Resources
Freeform articles and other resources
These are links to freeform articles that we've found on the Internet. There are lots of LARPing articles around, but few are really appropriate for freeforms. If you know of any other freeform articles, please link them here.
General Freeform Articles
- A big list of freeforms/larps Not really an article, but a good list of freeforms and larps.
- So what's all this freeform business then? Brian Williams explains his view of freeforming.
- The LARP Developer’s Resource by Theresa Ford. This is a long discussion of how to write and run a freeform – but they do things differently in Australia.
- The difference between LARP and freeform by Steve Hatherley
- Here's Mo's take on what we mean by "freeform".
- "American Freeform" Lizzie Stark announces something called "American Freeform", which is different but similar.
- Nordic Larps are Toss Tony's love letter to Nordic Larp
- Freeform Roleplaying Dave Wake's reflections on freeforming in Birmingham in the 80s.
- Description of Larps using Textual Parameters Laura Wood's proposal for a meaningful way to describe larps.
Blogs about freeforms and larps
Writing Freeforms
The following articles are aimed at people writing freeforms.
- Writing Freeform Larps by Steve Hatherley - a book about writing freeforms.
- The Freeform Writing Process by Steve Hatherley is a step-by-step guide to the whole process of writing a freeform.
- Writing Plots for Freeforms by Steve Hatherley. Plots in more detail.
- Expanding plots by Steve Hatherley
- Writing Freeform Characters by Steve Hatherley
- Character Sheets thoughts on freeform character sheets by Steve Hatherley
- Creating Optional Characters by Steve Hatherley
- The Big List of Plots. Compiled from the uk-freeforms list.
- Writing an optional character for a Freeform Games murder mystery game from the Freeform Games blog
- Peaky 2013, Venice, and What Happened in Blackpool by Steve Hatherley. Thoughts on Peaky 2013.
- Writing optional characters for Freeform Games
- 25 Things a Great Character Needs - aimed at novels (etc), just as relevant for freeforms.
- Plug and Play Character Improvements Simple plug-and-play ideas for character improvements
- Updating old freeforms Steve's notes on updating All at Sea for Freeform Games
- Writing Goals Steve's approach to writing character goals
- So you want to write a larp: LARP Theory 101 by Jeff Diewald. Excellent.
- I will never larp again Problems in larp, and fixing them.
- Creating a freeform economy Money in freeforms, by Steve
- Diversity Cheat Sheets by Emory and Rei
Rules for Freeforms
The following are ideas for freeform rules and mechanics:
- Romance various romance rules used in Freeforms
- Rules for Locations from Freeform Games
- Solving in-game crimes by Steve (and somewhat superseded by "Crime and Punishment" below.
- The trouble with pickpocketing by Steve Hatherley
- Freeform Games' standard rules including combat, poison and capturing.
- Crime and punishment Solving crimes in freeforms, by Steve
- Ability Strips A quick and dirty way of adding abilities to freeforms, by Steve
Running Freeforms
- Research requests - the good and the bad and what to do about it, by Steve Hatherley
- Players are Scum by Tony Mitton. Find out why…
- GMs are bastards by QueenorTart. A followup to Players are Scum.
- The Ten Commandments of Directing a LARP by Sandy Petersen. Fabulous piece on how to run (or direct) a freeform. Memorise this – it’s all good stuff.
- How to run a post-larp debrief by Lizzie Stark contains some excellent ideas
- Creating a crowd out of unused characters An idea for what to do next time your freeform isn't fully booked
Playing Freeforms
- Downtime by Charlie Paull. What to do during those quiet moments.
- The Newbie's Guide to Surviving a Larp... A newcomer's view of freeforms by Kirstine
- Potential Problems in LARPS. Another great piece from Sandy Petersen about some of the problems of being a player in freeforms.
Reviews and Post-Game Analysis
- Things I learned from running Torch of Freedom by Steve Hatherley. Lessons to be learned from running a weekend freeform.
- Lessons from Tombstone by Steve Hatherley. More lessons to be learned from running a weekend freeform.
- Bread for the Brothel - Reflecting on a plot that fizzled by Steve
- Reflecting on Tombstone 2016 by Steve
- Siege of Troy First of two posts discussing the 2016 run of Siege of Troy on Fair Escape.
- Shogun: Steve's review of Shogun in 2018
- Torch of Freedom: The trouble with revolutions, run for a third time in 2019.
- Tutankhamun: Steve on 2020's Tutankhamun.
Miscellany
Articles that didn’t really fit anywhere else.
- Starting your own Peaky Writing Weekend - tips for starting your own Peaky writing weekend
- As LARP Grows Up A collection of intellectual essays and discussion about live action roleplaying in general.
- The Ball of Yarn Interesting.
- Larps from the Factory - a review.
- Play with Intent Sort of structured freeform games with improv techniques. Sort of.
- Freeform Apps Apps for freeforms
- Being responsible for UK Freeforms Steve recalls the origins of UK Freeforms
More Lists of Articles
- Society for Interactive Literature West has articles about game design.
- The Shakespeare Eclectic Science Fiction Interactive Theatre has a good selection of scenarios and articles.
Tips for online freeforms (ideal for coronavirus lockdown)
- Online Freeforms See this page for resources about online freeforms
Other links
- Unisex names for gender neutral characters
- Wikipedia's unisex names - more unisex names
- Story Games Names Project lots of great ideas for names from different cultures
- TV Tropes is "a catalog of the tricks of the trade for writing fiction" that we can also use to write freeforms.
- DocFetcher a free utility for indexing and searching within files - invaluable when editing freeforms and you need to find where you referenced a particular plot/character/widget.
- Online RPG Card Generator a free online card generator
- Magic Set Editor a free offline card generator
page revision: 90, last edited: 05 Apr 2023 10:08