELCO 2016 Schedule

Friday

7:00 PM New World Magischola Meet-Up (social hang out)

A space for those who participated in any of the New World Magischola runs to meet people from other weekends and reminisce about their time in wizarding college. People who weren’t involved but want to ask about how it was in a casual atmosphere also welcome!

8:00 PM: LARP Writing 101

Presentation by Jeff Diewald

Over the course of the weekend, starting Friday night, we'll be running a Build Your Own Game workshop. Whether you've never written a game, or are an experienced author, it's a great time, and a great way to learn new techniques. The LARP Writing 101 session will lay out the basics how to construct a LARP, and start the process of imagining what kind of game will be written this weekend.

The slides and a video of the presentation are available online.

Saturday

10:00 AM - Mix it Up: Using The Mixing Desk of LARP to Build and Design LARPs (Talk)

The Mixing Desk of Larp is a tool for teaching larp design. Just like the sound technician can adjust the faders of a mixing desk to increase or decrease the volume of different instruments, the larp designer adjusts the faders of the Mixing Desk of Larp through their design choices, adding or removing faders to create the unique and smoothly operating larps. The Mixing Desk of Larp is the method that has been successfully used to educate larpwriters for 5 years now, which resulted in designing over 40 playable larps run throughout the world. We believe this gives designers a better way of structuring their thoughts, applying larp theory in practice and communicating design choices.

10:00 AM - Start in the Middle, End Before Consequences: Anime as a Model for 4 hour Theater Style LARP (Roundtable)

LARP tends to take its inspiration from many different sources, including film and novel. One area that is growing in popularity is that of anime. What narrative tricks and techniques can we learn from this new(er) area of study? What has already been done, and what can we do in the future? Come discuss these topics in a Roundtable discussion.

11:00 AM - Writing and Running Comedic Games (Talk)

Comedy is already a challenging genre to work in, even before adding the extra challenge involved in LARP writing. It’s one thing to write comedic character sheets, but another entirely in shaping a game world, mechanics, and structure to encourage comedic events and actions within the LARP itself. How can we write LARPs structured to encourage comedic play without removing player agency? Can we make all our players into comedians without years of practice? Come listen to our speakers discuss the techniques and tricks they’ve used to put the laughter into LARP.

11:00 AM - Information Flow in Boffer LARPs (Moderated Panel)

In Accelerant games, it's become sadly common for someone to stand up and shout "OK EVERYONE LISTEN UP" and then explain what the goal is and a sort of in-game explanation of what the mechanics will be. It's all very loud and chaotic, and there are still issues with players not hearing. Then during battle, it's extremely common for most people to not know how far along we are towards our goal or if new stuff has popped up, etc. Accelerant has some mechanics that help convey information, but how can we do it better?

12:30 PM - Exploring Difficult Topics Safely Through LARP (Workshop)

Many LARPs delve into strong emotional areas; they can induce strong emotions, cause bleed, or cause the players to explore some very difficult topics. How can a GM ensure that their players are emotionally safe both during and after such games? We’ll explore several emotional safety techniques in this workshop, including practicing them in an interactive environment.

12:30 PM - Beyond the Con: Booking LARPs Outside of Conventions (Talk)

One often-overlooked problem with running a LARP is getting space to actually run the event in. While conventions like Intercon exist to facilitate running LARPs, sometimes you might want to run a LARP in a new area, or run a larger LARP than a convention can support, or maybe you want to run a LARP that just doesn’t work in hotel-style space. No matter what the reason, the logistics of booking a space can be a real hassle; fortunately, our speakers have jumped that hurdle before. Come listen to experienced LARP-runners talk about dealing with hotels, campgrounds, and wherever else you might want to run a LARP.

1:45 PM - How Class Affects LARP (Moderated Roundtable)

One aspect of LARP that isn’t examined as much as perhaps it could be is that of the financial costs associated with it. Specifically, the demographics of LARPers tend to skew towards those who have the disposable income to afford to put together elaborate costumes, or travel to participate in remote LARP events. How do these facts affect LARP as a whole? Come discuss this topic in our moderated roundtable discussion.

1:45 PM - MEDIC! : Healers in LARP and Other RP Media (Moderated Panel)

Healers in LARP (and other RPGs, such as tabletops and videogames) often get treated like Hit Point batteries, or as though they exist simply to back up the front line fighters, who are often seen as the stars of the show. We often have disparaging terms like "backpack healer" and "girlfriend healer". How do we make sure healers feel like the stars sometimes too? How do we show appreciation for them, make sure they have equal access to loot, etc.? What are good mechanics for healers? Why don't we ever pay them? Let's show some Healer Love!

