Oh hey I haven’t done one of these for May. Is this because I got the application out and immediately collapsed? Only sort of. But, I’m stuck at home, so let’s write a bunch. (And at least I’ve remembered that BCC is a thing, so there’s that.) I’ve got a summary of the last month or so, some musings about the far future, current projects and a question, so read on!

Eee Hee Hee >:3c
In between staring at the apps coming in like a click-starved content creator, I’ve been having a LOT of fun building the back end of the larp up on AirTable. I’m most familiar with the Google suite of nonsense for assembling games, and am certainly still using it, but I was introduced to AirTable by Greg Munder (hi Greg!) who used it to create The Most Handy Harpy Tool Ever a chron or two ago in Ye Olde MES’s VtM game, and is currently managing the back end of an Edwardian letter larp with it. The ability to make dedicated workspaces with mutliple project bases that can be linked to one another is very cool – all my spreadsheets can talk to one another, it’s so pretty. As everyone’s applications come in, I can link them directly to my character database and begin considering who would be a good fit where. I’m also tracking props (some of y’all are getting blinged out), statuses/powers, relationships and so forth. It makes keeping track of player interests and creating relationship webs very easy, and I’ve set up a plugin that will let me automate exporting a 1 page character summary sheet for initial casting.

Which I am not technically doing, of course.

FOR SIX WEEKS.

T__T

It’s fine I’m fine everything’s fine.

A Good Problem To Have
Which brings us back to applications. Right now I’m looking at about 100 applications for a 38 person game, and I know some of y’all are procrastinators who I am not personally bullying into submitting the applications. This is fine! June 30th is June 30th. But however the next month and a half goes, casting is going to be tough, and I need to actively think about a second run.

I’ve been batting around November 2024 for this, but idk about y’all but my 2024 is already filling up. I also, frankly, want to see how this shit goes before I set it all up again, so I’m leaning toward the same general time 2025. Assuming all goes well in Pittsburgh, repeating the game there is certainly possible, but there’s a space in Brooklyn that I was eyeing for this run which has better accessibility and is bigger. (Could not solve for stairs on the current run, sorry folks.) This would mean the option of a bigger game, but also the necessity of a bigger game to meet operating costs. 
This run I’m meeting costs by reserving the game site and a secondary staff house on AirBnB and incorporating higher price point tickets that include room and board. The Brooklyn site has no on-site lodging so it’s hotels all the way down, and this would ultimately put more cost on attendees (and me, to fund staff), as even the most expensive inclusive Pittsburgh tickets should be cheaper than the base ticket + a hotel room. The Pittsburgh run will be a good way to get a sense of how I’m doing with scaling the thing up, so we’ll see.

Updates Yet To Come
But! Back to the present. I’ve reserved the sites and started ordering in props. Once some of those come in, I’ll start creating some kind of content to introduce you to those props and other elements of the game. I’ve gotten some good inspiration for base character seeds from the interest survey and applications, so thank you everybody for that!

And Now A Question

I remain uninterested in using this larp for personal profit (I do not own the Locked Tomb so it would be inappropriate anyway) but I’m considering a run of t-shirts/stickers etc, both for staff and for y’all if it sounds interesting. I have the nifty FIDES GLORIUM AMOR MORS design which is well suited for it. Money could go to having some extra cash on hand for Exciting Surprise Costs at the event, and any money left over would go to charity. (I’m in the beginning stages of looking at charities – prioritizing the rights and health of the LGBTQ+ community is certainly foremost in my mind.)

So yeah. Do you want JoV merch? Also, if anyone has experience with Redbubble vs Zazzle and the like, I am open to advice!