Sunday, July 23, 2006

You can check in anytime...but you can never leave.

It's done. Nearly two years of planning, stressing, collaborating and more butcher paper than one should really have (unless you're a butcher), our live-action roleplaying game "Clerical Error" is finally done.

The plot (now that it's over) is pretty simple: Seven people embodying the seven deadly sins check into a hotel, only to discover that they're dead before their time. By solving a bunch of puzzles and riddles, the group finds out that their threads (as woven by the three fates) were cut before their time. Clotho has gone mad during that time and is wandering around during the game harassing players, dropping clues, etc. The end goal is to free Lachesis and reweave these characters' threads back into the tapestry of life.

Each character had a different problem -- Lucia, for example, embodied lust by having an affair with her friend, Evan, who was envious of everyone, especially his friend, Prem, who was pride.

The big thing for us was the maze that was built into my basement -- constructed out of butcher's paper, it was really creepy in the dark as the walls fluttered with people's movement. Eva and Kat get credit for building the initial maze 10 minutes before people showed up on Friday night.

Also, Mark deserves big props for his help in building several props including a phoenix that started on fire, a scale for weighing hearts and a chest (with a false back so Katie could get inside it) that opened once seven crosses were placed in the right slots.

Really, it was enormously satisfying to see these characters that we wrote come to life three different times with three different people. It was also wild to see the puzzles Eva and Kat came up with be made into reality from the paper proposals that we wrote months ago.

I know I'm not explaining the story well, and I'm hoping to have a link up soon via Eva or Kat because this blog isn't the best place to explain what the hell happened. But I think for me, the most important thing was that we pulled it off.

It was wild seeing people bring these characters to life -- Saturday's game was filled with experienced role-players who spent a lot of time interacting with each other. They could've spent time around the table role-playing and not had the puzzles at all.

Really, there's a ton of stories that could be told, but it's hard to write about it without seeming like "that scary mouth-breather girl who talks about her characters."

I also think that I learned something about collaborating -- even though there were times when it was tough, it couldn't have been done without all of us. Eva and Kat kicked my apathetic ass into action, Katie's writing and character ideas were awesome and I like to think that some of my writing helped shape characters.

I think it says something when after it was all said and done, after all the additional stress, headaches and craziness, I'd do it again.

No comments: