There is one thing most LARP cons and Vampire Live groups have in common: The storytellers have planned an adventure and guide the players through it. During such a plot, the players are confronted with challenges they have to overcome to get a step closer to the solution. However, in our group, you will find no plots.
No Plots? But why?
The reason for this is simple: We don’t need them. At least not the classical adventures the storytellers plan ahead of an event and present it so the players can solve it. In Bremen, you will not face the Sabbath regularly, hunt for artefacts with other characters, or have to deal with human hunters.
Of course, those elements can be part of the game. The Sabbath, for example, is a part of our setting (we will, however, not use artefacts and human hunters). But you won’t be confronted with a plot you have to work through as you do in computer games.
Impulses instead of plots
What we do use from time to time are impulses. With them we give a little push in the game: Start anew conflict or bring controverse topics into the game. All characters can and should somehow react to them. The result however is not defined but open – in the end it is more likely that those characters who actively work on their goals will get something out of the new situation. But the good thing is, that this, too, will create new conflict and more game.
If and how one reacts to these impulses is completely up to the players. Therefore, you will have to make sure to stay busy yourself – we will not do this in place of you.
Won’t this become boring?
If the storytellers offer no plots, what are you supposed to do during the sessions? Won’t they become boring all too soon?
No, it will not be boring. This is because all the different characters that are part of the game will make sure that there is always something to do. Every single one of them has his own goals and motivations. This automatically causes conflicts: Sometimes there are two or three kindred competing for a certain position, scheming against each other. Others might cause a big personal drama due to betrayed love or treachery.
And the best thing about it: These conflicts cause much deeper and more intense game since they are carried by personal motivation. This always feels truer than some plots with no personal meaning for your character.
Every character causes action
To be able to create these impulses out of themselves, characters need a strong inner motivation. One part of this is the inner conflict every vampire carries with him.
Many things can serve as motivation to get active. You do not necessarily have to strive for a political position or trying to be the social butterfly number one in the vampire society. There will also be a lot of gaming moments when your character is doing everything to not get bored, or causing trouble for others just for fun.
No plots, but chain reactions
Not everyone has an easy time to create gaming impulses. Don’t worry, that’s not too bad. You will have fun doing so sooner than you might think.
The nice thing is, that active characters will cause chain reactions. When you are willing to react to an ingame impulse it will be easy to be dragged into the game. And once you’ve been dragged into it you will give impulses yourself others can react to again.
Therefore, the most important thing that allows us to have no plots and still have a lot of fun is this: That we actively follow the motivation of our characters and are open to the ingame impulses of other players.
