Maelstrom (live role playing game)
Encyclopedia
Maelstrom is a live action role-playing game
campaign run in the United Kingdom by Profound Decisions Ltd. The campaign consists of four events held each year at weekends during the British summer at a variety of locations. Although founded in 2004 - more than a decade later than Lorien Trust
's Gathering campaign and nine years after Curious Pastimes
' Renewal campaign - Maelstrom attracted 900 players to the last event of 2007, making it the second most attended fest LRP in the UK based on single event figures and the second largest based on overall annual participant count.
The game is a "frock-coats and fantasy" campaign set in a pseudo-renaissance
period, high fantasy
landscape. It is a fest game, in which the majority of the action is provided by interactions between player groups rather than non-player character
s and monsters. By contrast with the Gathering and Renewal fest campaigns, pre-arranged mass battles do not play a part in the events; what conflict there is generally player-driven and carried out between player groups.
The Maelstrom game is set
within a world during what might be seen as its colonial
period, initiated by recent supernatural changes opening new avenues for exploration and exploitation.
The Known World had thought itself bounded to the north by sheer walls of ice and to the south by a raging storm of magical energy known as the Maelstrom
. Recently, a passage has opened up through the Maelstrom allowing brave explorers to pass through. What they discovered on the far side was not hell, as legends told, but a land of strange creatures and peoples. Primitive in many ways, they live in a land rich in resources and new manners of crops such as tobacco
, tea and gossamer
. In short: the New World was exploitable and so the major nations of the Known World set out to establish great colonies to establish profit and expand their power.
The five great trade houses have followed after, seeking to sell their goods and services and so garner a cut of the nations’ profits. Representatives of the five gods of the known world have also come: setting up churches and ministering to the faithful. The gods known as The Teacher, The Weaver, The Smith, The Huntress, and The Merchant all grant their blessings to this endeavour, if in differing forms.
The many and varied peoples of these colonial efforts meet up every three months on the holy days to do business, broker deals and make plans for the coming season. But they are not alone. The native tribes sent envoys to speak their piece and gain allies in their struggle against neighbours old and new. Bringing with them their own lore and faith in five mysterious New World gods.
Strange beings have begun appearing in the New World with the wakening of magics that came when the Maelstrom opened; Facets of crystal, Golems of stone and Dryads of wood. Now, too, can men of learning weave magic into objects or distil it into potions, as well as wield it as a physical force, turn it to spiritual ends or darken the barrier between life, death and un-death itself.
Amid these great changes Eidolons
, ancient messengers of the Gods, have returned to the world. Some serve the known gods, some the new and some only themselves... for this great gift has been marred by great tragedy: with them came also the Fallen ones, who had once rebelled against their divine masters and stole the souls of the mortal dead to gain power for themselves.
The game takes place at the regular holy-day meetings, where the player groups represent the various trading interests, religions and native communities that gather together.
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Live action role-playing game
A live action role-playing game is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically act out their characters' actions. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by the real world, while interacting with each other in character. The outcome of player actions may...
campaign run in the United Kingdom by Profound Decisions Ltd. The campaign consists of four events held each year at weekends during the British summer at a variety of locations. Although founded in 2004 - more than a decade later than Lorien Trust
Lorien Trust
Lorien Trust is the trading name of Merlinroute ltd., a live action role-play organisation that runs LARP events in Locko Park, Derby, UK. It runs Britain's largest Live Roleplay events, attracting around 4,000 people to the larger events...
's Gathering campaign and nine years after Curious Pastimes
Curious Pastimes
Curious Pastimes is an organisation that runs one of the best known Live Roleplaying campaigns in the UK. CP is a private, profit-making company head-quartered in Moreton in the Wirral in Northern England...
' Renewal campaign - Maelstrom attracted 900 players to the last event of 2007, making it the second most attended fest LRP in the UK based on single event figures and the second largest based on overall annual participant count.
The game is a "frock-coats and fantasy" campaign set in a pseudo-renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
period, high fantasy
High fantasy
High fantasy or epic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is set in invented or parallel worlds. High fantasy was brought to fruition through the work of authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, whose major fantasy works were published in the 1950s...
landscape. It is a fest game, in which the majority of the action is provided by interactions between player groups rather than non-player character
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s and monsters. By contrast with the Gathering and Renewal fest campaigns, pre-arranged mass battles do not play a part in the events; what conflict there is generally player-driven and carried out between player groups.
Setting
Reference: Maelstrom AlmanacThe Maelstrom game is set
Campaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
within a world during what might be seen as its colonial
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
period, initiated by recent supernatural changes opening new avenues for exploration and exploitation.
The Known World had thought itself bounded to the north by sheer walls of ice and to the south by a raging storm of magical energy known as the Maelstrom
Maelstrom
A maelstrom is a very powerful whirlpool; a large, swirling body of water. A free vortex, it has considerable downdraft. The power of tidal whirlpools tends to be exaggerated by laymen. There are virtually no stories of large ships ever being sucked into a maelstrom, although smaller craft are in...
. Recently, a passage has opened up through the Maelstrom allowing brave explorers to pass through. What they discovered on the far side was not hell, as legends told, but a land of strange creatures and peoples. Primitive in many ways, they live in a land rich in resources and new manners of crops such as tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, tea and gossamer
Gossamer
Gossamer commonly refers to:* Gossamer , very fine spider silk used for ballooning or kiting by various species of spiders* Gossamer , very light, sheer, gauze-like fabricGossamer may also refer to:- Technology :...
. In short: the New World was exploitable and so the major nations of the Known World set out to establish great colonies to establish profit and expand their power.
The five great trade houses have followed after, seeking to sell their goods and services and so garner a cut of the nations’ profits. Representatives of the five gods of the known world have also come: setting up churches and ministering to the faithful. The gods known as The Teacher, The Weaver, The Smith, The Huntress, and The Merchant all grant their blessings to this endeavour, if in differing forms.
The many and varied peoples of these colonial efforts meet up every three months on the holy days to do business, broker deals and make plans for the coming season. But they are not alone. The native tribes sent envoys to speak their piece and gain allies in their struggle against neighbours old and new. Bringing with them their own lore and faith in five mysterious New World gods.
Strange beings have begun appearing in the New World with the wakening of magics that came when the Maelstrom opened; Facets of crystal, Golems of stone and Dryads of wood. Now, too, can men of learning weave magic into objects or distil it into potions, as well as wield it as a physical force, turn it to spiritual ends or darken the barrier between life, death and un-death itself.
Amid these great changes Eidolons
Eidolon (astral double)
In ancient Greek thought, which has influenced modern literature and Theosophy, an eidolon is a spirit-image of a living or dead person; a shade or phantom look-alike of the human form...
, ancient messengers of the Gods, have returned to the world. Some serve the known gods, some the new and some only themselves... for this great gift has been marred by great tragedy: with them came also the Fallen ones, who had once rebelled against their divine masters and stole the souls of the mortal dead to gain power for themselves.
The game takes place at the regular holy-day meetings, where the player groups represent the various trading interests, religions and native communities that gather together.
Find Out In Play
Whilst the background to the setting is given in the players guide and an in-character almanac, players are actively encouraged by Profound Decisions not to reveal information not publicly available via these sources. This information is not 'secret' but as a large part of the game revolves around concepts of discovery giving away this information out-of-character can spoil the game for other players. This is commonly referred to as Find-Out-In-Play (FOIP) information, indicating that player characters should seek out the information in-game rather than their players asking out-of-character for the information. Other parts of the system, such as how downtime operates, are not. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/resources/generaldowntime.pdfExternal Links=
- Profound Decisions' Maelstrom LRP website