Re: WP this week

[trevorf]

Im blind on occasion sorry.

[Jewls]

xD S'all good.

[trevorf]

Btw do new players get any discount or the like?

[Arngrim]

And maybe a female Get of Fenris. They take girls don't they? Don't' they?!!

Of course we do! We're crazy homicidal berserkers, not chauvanist pigs.

[Chain-Gang Chuck]

you're short BoneGnawers, and Fianna

[Speaker]

And Striders, but that's nothing strange.

[Chione]

SO what we're saying is make Galliards. We can sacrifice them in place of the good ones

I kid, I kid.

I swear....

[Soren Saga-smith]

Can we pre-agree to eject fursuiters until they have doffed their suits?

[Piotr]

Also, Shadow Lords, I'll expect you to all be dressed in your Sunday best. That mean's dress slacks and button ups. Blazers and ties optional but encouraged.

[trevorf]

I believe you all missed my original message:i may be bringing friends from the con, so do not expect any of them to be well-dressed unless they are cosplaying Sebastian or Nightray. 20 GEEK points for getting that reference. Also, for most of them, the only rp experience they will have had is final fantasy and the like.Also, should i help theem make cubs or cliath?

[Soren Saga-smith]

Cliath.

[Piotr]

^Agreed

[Tango]

Sadly I caught the sebastian ref,
<-----loser
Ftr, Anime Punch is not Morphicon. I doubt there will be fursuits just fat men in Salior Moon costumes.

[Chione]

Corbin you just made me snarf my coffee. good job, bro.

[Tango]

Yeeeeeees *fist bump*
Also just a note if your friends have never LARPed before I suggest some of them take a moment to obsever the game and how it works. In don't want them to feel pressured to RP. Because playing a new system and learning a new genre is gonna be hard. Personally I don't just want them to be one timers I would love to see some new regulars.

[Kasey]

Corbin, that is often why the STs encourage new players to try things out as a cub.

[Audra]

Or kin! Kin rock the hizzouse!

[James Stein]

While there are pros and cons to new players playing cubs, kin to me are an experienced player's field. You get locked out of the majority of the action and the world, and no new player wants to feel isolated. The joy of playing a kinfolk is finding a way to be useful despite all the obstacles...and that's not for new players. In short, kinfolk is an acquired taste.

[Audra]

Well, but the benefit is that they can be in the background, able to watch how the game is played, without expecting them to know any/all the rules, and also letting the game play without solely revolving around those 2-3 new characters. Just like a ghoul is hard to have as a good long term character for a new player, so is a kin. But on their very first game, knowing no rules or even how a lamp works, it allows them to play and yet not be terribly disruptive. You have them come in as cousin/sibling/whatever of established characters, which gives them something to do and someone to follow.

I feel like the above may seem harsh or critical about new players, but my experience down here with the cam and their constant recruiting, often from non LARPers, is that it is very useful to have them observe for a while, otherwise, other players can get burned out/annoyed because they can't get any of their stuff done, because they or the STs are tied up with the new players who tend to need a lot of help at first. And if they take a day to observe and learn how the whole thing works, it ends up better for everyone.

[Audra]

Oh, and the action they stay out of usually is action that involves combat, which I think you should really have an idea hook it works before jumping into, otherwise someone else is running your sheet while you stand there playing roshambo, also not so much fun.

[James Stein]

I suppose it entirely depends on the player, which is true of most anything, but cubs are fine for sitting and watching without getting thrown fully into the mix. But anytime they WANT to participate, they can be, as a 'teaching exercise'. I understand what you're saying about long term characters, but what really draws someone into the game in the first place, most times, is the prospect of longevity and continuity. What happens next?

Someone with zero roleplay background is going to have almost nothing to do as a kin because, really, they don't even know how to do the most basic thing. But if not having anything TO do is what will get them watching and seeing what others ARE doing, then awesome.

People who have RP backgrounds but not LARPing/WoD...sticking them in a kin role is a bad plan, because they're going to get the basics down quick and get bored...even a cub might be a poor choice. Some people are naturally combat-oriented players...whatever their gaming background, if it's fighting and defeating monsters...they're going to be better off playing a Cliath and haphazardly making their way through the social mores.

So, while yes, it does take individual customization and knowledge of the player to really make the ideal choice, but by and large all but a rare small percentage of new players are better off playing cubs than kinfolk, because the push to become a Real Garou and Level Up are what keeps someone who knows nothing else about the game coming back.

[Amanda Miller]

Might I suggest that playing a cub is the best bet? While there is no way I could ever enjoy Masquerade, I realize that playing someone not under Accounting compounded the mistake. With Werewolf, I needed three game sessions before I knew what the hell I was doing, and that could be really problematic for a Cliath. When you're a cub EVERYTHING has to be explained IC which also explains things OOC. Being a cub makes for an EXCELLENT primer to the game and gives long term viability to the character if they wanna come back.

And I need to stress as a player who plays to punch evil in the throat, a kin would never satisfy my needs as a roleplayer, at least not as a primary character. Well, unless you got one of those paramilitary Glasswalker kin, but I digress and dream...

[Audra]

I guess I prefer to not encourage the combat aspect of it at the very first game, because again, if they don't know how the system runs, they're not doing anything, they're just letting someone else run their sheet, OR it is a combat that takes forever because everyone is trying to teach the player.

IMO (and this is totally unofficial, obviously) new players on their very first game should preferably not deal with combat at all, or if they do, it's watching someone else do it well. In the end, it is a role-playing game, not a dungeon crawl. The fighting is an aspect to this game, more than it is vampire, but it can very easily get tipped into too much, and not allowing time for actual RP.

While a cub is fun for the cub, I've known many games than ban cub characters, because it makes the game solely centered around the cubs too often. Again, that can be fun for some people, and is usually fun for the new people, but go through that 4 or 5 times, you get tired of it. Yes in game, they would have to do it, but there's also way more time to do it than the 4-5 hours you get at game. Cubs have such the potential to wreak havoc, because they can go crinos, into the umbra, are more valuable than kin.

If you are bringing in new people who have never gamed before in their lives, the best thing they can do is to get paired with a good RPer, someone who is involved with things and then observe, ICly or OOCly, so they learn it isn't just about killing shit and leveling up.

Though I totally agree, that people who have experience gaming (but maybe just not with Garou) are much better served as Cliaths with the common sense merit, than cubs or kin. And if they play a kin for the first day, maybe they can work with the STs to then go through a First Change or something if they love the concept but want to be a Garou.

Kin can be pretty active in game, as long as they're related to people who are active. Or there's other Kin around to talk to (which can also be a good learning experience on how the game works)

Again though, I won't be able to attend games after this one, so if it turns into combat all the time, I don't have much issue because I play on the boards. But I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who plays in order to RP. Combat happens and can even be fun sometimes, but what makes it fun is that it doesn't happen all that often.

[Tango]

If you are bringing in new people who have never gamed before in their
lives, the best thing they can do is to get paired with a good RPer,
someone who is involved with things and then observe, ICly or OOCly, so
they learn it isn't just about killing shit and leveling up.

Especially if it's something intense as WoD LARP. It gets crazy and emotional and overwhelming. It's a bit of a "culture shock" to players that have never done this system of gaming. Mind you for me it wasn't that bad, but only because I love improv acting and that was exactly what it was, but if a new player never did improvisation, LARP is gonna feel weird. Because to me, LARP isn't just RP it's interactive storytelling and that's why I am kinda into it

Hopefully their first experience in LARP would be one that they will totally love

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