Play to Flow

Games are designed to offer you the chance to experience life as your character, albeit during a short period of time, and in a controlled environment. It will be a successful experience if you flow with what happens to your character and lift the play of your coplayers. There are no objectives that will cause you to win or lose. The only thing we ask of you is to be in your character’s shoes, to connect with what they feel, to think the way they would think, and behave in the way they would behave, all the while allowing your character to make their own decisions. That’s what we call "flow" or "letting go". 

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Some of the details below you may have seen in other LARPs, but others may be unique to MBE. This is intended to help you get ready for a LARP with us!

Self Storytelling

You are your own game master, of course within the limitations of the game- and safety rules. We trust our players to be involved in the whole process, from the character creation phase to the end of the event. That’s why, once the game starts, you don’t need to ask us permission to do something or to decide if your character would think or do something.
 

Slow Escalation

Slow escalation is the way to consensually negotiate physical scenes without stopping the roleplay by slowly stepping up the gestures you are doing with someone, giving them the opportunity to tap out at every level, and gain non-verbal permission to escalate the scene. No physical escalation should be a surprise. This will be gone over and practiced in workshops.

Character Flexibility

Your character sheet is yours. We are happy with players changing their character sheets following some rules: calibrate changes with your coplayers, don’t change the sign of the relationship that you want to change (positive or negative), don’t change events from the past and if you are not going to play or you want to change a plot, please let us know before doing so.
 

Story Flexibility

Pre-calibration and some pre-planning is okay! However, flexibility is important, as no plan survives impact with players/game. Playing to flow is embracing the story in front of you, and pivoting when unexpected obstacles get in the way of what you planned/expected.

We encourage players to play with the flow of the game over any pre-planned scenes.

WYSIWYG

What you see is what you get. What you see will be part of the game and you will have to deal with the consequences. Respect other people’s experiences and safety: avoid any behavior or attitude that can hurt the immersion or the experience of other players but also keep in mind that safety comes first.

“Candidly”

This is a term that can be used in game to establish a truth in a diegetic fashion, or ask for guidance without breaking character. This is somewhat of an exception to the WYSIWYG rule above.

"Candidly, I've got blood all over my outfit." This establishes that, despite the lack of props, there is blood all over the outfit.

"Candidly, have we always had this procedure?" This lets folks know the player is confused, but should know the information in-game, and is asking for a gentle in-game reinforcement of what they are expected to know.

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Electronics

The Off-Game use of any kind of electronic devices (tablets, phones, computers, etc) during game should be discussed with the organizers. However, devices expected for in-game use are fine! 

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Game Balance

You'll see charts added to each of the games that identify certain elements of the overall game, so you can best gauge if it's for you. These include:

• LARP Atmosphere: This talks about whether or not the general atmosphere is written to be more relaxed and laid back, or if it's more intense. 

• Conflict Level: This describes how much conflict (ie. arguments, fights, disagreements, etc.) is intended for the game

• Physical Action: This describes how physical the game is - this can vary from needing to travel/walk large distances, but also can go to physical combat.

• Transparency: Transparency refers to how much information an individual player knows (versus what their player knows). Low transparency/secrecy means the player is kept in the dark about most things so it is left as a surprise. Full transparency means the player is aware of everything that is happening, so they can prepare themselves and their character's reaction. 

• Player Agency: This refers to a player's ability to make meaningful choices that directly influence the game's story and/or their character development. 

• Location & Scenography: This refers to where the game is physically set - do you need to use more theater of the mind and imagine what's around you, or does the location lend itself to the experience/illusion?

• Game Content Tone: This refers to whether the game is more on the light-hearted/cheery side for content, or if it is of a darker, heavier nature. In the case of the latter, the game will often come with content warnings so you are fully aware before you engage. ​