Basics of game design
Back to the Tome of LARP
This will be elements of game design as appropriate to LARP, but several concepts work with other games.
Suspension of disbelief
The essence of any LARP or roleplaying game is to escape and believe in the world/actions that are being created. The advantage of LARP is that it can create a far more immersive environment. However unless you have an extravagent budget there will still be times that the players will have to 'suspend their disbelief'. There are many forms that this can take from the simple "the GM that walked by doesn't exist" to the more complex "I am on the bridge of a spaceship".
Generally the aim of the game designers is to create as immersive environment as possible but where that is not possible you should identify what the players will have to ignore.
A good example in Australia is that we don't have ready access to medieval styled buildings or castles. So as much as we can apply set dressing to modern buildings players will still have to ignore all the out of place elements.
Player agency
This is a very important one that a lot of new game designers get wrong or misunderstood. Put simple the players should have a degree of control in the game world. Their actions should matter and affect things. If they are just passive observers to a story that is going along in front of them then it is a theatre production not a LARP.
This is not to say that players need to be the movers and shakers of the game world but they should be able to determine the direction that they want to follow.
A super common symptom of this is when designers decide that the big bad guy will have to live to the final fight. If they players find a good way to kill it early then by removing their actions from the game you are also removing their agency.
Types of players
I personally like the "3 player model" of LARP. In this model it breaks down player motivations to 3 distinct categories. Gameist, Narrativist and Immersionist.
Gameist players generally like structure, rules, numbers and clearly defined goals. Think like a computer game there can be a lot of depth but there are game structures that can be understood and relied upon.
Narrativist players like to be involved in a story. This can either be as an active participant or observer. It is important that things change and that they feel involved in the direction of the action.
Immersionist players like to be purely in the scene. Good quality props, roleplaying and setting help out immensely.
An important thing to note is that all players exhibit some elements of all three traits but usually fall mainly into one or two. This is also why it is so hard to cater to large groups of players as they are all seeking different things from the game.
When designing games it is important to identify what type of players you want to attract and present this to the playerbase. If you are running a combat heavy game about a battle between medieval households you might focus on gameist and narrativist elements and players for example. There might be cool rules and a lot of challenging story elements but the ability to immerse in that environment might be low.
Types of games
I'm going to go over three broad categories of games but this is not an exhaustive list. Linear LARPS Generally these are smaller, story driven games for smaller parties of players. A common setting for these are a small common town for the players that they leave to go on 'missions'. These missions normally take the form of semi linear adventures in the nearby area.
Festival LARPS These are generally bigger format games where there are too many players to include individual plot for players. Often these are formatted with several factions to provide conflict.
Parlour LARPS This is one of many terms for a LARP game held inside a building/room to represent another area or setting. While this category covers a wide variety they tend to be lower on combat and more on story and roleplaying.
Combat vs conflict
In many games fighting is used as the means of conflict but that doesn't always have to be the case. They are related concepts but not directly the same, in fact they often lead to each other.
As examples politics and limited resources can be used as types of conflict that will possibly lead to combat. Assassination is a type of combat that will often lead to various other conflicts.
Often mindless combat is used as a cheap way to make the game exciting. After all the players are in danger and that creates tension. However if the goal is to create tension then why not skip the middleman and aim for that.
Progressive LARP
I have seen the term 'Progressive LARP' being used as a more appropriate alternative to 'Nordic LARP'. They way that I will be using it here is to represent a more consciously designed process of making roleplaying games with theatrical elements.
Some aspects of this tend to be systems with less rules and more focus on the character interactions. There can still be a high level of action but there should be a continued focus on why things are occurring too.
Design resources
I have taken part in a couple of panels at PAX about designing LARP games.
Here is some footage of the first one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y-nYRIGiE8