Using AI to help write freeform larps

A couple of years ago, I wrote a series of posts on my blog about using AI to help write freeform larps.

I'm not going to move them to this blog, but instead I will link to them. (I have no doubt I will revisit the subject in due course.) And I'm not going into the ethical or moral considerations of using AI to create games.

It's worth noting that AI has moved on since 2023, and no doubt the AI responses would be better.

Using AI to help write freeforms was my first post, where I take a few tentative steps in exploring how AI might help identify potential characters for a freeform.

Using AI to help write freeforms: Plots looked at using ChatGPT to help write plots. The takeaway for me, was not to take AI's first response, but to ask further questions.

Using AI to help write freeforms: Angst covered the challenge of writing an angst-filled plot.

Using AI to help write freeforms: Hordes looked at using ChatGPT to help writing a horde game.

My AI takeaways

AI is great for brainstorming and coming up with ideas.

AI is terrible at producing finished text. You will need to edit it.

To get the best from AI, ask questions and drill into the answers.

Updating Venice

Over on my personal blog, I talked about attending Continuum and running Venice, a freeform that I mention in Writing Freeform Larps. Here, I’m going to talk about Venice and what I did (and why I did it) in more detail.

Venice

Venice is a 15-player freeform set in sixteenth-century Mythic Venice. The Doge has been murdered, and the five ruling families must elect a new Doge. Meanwhile, there are weddings to arrange, secret societies to discover and pirates to defeat.

Venice is what I call a “factions” game. The players play members of factions, each with their own goals. In Venice’s case, we have several overlapping factions:

• The families (five of them, each with two rivals and two allies)
• Societies such as the Inquisition, heretics and more.

Venice at Continuum - the Corleones (photo by Tsijon)

Faction games are an easy way to write a game for a lot of players quickly. Characters are rarely very deep, and as as much roles as they are characters. While they may have personal goals, they will also have goals on the faction sheets.

In Venice, characters have their own goals, their family goals, and their society goals.

Venice at Continuum

I haven’t run Venice since writing it at Peaky 2013. (I wrote about that here.)

Since Peaky, I gave the game a light edit (including the changes I talked about in that writeup) and uploaded it to Itch, where it has been downloaded 93 times (to date). I’ve no idea if it has been run at all.

When the call for freeforms at Continuum went out, I wasn’t sure what to run. I thought about it, and decided to run Venice. I wanted to see how the changes I made following Peaky 2013 actually worked.

So that’s what I did. I didn’t make any changes in advance – I just printed it out, packed the envelopes and ran the game at Continuum.

The Capulets (photo by Tsijon)

And I was really happy with how Venice ran. I was a little worried beforehand. As I was packing the envelopes, I could see that the characters were thin, but I could also see the bigger picture of how the factions and families might clash as they jockey for position.

The newly-elected Doge - and his wife (photo by Tsijon)

And that’s pretty much what happened. I felt there was a good energy in the room throughout the game – something I always watch for as it’s a good sign that players are enjoying themselves.

Always playtesting

At Peaky, many writers call the first run of their newly-written game a “playtest”. I don’t like that term at Peaky for a couple of reasons.

First, Peaky is often the only place where I will play these games. So for me, it’s not a playtest, it’s just playing the game.

Second, I’m always playtesting. After every run of any game, I always find something to change. Hopefully it’s just a tweak or two. Sometimes it’s something more fundamental. So in that sense, I’m always playtesting.

And that’s how it was with Venice.

The GM doing GM things (photo by Tsijon)

(Oh, for the Peaky runs, I prefer the term premier. Sounds much fancier. And they really are the game’s first run.)

Updating Venice

So although Venice went really well and lots of the players were engaged and having fun, there were a couple of players looking a little out of it. Maybe they were just having a quiet game (it happens – it’s not always the game’s fault), but maybe I could make a few tweaks to increase the amount of fun.

So I have made changes.

I made the edits immediately. I find my enthusiasm drops the longer I leave it, so I find it best to strike while the iron is hot. 

So here’s a summary of the changes I made

• Typos: Goodness, I was disappointed to find so many typos. I’ve fixed all the ones I could find, but no doubt a few more have snuck in.
• Names: We didn’t put a lot of thought into the names back in 2013, and they didn’t feel very Venetian. I’ve now changed that.
• Romance: The romance plots were solved very quickly, so I’ve made them a little more complicated. A little.
• Information: I’ve spread more information around – so characters know a little about other characters that they didn’t know before.
• Fonts: I now use Google fonts, so I changed the fonts and embedded them.
• Secret societies: I added two more secret societies, and added a status tracker for societies as well
• Casting: I included the questions I used to cast Venice in the instructions.

Download it now

You can download the updated Venice right now from my itch.io page.

More Photos from Continuum

All photos below by Tsijon.

The Sopranos

The Montagues

Contingencies

This isn't a complete rewrite of the contingencies section of Writing Freeform Larps, but further thoughts on them following discussions on the ukfreeforms mailing list. When I get to a second edition, I will review the section on contingencies in light of this post.

The background to the discussion was that I was writing Aurora Horizon, a game set aboard a spaceship where the crew awakens from cryosleep with somes of their memory missing. The first part of the game would be about them dealing with that.

I wasn't sure how to approach the idea, so I started a discussion on the mailing list.

Player preferences (ie, everyone is different)

It quickly became clear that some players prefer the surprise of in-game reveals, while others prefer to know everything in advance, as it allows them to think about how to play the character and integrate the information into their roleplay. 

So while some may enjoy the rollercoaster of unexpected twists, others prefer to know the key points ahead of time.

(And me? I don’t know – I’ve not done either. I suspect it depends on the game. I’ve written about it before on my blog, though.)

Should I ever create a second edition of Writing Freeform Larps, I will update the section on contingency envelopes to reflect this.

Contingencies

Contingency envelopes can be triggered by in-game events, by other players, or by time. (Or they may simply be handouts from the GM.)

Contingencies are a popular way of dealing with hidden information – I’ve used them.

For many players, opening a contingency is great – it’s like a small reward, and it’s exciting to find out what’s inside.

However, contingencies aren’t perfect:

• Sometimes, the contingency is a disappointment and doesn’t contain anything new.
• Reading lengthy information mid-game can be overwhelming for players with dyslexia or those for whom English is a second language.
• Interrupting roleplay to read an envelope can disrupt the flow of the game.
• Players might forget triggers and miss vital information. (I’ve certainly done this! Backup triggers may help here.)
• If other characters reveal information before a player opens their envelope, it can be deflating.

Full disclosure

Providing all information upfront means putting all of the information in the character sheet in advance and explaining (through GM notes) how I imagine the character might be played.

This approach:

• Allows players to plan their roleplay.
• Enables players to foreshadow and create a richer character experience.
• Reduces the burden on GMs.
• Allows players to role-play their character’s surprise when appropriate.

However, not all players like this approach – especially those who enjoy being surprised by twists and turns.

I often use a full-disclosure approach for minor bits of information. So rather than use a contingency, I will often now write: “GM note: If you see item 25 (a painting), you recognise it as one that your grandfather painted and used to hang in your study. What is it doing here?”

I’ve yet to see a player abuse this, and it simplifies packing character envelopes.

Hybrid approaches

Of course, it is possible to combine both methods.

Players who like full disclosure can open their contingencies in advance. (The opposite isn’t quite so easy, of course.)

I may decide to have some parts of the game as full-disclosure but also have some contingencies for what I think are key secrets. (And if I really don’t want players to open them in advance, I could do them as GM handouts.)

Memory loss specifics

Amnesiac characters require a few special considerations.

• Reveals should enhance a player’s experience, not detract from it. A contingency that completely changes a character’s nature should have some foreshadowing so it doesn’t feel too jarring.
• It’s worth thinking about how the reveal is staged – giving it space and making it memorable. As a result, I am considering adding a psychologist/therapist character who can be the focus for recovering memories to give it a sense of importance.
• Players should know that their character has lost their memory. Otherwise, they may assume that a lack of information indicates a badly written game. (We’ve all been there!)
• Given the nature of memory loss, a single contingency could include too much information for a player to read and absorb while actively playing. So if possible, time “heavy” contingencies to suit any breaks.
• Some players may not like receiving lots of new information during the game – something to consider as part of casting. 

