A mixing deck of #Monsterhearts?

#1

A mixing deck of #Monsterhearts? (Inspired by https://nordiclarp.org/wiki/The_Mixing_Desk_of_Larp) I’m considering this for my next game. Any suggestions as to what the faders should be?

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#2

First I wonder what your defaults are and this seems quite important:

An important goal is also to recognize that there are “default positions” for these faders that will influence your larp, even if you don’t make any specific choices about them. These default positions can differ depending on larp group, community or traditions.

Who are you playing Monsterhearts with? What do they expect from the game? How comfortable are you “mixing live?”

Beyond the defaults, I would expect a Monsterhearts mixing board to have genre faders like “horror” and “drama,” but also play style/culture faders like “character interaction,” “scene framing (MC to player)” or “episodic structure.”

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#3

Thanks for the reply! This would be through the Gauntlet so I won’t necessarily know the players beforehand. My intention would be to use it as a part of the palette / Lines & Veils session zero conversation (rather than adjusting live). I guess I have my own personal defaults which is why I think it might be a useful tool. Some of the faders I’ve been considering:

  • Distinguishing between sexual activity and sexualisation of characters - this was the initial impetus for this idea as from my experience I’ve tended to lump sexual acts and sexualisation together when actually they can be distinct - and the fader idea appealed to me as a more nuanced way of conveying a desire to set the level for certain content (such as sex and sexualisation) that are inherently part of the game and so couldn’t be excluded entirely
  • Faders for body horror and psychological horror
  • A fader for whether the high school setting is realistic or idealised/cliche
  • A fader for PC empowerment - in most of my games the PCs tend to be very powerful, but I did play in one game where I felt very much an outsider and harassed by society and it gave a very different feel to the game

I feel that character interaction would be another good one and scene framing also useful to communicate & discuss my preferred approach.

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#4

Hello, for sex and horror, I would add a volume potentiometer below the fader to avoid being trapped by the initial choice. This solves the em/de-powerment question, powerlessness being horrific.

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