Play tips and style
Play to lift
Try to ask your co-players how you can play them up at the start of the larp. We will allocate time to do this during the workshop, but the more you do this the better. What is the other person trying to portray and how can you help them to achieve that? Could you be afraid of them, spread rumors, look in the box underneath their bed that says DO NOT LOOK?
Try to actively contribute to this, even if it is not a certain escalation but a constant contribution to the game of the other. "I have many positive relationships so I am looking for a nemesis" is a clear request for conflict.
'Play to lift' also means that the group is responsible for everybody having a good time. It also means that you can only dare to make your character fail if you know your co-players will create a glorious opportunity to reconciliate and not shun you for the rest of the game.
You can learn more about Play to lift at the website of NordicLarp.org.
Play to flow
Accept what is going on around you and roll with it. Try to work with the play impulses as they come along, whether it will create a good or bad outcome for your character. Strive to see what others are trying to build and add to it to make it even better. This also encapsulates the two golden rules: play begets play so do something in reaction to what the others give you, and respect the choices others make regarding where to steer their story. There is no such thing as a 'wrong' reaction to what you are trying to do.
'Yes and' or 'no but'
We probably all know the improv rule that saying 'yes' to a request is the way to create play. If you can not say yes to something because you feel like it is something your character would refuse if you play them as you intend, try to say 'no, but' instead of a flat out no. You can do that literally but also figuratively. By not only saying you are not interested in the one night stand but storm off, slam doors and get disproportionately angry. Or tell the other person in no uncertain terms why he of all people will never stand a chance. This will give the others something to continue playing on in exchange for the idea you just 'blocked'.
Keep communicating and dare to ask for play
Communication is always important, but especially so at small games like these where the players are responsible for the quality of each other's game. Don't shy away from speaking up about how your game is going and what you need, be it through the poster, the organizers or directly with your co-players. Nobody has a complete picture of the game, especially when they are involved in their own story, so chances are they will not notice that you are struggling unless you tell them.
If you are bored, need a play impulse or want a certain direction of play to stop: say so. If the player who is supposed to create conflict for you forgets to do so, they will undoubtedly apologize if you tell them afterwards but would have preferred to know while the game was still on, so they can adjust.
Relationships are core
Your relationships are intended to ensure that every player has a few characters to fall back on for play. That means that you should not ignore those particular characters during the game. Of course you are more than welcome to make additional connections, but the relationships form a safety net.
It is very possible that you, for example, turn out to not have great chemistry with the player of a romantic connection. If that happens, try to actively look for ways to enhance their game in another way (maybe you could go through a convoluted breakup, or turn out to be best friends) but do not entirely ignore them. If play remains difficult, please keep the previous point in mind and communicate about what is happening, what your play is lacking and how it can (possibly) be resolved.
Poster for play escalation requests
There will be a large sheet of paper on the wall in a central location that we will point out before the game. Here you can, if you want, write an out of game message at any time during the game, requesting your co-players to (de-) escalate play. You can ask people to give you a harder time about some topic, request them to reveal a secret, or just say 'I am rather bored, please help me find play'. This makes it easier for them to give you the play you want.
Metatechniques
Energeia
The power the Olympian gods wield is called energeia. There is not much left of it, after all they are dearly lacking in active worship. But it is enough to remain immortal and to influence the world in minor ways.
It is, however, a finite source. It is easy to make small adjustments to the world three or four times a day. Examples could be "you do not remember what happened in the last five minutes", "you suddenly hate the taste of wine" or "you are madly in love with the cactus in the corner".
In the old days the god used endless supplies of energeia to taunt, trick and seduce each other, but today it is a riskier choice. The gods would however not be the gods if they did not make bad choices every one in a while. They can choose to strain themselves and do more, but that will make them feel very bad, the unpleasant sensation of starting to disconnect from reality. Attempts at major power use will have this effect more often.
We assume you will trust your gut when judging what is possible, how much power something should take, and what gives the most game to you and your fellow players.
After the effect wears off the victim will realize something is amiss, and of course in most cases they will guess that divine influence is at play. That does not mean they will automatically know who is responsible.
The effect lasts exactly as long as the victim thinks is fun for play. It is fine to use a quick calibration for this (maybe it is very important for you that the influence is in play at a certain moment or with a certain person), but in the end the victim always decides.
You can transfer energeia to some extent and create bigger things together- as with everything it is more about creating play than rules.
Very important: no god can undo what another god has done. It is impossible to cancel the use of energeia by another god. Of course you can try to lay on another effect to soften the consequences. Again: the victim decides on the effect.
Energeia is meant to create play for everyone and to help you to give the story of the characters unexpected twists and turns. That is why you can’t use it to block play and should, if taking something away, actively strive to give something in replacement. Try going for "you are no longer interested in this business project, but only in your wife" instead of "you are no longer interested in your business project".
Apart from that try to avoid using it for things that require calls or extreme suspension of disbelief. Though it would technically be possible for a god to turn all the leaves on a tree blue we can not really make that happen.
Using energeia on actions that fit your mythological portfolio is always a plus.
Knowledge of mythology
Not everybody has an encyclopedic knowledge of Greek mythology, and of course that is fine. But because it is a large part of the shared history of our characters, it can be really fun to use it to create play for others. It can give you reasons to want revenge, to call in a favor or feel like you owe someone. No matter how long ago things happened. Time is different for gods.
The other player can decide how to play on your idea. We created a system for this:
Make sure it is clear that you refer to a myth. Don't say "you know very well why I am mad" but "you know I will not forgive you for causing Semele's death".
I remember that: if the other person knows the story and would like to engage in play based on it they can use a phrase like "I remember it well, probably better than you!" and then start play.
The Zeus of the past: if the other person does not want to play on this story for any reason (because it is uncomfortable, does not align with your vision of the character, anything), they can signal that by using a phrase close to "that is very long ago, that is the [character name] of the past".
You can then proceed by turning the discussion to something of the current time - something that happened on the event itself for example. "But you haven't changed at all! Just yesterday you set me up by making me look bad in front of Aphrodite!"
Fog of Memories: if the other person does not know the story (well) they can signal that in a similar fashion: "that is very long ago" followed by some phrase that has the word 'remember' in it.
For example: "Really? That is ages ago, after all this time I hardly remember who Semele was!" or "A lot of time has passed. I can not even remember what I had for lunch, how am I supposed to remember what mortal I allegedly stole from you three thousand years ago".
This is a request to the initial player to start telling the story, clueing you in on that part of mythology in the process. You can then still decide not to play on it, using the '[character] of the past'-phrase.
Swearing on the Styx
If you want to show you are really serious about something, you can use the words "I swear this on the Styx". Breaking an oath sworn on the Styx leads to 90 years of imprisonment without food or water and being struck dumb. Of course we will not play on this, but it goes to show how very serious this oath is to the gods. Feeling compelled to swear on the Styx is exactly the sort of unfortunate thing that will create great play in the style of Greek mythology. Once you swear on Styx you are completely bound to this oath. Of course we will count on player honesty here.
This is mostly intended to swear on doing things or abstaining from them, like "I swear on the Styx I will never hit you". It is less useful as 'proof' that you believe in something, like "I swear on the Styx I saw Zeus kiss Aphrodite". That will not work because it is not an oath you can break or keep. You can choose to use it to show others how serious you are, but they will know it is not really an oath on Styx.
Immortal servants have off days too
You can ask the servants/organizers anything but of course we will not always be able to comply with everything.
If a servant answers "one of the other servants will help you with that", they do not have time at the moment but you can ask one of the others. Sometimes this may mean you have to ask multiple times or come back later.
When the answer is "Hercules will help you with that" it is an impossible request and you’ll have to find a workaround.