Aurora Horizon

In the end, for those characters in Aurora Horizon who were having memory problems, I wrote the first page of their character sheet (including some goals) from the perspective of having just woken up from cryosleep.

After that, I put the rest of their character information (including more goals) and told them that it was up to them how they wanted to play recovering their memories. If they were enjoying playing an amnesiac, then they could do that for as long as they wanted. If they didn't, then they could get their memories back sooner.

(And for a few specific memories, I used contingency envelopes.)

From what I could tell, the approach seemed to work. Letting the players decide is often best!

Second-edition "romance" rules for freeform larps

Writing Freeform Larps has only been out a year, and I already have changes I want to make. One of those changes is to the romance rules.

Following West End Lullaby (which I wrote about on my blog), I’ve made four changes.

• First, I’ve simplified it. I’ve removed the tracking of “negative behaviours” and changed it so that you simply decide if you want to fall out of love. (In my experience, people rarely do this – it’s fun having your characters fall in love, and why spoil the fun?)
• Second, I’ve explicitly made it more flexible should you fall in love with more than one person. It’s up to you how you resolve that – do what you think is appropriate.
• Third, I’ve made the heart colours more LGTB-friendly.
• Fourth, I’ve changed the emphasis from romance to falling in love, to allow for platonic and romantic relationships. (Thanks to Rei for nudging me in this direction.)

West End Lullaby’s mechanic was actually a relationship mechanic, and you could use it for rivalries and friendships as well as falling in love. I thought about that, but my experience of West End Lullaby is that it didn’t really work as anything other than for falling in love.

For friendships, I prefer the “Pardner” mechanic we created for Tombstone. And rivalries? I don’t know, I’m not sure if they need a mechanic.

So here’s my updated system for falling in love.

An example system for falling in love

This is an example system that could be added to almost any freeform. Feel free to use it in your own games.

Falling in love

These are the optional rules for falling in love, whether romantically or platonically.

Setup

First, decide whether you want your character to fall in love and how flexible you want to be. Get a pen/sticker from the GM desk and mark your name badge as follows:

• No heart: I don't want to fall in love.
• Black heart: I want to fall in love (heterosexual).
• Pink heart: I want to fall in love (queer).
• Gold heart: I want to fall in love (any).

If don't want to fall in love, read no further.

Second, your envelope contains a heart card with several behaviours you would like to see in your partner. Choose the six you like the look of and cross out the rest.

(It’s probably best if you choose these once you have read your character so you choose behaviours that suit how you want to play your character.)

Third, decide how easily you want your character to fall in love (your “Heart Target”). We recommend starting with a Heart Target of three, but if you want to make things easier or harder, that’s great too.

That’s it for setup.

During play

During play, as people play the game, they will (deliberately or accidentally) behave in a way that makes your character feel more attracted to them (heart behaviours). To help you keep track, we’ve formatted the tasks in a grid so you can check them off.

(We expect you will only have half a dozen or so people to track. To track more, you’ll need a separate sheet of paper.)

Add the heart behaviour checks for each character – that’s your heart score. If your heart score equals (or beats) your Heart Target, congratulations, you have fallen in love with that person.

Falling in love

Once you have fallen in love with them. Here’s what you do:

First, tell someone. That might be the person you have fallen for, but it could be anyone.

Second, you have a new goal.

Help the love of your life succeed: You have a new love in your life, and you want them to succeed. Depending on how hard you have fallen, this may involve putting their goals ahead of yours. (You decide – we suggest using your heart score as a guide.)

Falling in love together

If the person you have fallen for also falls for you, that’s fantastic. We look forward to hearing all about it.

Unrequited love

If you’ve fallen in love with someone, but they haven’t fallen for you, well, that’s just how life works sometimes. Deal with it (through roleplaying).

Falling out of love

If the love of your life does something you really don’t agree with (and you can decide what this is), then you are no longer in love with them. Roleplay it! (And again, tell someone.)

