This means that most of the conflict will occur between players and monsters<\/p>\n\n\n
While group backgrounds are accepted as a way of facilitating linked backstories, groups are not intended to function as autonomous units competing against each other, or the band as a whole, for resources.<\/p>\n\n\n
It would be very difficult to have a LARP without some element of IC conflict, particularly a LARP about the adventures of a mercenary band. The ways that conflict involving combat can go wrong are fairly obvious and covered in the combat safety rules, but social conflict also has the potential to turn from a source of entertainment to something that sours the experience for those involved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This often happens where the lines between IC and OOC are blurred: IC conflict begins to spill over into OOC bad feeling, OOC conflict is played out in IC interactions, or participants misread each other\u2019s intentions, assuming IC actions indicate OOC dislike. It can also happen when roleplayed aggression or opposition are done in a way that is uncomfortable for the target player or make it more difficult for them to access or engage with the game.<\/p>\n\n\n
Some character types and backgrounds are likely to make other characters perceive you with suspicion; for example broken chain and line breaker vartach, the Weeping, and peaceslayers will be regarded with varying degrees of suspicion or hostility by some or all of the other characters they meet, If you don\u2019t think you\u2019ll enjoy this aspect of the game, consider playing a different character type. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Similarly, taking certain actions IC (e.g. breaking an oath, joining a heretical cult) are likely to result in IC conflict if they are discovered. And, as in real life, if your character is habitually rude or abrasive, they\u2019re likely to end up having more arguments. It\u2019s easy to focus on what makes sense for your background or what makes a good story, but consider whether you\u2019ll enjoy playing through the consequences before making controversial choices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019ve made choices that have made your game less fun to play, don\u2019t let \u201cwhat my character would do\u201d stand in the way of changing what you do IC to make the game more fun for you as a player. If that\u2019s not possible or won\u2019t resolve the situation, you have the option to retire at any time and make a fresh start.<\/p>\n\n\n
Keeping information on a need to know basis is sensible in many real life situations, but when applied to LARP it can make everyone\u2019s game experience a little worse (everyone who knows how to deal with this threat is on their monster slot, or worse, died without telling anyone) and some people\u2019s experience a lot worse (new people are left feeling bored, or worse, like they\u2019re being excluded from a clique). The game can be better for everyone when we look for opportunities to bring people into the loop (even if it\u2019s not our first thought for what our characters would do)<\/p>\n\n\n
Avoid engaging in conflict with someone you\u2019re angry at OOC, or if you\u2019re in a state (stress, pain, etc) where you don\u2019t feel you\u2019re able to moderate your roleplay; if a monster brief would put you in this situation, let your ref know and we will recast the role. If there\u2019s someone you don\u2019t feel comfortable having IC antagonistic interactions with when one of you is monstering for the foreseeable future, you can let the Event Team know in advance by email.<\/p>\n\n\n
If you are engaged in a dramatic confrontation with another character, then consider your relative sizes, particularly if the other person is not someone you know well. If you are taller or have a bigger build than someone you are talking to, then you can reduce the impact of your size by keeping an arm’s length distance or more between you. If you are confronting someone in a tent or other enclosed space, make sure that you don’t block the only exit from the area.<\/p>\n\n\n
It\u2019s easy to get swept up in the moment or focus on your character\u2019s goals or feelings in a situation and miss the signs that another player is having a bad time. Checking in with the other participant in the IC conflict, either in the moment or afterwards, can be helpful. In the moment, this could take the form of using the check in signal (detailed below). Afterwards, checking in could look like approaching the player OOC and asking them how they\u2019re feeling about the IC conflict..<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even if you think that the other player is enjoying themselves, it\u2019s worth having a chat with them about it OOC; at worst it helps prevent misunderstandings, at best you could find that the player of your fiercest rival could be your new best friend.<\/p>\n\n\n
If you\u2019re feeling annoyed or stressed about the situation, or the other person seems to be feeling overwhelmed (e.g. they left the situation after using the lay off call) allow some time to pass before approaching them to check in (e.g. until the next mealtime or until time out). <\/p>\n\n\n
These are not IC effects, but OOC indicators that can be used without breaking the game flow.<\/p>\n\n\n
If an IC situation is getting too intense, loud, or otherwise outside your Out of Character comfort zone, you can use the call \u201clay off\u201d to indicate to the other player to dial it back, or indicate this non-verbally by making an \u201cL\u201d shape with your hand, with your thumb and index finger clearly visible. Conversely, if you are enjoying an intense situation you may use the \u201cBring it on\u201d call to indicate to the other player that you are happy to continue in the current vein.<\/p>\n\n\n
