Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: narrow focus events
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 11:53:20 -0500

    Tom Peregrin said:
>Some of the recent discussions on the net have given me an idea. 
>I am going to explore the idea of a series of narrow focus events 
>with a moving time frame.  
 
    Tom, that sounds truly spectacular. You and I are moving towards 
similar goals from different angles and I would dearly love to see 
your project succeed. I would like to offer any help that I can. At 
the least, I ought to make a good sounding board for implementing the 
concept. 
 
    I conceived of and implemented most of the narrow focus events 
Angharad referred to. Two were held in "Oxwich-on-Plain", a ficticious 
town along the English Channel. One was "post Golden Hinde and pre 
Armada", the other was "May 30, 1592". We actually set up the town and 
populated it for a day, both times.
 
    I also ran a Boccaccio-inspired retreat from the Pestilence with a 
time and place of "Atlantia, 1350". It had some mild fantasy elements 
involving death and the afterlife but, by God, NO ONE talked about 
their PCs for over 8 hours. 
 
    You will find that, if you can clearly communicate your plans and 
involve people locally, a narrow-focus event will receive enthusiastic 
acceptance. The trick is to correctly set expectations in advance. 
Those who aren't interested won't come. Those who are will with a 
vengeance. I was frankly astonished by how much support I received. I 
expected to attract a small fringe element and found I had keyed 
directly into what a lot of people had always wanted. 
                                                   
    10 in a year? Woof! That's too many eras too fast for most 
SCAdians to learn on their own. You might solve that with background 
information packages on the time. Jeff Sussman (sp?) has made some 
wonderful progress in that area. You might check with him or Aryk to 
see what's involved.       
 
    The events I have run have been extremely information intensive. 
Not only was each person asked to have a persona, but that persona was 
integrated into the town. The personas had a contextual existance. We 
had multiple plot threads running all day, too. I found the experience 
incredibly draining and fell sick within 2 days after each event. I 
cannot imagine doing more than 2 in a year using my present style.
 
    The two events I am involved with now are exercises in delegation 
and distribution of ownership. If I can learn to do that better, I 
will pick up where I left off on Muse of Fire.
 
    Oops, undefined term. "Muse of Fire" is the name I am using to 
describe my style of persona events. I gather that the Enchanted 
Ground approach springs from authenticity of environment. Wonderful 
as it is, it tends to exist as a subset retreat within a larger 
event. The Muse of Fire approach depends on a full group agreement to 
suspend disbelief and be willing to try, even if you look stupid. 
Authentic elements in the physical environment are fully appreciated 
but are an extra luxury. The term comes from the prologue of Henry V, 
which sums up my approach exactly and far better than I ever will. 
 
> but we wouldn't want anybody to be Richard III, for example. 
 
    Don't be too sure. We cast Hossein as the Earl of Chesterfield, 
Elizabeth's Attorney General, for our second trip into Oxwich. He was 
there to investigate charges of smuggling and corruption in the 
township. Worked like a champ and contributed greatly to the plot. No 
problems beyond the usual when people hit Greg in pompous mode. No one 
had problems with me casting a known historical figure, per se. It is 
logical to assume that some historical-themed events are simply going 
to require historical figures to work properly. 
    
    I and a good friend are tossing around the idea of an event that 
mandates casting at least Cortez and Montezuma. (That's why I asked 
you guys about Aztec chocolate recipes...) No, we have NO plans to 
hold a sequel event called "Montezuma's Revenge" but thank you so 
much for asking.
 
>Towards the end we might break period to discuss what we have 
>learned, but for a while it would be "persona-only". 
 
    My dream is to hold an event on a 3 day weekend. Saturday would be 
for setup, briefings, and classes. Sunday would be the persona day. 
Monday would be for feedback and breakdown. Here's the magic trick, 
the part that I am excited about. Saturday evening, we set the 
expectation: when you wake up in the morning, you will be (persona 
name) in the town of (place) and the date will be (date and year). 
    
    This is based on an article I read once, don't remember where, in 
which the author described taking a nap at an event with the idea of 
waking up with suspension of disbelief in effect. That is all very 
nice; but you can count on someone ruining it for you within an hour. 
What if EVERYONE at an event did this AT THE SAME TIME? with a day's 
prep to reach concensus on a GROUP REALITY? I want to try it. 
    
    Aryk? Would you please report on the Tabard Inn project? I have 
read the handouts from both the Chaucer and Elizabeth events and I am 
way impressed. I understand that you guys have stepped out of the SCA 
to make your events happen the way you want them. I want to know what 
the gains and losses have been.
    
                                  Henry Best, Isenfir, Atlantia

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca