Authority points in Café Casablanca

Authority figures, such as police officers, can present problems in larps, as competitive players may want to abuse their authority. Café Casablanca (written by Cruel Hoax Productions) limited their powers by giving them a limited supply of Authority Points that they had to spend to carry out official actions. 

Trailer screenshot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Here’s how it worked.

(Although I have played Café Casablanca twice and been on the GM team once, I don’t know how effective these rules are, as I didn’t interact with them.)

Authority points

Each law officer (Captain Renault, the inspectors, the prison commandant and harbour security) has a number of Authority Points on a card that looks like this:

Police Officer A Authority Points

• Usable any time: O O O O O O
• Usable Friday evening:  O O O O
• Usable Saturday morning: O O O O
• Usable Saturday afternoon:  O O O O
• Usable Saturday evening: O O O O
• Usable Sunday:  O O O O O

The numbers varied by character rank. Higher-rank characters got more points (the numbers above are for a senior officer, not the highest-ranking officer, and certainly not the lowest).

Officers also get an authority briefing sheet that explains how the rules work.

Gaining authority points

Officers can earn more Authority Points by performing their duties well and often. (e.g., arresting a wanted felon and having them jailed gets the player more Authority Points, even if the captive later escapes).

Gross abuse of Authority Points can cause an officerto lose points.

Points are rewarded/taken away by the Police HQ GM.

Authority Rules

General rules

• Police Authority does not extend into the Casbah (a lawless area in Casablanca)
• It costs double to expend Authority Points on anyone with a blue badge (such as German officers, who strictly have no power to arrest here, as Casablanca is controlled by the French Vichy government).
• Outranking someone does not mean they are your slave. They may be given duties (such as “investigate so-and-so”) but not specific actions (like “shoot him”).

Exercising authority

Exercising authority (spending Authority Points) allows officers to take the following actions:

Create papers (0 Authority points): For example, replacing a passport.

Searching a room (4 Authority Points, or 2 with a warrant): Used for searching a character’s room (characters have an in-game location where they could store items). The magistrate (the Police HQ GM) may be approached for a warrant first (which must specify the location to be searched and what is being searched for). (2 points will be returned if an illegal item is found, or 3 points if the item specified on the warrant is found.) Non-illegal items will be left in place unless specified on the warrant.

Inspect papers (1 Authority Point): An officer may inspect any character’s passport upon demand. If they don’t have a passport or their papers are obviously out of order, the officer gets their Authority Point back, plus an extra, and the culprit is automatically arrested. They must be given new papers before they leave police custody (lack of papers is not a jailable offence).

Search person (1 Authority Point): After inspecting someone’s papers, an officer may search a character’s person to see what items the character is carrying. Nothing may be confiscated unless the person is arrested.

Arrest (4 Authority Points): An officer may arrest a suspect who accompanies them to the police station, where the suspect may be held and questioned for up to 15 minutes. The suspect must show any items he has on his person, but they may not be confiscated unless the person is jailed or the items are illegal.

If the magistrate (the Police HQ GM) agrees you have sufficient cause for arrest, three Authority Points will be returned (unless they were arrested during an inspection of papers). An additional two points will be returned if the suspect is on the “wanted” list.

(The Café Casablanca rules didn’t cover adding people to the wanted list, but I would require 2 Authority Points (and a strong argument) to add someone to the wanted list.)

Throw someone who has been arrested in jail (3 Authority Points): Can only be used at the police station, and only on a character under arrest. The character must remain in jail for one hour or until released. (During this hour, the player is issued a “friend of” badge to arrange his own rescue if he is not being questioned.) People on the wanted list cost no points to jail.

A prisoner’s items may be taken by the police and placed in the evidence locker (maintained by the magistrate/Police HQ GM) and returned to them when they leave after an hour. Prisoners who break out of jail do not get their possessions back! 

Imprison a jailed player (9 Authority Points from three different officers, each contributing 3 points each): Can only be used on a jailed character, and only if a magistrate (the Police HQ GM) agrees you have sufficient evidence and cause.

This action restarts the one-hour clock for being in jail. During this hour, the player is still a “friend of” his character. 

After one hour, the character is sent to the concentration camp in the desert and should be played out to enable a dramatic rescue (ie, the player should be marched through the game space under guard, visible to everyone). If not rescued, the player is issued a replacement character.

Execute a jailed player: (12 Authority Points from three different officers, each contributing 4 points each): Can only be used on a jailed player, and only if a magistrate (the Police HQ GM) agrees you have sufficient evidence and cause.

This action restarts the one-hour clock for being in jail. During this hour, the player is still a “friend of” his character.

After one hour, the character is executed by firing squad one hour after the sentence and should be played out. (ie, the player should be executed in the game space, visible to everyone.) If not rescued, the player is issued a replacement character after the event.

(As far as I know, no character has ever been executed in the three runs of Café Casablanca that I have been involved with.)

The wanted list

One character started the game on the wanted list.

Crimes

Other than the usual (murder, arson, burglary and so on):

• Being a citizen of an enemy state (Britain, China, etc.)
• Carrying contraband (guns, explosives, military secrets)

Relationships in Gateways

Recently, some larps have attempted to combine romance/rival/friendship (such as my Falling in Love and Tombstone’s Pardners) rules into a single coherent system. 

I’ve found these a bit uneven, but I thought Gateways’ version was the best so far. Here’s how it worked.

Relationships

The relationship rules covered allies, rivals and falling in love. The mechanics were optional, so that if you felt that, through roleplaying, your relationship with another character was developing, you could short-circuit the bookkeeping and simply give that character a relationship card.

Photo by TsiJon

Relationship cards

Each character had several relationship cards. They all worked the same, and they looked like this:

Avery Grayson’s Ally/Romance/Rival (pick one): You may Assist or Hinder the named character.  Permanent. No more than three relationship cards (one of each type – ally/romance/rival) may affect any single skill check.

You gave your card to your ally/rival/love interest, and they could then use it to assist or hinder you in skill checks. They didn’t need to have a relevant skill, but just being present helped (or hindered).

(I explain Gateways’ skills and task resolution system here.)

One thing I really liked about the relationship cards was how seamlessly they fit into the task-resolution system. And as a writer, I appreciated that Gateways’ authors hadn’t needed to invent unique heart abilities for each character, which were a feature in other games. With 79 players, that would have been a lot of rival/ally/romance abilities!

Paramount relationships

Characters also had paramount relationship cards – for the single most important person in your universe. (Maybe “the one”, or a ride-or-die ally, or perhaps even your nemesis.)

Your paramount relationship card looked like this:

Avery Grayson’s Ally/Romance/Rival (pick one): You may Assist or Hinder the named character. When you do, draw from the SAME deck. Permanent. No more than three relationship cards (one of each type – ally/romance/rival) may affect any single skill check)

So this ability is more powerful than a regular Assist or Hinder, as drawing from the same deck gives you a better chance of drawing a higher card.

Developing a relationship

So while I suspect a lot of relationships were cemented through roleplaying, how did the actual mechanic work? Well, it was very similar to the system I outlined in Writing Freeform Larps (and refined here).

The inside back cover of each character booklet included a table which looked like this:

Character	Romance	Ally	Rival
Character 1		III
Character 2	II
Character 3	IIII
Character 4			II
Example indicators of an ally/romance/rival relationship: Give me something I value / Take something I value from me Put yourself at risk to assist/defend (or to hinder/attack) me Go to a social event with me Help me accomplish something important to me Tell me something secret about yourself Discover we have a common/analogous history or trauma Do something important to assist/harm someone I care about Make me laugh, cry, or share some other emotional event Share a romantic and/or sexual encounter with me Discover we have ‘chemistry’ (Romance only – you have chemistry if you both draw the same number from a Skill Deck. Return the card and shuffle after the first draw.) Tell me how important I have become to you (ie, give me a relationship Ability card)

Notes

• The suggested target number was five, so if someone ticked off five indicators, you would give them a relationship card.
• There were specific rules for some aliens as they couldn’t form relationships.

Changing Relationships

And if you felt your relationship had changed, you could reclaim your relationship card (or change it). I have no idea if anyone did this – I didn’t.

What didn’t work

So for me, the rivalry ability card didn’t really work. Identifying a rival was fine, but I’m not sure how effective the ability card was, as I can’t see it being used much.

For example, I developed a rival during the game (although I forgot to give them a rival card – probably because this was new to me), but he was never present when I made skill checks, and vice versa. So while the rivalry card was nice to roleplay, it had no mechanical effect (for me, at least).

Mind you, I’m not sure what would make a rival ability actually work. Maybe that’s work in progress!

Gateways’ task resolution rules

Gateways was a weekend-long SF larp that I played in February 2026. It was conceived and written by Martin and Helen Jones, and Nickey Barnard, with additional material by Alan and Charlie Paull, and Megan, Michael and Peter Jones.

I wrote about the game on my blog, but here I want to discuss Gateways’ task-resolution rules.

Photo by TsiJon

Skills

Each character had a number of skills, rated as follows:

1. Trained
2. Competent
3. Expert
4. Phenomenal

There were very few characters with 4-rated skills. My character had five skills rated 2 and 3. Skills included things like Self-defence, Medic and Scientist (Physics). (I had a total skill rating of 10 – I don’t know if the GMs balanced the number of skills across the characters. I think that’s something I would have done.)

In general, if you wanted to do something, it ought to be something you could realistically do. My character had no experience with computer hacking, so I would not be expected to try it.

Task difficulty number

If you were attempting something (fix a reactor, heal a character, hack a computer), the GMs would set a target difficulty for that task. The difficulties were:

1. Easy (Anyone with basic training in the skill should succeed at this – no check needed).
2. Moderate 
3. Hard
4. Very hard
5. Exceptional
6. Impossible

The skill check

To make a skill check, a character added their level in an appropriate skill and drew from a Skill Deck (a deck of five cards: +2, +1, +1, 0, 0). The GMs had maybe 20 Skill Decks dotted around for players to use.

So if you had a skill of 3, your result would be between 3 (if you drew a 0) and 5 (if you drew a 2).

Helping and hindering

Assisting: Characters can assist if they have a suitable skill, or an ability, or because it makes sense. For each character helping, make a second skill check and choose the best result. (Don’t forget to return the cards after each draw!)

Hindering: Characters might want to hinder a task. Hindering is just like helping, but the worst result is chosen.

Several characters simultaneously assisting and hindering: These cancel each other out until whichever side has the most remains. (I never saw this happen.)

(If you play ttrpgs, you may recognise assisting and hindering as rolling with advantage or disadvantage.)

Results

If our result was…

• Lower than the difficulty number? Bad luck, you failed.
• Equal to the difficulty number? Success, but with complications.
• More than the difficulty number? Hurrah, you succeeded.

Player-v-player contests (including combat)

The system is the same for player-v-player contests, except that the opposing players play against each other. Whoever gets the highest result wins. (Ties are draws.)

Combat

For combat, if you are beaten by 1, you can either surrender or flee. If you are beaten by 2, the winner chooses the outcome. You might be injured, captured, or even die (but only if dramatically appropriate).

Wounded characters get wound markers, and all their skill checks are hindered until they are healed.

With multiple combatants, opponents should pair off. Unmatched characters can assist someone on their side.

Learning skills

You can train someone to a level one less than the skill you have. So a character with a level 2 skill can train someone to level 1.

Limitations to training:

• Training is limited to level 1 during the game only. Training to higher levels requires longer than is possible in the game. (Although there may be exceptions…)
• A character can only learn one skill in a single game session, and the training session should be roleplayed out. If the skill involves using a piece of equipment, that equipment must be available for training.
• Teachers can only teach one skill, but can teach up to three pupils per game session.
• The new skill is available at the start of the next game session. Add it to your character booklet.

Abilities

As well as skills, there were a handful of abilities scattered around. Not too many, which made it both easy to manage and (I imagine) easy to write. For example, my character had a research ability that let them look stuff up (ie, ask the GMs).

Did the system work?

The rules worked really well – they were just detailed enough to allow for some variety, but not so detailed that things became too complicated.

I’d seen similar systems in other freeform larps, but I think this was the best variant I’ve encountered so far. But perhaps that’s because I engaged with it more (I often don’t engage with the rules much).

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.

Pardners

For the Once Upon a Time in Tombstone freeform larp, we created a mechanic for non-romantic relationships. We called it Pardners, and this is how it worked.

Pardners

Butch and Sundance. Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. The Lone Ranger and Tonto. They’re more than friends – they stick with you through thick and thin. They’re people you can rely on. We call them Pardners.

Pardners help each other out and come to each other’s aid in times of hardship. A Pardner won’t let you down. A Pardner will help you achieve your objectives, as you will help them achieve theirs.

Everyone has at least one Pardner ability card. You can’t use your own Pardner ability – you must exchange it with someone else. You’re now Pardners!

It’s up to you whom you choose as your Pardner, but we recommend waiting for a suitably dramatic moment before offering to become Pardners with someone. Perhaps they have intervened in a fight to help you, loaned you a poker stake, or even just bought you a whisky.

A Pardnership may be broken at any time – just return the Pardner ability and ask for your own back. It must be returned immediately. However, you should only break a Pardnership with good reason, and don’t be surprised if your ex-Pardner holds a grudge.

If you break a Pardnership, you must give your ex-Pardner a reason why. Then, act out the breaking of the pardnership – preferably in front of other people.

Romance between two Pardners automatically supersedes, and breaks, the Pardnership. Return each other’s Pardner ability cards.

Pardner abilities

Each character then had a special ability that they gave to their Pardner. Some examples:

Bill Cobb's Pardner: Bill Cobb's reputation extends to his friends. Whoever has this ability may not be arrested for any reason, provided Bill Cobb is still Sheriff.

Jessica Drummond's Pardner: Jessica Drummond's pardner may use this card instead of tearing up or checking off one of his/her abilities.

Johnny Ringo’s Pardner: Play at the start of combat. If Johnny Ringo is in the gunfight, add +1 to your Accuracy. If Johnny is not present, subtract 1 from all your opponents' Speeds (they need to watch their backs...)

Kit Shelleen’s Pardner: When competing against somebody with a cut of the cards, one use of this ability will make your 'cut' exactly one rank higher than theirs. You cannot use this ability to beat an Ace.

About Once Upon a Time in Tombstone

Once Upon a Time in Tombstone is a weekend-long freeform for 60+ players. It’s based on various Westerns, including Tombstone (of course), Silverado, The Big Country, Maverick, Pale Rider, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and many, many more.

I co-wrote Once Upon a Time in Tombstone with Heidi Kaye, Tony Mitton, AJ Smith and Paul Snow. 

I’ve written about it here.