If someone hasn\u2019t used the lay-off signal but you\u2019re concerned about whether they\u2019re feeling OOC uncomfortable, you can use the check-in signal to quickly check in with them without breaking the flow of the game. To do this, use the call \u201cCheck-in\u201d and\/or make eye contact with the other player and make a closed fist with your thumb extended sideways (as in, halfway between a thumbs up and thumbs down)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If someone uses this signal, respond either by giving a thumbs up\u201d or using the \u201cBring it on\u201d call to indicate you\u2019re willing to continue, or using \u201cLay Off\u201d call\/signal or a thumbs down to indicate that you want them to reduce their intensity.<\/p>\n\n\n
If conflict with another player character is making it difficult for you to enjoy or engage with the game, tell them how you\u2019re feeling. You might use the \u201cLay off\u201d call in the moment or take them to one side afterward. If it\u2019s a pattern of interactions over time, this might need a more extended conversation outside of active gameplay. Give them the benefit of the doubt and approach the conversation assuming that the conflict was intended to be purely IC and that the other person will want to resolve the situation in a way that works for everyone. This advice assumes that the behaviour that\u2019s causing a problem for you isn\u2019t something that\u2019s a breach of the code of conduct (e.g. racism, sexual harassment). If you are dealing with behaviour of this kind you are under no obligation to assume good faith or try to resolve it yourself, and are encouraged to speak to a member of the Event Team.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If someone approaches you to let you know that your roleplay is causing stress or problems for them, try to approach it without defensiveness. Don\u2019t try to argue about whether your actions were reasonable, especially with the justification of \u201cit\u2019s what my character would do\u201d. Even if your actions would have been acceptable to other players, or even this player at another time, they are telling you that they had a bad time and don\u2019t want to have that kind of interaction with you right now, and trying to persuade them otherwise is going to cause further problems. Empathise, apologise, ask questions to make sure you understand what went wrong in the interaction, and don\u2019t interact with them in that way again. In many situations, this will be enough and you can both move on, but where the situation that the characters were in conflict over is ongoing or they\u2019re likely to oppose each other again, it\u2019s a good idea to plan how you\u2019re going to approach it so that you\u2019re both comfortable and able to engage with the game as players, even if one or both of your characters are angry or miserable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your attempts to address a situation like this with another player or players do not result in a satisfactory resolution, speak to a member of the Event Team for advice.<\/p>\n\n\n Nora is a new character, whose player is also new to the game, played as an ambitious upstart. Odhran is an established character, played by an experienced player, and an officer in the band, played as a cautious strategist. During one of Nora\u2019s first attempts at being in command on a mission, things went wrong in a way that wasn\u2019t entirely Nora\u2019s fault, and an IC friend of Odhran\u2019s died. Odhran was angry about this IC and blamed Nora, telling any character that would listen that Nora is a loose cannon that shouldn\u2019t be trusted. Because Odhran is an officer and their player is established and pretty charismatic, they end up convincing a lot of other characters of their views, and Nora starts finding it difficult to get information about what\u2019s going on, or to get involved in plot because of other characters\u2019 distrust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If everyone focused on doing \u201cwhat my character would do\u201d, this could very easily turn into a messy situation where one player makes another\u2019s game very dull and frustrating by accident, but if Odhran\u2019s player checks in with Nora\u2019s or vice versa, there are lots of ways of resolving the situation so that everyone gets to engage with the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s often easiest to resolve the situation by dialling back or ending the dynamic without any discussion of it IC; Odhran\u2019s player could simply reduce the frequency or intensity of IC actions that are causing the problem or stop them altogether without drawing attention to it IC, if necessary telling others who are involved to do the same (e.g. Odhran no longer tells others not to trust Nora,and asks other players who are actively involved to quietly drop the issue) <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, if both players agree, it\u2019s possible to come up with a way of playing the conflict out IC that could be fun for both them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The two players could come up with some IC justification for the feud to end. This could be as simple as Odhran deciding that it\u2019s wiser to watch and wait, giving Nora the space and opportunity to prove them right. They could ask another character whose player gets on with Nora\u2019s OOC to watch them, agreeing with them that the OOC intention is that this character will be less intense about it or an active accomplice to Nora. Or maybe Odhran could