Cracks in the Orb
A theater-style LARP in the world of Steven Brust's Dragaera novels
What is Cracks in the Orb?
Cracks in the Orb is a four-hour theater-style live-action roleplaying game for 20-23 players in the world of Steven Brust's Dragaera novels. The primary writer is Lise Fracalossi, ably assisted by Bernie Gabin for the wargame portions. The game premiered at WPI's SFS Live Action Weekend (SLAW) in November 2012.
What is this Dragaera of which you speak?
Dragaera is a world described in two series of fantasy novels by the awesome Steven Brust. It is a high magic, larger-than-life world that is perfect for epic adventure.
The most well-known series of books in Dragaera is the ongoing Vlad Taltos series, concerning a certain short-lived assassin amongst a race of very long-lived people. They are written in the style of the hardboiled detective novels of Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler, and are fun, easy reads.
The other series of Dragaera novels is the so-called Khaavren Romances, which take place some 700+ years before Vlad was born, and concern some of the historical events of the world, including the infamous Adron's Disaster and Interregnum. They are written in a variant style which imitates the work of Alexandre Dumas, and are named after the main character, Khaavren, who is very much a D'Artagnan sort of character. Their central conceit is that they are "histories" told by the long-winded scholar Paarfi; as such, they're a little bit denser than the Vlad books.
Okay, I know about Dragaera. What time period does this take place in, relative to the novels? What's the setting?
Cracks in the Orb takes place 947 years before the Interregnum, in the 17th Athyra Reign. That is roughly 400 years before the start of The Phoenix Guards, the first book of the Khaavren Romances.
As for setting, as it says in the blurb, the game takes place at the intersection of a society event and an ongoing rebellion in Dragaera City. A ball being held by the young and idle aristocrats has just been interrupted by the arrival of the Empress Cherova and her court, seeking a safe interior room from which to defend the Orb.
If I want to get familiar with Dragaera before I play, what books should I read first?
I recommend starting with The Phoenix Guards, the first book of the Khaavren Romances. These books were aimed at an audience already familiar with Dragaera, but the world is sufficiently different from Vlad's time--and sufficiently similar to the setting of the game--that it will give you a good basis in pre-Interregnum Dragaera without too much hassle. If you like that, you can read the rest of the romances:
Five Hundred Years After
The Paths of the Dead
Lord of Castle Black
Sethra Lavode
If you find the writing style a bit of an obstacle, jump to the Vlad novels instead. The first book of that series is Jhereg, often packaged in an omnibus of the first three books called The Book of Jhereg.
Are there canon characters from the series in this game?
Since Dragaerans are absurdly long-lived (upwards of 3000 years), it is inevitable that some of same characters from the Khaavren Romances, and even the Vlad books, were already alive and kicking in 947 BI. However, we've shied away from including any really central characters from the books--in large part to avoid any player feeling like the canon characters will get the "best" plot.
To give an example of characters from the books who are in the game, here you will find Adron e'Kieron, future elder sorceror and destroyer of Dragaera City; Seodra, the scheming Athyra from The Phoenix Guards; and Fornia e'Lanya, who stole Pathfinder from Baritt's Tomb in Dragon, to name just a few.
There are also characters who are pointedly not in the game. In particular, I mean Sethra Lavode, in any form. Because let's face it, undead sorceresses who predate the Empire are just too difficult to adjust for game balance. You will find her representative and Captain of the Lavodes in an original character named Dradia, however.
What Houses are represented in game?
As this is taking place at an aristocratic event, most of the characters are drawn from high-status Houses. There are characters from Houses Dragon, Dzur, Phoenix, Athyra, Tiassa, and Issola; as well as the heir for the House of the Jhereg. This may be expanded in future runs--I so want to add a Hawk at some point :)
What kind of game is this?
I really come from the Intercon, theater-style, minigame/"parlor game" style of LARP writing, so imagine the type of game that would run at such an event, and that will give you an idea of what to expect.
If that means nothing to you, I'll say this: theater-style larping is kind of like those murder-mysteries-in-a-box that were really popular in the '90s, or really elaborate games of "let's pretend." Each game is a self-contained world that has everything you need to play; there are usually a few GMs to arbitrate, and some number of players. Most games are short, 4 to 6 hours. It may have a ruleset which is unique to that game. Combat, or other things that are tough to simulate in real-life, is resolved by waving index cards at people and playing rock-paper-scissors, or other similar, simple mechanics.
