Terra Nova announcement

It's not always easy to put a project into words. Especially since it's something that's not been done around these parts, and earlier attempts to make something similar have been met with some resistance, and have not been done so far.

Basically, Terra Nova is a new LARP which I'm starting this year. It will start with a feast-style introductory event (at my home) and continue at the main camping event in June (which should be scheduled soon).

There's plenty of new stuff (at least for our players) it will include, and I've listed only some of those here:

It will be the first modern euro-style fantasy LARP ran in Croatia.
It will not be based on Amtgard ruleset, instead it will be based under ConQuest ruleset (used under permission, currently under translation).
Different fighting style than usual Amtgard-based Croatian LARPs: less sporty, more RP elements included.
Single life, and death is final.
Increased realism and RP elements in all aspects of the game.
Flexible, customizable, classless character generation.
Well developed non-magical healing and alchemy system for those who want to try something new.
Latex and Calimacil weapons not only legal but preferred.
Separate gaming world and characters from other Croatian LARPs (considering it's not a compatible ruleset even by a long shot).
Different approach to NPCs - and large percentage of them.
A strong storyline.

This is a lot to take in at once, and that is one of the reasons for the intro feast on March 17th. Alright, offgame we're celebrating my birthday, my son's birthday, Vjekoslav's birthday and St Patrick's Day all at once which gives us a nice excuse to run a LARP. (Birthdays are a week after actually, but so is Istrakon, 2nd largest sci-fi convention in Croatia, so there's no need to clash with it... and besides, like we need an excuse to run a LARP! ;)) Besides, since all players will be playing new characters it's a nice chance for them to get to know each other before they're all thrown in a large LARP without their characters knowing anyone...

The website is up: http://terranova.crolarper.com/ - it will get updated with time. It's bilingual from start - Croatian/English. There's a forum/discussion group there you might wish to sign on, and of course you can post either in Croatian or English if you have any questions. And if you're planning to come, sign up at http://terranovalarp2012i.eventbrite.com/ for a ticket (either free or donation ticket will do just fine).

It is my hope that Terra Nova series of LARPs will enrich Croatian LARP scene, bringing new elements and ideas to other LARPs currently running. While not everyone will prefer its rules system to the Amtgard ruleset, I also hope it might draw in new players into the hobby, especially the people who wouldn't otherwise be interested in Amtgard-style LARP like ones which are running now, expanding the reach of Croatian LARP and enriching it. That's one of the reasons for the LARP's name. Terra Nova. Latin for New Earth, or New Land - part of the meaning is symbolical, symbolizing both this very idea and the fact that the game and characters are starting fresh, from scratch, without 15 years of legacy storyline in the background.

The other reason for its name is the storyline, which will involve exploration of an unknown and newly discovered continent. More about event background will be published soon.

The 15 rules of larp

The following 15 rules (warning: strong language) were written some years ago in Great Britain, and have been pretty much generally accepted on the British larp scene. Especially popular is rule 7 - widely known by its number and commonly considered to be the most imortant rule of all (and I agree). Even the biggest British larp forum has taken Rule7 as its name. The rules have been originally created by the Drunken Monkeys and edited by Rick Wynne who added some extra stuff in the explanations to make them more understandable to international audience (it still contains some British larp lingo though), more work-safe and to throw in his two cents. (copy of the original wording is available here ) 1. Don’t play a mighty warrior; play a warrior and be mighty. Don’t label your character. As soon as you say that you are the best swordsman in the land someone will come along and kick your ass. Just get into the mindset of the person and role-play it out. 2. No one cares about you

Mind's Eye Theatre: Werewolf The Apocalypse rulebook review

Available on DriveThruRPG Just under three years ago I wrote a review for Mind’s Eye Theatre: Vampire the Masquerade rulebook . It was the first book published by By Nights Studio, and a year later I reviewed one of its supplements - Storyteller Secrets . Now, after a long period of work, after the success of their kickstarter campaign, By Night Studios finally released the full version of the new larp rules for Werewolf the Apocalypse setting. This was preceded by various alpha, beta, gamma, delta and omega slices - each containing a different playtest version of the rules, slowly released from September last year until July this year. First impressions were that the artwork is very cool, and that the book is HUGE. Numbering at 762 pages, that's over 200 pages more than Vampire the Masquerade. But before I start going in-depth, I'd like to mention that this blog's readers come from various backgrounds - and I'll adjust my review accordingly. I assume I'

Larps in EU

Today Croatia has acceeded into the European Union as its 28th state. EU has loads of diverse and different larp scenes and cultures in them. Some of them are local, some are national, some encompass all speakers of a certain language, some are regional, and some are world-famous. Here's a short window into a couple of EU larps and larp scenes, carefully selected and profiled by the criteria of "those I actually visited myself" and "those who bothered to answer my survey on facebook on a short notice", with a dash of "this is like elementary culture you should know". So this is not a full list - not even close - and not even the fully representative one, despite it being the largest post on this blog ever. Even keeping track of the Croatian scene is quite a job and there are still many language barriers around. But hopefully you'll find plenty of new and interesting material here. If you want your larp represented - whether it's battle

LorwynJanuary 30, 2012 at 5:45 PM
That is what I want to do in Slovenia. A LARP with a strong storyline not only battles. That's what we were working on in the Tolkien Society and we want to improve it with the first LARP group. :) Looking foward to hear how it will work for you. :)
Ivan ŽalacJanuary 30, 2012 at 7:25 PM
Our LARPs have always had a strong story, and they were not only battles, except for events designated as "Battlegame". Krvomeđe is always a battlegame, approximately 1/4 of Maksimir LARPs are battlegames, and all of our multi-day LARPs are story based - despite the fact that our usual battle rules are more "sporty" compared to more roleplay-ish German-style rules like Drachenfest and ConQuest rules.

In fact, I'd say our stories are already so complex and interwoven, it is somewhat easy to get confused for newcomers :)

If I were to describe our large LARPs by story, I'd say that Istočna Anarhija, Rajski Vrhovi and Lubena have a strong theme and background, and somewhat simple plot arcs, while Jaska has weaker theme and background, but stronger and overlapping plot arcs. The interesting thing is that roleplay, stories and sometimes even quests from one often "spill over" into another one and overlap, creating some very interesting roleplaying situations :)

We have a good thing going. What is important to realize is that there is no single "best way" and Terra Nova will try to create "another good thing". It will be isolated from other LARPs, which will help make its story more focused. And, if all goes well, it will have a huge, sprawling, epic storyline - in part the development will be prewritten, but still flexible enough to accomodate any expected or unexpected player actions, and model itself towards them while still keeping a long and strong storyline which will also be heavily tied in the LARP theme itself.

Hearing how it goes is only the second best thing - you could also come and see for yourself ;) For the feast, I believe Martin is coming - perhaps you could hitch a ride with him? (this might sound vaguely familiar, but I've got an empty room in my house should you decide to sleep over :) And an empty couch in another room) And for the main event itself, I'd be happy to provide any assistance you might need :)

You can check out rules on https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=7C52FB37AE6EB830&id=7C52FB37AE6EB830%21267 - you can find English rules there, Croatian ones are around 80% complete at the moment (draft2). You can use them for Slovenian LARPs too, if you like them ;)

Diary of a Croatian larper

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