fandomhigh | Choose Your Own Adventure: Tuesday, 3rd Period (5/10)

The class had been notified to meet at the Community Center today, and for the next five weeks. When they got there, they'd find several long tables set out with chairs and ~~moddable~~ snacks, because if you asked Steph the snacks were a vital part of any gaming experience.

They'd also find Steph there in her usual ensemble of boots, skinny jeans, and beanie, wearing a shirt with the silhouettes of five fantasy adventurers under a d20 sun, and the words "Let's get this party rolling" beneath them. She was perched atop one of the tables, leaning back on her hands and kicking her feet, grinning eagerly at everyone as they showed up.

"What's up, everybody?" she asked once she was fairly satisfied that everyone on the roster appeared to be present. "And welcome to Choose Your Own Adventure: The Fandom LARP Project 1.0. I'm Steph Gingrich, and I'm going to be your totally awesome game master for this quest. What quest is this, you ask? An excellent question, to which I answer: we're going to be creating and running our own mini LARP -- that's short for live action role play, by the way. You all are going to help me decide on what kind of story we're going to be telling together."

She hopped down off the table and started pacing back and forth like her enthusiasm couldn't be contained (it couldn't), gesturing with her hands for emphasis as she continued.

"Once we've got that nailed down, you get to start creating your characters and coming up with costumes for them -- and weapons. Foam weapons, because this is going to have a combat element to it, but it's still a game. There are rules for that, and it's not going to be anything super intense, just to make sure it's fair for everyone since I know not all of you have actual fight training, but we'll get to that in a couple of weeks. But this week?" Steph shrugged and gave them a wry, apologetic smile. "We're going to stick to the basics, just to give me an idea of what we'll be working with. That's right, it's the dreaded first week introduction session. Name, where you're from, whether you have any kind of experience with roleplaying games -- and that's not a requirement, so don't worry if you're a total newbie to this stuff."

There was going to be no gatekeeping bullshit on her watch, thanks.

"And finally?" She gestured toward a small wooden treasure chest with a stack of slips of paper and a jar of pens beside it. "Come up and vote on what setting you want for the game: I've got high fantasy, space western, nautical, cyberpunk, survival, and Earth historical, but I'm open to other suggestions if you have 'em, or questions if you're not sure what any of these mean. But first, let's get to the introductions: I'm Steph, I'm from a version of this world but about two years in the past, and I've been playing tabletop RPGs and LARPing for most of my life."

She pointed to someone at random. "Your turn. Let's go."

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"Well, obviously we should go for the sea," Isabela declared. "The ocean has it all, romance, danger, adventure, booty -" Of both kinds. "- everything!"

"After that introduction, I kind of had a feeling," Steph said, smirking just a bit. "And I mean, I do have a pretty good pirate outfit already, if we go that route."

What? She'd done nautical-themed LARPs before. Plus she used to help do tech for a pirate-themed band back in Seattle.

"Oh, really?" Isabela said, leaning in towards Steph. "I'd love to get a closer look at it, maybe give a few critiques." It was amazing how many outfits looked better on the floor.

You know, Steph was starting to be aware that there were actually several women signed up for this class who'd hit on her at least once, which was kiiiiiiiiiind of an ego boost but also making her mildly self-conscious?

"Well," she said, and she couldn't say why exactly she darted a quick glance in Vi's direction, "I'm always a fan of being as authentic as possible, so if we go in that direction..."

The class, Isabela. She meant the class.

Oh, just ignore Vi intently watching this, Isabela was.

"I'd be more than happy to help, give some real hands on advice."

Look, Steph was trying not to feel weird about Vi watching this, but she couldn't help it.

Why did she feel weird about it? Still no idea.

"Why am I not surprised?" she asked, laughing. "I think it looks pretty good already, but I'm open for suggestions on how to make it look extra badass."

"Yaaar!" Graham, who really probably shouldn't, growled through an eager grin at that suggestion. "Avast ye, I'd be one for an adventure on the high seas!"

And it was all pretend (right? He still wasn't sure exactly how this worked, all he knew was that he was excited for it!), anyway, so it wouldn't even matter that he couldn't swim!

"Secret treasure! Epic battles! A search for mysterious lands and maybe even a sea monster! Mermaids! We could visit King Neptune's kingdom! We could get swallowed up by a giant whale!"

His arms swung wildly over his head to indicate the size of this whale, which was nearly as big as his beaming smile.

Would he actually be this excited about any suggestion anyone put forth?

Yes. Definitely.

He figured it probably also wouldn't hurt to be on the side of one of his teachers in another class, either.

Choose Your Own Adventure: Tuesday, 3rd Period (5/10)

Re: Suggestions and Crosstalk (LARP Project, Week 1)

Re: Suggestions and Crosstalk (LARP Project, Week 1)

Re: Suggestions and Crosstalk (LARP Project, Week 1)

Re: Suggestions and Crosstalk (LARP Project, Week 1)

Re: Suggestions and Crosstalk (LARP Project, Week 1)

Re: Suggestions and Crosstalk (LARP Project, Week 1)

Re: Suggestions and Crosstalk (LARP Project, Week 1)