Pentex Retreat: Midwinter Gaming Convention

Overall Impression: 

I had a lot of fun with the Pentex LARP. I enjoyed playing an NPC that had a very different agenda than what we were presenting and getting to manipulate people. It was a wonderful social experiment, and I think what made it very fun was everyone else was on board with the genre we were playing in. Given that this was the first run of this LARP, there are obvious places to improve, and I look forward to working on them with the STs to create an amazing experience for the players. 

Check In System: 

While the Check In-System was only used a few times in our 5 hour LARP, I feel like it was a great way for players to be able to have an intense scene and everyone have a say over how intense they got. I really hope the Check In-System will continue to be used in all future LARPs, and I will be talking to other LARP communities about this system. I am happy my current LARP also uses this, and I will be working on implementing this into my roleplaying style. Thank you for using it!

Paper-Clip System: 

I think this was a great way to give PCs a way to pass around favors, pay for information from the STs, and generally have a way to trade without carrying around a bunch of notecards. While I want the system to remain as open as it is, maybe explaining the paper-clip system a bit or offering examples of how to use the paperclips. 

Plots:

The plots I was involved in were great, and I loved figuring them out or being the catalyst of them. I would have liked a couple more quick sentences about the other plots so I could answer questions or work them into my interactions with PCs. I also loved that PCs made their own plots and ran with them. I think that was a great way to pull in players and get others involved, and I was glad to see the staff running with them. 

I also loved the fact that actual future products were used in the LARP, such as the Orpheus Device. I loved that there was a tie-in for real products and really would love to see this again if it is allowed. 

Suggestions:

The following are suggestions that I heard from players, observed myself, or found myself in agreement with when they were brought up during the wrap up. 

Maybe provide the write-up for the Subsidiaries and their ties as a download/Drive document for players to pull up. A lot of the players were having problems understanding how they fit into the system (except for Black Dog. Everyone knew them and had very strong feelings for them)

Maybe giving different goals to the characters who don’t want to be there, such as trying to cause as much headache for the others as possible. I think the players naturally did this well with the PCs that didn’t want to be there, however, several were a bit lost on how to get involved with them. 

I think we can come up with a couple more games to do for the players. If there is another interview process, we can interview while the games are going on. Or we can ‘judge’ them by standing with clipboards and such.

Character Wrap-Up: Inspirational Music Two Birds, One Stone (Wes Borland/Renholder Remix) by Drop Dead, Gorgeous

Rport: Pentex retreat was successful with the exception of the Orpheus individuals. Sterling has authorized *redacted* to retrieve any video and information from their Cloud and rewrite their systems should it be needed. 

Magadon has been taken down a peg for not following orders from the Pentex. One individual was arrested and taken away by the police. Please follow up with the department and make sure he is handled. 

Project Orpheus has several individuals stood out for selection to the Project. Kevin Clayton from Tellus Enterprises, from Magadon, Inc, and Kelly Wayans from Black Dog. Please note: more screening will be needed, as my time with them was cursory at best. Perhaps a second interview would be in order for me to determine if they will fit the project parameters. 

Avery Valentine has stood out as someone who would be very useful for the Synergy Committee, and perhaps further into Pentex. His skill set is unique and he is ruthless. He is willing to do what is needed to get the job done, which Pentex finds admirable. 

Kevin has been handled and our doctors, Avery Valentine and Angel Robertson, have made sure that all of his medical files are in order. Should a new head of the committee be needed, I would be happy to fill that role. 

Mary Ellis

Project Orpheus