Running A Magic Horizons Demo

<BODY BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#C0C0C0" LINK="#FFFF00" VLINK="#808080"> <TABLE WIDTH="400" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0"> <TR> <TD> <P ALIGN="CENTER"><IMG SRC="../images/mhb1.jpg" ALT="Magic Horizons Title Graphic" ALIGN="BOTTOM" WIDTH="398" HEIGHT="162"></P> <H2>Running A <EM>Magic Horizons</EM> Demo</H2> <P>Demos (demonstrations) are a good way to get publicity for <EM>Magic Horizons</EM>, and to get publicity at either a convention or a gaming store.</P> <P>If you're running a convention or game store, and would like a <EM>Magic Horizons</EM> demo at your convention, email the <A HREF="officers.html#pr" TARGET="_top">Public Relations Officer</A> with information about when and where, and he'll see what can be arranged.</P> <HR> <DL> <DT><A HREF="#Why" TARGET="_top">Why Run A Demo?</A></DT> <DT><A HREF="#what" TARGET="Main">What Do I Need To Run A Demo?</A></DT> <DT><A HREF="#how" TARGET="Main">How Do I Run A Demo?</A></DT> <DT><A HREF="#considerations" TARGET="Main">Important Considerations</A></DT></DL> <HR> <H4><A NAME="Why"></A>Why Run A Demo?</H4> <P>Running a world course LARP requires a certain threshold of people to keep the game active and viable. Regular players will, over the course of time, move away, get jobs that conflict with the game, or have family commitments that keep them from playing.</P> <P>If a world-course LARP is to survive for the long term, a constant influx of new players is needed. New players keep the game from stagnating, as they attempt to carve their own niche in the established order.</P> <P>The best way to get new players into the game is to give them a taste of the game, and tell them where the next game day will be.</P> <H4><A NAME="what"></A>What Do I Need To Run A Demo?</H4> <P>To run a demo, you need the following items:</P> <UL> <LI>An enclosed space that's large enough to fight in, and marked carefully to designate the fighting area. Flagging tape is a good idea if you can drive stakes. Otherwise, a cordon of chairs works well for indoor sites.</LI> <LI>At least a pair, and preferably three, competent fighters who can give the safety briefing. </LI> <LI>Enough safety-checked weapons for two students per fighter running the demo.</LI> <LI>Either an <EM>enclosure waiver</EM>, clearly marked as such, or a stack of individual waivers. An enclosure waiver can be as simple as signs around the fighting area that say "Enter at your own risk. The International Fantasy Gaming Society and the operators abstain from all liability for injury or personal loss from entering this event. By entering this area, you are agreeing to these conditions." The stack of individual waivers is (legally) a safer bet. Safer still is to have both. Depending on the demo, IFGS' insurance may or may not cover it. Unless you have specifically been told otherwise, assume that the IFGS' insurance policy doesn't cover it.</LI> <LI>Minors should <EM>always</EM> have an individual waiver filled out by their parent or legal guardian. Ideally, their parent or legal guardian should be there at the demo with them.</LI> <LI>A sign in sheet. Make sure that each person who signs in gives you the following: <UL> <LI>Their name</LI> <LI>Their mailing address, including zip code</LI> <LI>Their telephone number, including area code.</LI> <LI>Their email address if they have one.</LI></UL></LI> <LI>A flyer, describing what <EM>Magic Horizons</EM> is, ordering information for the rulebooks, contact information for the public relations officer, a schedule of upcoming games, and directions to the game sites. A sample is provided here, in <A HREF="../docs/flyer.txt">ASCII text</A><A HREF="../docs/flyer.rtf">Microsoft Rich Text Format</A>, <A HREF="../docs/flyer.doc">Microsoft Word 7.0 For Windows</A> and <A HREF="../docs/flyer.mcw">Microsoft Word 4.0 For Macintosh</A>. Clicking on any of these links will download the file to your computer, where they can be printed out at your liesure.</LI></UL> <HR> <P><FONT SIZE="5"><EM>Minors should <STRONG>always</STRONG> have an individual waiver filled out by their parents. </EM></FONT></P> <HR> <H4><A NAME="how"></A>How Do I Run A Demo?</H4> <P>The first step to running a demo is to get an audience. The best way to get an audience is to have the two (or more) fighters spar for about 15 minutes. This attracts attention.</P> <P>Once you have an audience, pick out two students per fighter (take adults before you take children), have them sign into the guest book, then give them the safety lecture. </P> <P> Once you've given them the safety lecture, put a weapon in their hand and let them hit you for calibration shots. A Nerf mace is a good calibration weapon; it's much easier to find people who'll have problems with force of blows with that weapon -- and it's better that they hit their trainer too hard than hit the other students too hard and cause an escalation in blow force.</P> <P>Take the students into the arena, and let them fight, one on one, or two on two. The trainers should watch the fighting, and be prepared to stop it on a heartbeat if they see anything that might even hint at becoming unsafe. For the start, give all the students 10 hit points and doing base weapon damage.</P> <P>Once the students are comfortable with calling shots and taking damage, the trainers should enter the ring and face off against the students, with one standing outside and working as a marshal. The hit points of the students should go up; the odds should be balanced such that the trainers will be winning about 60% of the fights, with the losses being close. People who do demos to beat on unskilled fighters for the ego boost shouldn't be doing demos. The object is for the students to have fun, and to make them want to come back. The best way to get them to come back is to make them feel like they have a chance.</P> <P>Once they've had their time through the arena, give each of the students a flyer, and start on the next batch. </P> <P>As the day goes on, you'll have repeat customers. If any of them are getting bored sitting through the safety lecture with each class, have them give the safety lecture, under trainer supervision. If you have enough students, consider teaching a few of them incants and spellcasting.</P> <H4><A NAME="considerations"></A>Important Considerations</H4> <P>After each batch of students, check the weapons for safety. Retire or field repair any weapons which are unsafe. Make sure that weapons don't walk off.</P> <P>Two weeks before the next game, go through the demo sign-in sheet and send out post cards to all participants; the post cards should have the address, times and costs of the next game day on them. If there's a lot of time between your demo and the next game day, send a card two weeks after the demo, and a second one two weeks before the next game day. </P> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0"> <TR> <TD><A><IMG SRC="../images/left_h.jpg" ALT="Left End Of Scroll Bar" WIDTH="32" HEIGHT="116"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../info/info_toc.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../images/info_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Logistics]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="45" HEIGHT="116" NAME="info"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../game/game_toc.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../images/game_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Game Info]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="60" HEIGHT="116" NAME="game"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../misc/misc_toc.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../images/misc_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Miscellaneous Information]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="62" HEIGHT="116" NAME="misc"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../faq.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../images/faq_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Frequently Asked Questions]" BORDER="0" WIDTH="58" HEIGHT="116" NAME="faq"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../new.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../images/new_h_n.jpg" ALT="[What's New]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="52" HEIGHT="116" NAME="whatsNew"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../index.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../images/home_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Magic Horizons Home Page]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="59" HEIGHT="116" NAME="home"></A></TD> <TD><IMG SRC="../images/right_h.jpg" ALT="Right End Of Scroll Bar" WIDTH="22" HEIGHT="116"></TD></TR></TABLE> <P>Problems with the page? 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