![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Seven Virtues, Game One
Mar. 28th, 2010 05:44 pmTrying to continue posting a little about the bigger games I play in (though I still haven't written up the final two games of Threads of Damocles, Season 3-- short version: awesome. Dirk was a really interesting character that gave me some great RP experiences, and left on a trajectory where, hey, maybe he could come back some time).
Anyway, "Seven Virtues" is my first real boffer campaign. Threads had some light boffer scenes, but wasn't governed by that kind of (or really any) system overall. The drive up was interesting because the guy I got a ride with had been playing in NERO and Accelerant boffer campaigns for about 15 years, but wasn't familiar with theater-style larps at all, so we spent the drive having this weird cultural exchange, wherein two very experienced players took turns asking total noob questions about each others' styles.
This is something that never ceases to amaze me about the local larp scene. I think of myself as someone who has a lot of experience, is well-known, and knows a lot of people in the scene; not just MA, but in NY and the mid-atlantic area as well. But I have to keep reminding myself that what I really mean by that is "in the theater-style scene". There are all of these large-ish groups out here, but they all exist in bubbles with what seems to be very little interaction. That the scene can support this is really cool, and indicative of the high level of interest in the hobby out here, but it's also a little sad that the sub-scenes are so disconnected.
...which brings me to my interest in 7V. It's an Accelerant game in which a fair number of people I know from the theater-style scene were playing. To be fair, the same could be said of Endgame, but the timing worked out better for 7V, and the latter was able to promise me more RP roles than combat-mooking, which is pretty much a requirement for any game I'm going to spend a nontrivial amount of time or effort on.
Anyway, the basic premise of the game is that there is an institution called The School Of Seven Virtues. Think "high-fantasy Hogwarts for grownups" if you like, though I suspect that the game's creators will wince if you do. The school once taught scholars and heroes, but the track of heroic training has been shut down for decades, since the world has kind of chilled out and become a relatively pleasant place of late. But then along comes The Ancient Enemy, Banished by Heroes of Legend in Days of Yore But Returned Again To Wreak Havoc Upon the Land, etc etc, and the path of the hero has been re-opened to train those with the potential to drive them back. Most of the PCs are new students in that track, seeking achievement in some combination of the virtues: Wisdom, Selflessness, Compassion, Honor, Courage, Grace and Wholeness. The first game was the orientation for new students which, conveniently, also served as an effective orientation for the players to the way the school worked.
The game started late, around 1:30p, and ended even later, around 2a, but was quite worth it. I was really flattered that the people running the game, none of whom actually knew me, were willing to take me at my word that I could handle non-trivial RP roles, and enjoyed playing more on the theatrical side than the combat side. This brings me to this post's Thing I Learned About Myself as A Roleplayer: Many of the roles I got were of a favorite type of mine, though I'd not been able to articulate it as such before: ill-defined, but with a compelling core of interesting possibilities. It's kind of like something![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
londo once said about being cast in theater-style games, which I think he attributed to elenuial: "Give me the shortest or the longest character description, and I'll probably have a great time".
So, a bit about the characters I did:
(this got reeeeally long, because I ended up summarizing the characters as much for my own reference when I need to use them next as anything else, so I'm lj-cutting them)
( Sir Ulric Lancashire, legendary badass )
( Thaleus DeRandt, cursed refugee )
( Cragga Illius, ornery teacher of Honor )
( Bobkayak, extra-planar seeker of joy and novelty )
So, in summary: four fun characters, three of whom I'm eager to bring back is a pretty good haul for a one-day game. Also, holy crap that took a long time. I've basically spent the better part of the day I'd set aside for getting caught up with work writing this (yeah, I write slowly). Ah well. The experience is now thoroughly chronicled for posterity. Huzzah?
Did I mention that I didn't actually get home from this game until 4:30ish am? And that I have EDTM rehearsal in 90 mins? Methinks it's time for a nap.
Anyway, "Seven Virtues" is my first real boffer campaign. Threads had some light boffer scenes, but wasn't governed by that kind of (or really any) system overall. The drive up was interesting because the guy I got a ride with had been playing in NERO and Accelerant boffer campaigns for about 15 years, but wasn't familiar with theater-style larps at all, so we spent the drive having this weird cultural exchange, wherein two very experienced players took turns asking total noob questions about each others' styles.
This is something that never ceases to amaze me about the local larp scene. I think of myself as someone who has a lot of experience, is well-known, and knows a lot of people in the scene; not just MA, but in NY and the mid-atlantic area as well. But I have to keep reminding myself that what I really mean by that is "in the theater-style scene". There are all of these large-ish groups out here, but they all exist in bubbles with what seems to be very little interaction. That the scene can support this is really cool, and indicative of the high level of interest in the hobby out here, but it's also a little sad that the sub-scenes are so disconnected.
...which brings me to my interest in 7V. It's an Accelerant game in which a fair number of people I know from the theater-style scene were playing. To be fair, the same could be said of Endgame, but the timing worked out better for 7V, and the latter was able to promise me more RP roles than combat-mooking, which is pretty much a requirement for any game I'm going to spend a nontrivial amount of time or effort on.
Anyway, the basic premise of the game is that there is an institution called The School Of Seven Virtues. Think "high-fantasy Hogwarts for grownups" if you like, though I suspect that the game's creators will wince if you do. The school once taught scholars and heroes, but the track of heroic training has been shut down for decades, since the world has kind of chilled out and become a relatively pleasant place of late. But then along comes The Ancient Enemy, Banished by Heroes of Legend in Days of Yore But Returned Again To Wreak Havoc Upon the Land, etc etc, and the path of the hero has been re-opened to train those with the potential to drive them back. Most of the PCs are new students in that track, seeking achievement in some combination of the virtues: Wisdom, Selflessness, Compassion, Honor, Courage, Grace and Wholeness. The first game was the orientation for new students which, conveniently, also served as an effective orientation for the players to the way the school worked.
The game started late, around 1:30p, and ended even later, around 2a, but was quite worth it. I was really flattered that the people running the game, none of whom actually knew me, were willing to take me at my word that I could handle non-trivial RP roles, and enjoyed playing more on the theatrical side than the combat side. This brings me to this post's Thing I Learned About Myself as A Roleplayer: Many of the roles I got were of a favorite type of mine, though I'd not been able to articulate it as such before: ill-defined, but with a compelling core of interesting possibilities. It's kind of like something
londo once said about being cast in theater-style games, which I think he attributed to elenuial: "Give me the shortest or the longest character description, and I'll probably have a great time". So, a bit about the characters I did:
(this got reeeeally long, because I ended up summarizing the characters as much for my own reference when I need to use them next as anything else, so I'm lj-cutting them)
( Sir Ulric Lancashire, legendary badass )
( Thaleus DeRandt, cursed refugee )
( Cragga Illius, ornery teacher of Honor )
( Bobkayak, extra-planar seeker of joy and novelty )
So, in summary: four fun characters, three of whom I'm eager to bring back is a pretty good haul for a one-day game. Also, holy crap that took a long time. I've basically spent the better part of the day I'd set aside for getting caught up with work writing this (yeah, I write slowly). Ah well. The experience is now thoroughly chronicled for posterity. Huzzah?
Did I mention that I didn't actually get home from this game until 4:30ish am? And that I have EDTM rehearsal in 90 mins? Methinks it's time for a nap.
