Why Stop Play?

I've been mulling over how, in every game I've played, LARP or RPG, play stops disconcertingly when combat begins. Every LARP I've played has been punctuated by the huge amount of resources needed to resolve even the simplest violence in-game. This sucks the action out of virtually everything else. You chara doesn't have combat skills? You get the sidelines.

How can I change that for The Unseen? Simple.

Every combat ends in one round catastrophically. There won't be any calculations and both parties will suffer either severely or devastatingly. Why? Well, given the setting, these beings are incredibly powerful and it only stands to reason that when they act it is decisive. Likewise, unlike LARPs I've been in, this makes combat bloody, dangerous and horrific. It won't be 'clash of the bad-asses.' One round and everything is over, short and sweet.

It follows the ideal: don't own a gun unless you plan to carry it; don't carry a gun unless you plan to bring it out; don't bring out a gun unless you are going to shoot it; don't shoot a gun unless you aim at a person; and don't shoot at anyone unless you plan to kill them. Basic gun safety.

On the other side, death isn't possible. Anyone worth playing is immortal in the classical sense. This will force participants to find other ways to destroy each other, far more interesting ways, much more secretive and Machiavellian ways. The whole point of the game, after all.

This is how I plan to emphasize the horror, underscore the hidden machinations and limit the number of breaks in the game play. I bet I think I'm sooo smart.

Fang