3:00 PM - So You Want to Box a LARP (Talk)

As theatrical-style LARP grows in popularity and gains a history of popular LARPs, the re-running of old LARPs, and the running of LARPs by people other than the original authors has likewise grown in popularity. This has led to the development of the “boxing” of LARPs, where, theoretically, one “box” (likely a zipped file of some kind) contains all the information you need in order to run a LARP; just add paper! In practice, this is easier said than done. Come listen to one GM’s experiences with running other people’s LARPs, and the things he believes are necessary to make your boxed LARP one to be remembered and used for years to come.

3:00 PM - Skip to the Good Part: Structuring LARPs to Eliminate Downtime (Moderated Panel)

How many LARPs have you played where the first few minutes are a confusing jumble following “Game Start”, where people are awkwardly huddled around wherever they happened to be sitting for game briefing? How do you start a game “in media res”, instead of wherever you happen to be? Can you run a “doing the plan” scene in a LARP without doing all the tedious planning? What methods exist to build your LARP’s pacing and structure? Come listen to our panel of LARP writers and players talk about favorite techniques and tricks to make your LARP stand out from the crowd.

4:15 PM - We are Citizens: A Review and Retrospective (Talk)

We are Citizens (WAC) is a two-day larp about homeless people in the city of Minsk. During the larp, players live the lives of homeless people on the street. A unique aspect of the larp is that the players get a new 360-degree experience in their familiar city surroundings. The larp was first run in September 2015 in Minsk, Belarus for 10 players. The presenter, who is one of the authors, will talk about their design choices, player experiences, and their larger goals. In addition, there will demonstrations of some of the workshops used in the WAC larp. To get an idea of what the LARP is, you can watch its presentation on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-jL4JQVJbs) or its coverage in the local Belarusian media (in Belarusian here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXfWsy98TkE)

4:15 PM - Accelerant Theory and Practice (Moderated Panel)

Boffer combats come in many shapes and sizes. How do the rules of combat affect the experience of your players? Can these rules be designed to address issues common to boffer play, such as clumping, or neglected healers? What effect do the special rules of NPCs have on the flow of combat, and the resultant narrative? This panel will explore all of these topics, and how the Accelerant system addresses them.

5:30 PM - Using Online RP to Enhance LARP (Moderated Roundtable)

In the modern world, roleplaying doesn’t always take place in person. In fact, many LARPs use one form or another of online roleplaying to supplement their in-person events. From character building and development pre-game to in-between event forums and discussions, online RP is becoming more and more common. Does this all benefit our LARPing experiences? Can we use online roleplaying as an effective tool, while avoiding the pitfalls they pose? Come discuss this topic with our moderator.

5:30 PM - The Right Kind of Writing; Comparing and Contrasting LARP-Writing Tools (Moderated Panel)

There are a lot of tools out there to write a LARP with. Some of those tools are written by LARPers, with LARPers in mind. Others are written for more general application, such as novel or playwriting, or coding. Are either of these tool sets superior? How do the tools we use influence the LARP we produce? Come listen to our panel of experts discuss their favorite LARP-writing tools, and the benefits and disadvantages each one poses.

8:30 PM - New World Magischola: An Event to Remember (Panel)

New World Magischola was an experiment by two American GMs to bring the magic (literally and figuratively) of a College of Wizardry-style event across the pond to America. With a hugely successful kickstarter, a large player base, unique location, and four runs within two months, NWM has become something unique in American Nordic-style LARPing history. Come listen to our panel of NWM players discuss their experiences in NWM; what they enjoyed, what wasn’t as great, and the experiences that will remain with them for years and years to come.

8:30 PM - Designing Interesting Hooks for Boffer Modules (Moderated Panel)

How do you make an interesting module hook? How do you prep the NPC so they know what to say? What's the best way to pre-hook? (And is there such thing as a post-hook?) How do we get information flowing without resorting to someone standing on a chair and shouting "HEY LISTEN UP" like a camp counselor shouting at campers? How can we everyone who wants to be involved gets hooked? Why are all hooks spread by people, and not things like letters?

9:45 PM - Death and Abuse: What Game of Thrones Means for LARP Writers (Moderated Roundtable)

Game of Thrones is one of the most popular cable television shows ever, with a cultural following unimaginable even a few year ago. Clearly, something has shifted in terms of what people want to watch for entertainment. But what? Are people just drawn to the graphic nature of the show, or are they growing more accepting of death and perhaps more willing to discuss sensitive topics such as abuse? Come discuss this topic in a roundtable environment, where we will delve into the whys and wherefores of Westeros.

9:45 PM - Iä Iä; Rituals in LARP (Moderated Panel)

Lots of LARPs feature rituals, often in fantasy settings as a means of producing magic. How does one craft a ritual that is fun, meaningful, engaging, and respectful of real world rituals? How can we use them to encourage roleplay? How can we make rituals fun and immersive? Come listen to our panelists as they discuss these questions.

Sunday

12:00 PM: LARP - Play in the BYOG

They have worked all weekend to produce a LARP, and this is it. Sign up to play the BYOG! Please arrive a little early so we can start on time.