Setting Goals for Game

Before coming to game ask yourself, "What am I doing tonight?" In LARPing a lot of the enjoyment you get out of it is how much you put into it. This makes the answer that question very important.

Once you have the answers, let's start examining them for flaws.

Do all of my goals leave me waiting on other people?

A lot of time your goals for a game can just be a big list of things you need from other characters. What if those people aren't there? It's important to have alternative goals that don't depend on one character. This often results in you sitting around a lot OOC waiting on them. Now you've robbed the game of your presence and anybody waiting on you is stuck too.

Sometimes all of your goals involve the STs. First think about how many STs are on staff. Then think about how many goals you have that require them. If you have more goals requiring STs than there are STs on staff that can run your plot, then you've guaranteed that you'll be waiting around. This isn't always a problem as long as these are not your only goals. You need to have other things you'll pursue rather than sitting around OOC hoping the STs finish soon.

Do my goals give me something to talk about in Elysium?

Stolen Hours is a salon LARP. We don't have wandering monsters. We prefer to stay in-character. If none of your goals are things you can talk about while sitting around with other Kindred in-character, then you should add some. This is usually a good place for politics. Make sure your character has a position on something that's happened recently in the Camarilla and set a goal to find out what other people think. If you're not sure what's going on in the Camarilla right now, set a goal to find out or express to everybody else how much you don't know about it.

Do my goals help me stay immersed?

This can be the hardest part for some people and getting it wrong can be devastating to immersion. It's okay to set OOC goals that orient you toward staying in-character during the slow parts of game. Try to spend less time expressing your opinion and more time expressing your character's opinion. Avoid doing things your character wouldn't do like looking at your phone or eating food. If your character does do these things then make sure to reflect that and inform people about it. A lot of us are so accustomed to trying to ignore things people do that are breaking character that we don't always realize when you're doing them on purpose.

Do I have everything I need to achieve my goals?

If your goals involve combat, then prepare for it. Get your sheet together. Review the house rules for your powers. Double-check that you have all of your item cards. It's rude to go into combat with none of your stuff prepared.

If your goals involve a bunch of things you don't have, then make sure to break them down into goals you can do piece-by-piece. If your goal is to eventually have an out-of-clan advanced you need to start with finding NPCs who can teach you. Maybe you start with the officers? Maybe you start with simply asking the STs who is around? Maybe you ask other characters if they have the power and how they got it? Maybe you ask people of that clan if they know anybody who teaches it? Thinking through these bite-sized steps to get to your goal and writing them down makes it easier to remember the options you have when one avenue is blocked.