reconsider their first impression (possibly prompted by a planned confrontation with Nora) and conclude that to fulfil their oaths to the band, they need to give Nora a fair chance to prove them wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If both players wanted to do so, the dynamic could be maintained with a twist; Odhran remains suspicious of Nora, but instead of keeping them out of sensitive matters, drags them into every meeting or secret mission they\u2019re part of, just to \u201ckeep an eye\u201d on them. Nora could endure this grudgingly or make it their mission to prove themselves, either way there\u2019s a foundation for many events of interpersonal drama that doesn\u2019t keep Nora\u2019s player out of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n We all like to tell war stories at meet-ups and discord \u201cHots and Nots\u201d threads about what our characters did at events, and because we experience the world through our characters we tend to be a little biased in how we tell these stories, whether we mean to or not. This isn\u2019t really a problem when we overestimate how many monsters we slew single handed, but when we\u2019re talking about someone else\u2019s player character it can become a problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s important to make a distinction here between talking about something privately (e.g talking to the two people sharing a car with you on the way back from an event) and talking publicly (e.g. saying it on the discord server, saying it at a crowded table at a post event froth). The distinction between the two isn\u2019t always clear, but generally, the more people you\u2019re talking to (or could see\/overhear what you say) the more careful you need to be.<\/p>\n\n\n If you\u2019re involved with an ongoing conflict with another PC (e.g. you\u2019re both in the running for the same officer position, you\u2019re planning to declare them to be an oathbreaker or vice versa), telling your side of the story to other players OOC might bias their IC decisions, consciously or otherwise. <\/p>\n\n\n It\u2019s not against the rules to mislead or lie to other characters IC, but when you continue to lie explicitly OOC to back your character up, other players will often give you the benefit of the doubt when their characters wouldn\u2019t because they assume they\u2019ve been told the real answer OOC. They are likely to be unhappy about this when it finally does come out because that wasn\u2019t your character lying to their character, that was you lying to them.<\/p>\n\n\n When you\u2019re in the flow of telling a story, it\u2019s easy to stop making sharp distinctions between you and your character, and other people and their characters. When you\u2019re describing another player(s character) in negative terms and this happens, you can effectively end up badmouthing them to your mutual friends whether you intend to do so or not. This could end up having a negative impact on their reputation, or on yours. <\/p>\n\n\n Maybe you do have a problem with the player or how they\u2019re handling the conflict and you want to vent about it to someone. Talking this out with a friend can sometimes be helpful to put things into perspective, but if you\u2019re discussing this in public it\u2019s likely to escalate the situation and make it harder to resolve it with the other player. If you find yourself ranting OOC about the same player\/character\/conflict to multiple people, you need to stop and either speak to the other player or to a member of the event team about the issue. <\/p>\n\n\n What kind of IC conflict is expected in Five Oaths Five Oaths is intended to be primarily a PvE (Player vs Environment) game.\u00a0 This means that most of the conflict will occur between players and monsters Some PvP (Player vs Player) conflict is expected, but should not be the main focus Group vs Group conflicts… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":28,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiveoaths.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1206"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiveoaths.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiveoaths.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiveoaths.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiveoaths.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1206"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fiveoaths.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1230,"href":"https:\/\/fiveoaths.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1206\/revisions\/1230"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiveoaths.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiveoaths.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}For example (very deliberately not based on any situation we know about)<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n
Discussing IC Conflict OOC<\/h2>\n\n\n
Discussing IC conflict becomes a problem when:<\/h4>\n\n
You could gain an IC advantage<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n
You\u2019re Lying<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n
It sounds like you\u2019re talking about the player rather than the character<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n
You\u2019re feeling annoyed\/frustrated about the conflict<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n
Guidelines to avoid problems with discussing IC Conflict OOC<\/h3>\n\n
Don\u2019t discuss conflict in a public forum (e.g. post event froth, Discord) if:<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n
\n
If you are discussing the conflict in a public forum:<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n
\n