Roleplay At Shadow Accord
Roleplay At Shadow Accord
"It's 4am Sunday morning and I'm trying to sleep in my bed. I hear the door to my room open, and someone, some...thing shuffles inside. I reach for my dagger, terrified. It's dark, and I can barely see whatever it is, but it's big, and probably here to kill me..."
"It's Saturday afternoon and I'm seated at the campfire. My sept-mates are nearby. I can hear laughter and play going on around the camp, and occasionally someone runs past my seat. Dinner has already started cooking, and I'm hungry, can't wait for it to finish. Guarding Gaia's heart amongst my pack and my family is the greatest thing I can ask for...."
"Once the specters have finally been defeated, I lean over and weep. I hold my closest, oldest friend in my arms, a man I've known for nearly a thousand years. When the specters came through I let my Shadow free to fight them. What a horrific mistake that was. Now my friend lies at my feet, pushed to the edge of oblivion. The only thing I can do now is bring him the peace of the forge."
"The smile never leaves my face, despite the rage I feel at the man in front of me. He bears orders from the Prince, and is in her favor and protection, yet I know he plots my own demise. Our clans have been at odds since the dawn of time. I must find a way to discredit him, so that when I finally destroy him, I gain the Prince's respect rather than ire..."
Each one of these things is an example of the variety of roleplay you can discover at Shadow Accord. Shadow Accord is a game of total immersion. From 6PM Friday evening when the game officially starts until 2pm Sunday afternoon when it is over, you are "in character". This allows you to become your character in ways that most other roleplaying games (both LARPs and tabletop games) do not. It is the closest most of us can get to really feeling like a Vampire, Werewolf, Wraith or just plain human in a medieval setting.
Furthermore, as the anecdotes also suggest, there is an enormous variety in the kinds of roleplay you can experience. With three major factions, each with their own history, goals and desires, there is an incredible spread of interactions you can have. Do you want (sometimes uneasy) camaraderie while you fight to protect the wilds of the world? We've got that. What about clever social machinations of every immortal for himself? We've got that too, or even the very personal fight of a ghost fighting their own shadow with the darkness encroaching. Fear, joy, amusement, anger, sadness... all these emotions are commonplace throughout the course of a single weekend of Shadow Accord.
It is all a way to experience things we might not be able to in everyday life. I can be a hero or villain, man or monster in a safe and appropriate environment to do so. We do it responsibly, and also with forethought. A ravening beast you might be, but why? What history or background made your character that way? A monster with no past is only interesting for a few minutes. A monster with a history, goals and desires, friends and foes is more fun to play and more fun for others to play with. In the end, your goal should be to have the most enjoyable and interesting experience you can have, and to help others do the same.
Improving your Roleplay Experience
- Stay in character! It's one of the key rules of the game, and it's there for your own good. If you need to break character (because of a rules question or simply because the scene is overwhelming... really, it sometimes happens) separate yourself from what's going on and take care of it quietly. Do your best to stay in character as much as possible however. You deny yourself the intense experience available by taking yourself out of your character and out of the game.
- Don't be scared to try something new! If this is your first LARP experience, everything is new. If it's your hundredth, then it can be hard to find that new thing. Either way, don't be scared! We're all here, setting aside our fears and trying the things we've never done before. Give it a chance, and you might discover something you didn't expect to really love doing.
- Shoot for success, but accept failure! No plan ever goes the way you want it to. You may find that while you're mocking someone's failure, someone is driving a cart through your plans. Wrenches (and wenches) will get thrown into the best of machinations. The better you can roll with it and adapt, the happier you'll be. There's nothing wrong with losing uphill and short buses have not been invented yet.
- Do a bit of research and know the time period. We're playing in Medieval England. Do you know the king? Do you know what's going on with the church? Knowing what the interdiction is and its relevance isn't just for back story, it shapes the interactions have during game. A bit of research is the difference between an interesting conversation and a blank response. We have the Shadow Accord wiki to help you get acquainted with the world.
