Mechanics and rules

Off game rules and mechanics

• Listen to your co-players!
• Respect other people’s boundaries, and clearly communicate your own!
• Players are always more important than the game!
• It doesn’t matter if you struggle with rules, you can always go off-game to ask. Before the game we will also do a run-through of the rules.

Stopping a scene: RED/RÖTT

Grums By Night will use RED/RÖTT as safe words. If something happens that you don’t want to do or play on, you use the safe word RED/RÖTT and the scene will end immediately. If you, the player, need to go off game and talk it through with the other player, do so, or talk to one of the organizers who will be on the floor as the Prince’s ghouls. We are always available for off game talk.

Checking in: GREN/GRÖNT

If you are unsure about something you are doing (for example threatening another character) you can ask them GREEN? (GRÖNT?) in a low voice. They can then answer GREEN/GRÖNT in response, and it is ok to continue the scene. If the answer is RED/RÖTT do not continue, ask the player that said the word what they need. Go of game and talk if needed. GREEN/GRÖNT can also be used to communicate to a co-player that you are comfortable in the current scene and that you would like it yo continue (for instance if they are threatening you).

Pre-scene negotiation

Negotiate scenes with heavier content before you play them. This applies to for instance scenes with violence, sexual content, etc. If unsure – negotiate. This is done by going out of character, either in the off-game area, or just a bit away for other players, and talking about what you want to do and how. We will not provide a set method for this, we trust our players to clearly state their own boundaries, as well as respecting other players stated boundaries.

In game rules and mechanics

Prince Agrippa is known for their ability to disguise themselves as others. In the larp, this ability will pose as a meta-technique represented by The Necklace of Agrippa, that allows you to play the Prince for a short time period. The Necklace is meant as a meta technique to allow you as a player to up your conflict and drama, and drag other people into it. It is a fun plaything. And, as all nice things, it should be used wizely and shared with others.

Playing Prince Agrippa

The Necklace of Agrippa sits on their throne. Any player can wear The Necklace. If someone wears it, it is an off-game sign to everyone else that they are actually The Prince in disguise, but your character does not know it is the Prince.

Wearing The Necklace and Playing Agrippa is a tool for seeding out drama and mayhem. It cannot be used to gain good things for you and yours, only to destroy, change, up the drama, or make things more interesting. When you are done, you hang the necklace back on the throne. Your character does not know their actions were controlled by Agrippa, and will find a plausible reason for what they did.

Interacting with Prince Agrippa

The other characters can only see your character, and doesn’t know it is actually Agrippa. But if another player is wearing Agrippa’s Necklace, they become something more than themselves. Suddenly, they become a little more interesting, a little more attractive, and a little more convincing. You want to make them happy, and are very ready to follow any suggestion they might give you. When they take the necklace off, the spell ends. In essence, if anyone wears the necklace and tries to create some interesting drama, go with it like it was a direct order from your Prince. The magnitude and importance is up to you, though – you can always play away from any drama at a later time point.

Prince Agrippa posing as one of their Ghouls

Bob and Jaxx is the prince’s ghouls. You have never seen Agrippa’s true face, Agrippa always uses one of the ghouls to address the inhabitants of Grums. If Bob or Jaxx goes and sits in Agrippa’s chair, everybody can immediately see that this is indeed the Prince and act thereafter.

Disciplines

Disciplines are the supernatural powers the kindred possess. They differ from clan to clan.

In this game we want the disciplines to be used for creating fun play. We won’t have any rules for contesting a discipline being used on a character. This means that if someone uses a discipline on you, you play along with the effect of what they are trying to do, in a way that makes sense in the fiction of Grums: horrible drama. Using disciplines is a combined effort between the players involved, and we will rely on larping rather than stats to make it fun for all parties.

For playing disciplines we will use signs or words. For a more in-depth description, see section about disciplines in the character creator page. We will also go through disciplines and other rules before the game start. Getting affected by a discipline is short term, and the effect lasts no longer than a scene.  

Available disciplines and meta signs

Here is a brief description of signals related to disciplines.

Dominate
1: Command. One finger pressed against temple. Give a simple one-word order that a target must obey.
2: Complex Command: You implant a more complex command in the person’s mind. You can choose to make this happen immediately or let it be triggered later by a specific situation or stimuli. Example 1: ”Go to Henri and slap him in the face.” Example 2: ”The next time Henri says ”sorry” to you, slap him in the face.”

Dementation
1: Passion up/down. Amplify or dull the strongest emotion present in the victim by raising or sinking your hand.
2: Haunting: Slowly making a circle with a finger at your temple to
inflict maddening visions upon a victim.

Auspex
1: Aura perception. One finger under the eye for signaling reading another characters aura. Go off game for a little while and tell what the character being read is feeling, very briefly.
2: An Ear for Lies. Two fingers under the eye. Go offgame and get more thorough knowledge of the feelings of the other. You can also see if the person is lying.   

Presence
1: Awe. Stomp foot in the ground for getting attention. If you only want awe from one person in the room, raise a fist. The afflicted subject wants to be closer to you or shudder in fear. It is an immediate and intense attraction, but lasts a very short time, and is not so overpowering that those afflicted lose their sense of self-preservation.
2: Entrancement. Slide hand under your chin. This makes someone obsessively want to please you for some time.

Obfuscate
1: Cloak of Shadows. Hold one finger over your chest. You can’t be seen if you don’t move.
2: Unseen Presence. Hold two fingers over your chest. You can move around unseen if you don’t make any noise.

The following diciplines do not have signs, we will cover their use in the workshop:

Potence (Phys)
1: Super strength
2: More super strength

Celerity (Phys)
1: Move really fast
2: Move even faster

Fortitude (Phys)
1: Resist damage
2: Resist heavy damage

Protean (Phys)
1: Eyes of the Beast: See in the dark. Usage of the power turns the eyes into a glowing red.
2: Feral Claws: Turn one’s hands into dangerous claws.