For those of you who already know all that, more about my LARP style: As a player, I am very plot-driven, and so I pay a lot of attention to making sure players have enough to do in a game, and end up with satisfying plot arcs. I don't believe in "winning" and "losing" in a LARP, but I do understand that many players like to come away from a game feeling a sense of accomplishment or success. That is what I try to provide.
Character is not ignored in all this--plot, after all, is just the footsteps characters make make in snow. My writing process is focused around outlining then writing characters, and the plots are kind of an emergent phenomeon from that.
As for the gamist/mechanics side of the equation, some of my games are... gamier than others, but in this game I am very much trying to give the mechanics-focused gamists something to do (the wargame) and the simulationists something totally different to do (the social game).
Wargame vs. social game - what does that mean?
In some sense, this game is two games sharing a space--a wargame and a social game.
If your character is a wargame character, you will be playing--or closely allied with--a leader of one of the factions in the civil unrest which we're calling the Battle for Dragaera City. The Battle for Dragaera City is a region-control wargame based heavily on Diplomacy, with a number of 20-30 minutes turns over the course of four hours. You will need to spend time on the wargame to be sucesssful at your goals, but you won't be chained to it--roleplaying with characters in and outside the wargame will be necessary to gather the resources to achieve your goals.
If your character is a social character, you will be more concerned with personal goals, many of which involve things like marrying well, settling debts of honor, resolving romantic entanglements, and the like. Political goals which are not military also fall under the heading of the social game. Dancing is likely to play a large part in this, and there will be an information economy based around this activity. The dancing will be simple set dances that can be easily taught and learned (most likely, 16th-17th century bransles).
This is not to say that the games don't interact at all--many of the warleaders have romance plots, and characters who aren't warleaders will have an interest in regions on the wargame board--but we recognize that the different parts of the game are likely to appeal to different types of gamers.
I played in LXHS, Lise. That game had buttloads of annoying mechanics that got in the way of roleplaying. Please tell me this game isn't like that.
Yeah, LXHS did have a surfeit of mechanics. What can I say, it was my first LARP. I'm trying to get away from that in this game.I've been studying up on how seamless roleplay is achieved in other styles of games, and I have a few techniques I'm eager to try. Stay tuned.
Of course, the wargame is heavy on the mechanics, but even so, it is purposefully based off a board game with a small subset of possible actions, and it is designed to encourage roleplaying to achieve one's goals.
Uh oh. I'm scared of romance. Did you really say that almost every character has a romance plot?
The answer to this is "Yes, but." Let me give you some context.
I wrote this game partially in response to the kind of casting questionnaires I got back from one run of LXHS, where people wanted more romance plots than there actually were in the game. Admittedly, this was at Brandeis, and things might be different had that run been at WPI or RPI.
But realistically... yes, there are a lot of romance plots in this game, but there's something for everybody. There are arranged marriages. There is courtship for political gain. There is scandalous, forbidden love. There are people who are madly in lust with each other.
Most importantly, there is also a long and detailed casting questionnaire designed to suss out what types of things you are and are not comfortable with.
At the end of the day, there are a couple characters I'm worried about casting--in that they combine romance and other traits which are rarely seen together in the LARPers I know--but the first game will bear it out, I suspect. Things can always be adjusted for the players, too.
This sounds awesome! When can I play?
Cracks will be running next at Dice Bubble 2013, on February 15th at 7pm. We have reached minimum numbers, but have space for a few more players. It will also run at Intercon M the weekend of March 1st-3rd--but is full at this time.
The next run is highly likely to be at Triskaidekafestival, the 8th Festival of the LARPs at Brandeis University. After that, we'll probably set it aside for a time.
What inspired you to write this game?
A few things:
- My abiding love for Steven Brust's Dragaera novels,
- An experience I had casting my other game, LXHS, where people's applications seemed to suggest they wanted to play a game I jokingly called "Young Evil Wizards Destroying the World For Love,"
- The excellent Team Brit game Railways and Respectability, which proved that you can combine mechanics and social frippery successfully into one game,
- The game Dragon, which told me there was an audience for games set in the Dragaera-verse.
Where'd you get the nifty background image of the Cycle that you use on this page?
I found this on the excellent Dragaera wiki page for the Cycle. It's by an artist(s) named Zigraphix. I am assuming the letters "CCNC" attached to it mean "Creative Commons Non-Commercial," so I have adapted it for my needs here. If you're the creator of this, and I'm using it incorrectly, please let me know.
Obligatory attribution blurb
Obviously, Dragaera is copyright Steven Brust. I'm just doing this as a fan, and I make no profit off the LARPs I write.