Orion Sphere LARP

The Live Action Role Playing  (LARP/LRP) event 1 of Orion Sphere was awesome. The next event is on the 21st September, you should join in 😀 (links below).

Unfortunately this review is a bit behind schedule, due to health and other priorities. When I returned to finalising my thoughts I was once again unsure how to condense the emotional high and overall fun that I had at Orion Sphere event 1, so I decided to record a stream of consciousness and see what came out. I also decided to go an extra step for my overview and put on some of my kit for Lucian Thomson; failed surgeon to space docker now scientific explorer. The root of the kit and character idea came from a fellow player’s obsession with dungarees.

As I mention in the video I think the game combines some of the scale of a festival LARP along with a smaller club / convention LARP was impressive. Considering the crew and players I am sure this spirit will be maintained, especially as the game grows.

Having a setting that brings classic Sci Fi like Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, and so many others was a great starting point. As I mention in the video the four Factions help set the stage for player plot and tension, building upon a rich and growing lore. Like most people I’ve so many things to do, but I’d like to write some lore and after event 2 I’ll chat with the design team about this.

As mentioned above my kit had a silly root, but turned out okay, in part because of the wonderfully diverse Free Union fashion sense 😉

Preparing to fight/save the hive.

The variety of NERF designs being made by players was very impressive. I made 3 guns, here is one of them:

Orion Sphere Batjutsu NERF

As I mentioned in the video the event was awesome. Besides the usual pre-event apprehension I am super excited for Event 2; although sadly my In Character (IC) nephew cannot attend. I am currently working on kit & prop ideas; given the kit standard at the first event was impressive, I imagine other people are going to be bringing some incredible designs. Lots of great kit can be seen at the Orion Sphere website and their Facebook page, but for example just look at this Reskan (sentient swarm) outfit:

Plus the ever incredible outfits of Tom Roe, owner of WhiteStar Clothing (link below):

Free Union NPC, played by Tom Roe of WhiteStar Clothing

The ship simulating setup added a great immersive aspect to the game. I am sure the game would have been good enough without the UK Starship Bridge Simulator (UKSBS), but what Wayne and Raymond brought uplifted the game to cosmic heights 😉  I will go into more detail about them in the next blog.

Orion Sphere computer setup for ship missions, run by UKSBS

Thanks to Orion Sphere, SJEgan Photography and Andrew Forrest for some of the pictures. On the subject of pictures, during the run up to the first event a few of us started making memes. Here’s one of my lame attempts:

Lots of character creation options, including making mega specialists 😉

Orion Sphere Links

wikki.orionspherelrp.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/orionspherelrp/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/conan3994/boards/

https://www.facebook.com/SJEganPhotography/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/UKStarship/

https://www.facebook.com/WhiteStarClothing/

#RPGaDay2018 Day20 Game Mechanic

Which game mechanic inspires your play the most?

Straight forward video answer today, I love things that help propel PC play, that help inspire players, that are personal to the player, typically something additional that sets an individual PC apart. I did contemplate talking about ideas I’ve been working on for years, but I’ll save them for another time.

Doh, I forgot to mention Life Paths, like in the Cyberpunk systems.

#RPGaDay 03

If you are not familiar with #RPGaDay, then please read this page first.

For the 3^rd day of #RPGaDay the question is:

How do you find out about new RPGs?

I initially found this question to be uninspiring, since I use so many sources and I guess it will be the same answer for most. I then considered that the designers must have put a lot of thought in to this list of question, and were also given feedback, so I contemplated the question some more. The conclusion that makes the most sense to me is: some players are new, and maybe some experienced players rarely use the Net, therefore this question gives them useful information. I guess this is a good reminder to think a bit more before dismissing an enquiry.

My answer is:

#RPGaDay 3 Friends, RPG.net, Enworld.org, Facebook, Youtube, publisher sites, etc.

I hope someone is planning on collating the answers. Granted, I can blog a summary in September, but somebody with much bigger reach would likely be better suited. I might give it a bash and post on Enworld and RPGnet, etc.