Death of an Archmage

Death of an Archmage

Location

Los Angeles area

Genre

fantasy/murder mystery

Conflict resolution system

Theater Stlye

Duration

4-6 hours?

Date run

27 August, 1988

Number of participants

approximately 10-15

Credits

Scott Martin/Michael D. Selinker

Summary

Death of an Archmage was Enigma's first live role-playing event. Scott Martin adapted and expanded a tabletop RPG scenario for use in a live setting. The scenario, "Death of an Arch-Mage" was written by Michael D. Selinker and published in issue #111 (July 1986) of TSR's Dragon magazine, and was intended for use with TSR's AD&D fantasy role-playing game.

A post-game report exists in the unnumbered, undated "Technical Difficulties" issue of Enigmata, Enigma's journal (probably published Fall 1988). It outlines the details of the plot, and praises/criticizes the various players for their ability/inability to stay in character. Little about the mechanics are described, but the author does note that "I did use some spells."

Learnings

Despite the inevitable weaknesses present in a LARP both written and played by newcomers to live gaming, the report notes that everyone "involved had a good time, which perhaps encouraged us to have another one soon, perhaps in fall quarter. With more time to prepare, and with this first experience under our belts, we should be at second level for the next one."

That second game did indeed occur, and then many others, making the exploration and development of LARP a primary focus of the group for many years.