Shadow Realms LRP - Media Blitz

Interview with Mark
@ http://www.lrp-index.org.uk/zine/.

An interview with Mark Dollar of Shadow Realms Shadow Realms is a British non-professional LRP club with a long history of both fantasy and post-apocalyptic events. To find out more we asked Mark Dollar to give us a lowdown.

Can you tell me a little about Shadow Realms and your role in it's organisation ?

Shadow Realms is a third generation Live Roleplay club. Third generation because, like many clubs, it's history springs from Treasure Trap at Peckforton Castle, and the subsequent dispersal around the country of Trap's players to start their own clubs. One of these players was Paul Turner, who founded Broadsword in East Sussex. Shadow Realms is essentially the logical progression and expansion from Broadsword, and Paul's younger players . Still, after 14 or so years, we are not so young any more ! Shadow Realms is now fully operational (when not closed due to Foot & Mouth !) in Devon and Northampton, and we have in the past had branches in Sussex, London and even America. We run three different campaigns; a standard fantasy campaign called The Western Realms, which is the principle campaign, The Realms Below Campaign, for all lovers of the Underdark and it's denizens, and The Foresaken Realms, a post demonic apocalypse come Western setting. Western Realms runs every other Sunday, Realms Below three or four events a year, and Foresaken two or three a year. We also make most of our own kit, weapons, props etc, so we are very self sufficient. We essentially see ourselves as talented amateurs, and liase as much as possible with other clubs and organisations to improve the club and ensure that we stretch ourselves rather than go stale. As for myself, well, Shadow Realms started originally in Sussex with three principle founders; Paula Wickins, Hugh Wilton and myself. All of us ended up down in Devon, but when Hugh left University he moved back to Sussex and left Shadow Realms. Paula, as many UK live roleplayers are aware, died a little over two years ago. This leaves me as the sole surviving Founder, Overlord and whatever other titles I like the sound of ! I prefer to just be seen as the guy people listen to when I speak, and let my officers do their jobs unhindered the rest of the time. These days my principle roles are as club money provider for large acquisitions, adventure overseer and perpetual monster setter, as well as weapons builder. I like it that way.

How did SR start up and what were the major influences for its system and background ?

We started as a result of an argument, much like several other national organisations in the hobby. I was co-founder of a club called Realms of Lore in Sussex, but got increasingly marginalized by various people who packed the 'board', and one day I decided enough was enough and Paula and I started writing the rules system for Shadow Realms that night. We ran our first adventure a week later, and two weeks after that Realms of Lore closed for good. The Moral of the story probably could be 'do not upset Mr Dollar - it will backfire' but in reality it seems to be that good things can develop out of petty revenge. We used our own personal kit plus a few bits and bobs we could borrow from friends, and have just gone on from there. It just goes to show what some determined enthusiasm can achieve. The Influences for the system were relatively simple. Paula and I were both ex-Broadsword players, so we took the Broadsword system and expanded it with more spells, more races, more classes and an underlying ethos that the idea of the club was to enable players to play what they wanted to, as much as we possibly could and so long as they could look like what they wanted to be. Background wise, we started from scratch. Many an LRP boss will refer to great works of fantasy literature etc as the birthplace of their background and campaign; I LRP'd before I read the books, I don't table top and I rarely play computer games, so what we came up with was largely off the top of our heads with a liberal amount of love of medieval history thrown in. If we were influenced at all, it was by the TSR Forgotten Realms setting, but much of the background in that setting is as much common sense as original thought. Since then, a great deal of input from external sources has arrived; lots from Forgotten Realms, from David Gemmell, Terry Pratchett (when things get too serious), David Eddings, who was Paula's favourite author, and more recently Glenn Cook. Any campaign that has been going this long will always need fresh ideas, otherwise it will go stale. Shadow Realms is no different.

How did you get into LRP in the first place ?

I was at Eastbourne College, a minor Public School on the Sussex coast. I had very few friends there, but one I did have came and found me one day and told me about this manic new hobby he had taken up, and explained that as I was Army mad and loved running about in woodland being generally psychotic, I should come and give this roleplay malarkey a go. So I did. It was ok, quite fun, but I could tell everyone else was getting far more out of it than me. I went along a second time, and this only confirmed my suspicions, but by time number three I had worked it out; they were acting ! So I watched Willow, just out at the cinemas at that point, and on my third adventure turned up with my own sword, and costume, and announced myself as the greatest swordsman that had ever lived. How all the regulars kept a straight face I will never know, but I had a fantastic time and have never looked back since. It helped, of course, that Paul Turner, owner of Broadsword, was the Theatre tech at the college, so I could go and talk at him about ideas etc etc. After that I followed the logical progression from player to regular / monster, then adventure writer, monster setter and finally ref. Some stages seemed very quick, some very long, but I got there.

What's kept you so interested in it ?

A whole range of things. Initially it was just good fun and I made some close friends. I got to travel and meet lots of interesting people and I found I was quite good at LRPing. As time went on it became an immersive hobby, like diving or motor racing, where to go further you have to become more dedicated. I think that at that point new horizons open up in the hobby, as you discover how to write adventures , how to run them, then run a club and be responsible for it, and then how to build quality props and weapons. It's a hobby where you never know everything. These days new projects, getting new people into the hobby and learning how to run a faction all over again maintain my interest, along with all the new ideas, and old ones that people finally have the money to attempt. But most of all, it is the enthusiasm that people show for the hobby and for Shadow Realms, and now for The Gryphons at C.P., that is enough to sustain my attention and interest. Long may it continue.

Why are Drow such a big thing with you ? What's the attraction ?

