Once upon a time at the weekend

[smokingboot]

...Well, that was quite fun.

I spent the last two days on the Lickey Hills near Birmingham. Now, the Lickies, apart from having a ridiculous name, have lots of folklore and history attached to them. Here the Wild Hunt is still seen, fairies, UFOs and other unexplained phenomena have been found; and at the weekend it was full of dog faced men, talking dragons, giant wasps, lizard people, fops, pirates and big big ballgowns. Perhaps I had wandered into an area of dimensional distortion. Or maybe I was just playing Maelstrom http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/

Reading ephraim's Friday post regarding the current unfashionableness of live action role play gave me a lot of food for thought. LARP has never really grabbed me, outside of specific freeforms. My tendency is to fall in love with visions in my head, whether they be of individuals or of landscapes, and when those visions died, I found myself looking at costumes chasing the occasional idea and the much less occasional ego around a field. That was very dull, but it turned my personal focus to creations on the page rather than in game, so I can't be too sad about it. However...



I had a cracking weekend. I changed character and group. There was nothing wrong with my original choices; The group was somewhat based on 18th century Englishpeeps in the new world, a bit Georgette Heyer, a bit Hellfire club, many rakes and much talk of ton. Mighty and powerful were the dresses! But I have done the wheelie-frock game to death in other larp systems and I needed a different atmosphere.

So time for all change, a la ed_fortune's recommendation, and the results were terrific. Our new group is fresh and fun and just a bit clever. We found plot! We found action! Stuff is happening and we made stuff happen! Go us!

I have had my doubts about Maelstrom; In the wrong place at the wrong time, it has seemed like an amalgamation of Beatrix Potter LRP and live monopoly. Right now I feel it's all down to finding what is right for the individual. I can handle a night of flattery and sitting around, doing the whole port and cards thing. After that, I need stuff to do, and it seems we're bang slap in the middle of it. Maybe I'm being too sanguine, but for me the game is revving up. I am starting to enjoy myself.

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