Origins Session Report #2 - Victims Ball 3 LARP

I generally like to expose myself to new & unusual games at conventions; things that I can't play at home for whatever reason. This usually means I end up with a widely eclectic variety of games. I've had VERY good luck with Cthulhu LARPs, so when running across the description for this one, I knew I wanted to play.

 Saturday 8p-12a, $14, Elder Entertainment, LARP Event 2144, Home Brew Rules

Tonight, you're on the guest list for the most exclusive party of 1927. Its the one all Hollywood will be talking about, the one the gossip columnists would love to be a part of. Our Hostess is a among the elite, a producer, and deal-maker, a woman who beats the big boys of the biz at their own game. The guests include a selection of movieland's best and worst, from film people to gangsters and who knows what else. But they all share a commitment to the freedom and possibilities of the modern world. Who cares that a killer stalks the streets of Tinsel-Town? He won't get in here, right? Its a new age, and all the old rules will be left behind tonight, while the jazz swings and the madness flows like wine.

I've had very good luck with the Cthulhu LARPs from a different organization and from the description it looked like I'd get another chance to trot out my tuxedo. Let me digress a bit here: Gentlemen, if you don't own a tuxedo you really should get one. You will always be the best dressed man in the room, women adore a man in a tuxedo, and they are not that expensive. You can get a basic tuxedo for about $150 at several chain department stores (JC Penny comes to mind) while a tailored tuxedo will run around $650. This isn't really that expensive for a set of clothing that will probably last your entire life. People will treat you better, and you'll get random compliments from everyone.

The girlfriend and I were just coming off of an 8 hour 'LARP' (which will be in report #3) and were feeling a bit down because of the way the game went. Yes kids, it turns out that LARPing for 12 hours straight might not be the best decision one can make ... On the walk over from the convention center to the Crown Plaza across the street we resolved to get ourselves out of the funk we were in and have a good time at this next event. Only thing is, we were totally exhausted. We went through the vomit-smelling lobby of the Crown and pondered the wisdom of having a lobby bar that was never cleaned, decided against grabbing something to drink and headed up to the 2nd floor for the game. It turned out the organization has placed a doorman outside the room who informed us the room wasn't set up and ready yet and the other players were gathering down the hall in small upstairs lobby. We headed downstairs to the coffee shop where the girlfriend picked up a green apple AMP slushie (Delicious!) and I picked up a large iced carmel mocha from the very friendly woman working the counter. We headed back upstairs and  crashed in a couple of chairs by the door to grumble a bit about the last game and how we were going to get out of the funk we were in. The doorman for the game, dressed as a 20's gangster, engaged us a bit in a general way about the last game, and how much fun the following game was to be. He was a very nice guy, and when another helper brought out a tub of clothes for the players to wear, I commented that I should have really worn my tuxedo. He replied that I absolutely should go change, and we had about 15 minutes more before the game was to start. My girlfriend moved over to survey the clothing options (Dress Up, a favorite hobby of every woman on the planet) while I jogged back across the street to the Hyatt. One eternally slow elevator wait later I was in the room changing. I didn't have my opera pumps or a formal shirt, so I had to make do with dress shoes and a white dress shirt that the day before I had 'formalized' by cutting off the top four buttons and cuff buttons so I would use my set of studs. A traditional dress shirt is acceptable for informal Black Tie. It now occurs to be that I man seem obsessive about clothing ... I wear shorts and a t-shirt or polo 99.99% of the time, even to work (gotta love IT at a university) but I have an encyclopedic knowledge of mens formal wear. Go figure ... I should probably buy something in between so I can attend wedding and funerals ...

I grabbed a set of flats and some pearls & safety pins for the girlfriend and went back across the street to the Crown, picking up compliments from at least three women who were oogling me. Getting back to the second floor lobby I found my girlfriend in a 20's flapper dress/outfit she had changed in to, provided by the people running the game, along with the other players, and it turns out, NPC's, wearing a shabby but acceptable assortment of crumpled dinner jackets while the moderator was finishing up a description of the female characters available to choose from. He then launched in to a description of the male characters. On the female side we had a: flapper, gossip columnist, suffragist, aspiring actress/waitress, and archeologist. On the male side we had an actor, producer, director, screenwriter, PI, police captain, parson, grip, cinematographer, fortune teller, union boss, and jazz musician. The girlfriend took the flapper while i waited around for the other men to choose. I usually pick last; I can play anything in these games and it would never be out of place for any man to be wearing a tuxedo to a 20's dinner party in Hollywood.