Falling in love with someone else

Keep tracking your scores. If another person beats your Heart Target, then you are in love with them as well! Does this mean you have changed your heart and fallen out of love with your original flame? Not necessarily – you decide! Tell people! Roleplay it!

A few guidelines

Respect other players’ boundaries: If a player doesn’t have a heart on their badge, please don’t track their heart behaviours.

Don’t talk about the mechanics: We prefer it if you don’t discuss the specific dos and don’ts needed to win your heart. It’s OK to talk about them generally, but not to be too specific. Try to keep the conversation natural.

“What does a guy need to do you get you to fall for him?”

“A sense of humour is a good start.”

Ignore all these rules if you want: If these rules aren’t giving you the results you want, please ignore them, particularly if it’s more dramatically appropriate.

Example heart tracker

I would tailor behaviours to the specific freeform – accompany me to the county fair, dance with me at the ball, and so on.

Turning Writing Freeform Larps into an ebook

I've been learning to make an epub file (for e-readers) from an MS Word document using Calibre. I've been asked for an epub version of Writing Freeform Larps, so I thought it was time to learn how to do it.

It turned out to be relatively painless - although I found myself going around in circles several times.

The essentials

So the process consisted of copying the MS Word document I used for Writing Freeform Larps and:

• Replacing the fonts with a simple Arial font - e-readers have their own fonts.
• Removing headers and footers.
• Removing the page breaks and white space I'd inserted to make the pages look right.
• Remove cross-references within the document.
• Review formatting for bullets - my first attempt was a bit weird. I think they're still a little weird, but they're not as weird as they first were.
• Change tables to be in % width rather than an absolute width. (The first time I did this, they were wider than the page, and I couldn't read them properly.)

Then:

• Import the docx into Calibre
• Turn it into an epub
• Email it to my Kindle
• And check

And every time I spot an error, I delete the file from my Kindle, amend the docx and go through the process again. (Happily, this doesn't take long.)

So I think I'm there. The e-pub files are now uploaded to Itch.io and DriveThruRPG.

Of course, I now have two versions of Writing Freeform Larps to maintain...

Preparing freeform larps for others to run

While Writing Freeform Larps covers writing and running freeform larps, it doesn’t cover turning a freeform from your notes into something that other people can run.

So, assuming that you’ve run your game and incorporated feedback, what else should you do to get your freeform into a state where others can pick it up and run it?

This is what I do. 

Files and formats

I usually publish games as pdfs, and I assume the buyer will print the game at home. If I’m happy for my work to be edited, I’ll give away the MS Word files. (In either case, I embed the fonts I’ve used.)

My game files for All Flesh is Grass

File naming I usually do like this: GameName_XX_Name_of_File. Where:

• GameName is the name of the game – or an abbreviation
• XX is a number, starting at 01 for the instructions
• Name_of_File is the name of a file, such as a character name or “Setting”

The instructions file is file 01 because that’s the first thing I want the GM to read. It introduces the game and explains how everything works. More on instructions below.

The setting and background file is (for me), normally file 02. It contains the overall setting and probably a cast list. It’s the pre-game stuff I will send out when I’m advertising the game.

Individual files for each character. These are individual files so they can be easily emailed to players in advance. If you don’t expect your GMs to do that, you can put all the characters in a single document.

I might have separate files for cards, name badges, contingencies or handouts, depending on how complex the game is. (If the game is relatively straightforward, I will put these in the instructions file.)

At Freeform Games, we have a separate summary file of key things for the host (so the timetable and answers to key questions) that can be used to run the game on the day (rather than the much longer instructions file). But I’ve not done that for other games.

One thing that’s been brought to my attention recently is that if someone is using a print service, it’s worth keeping stuff that needs printing single-sided in different files from anything printed double-sided. (That’s not something I’ve thought about before.)

Fonts and layout

Fonts: I use fonts from https://fonts.google.com/ as they have a good range and don’t have any copyright or licensing issues. I like EB Garamond as a body font, and then I use something suitable for headers.

