Build Your Own Game (BYOG) Seminars

Start with a seminar by an experienced writer on how to write LARP. Gather the group of writers, new and experienced, in a room after the seminar, to brainstorm potential LARP scenarios and ideas, from silly to serious. Pick a concept. Then, on a Saturday morning, have those writers start plotting. Throw out ideas for characters, conflict, and things that any LARPer would love to chew on in a game. Have brilliant ideas. Then start writing and keep writing until the LARP is done, because, on Sunday afternoon, players are going to show up to play the new LARP.

That's how you Build Your Own Game (BYOG). (Don't believe us? Check out these gory details! Or these!)

These events started at the southern Intercons, and produced some notable games like Buses Welcome and Collision Imminent!. Brought to New England by avid LARP writers, BYOG events continue to produce notable games, as illustrated in the table below.

There are a lot of reasons to come to a BYOG and write a new LARP over a weekend:

• If you've never written a LARP before, this is a great way to learn how to write one. No experience is necessary - just a computer and a willingness to write late into the night. Sure, there's a bit of sleep-deprivation and a lot of caffeine, but it's also a lot of fun.

• If you've written a LARP or two, this is a great way to see how others do it. Who knows what you'll learn to improve your own process, even as you add another LARP to your resume?

• If you've written several LARPs, this remains a great way to see how others do it and to learn. It's also an opportunity for you to teach us the clever things you've learned about your writing process. It helps the BYOG event to have a couple of experienced writers in the mix, so please volunteer!

As you can see from the table, these events don't have to happen at a convention or a conference. If you have a group of people interested in learning how to write a LARP, NEIL may be able to arrange yet another BYOG event for you and your group. We know a lot of people who love talking about writing LARP.