Strangely, the Actor was what was left over. It had actually appealed to me when I heard the three word overview, and I was surprised no one else had selected him. They may have been intimidated by the evening wear, because the other players piped up and insisted that I take it, in between their compliments of my attire. I was then given my character card to read. It turns out that I was the son of jewish immigrant tailors living in the New York ghettos. After a rough street-corner/gang upbringing I met a strange man with bright eyes who told me that one day I would be someone. A week later I was 'discovered' by a talent scout and started a career in NY vaudeville. When the movie industry started up in California I migrated there and had a moderately successful career in supporting roles; enough to keep my wife and two kids in a nice lifestyle, have an expensive car, and keep a second apartment in downtown Hollywood where I would entertain ladies. Work was generally drying up but I was contacted recently to star in a new film 'Kataloo Island'. I was CERTAIN the agent was the same bright-eyed man I had met in my youth, and declined the offer, with a sudden feeling of terror regarding the man. I had three goals for the game: 1) Learn more about the bright-eyed man. Rumors state the Suffragist had an encounter much like mine in her youth. 2) Learn more about the circumstances of the seemingly cursed file 'Pyramid', which has been having on-set troubles recently. 3) Try and get laid to see if you still have the old charm.

We were given a few minutes to read our sheets, and then I was shown in to the playroom first, but a creepy guy playing the doorman/valet. (NOT the same guy as before.) The largish meeting room was decorated to look like a large ballroom, with a bar and a barman serving 'drinks' of soda in three varieties. We had been  admonished not to bring alcoholic beverages in to the game, even though the lobby bar didn't mind. It seems several of the players had a sensitivity to the smell of alcohol. This was the first sign of things to come. Those of you familiar with the gaming community should also be familiar with the attention whoring that goes on within the community with regards to medical ailments. I though that the high vegetarian population in university IT was bad, but it is nothing compared to games. Lactose, eggs, gluten, alcohol, fruit, butterscotch, triple-filtered water; there's no end of the list of ailments & restrictions that come out of gamers mouths. I'm sure it has something to do with the leniency that gamers have towards others of their ilk. but JHC is it annoying.

Back to the room. I was shown in and introduced to the hostess and her 'girls.' Ug! NPC's. I loathe NPC's in a game, and there turned out to be close to dozen or so in this one. In my mind there tend to be three types of LARPs: things that resemble business team-building exercises, pretentious ones, and those that are truly fun. NPC's mean that the moderator usually wants the game to go a certain way, which generally means this is a pretentious LARP. Another note so good sign of things to come. Anyway, I introduce myself to the hostess and three ladies and then walk over to the bar to find no alcohol but rather soft drinks masquerading as ones as the other players began to filter in. I began to filter in to the early conversations, claiming ignorance of the Kataloo picture and it's woes, while pumping people for information about it in a third party way. "Captain! Come over here and join us. Jessica here says that there was been a couple of murders. Tell her all of the juicy details of the slasher!" I decided I was a cad, social butterfly, man about town, and more than a little of an ass, being secure in my position. I struck up conversations with the Producer, and Director regarding a new script 'The King in Yellow' and agreed to consider it as the star once they got it cleaned up, and pointed out the screenwriter and director to the producer. I then went in for my first conquest. I intimated to the gossip columnist that I knew more the murders than I had let on, because of a private earlier conversation I had had with the Captain. I led her outside and fed her a bit of what she had told me about the murders, since I was completely ignorant of even the fact there HAD been a couple of murders, and threw in a couple of small lies also. I told her I could tell her more upstairs in return for a quicky. She demurred, then agreed, and I fed her some made up lies about the actress on Pyramid being bludgeoned to death nude in bed with the 2nd director on the picture, who had then had his throat cut in bed. Seemed nice and juicy to me. Score one for the Actor! He's still got some mojo left!

