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Here's a post about Profound Decisions' Empire LRP! When you play the game of Orcs, you get cold or you die. Location: UK  Started: 2013 Size: About 1000 players per event Website: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk and in particular http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Main_Page. Empire is PD's flagship game, and is set in an Empire of ten nations fraught with problems. Barbarian orcs on the Empire's borders are gaining ground, the eldritch influence of the six Realms threatens to corrupt the citizenry who haven't already been corrupted by wealth and power, and the only halfway competent Empress in a century (who was just starting to put things right again) was killed on campaign just under a year ago, along with most of the upper echelons of the government. All that's left running the Empire now is a bunch of unstable, self-interested borderline sociopaths. Or, as we call them, the players. The Empire has a government -- nothing in this game is hereditary, so your power in-game depends entirely on how many other players you can get to back you. There are a bunch of different bits of government, all with their own role, and all of which you can be elected into: the Senate do most of the domestic decision-making, pass laws, and raise taxes, but there is also the Synod, who handle religion (and have the political right to veto motions and remove people from office if they The GM team don't have positions of power here: they play the civil servants who carry out your orders. When the Senate (who are all players) meet, it's the civil service (who are GMs) who tell them what their options are, count the votes, and figure out how their dumbass policies will impact the game world.  Or you could just get drunk in the tavern. (Photo by Clare Selley) In-character, the events are a sort of combination of sessions of the Imperial government and war summits. Some sort of flangy magic allows the Empire to teleport its best fighters (that'd be the players again) deep into enemy territory for surgical strikes: there are two of these that take place each event, with one half of the field playing their main characters and the other half playing the monsters they fight. But where on the map these battles take place, and what mission they're trying to accomplish, is entirely in the hands of the players. The best thing about Empire is that PD have obviously put a lot of thought into what will make a fun game, and built the world around that. The combat system is a great example of this. In a fight, it's really difficult to make out what spell someone who is shouting and pointing at you is actually casting, so there are no ranged spells. To cast anything, you have to strike someone with a weapon -- at which point they're close enough to hear what special damage call you're making. This is just one example, but basically everything in the game is designed to be that elegant. The other best thing is the size. The game is big enough and complex enough for players to pull off ridiculous feats of scamming and rumourmongering; not only that, but since the main field is at peace you can walk around freely without fear of someone mugging you.  Also, the monster costuming looks amazing. (Photo by Charlotte Moss.) The other other best thing is the costumes. PD, and the Empire community in general, are really great at providing people with guides and help on how to make themselves look better. The combination of awesome costumes and set dressing make walking onto the field an incredibly immersive experience.
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Jul 6, 2013 13:17
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| # ¿ Apr 19, 2024 22:57 |
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On a lighter note, there is the recently-released Ten Kingdoms larp, at http://www.10-kingdoms.com/ about which... well... it's probably better if I let the site speak for itself.
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Jul 8, 2013 08:19
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Beef Steakwell posted:I've got quite a lot of friends who have gone to the first two Empire events and talk very highly of them, but I'm still rather intimidated by it as a LARP, my main problem is that I've been really lacking in money for a fair while and don't want to show up until I can afford to get the materials to make my costume and some props (I've got my weapons and a few more general things like pouches ready from when I did Maelstrom). My group is probably going to be Varushkan (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Varushka), I found the article on costume for them to not be very helpful and I was wondering if anyone had any general advice for costuming on a budget. The thing to remember is that what's on the website is a standard of kit to work towards. If you have a basic larp shirt, trousers and cloak nobody is going to kick up a fuss, but the more indicators of nation you can stick onto that the better. For Varushka, I would reckon the key stuff to sort is a big furry hat and big baggy trousers, and to put fur trims on as many bits of costume as you can. What costume do you have left over from Maelstrom? It's likely some of that can be modded into what you want.
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Jul 9, 2013 15:41
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Orcs are and aren't one of the most effort-heavy nations for costume. If you have a mask (and there are masks for sale on-site, I believe) you can throw on any basic larp gear you have, tie some rags around your neck and wrists, and call it done. I don't play an orc myself but I imagine if you ask others from the nation for help with the finer points of makeup they'd be happy to help out a new player. If money's tight I can appreciate you not wanting to drop money on a mask you might not end up using though! In which case my advice would be to gen up a disposable character based on what you already have kit for and play that to get a feel for the setting. Monstering is great fun, but you miss out on a lot of the best bits of the game if you spend all your time off away from the politics.
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Jul 12, 2013 09:24
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