As one of the organizers and GMs of Rajski Vrhovi XVII, I was pretty excited about the experience we were to provide players with. There are just some larps where the weather simply doesn't agree with you, but never before have I seen it in such a measure as on Rajski Vrhovi XVII this weekend.
Friday was OK... Somewhat damp and very misty, it provided some great atmosphere. We managed to accomplish what we planned for the night, although we had some delays. It looked like a great start for a great event, with the storyline going on, a player wedding party, and some escalating tensions. Number of players overtook Rajski Vrhovi XVI, making this currently second biggest larp of the year - and we had plenty of new players, this was their first event.
Everything was going well until some 2 AM on Saturday. Then it started raining. Not really heavy, as in a thunderstorm, but it was a strong rain... And it refused to stop. It just never stopped. It slowed down twice for maybe a period of 5 minutes in total, and then the heavy rain returned. Unofficial game break took place as we saw the rain is simply showing no intention of stopping. Ever. The storm front stopped on our mountain, and decided to fall down here in its entirety. We took a hard decision to take down and abandon our campsite, and move to the secondary location at the bar.
Žumberački podrum bar, where we located, is a far less immersive place than our campsite (outside, plenty of modern elements are visible and cars are parked in front of the bar), but it's warm and dry. It's the same place where the feast was held last December (and will be held this December again), and it's there where we decided to salvage what's left of the event in this format instead of canceling it (or doing a Noah's Ark style event, which came to mind). We shortened the game to be over in the Saturday afternoon.
Plenty of the storyline was cut, shortened, or postponed until next time. In the end, it did feel a bit rushed, with players who were demotivated from the rain, busy with deconstructing their tent, and trying to get themselves and their stuff dry. But I'm proud to say that us NPCs showed our dedication and commitment despite the weather. It even got us a few rounds of applause.
And so the event went on. Not as we planned it originally, but modified to fit the new conditions we had. We were all in the same lousy situation due to weather (did I mention it was cold and raining?) but we were commited to make the best possible experience out of it, for everyone involved.
Today, as if mocking us, the weather in Zagreb is warm, dry and sunny. As it has been for the past month. It was just our luck. But it has been an invaluable experience, especially for having some rain gear ready and standing by... The event was salvaged from bad weather the best it could be under the circumstances, plenty of us had a lot of fun, and I'll have lots of memorable moments from the event itself.
Friday was OK... Somewhat damp and very misty, it provided some great atmosphere. We managed to accomplish what we planned for the night, although we had some delays. It looked like a great start for a great event, with the storyline going on, a player wedding party, and some escalating tensions. Number of players overtook Rajski Vrhovi XVI, making this currently second biggest larp of the year - and we had plenty of new players, this was their first event.
Everything was going well until some 2 AM on Saturday. Then it started raining. Not really heavy, as in a thunderstorm, but it was a strong rain... And it refused to stop. It just never stopped. It slowed down twice for maybe a period of 5 minutes in total, and then the heavy rain returned. Unofficial game break took place as we saw the rain is simply showing no intention of stopping. Ever. The storm front stopped on our mountain, and decided to fall down here in its entirety. We took a hard decision to take down and abandon our campsite, and move to the secondary location at the bar.
Žumberački podrum bar, where we located, is a far less immersive place than our campsite (outside, plenty of modern elements are visible and cars are parked in front of the bar), but it's warm and dry. It's the same place where the feast was held last December (and will be held this December again), and it's there where we decided to salvage what's left of the event in this format instead of canceling it (or doing a Noah's Ark style event, which came to mind). We shortened the game to be over in the Saturday afternoon.
Plenty of the storyline was cut, shortened, or postponed until next time. In the end, it did feel a bit rushed, with players who were demotivated from the rain, busy with deconstructing their tent, and trying to get themselves and their stuff dry. But I'm proud to say that us NPCs showed our dedication and commitment despite the weather. It even got us a few rounds of applause.
And so the event went on. Not as we planned it originally, but modified to fit the new conditions we had. We were all in the same lousy situation due to weather (did I mention it was cold and raining?) but we were commited to make the best possible experience out of it, for everyone involved.
Today, as if mocking us, the weather in Zagreb is warm, dry and sunny. As it has been for the past month. It was just our luck. But it has been an invaluable experience, especially for having some rain gear ready and standing by... The event was salvaged from bad weather the best it could be under the circumstances, plenty of us had a lot of fun, and I'll have lots of memorable moments from the event itself.
Comments
Post a Comment