Ah, the Drow. Well, I make no secret of the fact that I like Bob Salvatore's books and characters, although I prefer the evil Drow such as Zaknarfein and Jarlaxle to Drizzt himself. Drow are 'total immersion' characters. There is very little humanity in them, and I enjoy the difference. Also, the costumes and attention to skill at arms are an attraction, although I get fed up with the makeup as much as anyone else. The Drow players are a close knit bunch, or at least have been, along with those who tend to ally with them such as The Beastmen and the Gobliniods. I have a lot of characters I have played, and only 4 are Drow, but I do tend to prefer them; my principle character Canaris has been around since '89 and at national events since '91, and the reputation one can build with such a character is exciting to play. However, to be honest it is no different from those who play nothing but Celts, or Knights, or Pirates; it's just harder to survive as a Drow, and at least some people tend to respect you if you can survive. In any case, the Drow Girls tend to wear some fantastic outfits !! As it happens, I am for the first time not a Drow at C.P. as my faction leader character would not work as one, so I shall enjoy the change, but Drow is what I feel I do best.

How do you manage to juggle LARPing with the rest of your life ?

What rest of my life ?;-) At this level, my life mainly consists of work, sleep, and LARPing. Foot & Mouth has given me a bit of a break, but I still have the web site to oversee, kit to sort out, weapons to prepare, C.P. events to write plot for and attend, and a million and one other things that are essential to an LRP obsessive like me !! Even when I am not actively doing something I am thinking about new kit, strategy or plot; my brother just 'phoned as I am writing this to remind me about plot for a C.P. event coming up. When I do 'come down from the LRP trip', I try to ensure that I have time to talk to some non-roleplay friends (they are few and far between these days) and I like watching a few films and Formula 1 racing. I even bought myself a Sony Watchman as I kept missing the Grand Prix due to events, but to no avail. The hard bit is trying to manage my holiday entitlement with the number of events I have to attend, and give myself room for Shadow Realms events, and time with my Girlfriend as well. If she was not also a LARPer, I suspect we would never have lasted. I have the utmost admiration for non-LARPing partners of addicted LARPers, but I also suspect that it is a key reason why so many leave the hobby before they reach the age of 30; settling down and the hobby do not really mix. I have to say that I spend more time trying to juggle different LRP commitments, rather than LRP and real life. Real life tends to look after itself, thank goodness ! That said, far too much has happened to me over the last 5-6 years and as a result I have had to divorce some of my personality from the hobby to try and cope with such things. I can see how people would want to lose themselves in LRP and give up on normal life, but trust me, it is not a viable option.

If you had an unlimited budget to run any one game, what would it be ?

Budget it one thing, site is another, but given the right site I would run the most spectacular Underdark campaign anyone has ever seen. Shadow Realms is a Drow specialist club, and the possibilities would be amazing; classic AD&D dungeon hacks are few and far between in LRP, but imagine what one could do with a dedicated underground LRP site. I spend a great deal of time going through internet sites, particularly US ones, looking for props and inspiration, and the kit available to do something spectacular along those lines is just incredible. I think it is every LRPers dream to win the lottery and build a full time LRP site with the money, but most would build forts and villages in woodland; given the money, mine would be underground.

Do you have any advice for people thinking of running their own events ?

Don't run an event unless you have run a number of adventures. Events are NOT the be all and end all of LRP, adventures are. If you are no good at running adventures, you will be useless at running events, because the really good events have adventures in them. The principles of plot, theme and reaction to unexpected turns introduced by the players are the same for events as they are for adventures, only far bigger. Next, try to use monsters who have a good idea about LRP and the system you will be using. If they do not, they will make mistakes, and mistakes ruin the flow of a game. If you must use novice monsters make very sure they know as much of the rules as you can cram into them. Finally, give your monster crew something to wear ! I know it sounds simple, but so often crew are expected to wear their own kit, and I for one get confused between adventurers and monsters. A simple dyed Hessian tabard is perfect, and cheap. You can spray designs on them with a template or whatever, but at least monsters look together if they are all wearing them. How badly has the British foot & mouth epidemic affected your LARP schedule ? We have had to postpone Holdfast, our major campaign event, for the first time in 7 years. It will now be held in the autumn. Foresaken Realms has suffered in the same way. All fortnightly adventures since 18th February have been cancelled due to the site being closed. We are still unsure as to whether the site we have booked in North Devon will be available for a Gryphons event we have planned. However, it has given us time to start rationalising the kit, which had grown to outrageous levels, and to do some sorting out and reorganising. C.P. is running without any problems, and Shadow Realms Northampton is running it's re-opening adventure at the start of June. Fingers crossed we will re-open in Devon soon, as judging by the web-site notice boards, some of my players are starting to go round the twist ! Anyway, we will be fine within a relatively short period. What have you got up your sleeve for Shadow Realms in the future ? Well, lets see; this last year has seen the start of Realms Below and Foresaken Realms; Foresaken has a very good website already and we are building a large new Underdark one for 'Below. We have a lot of new kit and masks on order, in particular X-bows and American masks, and we are likely to order more over the internet as results so far have been promising. I am teaming up with Forge of Lein once again, having moved to Exeter, so new weapons etc will be coming as a result. I also have longer term plans for a charity overland long distance adventure of several days duration, possibly over the South Downs, for Cancer Research as I promised Paula we would always support that charity. I am hoping to scout it out this summer. Then there is the Sussex / Kent clubs ten years re-union, which I am looking forward to, and Shadow Realms is running an adventure at. And then I have a new project which is very hush hush at the moment wait and see.