Back at the party I inserted myself in to more conversations and then slowly trailed off the plot-line that dealt with the picture, figuring I had learned enough. Hor Dourves showed up, a selection of cheese & sausages. Normally I would be all over this, but I had just had a large coffee drink, and didn't eat or drink anything the entire game, although I carried an empty glass around. The waitstaff were very insistent though. I engaged the Suffragist trying to learn about her history, how she came to her cause, etc, trying to subtly pump her for information, and feigning interest in any powerful life experiences she had in the past, to use in my Method acting. Nothing Ug! I then took up hazing the parson, who was VERY out of place at the party and hated anything to do with the movies, believing them to be evil. He was engaged in a private conversation with a cute younger woman at a back table, so I decided I needed to be the hero and save her, setting myself up for a second tryst of the night. I went over and announce "I see you found a women! I told you you would. Only I don't think this one is a prostitute. You know, the good parson here told me earlier he was looking to get laid tonight, but I'm surprised to see him here with you, I think perhaps he's made a mistake.'  This infuriated the parson and got him to leave, while she stalked off the other direction, but blew off my further attempts at conversation. Arg! Not what I had intended, but it did lead me to the 'torment the parson' game that I played on and off the rest of the night.

I began hanging out with the Director, who I mistakingly thought was the Producer most of the night. I pal'd around with him and made dirty comments about women and my conquests. I came over once when was talking to the Archeologist, intending to bed her, but then upon looking closer decided I needed to pull back quite a bit and instead feigned interest in what she was claiming about archeology. She was one of those con girls who you can't quite tell their age, and I, as a 41 year old divorced, balding, overweight gamer with 2 kids didn't want to be a perv and make a boat loads of innuendo to a girl who could have been 16. After she left I asked the Director, who, btw looked great in his mock turtleneck and tweed jacket. he admitted she was young and her parents were off in the train game boardgame area. *Whew* Close one!

Next the Hostess declared it was game time, the first of three activities. The men were given masks to wear "to symbolize how we all wear masks!" Wonderfully subtle, eh? It turned out to be charades, with just the men performing. We were supposed to act out what we must wanted to be and the guesser would get to choose the next man to perform. I quickly forget about the "what we most wanted to be part" as I became fixated on another way to torment the Parson. When it was my turn I positioned myself at the far end of the room with a pillar between myself and the girl I assumed was underage, while telling her to avery her eyes. I made several quick savage pelvic thrusts, excitedly looked at my watch, patted the pretend girl on the head, threw down a couple of $20's from my money clip, climbed a podium, pretended to vocalize excitedly, and then crossed myself. The crowd immediately guessed 'Parson', and another gleefully evil bit of mischief was worked. Charades ended and the men all found out that our faces were stained bizarre colors from the masks. They were cheap and the dye was runny. It turned out it was just an accident of the purchase and had no game meaning. I hit the bathroom quickly to save the tailored tuxedo; I'm always terrified that someone will throw fake blood or something during one of these games and ruin it.

I went over to hit on the girlfriend, thinking she would be an easy score. She rebuffed me and one of the NPC's she was sitting with came over and whispered to me "Do you have magic resistance?" "No" "Ok, you have to do whatever I say next." which was "Go away!" Arg! I can't even get some from the flapper and she's my girlfriend! Damn 20's lesbian prostitutes! I consoled myself by hitting an easy mark, the aspiring actress. I promised to talk to the Producer & Director about getting her a starring role in the film they were working up and got her in to bed easily. (Which just involves us going outside the door to the Crowns hallway, me propositioning her in a sleazy way, and her saying yes.) My morale boosted I yakked it up with the Director and went on for my next score, one of the house prostitutes. I got her in the hallway with the promise of more details on the mystic signs found at the murder scenes, which I completely made up to get to her. She rebuffed me hard at the proposition, and stormed back inside, claiming she wasn't that kind of girl. Foiled again! I then spread rumors about her the entire night that she was cheap hooker and would give you a Rusty Venture for $20. My intent was that others would proposition her also. Remember kids, in sleazeball world, if she won't sleep with you she's a slut and you should spread rumors about her.

I found the hostess at the bar and inquired about why the parson was invited. Turns out there were two lists, one of people to invite and one of people to not invite. The staff got the lists mixed up, hence the Parson, Captain, and the few other out of place characters. I then asked for her to send her three girls up to a room (3 in 1! Score!), but she demurred, stating that she would once the dancing was over, which was just beginning. I excused myself to the bathroom again, and when I came back the dancing was over. I made a bet with the Producer that I could bed the Suffragist and made an attempt. I got her to the bedroom because I had fed her some lines earlier about how interested I was in her cause, how leading ladies were our equals and the pictures could not work without them, and to stop by my apartment tomorrow morning and I would make a $2000 donation to her cause. In the hallway I lured her with lies about the bright-eyed man, based on my background. She was offended and started to leave. I spouted some more lies about him, which got her to pause, but then she left. Right now I was only batting "2", with the threeway not having come off yet.