Justified or ragged right: I find ragged right (ie, text aligned left, like this blog post) easier to read and looks better if you use Word to prepare your files. (If you know what you’re doing, then go for justified text. If you don’t know what I mean by “if you know what you’re doing,” then stick with ragged right.) 

Line length: The ideal line length is 50-70 characters. Long lines are harder to read, as are short ones.

One column or two: That’s personal preference, and you may find the line length and paper size dictate your options. 

Font size: As I age, I usually prefer a larger font that is easier on my eyes. I usually use EB Garamond at 14 points for body text. Or even bigger if I expect character sheets to be printed at two pages to a single sheet.

Page numbers: I put the file name and page number in the footer on each page. (Such as “Instructions page 1 of 12”.)

And use “curly quotes/apostrophes” (like these) rather than straight quotes or apostrophes.

Consistency and proofreading

If several authors contributed to your game, they almost certainly have different writing styles. Some might be verbose, others terse. Maybe someone types two spaces after a full stop, while others don’t. Maybe there are spelling differences, such as realize/realise (and many, many more.) Perhaps one person writes in active tense and others write in the passive tense. These differences all stand out.

I recommend that one person give everything a final polish, and they also arrange for a proofread by someone who hasn’t read the game before.

(Apps can help - I use Wordrake, Grammarly and PerfectIt. They’re not free, and you have to learn how to interpret them rather than follow them blindly, but they’re a great start and highlight things to look at.)

Instructions

What are you including in your instructions file? This is important - if GMs can’t follow it, they can’t run your game. This is how I structure mine:

• Intro: A brief introduction explaining the game in broad principles. This is an elevator pitch, including how long the game is likely to take and how many players and GMs are needed.
• Contents: A list of all the files that come with the game and a brief description of what’s in each. (For example: “AFiG_02_Setting – the setting and cast list for All Flesh is Grass. I also use this as pre-game publicity.”)
• Printing and preparation: What needs printing and preparing for the game.
• Casting: How to cast the game, including optional characters, if any. (This may need its own files or an appendix if you have casting forms or casting is complicated.)
• Venue: notes about the venue or game space – what does the game need?
• Game timetable: The timetable for the game, first in summary (perhaps as a table) and then each section in detail, finishing with how the game ends and debriefing.
• Rules: Talk about any game rules or mechanics - such as contingencies.
• Plots: Talk about specific plots – particularly details the GM needs to know. Give the GM an overview of what’s going on; don’t force them to read through all the characters to figure out what’s going on.

Other points

Try to make things easy for whoever is running your game. Remember, they’ve never seen it before – and they don’t know the game the way you do.

Make things easy to print. Group sections together where possible to make it easier to manage.

If your game has many handouts, make sure they are identified at the top of the page so they are easy to find during play.

A nice cover helps your game stand out. (I’m not an expert at this - I mostly just fumble around a bit.)

Publishing

If you’ve done all that and everything is ready, the next stage is deciding where to host your files. Broadly, four options.

Your own website: This is the easiest, if you have one. If you don’t have server space on your website, you can always link to a shared file on Google Drive or Dropbox or whatever.

Larp libraries: There are a couple of larp libraries keen to host your files. They include larplibrary.org and https://alexandria.dk/en/ 

Itch.io: I find Itch.io easy to use but there’s so much on there that it’s hard to stand out. My Itch.io page is here: https://stevehatherley.itch.io/

DriveThruRPG: The best source for all things RPG online – but there’s so much on it. You can also get your game published in hard copy, but you need to know what you’re doing. DriveThruRPG has stricter rules than Itch.io. I haven’t put any larps onto DriveThruRPG – just some tabletop RPG stuff and my Writing Freeform Larps book. My DriveThruRPG page is here: https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/21683/steve-hatherley 

Getting the word out

Then get the word out. This is something I’m not so good at…

Writing Children of the Stars

I wrote Children of the Stars when I was putting Writing Freeform Larps together, and I wrote about the process on my blog here:

• Part 1: The game’s genesis and the first part of writing.
• Part 2: Developing the characters and background.
• Part 3: Writing plots and pulling everything together.
• Part 4: Running Children of the Stars.