The two most important parts of character design are your character card and character history. Lots of people have different opinions on how to make a LARP character. This article will focus on how to make the most of your Underworld LARP character creation experience.
Your Character Card
The character card includes all the mechanical aspects of your character, or your characters race, occupation, and skills. All of these can be found in the rulebook (chapters 2, 3 & 4). Take some time to consider what kind of character you’d enjoy, and come up with a concept.
When creating your character, you begin by picking your character’s race (ie: Elf, Hobling) and his/her occupation (Mercenary, Ranger, Templar, Nightblade, Assassin, Witch Hunter, Mage, Druid, or Bard). All races can be any occupation, and vice versa. Some players choose an occupation or a race because it suits their concept; others choose an occupation and race that compliment the skills they’d like to invest in. Note that some races have make-up or costuming requirements (e.g. elf ears, dwarven beard) and you’ll need to wear them to be considered part of that race.
Once you’ve decided on a race and occupation, you’ll want to pick out your skills.
How to make a LARP character with the right starting skills
Skills are purchased using character points. Your character will begin with 150 character points to spend (200 for humans). As you attend more events, you will earn more Character Points (or, CP) to buy additional skills with. This will be discussed later on, in Part Three: Attending your second game, or LARPing after your first game.
Skills can be found in Chapter 4 of the rulebook, and vary in cost based on your occupation. Occupation headings are listed across the top of the chart, and read as M R T N A W M D B (Mercenary, Ranger, Templar, Nightblade, Assassin, Witch Hunter, Mage, Druid, and Bard). A character can purchase any skill in the rulebook, regardless of occupation. The only limiting factor is the Character Point cost of the skill.
It’s often suggested for those new to LARPing that they create a character with one or two skills that aren’t combat oriented. This way you’ll have something to do, even if it’s just to clean up after a battle by fixing armour or performing first aid. Not to mention it’s a great way to meet other characters, good help is hard to find!
Some useful tools to help you determine how to make a LARP a character:
Level 1 Character Templates: http://www.underworldlarp.ca/mybb/showthread.php?tid=8087
Underworld LARP Character Builder: http://www.underworldlarp.ca/mybb/showthread.php?tid=178
Making an Account with Logistics
Once you’ve got your basic character concept finished, it’s time to make an account with Logistics. This is the account you’ll use to store your playable characters, apply changes and updates to them, and prelog them for games.
To activate your Logistics account, send an email to prelog@larp.ca with the following information:
Name: Your full, real name.
E-mail: The ideal way to contact you.
Referred By: If another Underworld Player referred you, this is where you’ll put their name.
Character Name: What people will know you as.
True Name: A magical name that guards or controls your character. Should be kept very secret. Refer to Chapter 1 for details.
Race: Refer to Chapter 2 in the rulebook for details.
Class: Refer to Chapter 3 in the rulebook for details.
Once Logistics has entered you into the database, you receive an e-mail including details for accessing your account. After activation, you’ll get the opportunity to add your character’s skills to their card through the database program online.
The URL for the database: http://www.underworldlarp.ca/logistics/login.php
Character History
Your character’s history is a written account of your character’s past before arriving in Jericho. An important step in determining how to make a LARP character is the character history. A history is not mandatory to play your first event, but it’s generally a good idea to have a simple concept of where your character is from, and what brought them here. Some players choose to wait until they’ve gotten a feel for their character’s concept before submitting an official history, some players have their history planned and written out ahead of time. This is entirely your choice.
However, if you do choose to flesh out a history ahead of time, please submit the piece to jerichouwhistory@gmail.com. The shaper team will review your history, and deem if it is an acceptable concept for your character. If this history is to be officially added to your character, your character needs to be in the database first.
Some tips on writing a history:
Keep it short and simple. Remember, someone else has to read your history. 1 page is a good mark to aim for (2 pages, max). Also, writing your history in point form, as opposed to prose, is encouraged by plot members.
Keep your character’s relative power level in mind. A level 1 character isn’t likely to be able to achieve much, so to speak, so creating a character concept around a dragon or god slayer won’t work. Let your character write their epic tales in game, with their actions.
Don’t worry about making a masterpiece. It’s perfectly acceptable for your character to have led a simple life before coming to Jericho. In fact, many plot members prefer simple, humble backstories, to extravagant or overly complicated ones.
Feel free to contact a New Player Liaison, if you’re unsure whether or not your history is acceptable. New Player Liaisons exist to help you with any questions you have as a new player, and will be more than happy to review your history before submission.