Then it hit me. I bet EVERYONE at the party had some interaction with the bright-eyed man! I started to work the crowd of guests with some cold reading and bits of pieces of my own background:  "He touched your life when you were young." "You've just recently have been impacted by him again" "You're terrified of him." "I can help you, but only if you tell me of your second interaction." etc. This was going on in & around the time of the third activity "Judge the ladies." What women doesn't want to be judged in a room full of men, while lined up? I wasn't really paying attention to it, but it turned out my girlfriend won and was led to another room for her prize. By this time the stars outside, seen via the house windows, were't "right" and the PI, Captain, and Cinematographer had all gone insane to one degree or another from trying to leave the house. The actor was no fool and knew he was in over his head. His last 'bright-eyes" conversation, with the aspiring actress, revealed that the Director needed to be killed. The NPC's got everyone together to perform one last game, some kind of ceremony. I had told the PI that the Director needed to die, and the Jazz Musician had quickly told me to follow him when the shit hit the fan. The ceremony got going, with the Jazz Musician in the center surrounded by five women with large yellow fabric that obscured him, and they surrounded by five men, me included. The Jazz Musician disappeared just as the PI killed the Director with a kitchen knife. He was hustled off and we were told the ceremony needed to be done again (complete with a crazy Cthulhu chant. Nothing like a fake NPC led ceremony with props and a chant to get the ol pretension going.) This time, I took a glass and tried to kill the Cinematographer during the ceremony, but was stopped by one of the inhumanly strong NPC's, who held me in place during the ceremony. (Draw cards from a deck, high card wins. That's the extent of the mechanics.)

We're told we can now leave the house, as long as we didn't get any favors or promise anything to the NPC's, and as long as we didn't drink the red pop or eat any cheese or sausage. WTF?! Favors? Promises? Hmmm, looks like that coffee prior to the game was a good idea. I get the F out of dodge, followed by the Jazz Musician leading the gossip columnist and the Suffragist. We were the only ones to survive, with our memories of the events wiped.

Next we went back in and did a post-game wrap. This is traditional in these big LARPs. The moderators tell you what was going on and each person describes what they doing. Thus begins ... The Horror. The moderator takes 30 minutes to describe, in his own self-congratulatory style, what was going on (ceremony out of time, blah blah blah) and then each person describes their goal/motivations, and if they considered themselves 'winners.' In these things you generally get to decide yourself if you won or not, based on your goals and what happened to you. That's fine, but this time it  was also followed by a question "What moment touched you the most?' or something like it. Ug! About a third of the way around I had asked the GF if there was someway out of this so we could get the F out. No dice; she was still in her flapper wear and could not find her clothes when she looked prior to the debrief. After going around the circle of players, some hard to stand they were so full of themselves, the Jazz Musician announced that during the Tarot reading everything had clicked for him and he realized that each of us was a card in the Tarot. He was encouraged to pick one out for each of us and describe us. *vomit*. Another 45 minutes of pretension & cold reads passed. We finally got sucked in to a group pictures (again, traditional), found her clothes and got out, to enjoy a COMPLETELY restless night in the hotel due to the coffee and AMP energy drink we had SIX hours earlier. Yup, game ran six hours instead of four.

I had NO CLUE what was going on in this game. I thought I was doing well, but it turns out every other player figured out a lot more than I did. A LOT more. It turns out the girlfriend was turned in a cultist when she was taken away, but she considered herself a winner; she just wanted a job with steady employment where she didn't have to be a woman to get ahead.

This game was fine, even enjoyable most of the time, only I wish I didn't have to listen to the nonsense at the end. I like hearing what everyone was doing, but some people rub me raw. For some reason a certain type of person is a BIG turn off for me, and there there more than few of them present during the debrief. I'm happy they enjoyed themselves, and don't want to detract from that, but dammit, I hate NPC railroading and I need to find a way to excuse myself from these things before they head south, so we can ALL be happy at the end of the game and I can come off less like a bitter old gamer at the end of these things.