1. What events have you previously thrown? (include years)
An Unavoidable Conflict (2018)
Feast of Chimeron XXIV: The Questening (2016)
Story Tellers X (2015)
Dark Dissent IV (2010)
Last Minute Questing (2009)
The End of the Beginning (2008)
The Twilight Champion (2007)
Of Shadows and Daggers (2007)
Shadows of Death (2007)
Tournaments of Victory V (2005)
Schola Antiquus II (2003)
Schola Antiquus I (2002)
2. What led you to start throwing events?
At the beginning, it just seemed like a lot of fun. After playing for a few years, EHing just seemed like a neat way to give back. Early on, I worked with Jason Rosa and Ian Pushee on the Schola Antiquus series. These were love letters to two of our favorite video games series (Final Fantasy and Legend of Zelda), put into the shape of a Realms event. It was really fun translating elements from these games into monsters, mechanics and props.
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| So many props for Schola Antiquus ... |
3. What would you like your events to be known for?
Living NPCs, unique (and hopefully fun!) mechanics, having something for everyone and PC agency
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| While not "living" per se, the Comedytron 2000 was certainly unique and fun! |
4. What aspects of event holding do you consider most challenging?
When creating encounters, I always worry about:
A. Making sure the encounter is fun for anyone who wants to engage it, regardless if their fighters, mages, non-coms, newbies or veterans
B. Making sure the encounter is safe, like physically. I'm not the best at spotting safety concerns and often forget safe for me does not mean safe for everyone
5. Tell us about an event moment you are particularly proud of?
So this was during Shadows of Death, which was a dungeon crawl in my Ascerbus plot line. In it PCs were looking to find Rel's father, trapped inside a tortuous afterlife of his own creation. When finding him, the scene was suppose to be like a Silent Hill transition (where you go from a typical setting to something more nightmareish and sinister). We had NPCs (almost 20 of them!) hiding in the back half of the dungeon, until the transition occurred. They were my Faceless Shadows (all blacks, faceless mask and a single red lightstick around the neck). On the walls of the dungeon cubes (this was back with the LakCubes), I had setup rolled up fabric which would unfurl with a simple tug on a string. Each piece of fabric was splattered with blood and had words on it like "Betrayal" and "Traitor", so I could give the illusion of the place changing to something darker. I also setup a strobe light to temporarily blind the PCs (again, creating this illusion of a change). So PCs walk into this scene, with only a few lights on and a spotlight on Jake Valeri (playing Rel's father). After reciting a short poem, the lights are cut, the strobe turns on for a moment, cloth is unfurled, some of my staff scream (for effect) and this tide of Faceless Shadows rise up and begin rushing towards the PCs. The PCs, being led by Jarrod Marshall (Jarrod of Folkestone), were frozen and only just came to their senses in time to fight back against the Faceless Shadows. The effect went off beautifully and really set the tone for the second half of the event.
6. Tell us about something that went wrong and what you learned from it?
So this was during Feast of Chimeron XXIII. I wasn't EH, but part of the primary staff running FoC. For the NQ on Saturday, we had a spot we wanted to use for the boss, but it was across a bridge and down a fairly long path. So we had this "great" plan to have some fighting near/on the bridge and then down the path to the boss. None of that worked because:
A. The trail leading to the bridge looked fine in the day, but was incredibly perilous at night. This meant no fighting and spending a long time getting PCs to the bridge safely
B. The bridge was clearly not designed to have 20+ people on at once. So an epic fight, with the bridge as a set piece, became a safety concern and meant we cut all of the fighting
C. Path battles are boring. That seems obvious to say now, but not so long ago, they were a staple in Realms eventing.
From this, my staff and I learned to think about safety beyond the ideal scenario (see again safety is something I always struggle with) and having a path is not a reason to have a Path Battle. If you really need to travel down a long path, find content more interesting than just endless fighting. Even adding a single NPC who can talk to PCs can go a long ways.
7. What do you think makes an event site “good” and how have you gone about locating sites?
For me, the primary concerns are always location (can PCs easily get here and attend my event) and cost (will I go broke). You can have the most beautiful site, but if it's in the middle of no-where and costs a fortune, it just isn't worth it. Beyond those considerations, however, try to view a site based on your event style. Do want to run small mods? Make sure your site has plenty of buildings/segregated spaces you can use. Do you want to run PCs through different set pieces? Maybe someplace with many unique locations. Do you want to give PCs a "typical" questing experience? Looks for nice trails which link back to some central point. Recently, I've been leaning towards events with mods, so you'll see me at sites where I can easily break PCs into small groups. Although, I still enjoy a classic boss battle, so I like making sure my sites can also accommodate this.
Best way to find your perfect site is to look online and make calls. Many camps have maps or pictures online, giving you an idea of the site. A quick call can give you pricing, availability and usually you can even schedule a site walk to check it out. If all else fails, look into sites where events have happened. Talk to EHs who throw those events and see if they would recommend their site or not.
8. Have you managed to maintain a balanced budget? Any advice for other event holders on doing that?
Budgeting is tough and I rarely get it right. When your income is in flux (always based on PC attendance), it can be hard to figure out what is and isn't reasonable. I've gotten better at it (my last event was actually a small net positive for us), but not without taking on a lot of losses throughout the years.
Some key advice to other EHs:
A. Site cost is likely a larger portion of your budget, so make sure you're comfortable with it. If the price seems too steep, then look for a cheaper alternative. Maybe a cheaper site won't be perfect, but it's better than going broke
B. When putting money to props/costuming, try to make sure it's something you can re-use. My last event went net-positive because I was able to re-use so many things from past events
C. Also, before putting money to props/costuming, ask around if someone has something similar you can borrow. The Realms has a wealth of resources and many people are more than happy to see their stuff being used again
D. Don't underestimate the cost of food. Even a typical questing event should expect to spend $50-$100 on snacks and water (based on size and intensity). Feasts are much more expensive and can easily balloon out of control if not careful
E. Don't be afraid to charge a fair amount of money for your event. Look at your budget, your expected PC turnout and do the math. If you charge less than that amount, you're guaranteed to lose money. If the amount seems too high, look over the budget again and tighten where you can. It can be hard, but again it's better than going broke
9. What staff positions do you feel are essential to run your events and what do you do to help empower and support them?
You must have a dedicated Magic Marshal and a Head NPC. Both need to have a full write-up of the event and be allowed to make changes as needed. Both of these roles get to see how the event unfolds, thus being in a unique position to directly intervene as needed. Means you have to trust them fully and roll with any changes they choose to make. Even if they make a decision you personally wouldn't have, just go with it and understand they made the decision to help make your event better. You can always discuss after the event is over, to see why something was done.
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| A fantastic staff to plan and throw events together. |
Don't be afraid to fail. It's easy to fall into the rut of doing what other people are doing or doing what you find comfortable/familiar. Trying something new, even if you aren't 100% sure it's good. Some of the best Realms moments are because of off the wall ideas (what if the PCs started as prisoners, what if these NPCs didn't call their shots, what if a site was live 24 hours). Experiment and look for engagement in places never tried before!
11. What can we look forward to seeing from you in the foreseeable future?
Chimeron Questing is coming up, which I am helping organize and will be writing some quests for (should be a unique experience for those who participate). Otherwise, RTC and I are already working on Phase 2 of our Risen Kingdoms plot line (hopefully coming soon in 2019). Very excited to see this story continue and see where PCs will take it! Beyond that, I'm hoping to experiment more in the Realms and see what other crazy ideas I can bring forth.
