(Repost from Story Games because I’m at work and can’t re-write it yet)
So I have been trying for three Sundays in a row to get a group together to play Spirit of the Century in Second Life, and just this Sunday I succeeded. We had a group of three: myself, and two others, and we got to play with some of our Second Life coded object toys to help assist play.
We used Second Life voice and some in-world dice that actually “roll” - they bounce against each other using the Havok III Physics Engine and come up with some pretty good randomness as a result and we had some coded Fate Chips that could be “spent.”
It was a little annoying getting all the little bits together- took about an hour to make everything work with each other. But once that was done, we were off and running.
The scene we had went well, and it bodes well for the next time we’re going to play. At one point Second Life had a bit of a problem with its code database and so we couldn’t quite use the fate chips, but that’s OK - I just kept track of what had or hadn’t been spent separately.
Now, I was trying to keep it simple at first, but SL offers a few things that don’t appear on other shared gaming spaces: I can pipe music to my game through Shoutcast, I can bring up a web page and display it on the massive video screen, I can use in-world graphics.
As a visual aid I had the FATE Ladder on a “sign” that was easy for the players to see.
Two of us dressed in Pulp-style costume, which was fun but not required.
I still think tabletop via SL is viable, but I would *love* to see how it does as a virtual LARP.
If you’d like to know more about this game, stay tuned for how you might participate!
Today is my second RezDay. Amazing, innit? Alexander Basiat’s been kicking around Second Life for two whole years. Nothing like the oldbies, but it’s something!
I am still caught in Second Life’s web, just not as tightly. That’s OK, I think it’s healthy. I had a really cool conversation with the fellow who does 12 Volt Theater, Jack Jaffee. I am trying to do more in Second Life and I invite you to come along with me in the future.
Thanks, SL, for two cool years!
…Sam
Because of the number of people who have responded asking questions about “The Lazarus Transform,” I thought it best to go into a brief description of how the game event will take place in Second Life.
The Lazarus Transform will take place October 29th, 2006, at 4:00 p.m. Second Life Time. It will take 4 to 6 hours, with scheduled “freeze frame” time for breaks.
Pre-registration is now open. Early bird discounts will be offered until October 15th.
The event will take place on private land and will feature a special build: the interactive environment of the Infinite Prophet, a tramp freighter starship.
The style of the event is that of a “hard science - gritty” sort of science fiction, along the lines of the movie “Aliens” or “Outland.” There are no blasters, no faster than light travel, no aliens, no matter/energy converters and no teleportation.
There will be room for 25 players total. Players will receive their character write-ups before the event so that they may spend some time putting together costumes. In order to preserve the immersive feel of the story, if you don’t bother to put together a costume you’ll be asked to wear some basic onboard starship coveralls and a generic human avatar that will be provided to you free of charge.
There will be five factions of five players apiece. Playing in a faction does not necessarily mean you will automagically be friendly with those of your faction. In fact, it’s more likely that cross-faction alliances and enmity will develop during the course of play. However, if you wish to join the game in a group of five, this might be the best way to do so. The factions are:
- Alliance Crew (Crew on board the Infinite Prophet under the command of the Captain)
- Simplicity Homesteaders (A group of colonists: farmers, artisans, and philosophers on their way to the planet Thoreau)
- The Distro Collective (Nanotech enhanced cyberhackers on their way to the planet Hawking)
- Biogen Continuum (Genetically altered people on the way to the Mendel Colony)
- The Transported (Criminals on their way to the prison colony of New Australia)
There are no aliens in the game, but if you are interested in playing a Furry, I would suggest playing a Biogen (you can explain that your fur is a genetic alteration).
The game will use a Rock, Paper, Scissors (RPS) LARP system and each player will be given a free RPS HUD to facilitate this.
Play will take place over a 4 to 6 hour period. Every effort will be made to ensure that your character has interesting goals and motivations and has ample opportunities to interact with each other. The game will be overseen by a Storyteller, a narrator and referee who will keep the story moving and deal with any conflicts that arise that cannot be solved with the rules.
There will be no “winner” or “loser” to the game, although at the end of the game prizes will be awarded to the best roleplayer, the best costume, and the “most fun” player.
People griefing the event will be tossed out the airlock, will lose their registration funds and not be allowed back in.
For more information as to how to register, click here.
Check out the Metaverse’s answer to “One Red Paperclip”, “One Orange Cube.”