On Player Expectations and NPC Recruitment

[Coco]

Dear people of the ORniverse, lend me your ears!

First, thank you for your interest in OR. We, as staff, have been overwhelmed by the excitement and support we've received for the game. We're just as excited to run a terrific and terrifying game for such a great group of people. But we've got a bit of unfortunate news:

No matter how we slice it, not everyone who's interested in PCing is going to be able to play. We have decided to cap PCs at 75 per event, and we are looking at 148 primary characters in the database. Even so, we've done our best to work with all 148 people to have OR-ready characters (except for maybe the one or two most newly submitted) and will continue to do so. We HAVE NOT YET decided to stop accepting new characters because it doesn't seem fair to do so before our first full event even happens, but we have chosen to share this information now so our players can manage their expectations for making the cut during pre-reg. We understand the disappointment, but we hope knowing the situation will reduce some of the heartbreak (and maybe some wallet-break on costuming as well). See on first event pre-reg.

No one likes to feel like a sidekick. Remember, starting CP for new characters goes up every year, so even if you get into the game late, new blood will be closer to the same standing as the veterans from the get go and be able to team up. To reiterate and make the point stick: Starting CP at the beginning of each year will rise so getting in late will not put you too far behind to be useful--even if you do not NPC.

However! Despite the massive response to our story in the form of PCs, we don't have as good support on the NPC side. Occam's Razor wants YOU! You're already interested enough in our story to want to play, so help us tell it! Not convinced? Here are the benefits of coming to the dark side:

1. Work with a great team of seven GMs who are "writing the game they want to play," widely accepted as a good rule for a plot team to keep up excitement and innovation throughout the campaign. Though, man, we'd like to PC this game soooo baaaaad...

2. Become a Core NPC by committing to and attending 4 events. But we welcome and appreciate any time you can give us to NPC. We have a lot of awesome, fun-to-play recurring and non-recurring roles that need filling from Northern NH townsfolk (all named NPCs) to corporate sneakies to supernatural nasties and more.

3. As always, gain CP for another PC in our with other games. We don't like to encourage our precious NPCs to change sides, but in recognition of your service, a Core NPC may apply earned CP to their OR PC at 2.5 CP per full weekend event.

4. Stay involved in the story even if you're not currently PCing. On a case-by-case basis, we may be able to offer you a recurring/mealtime NPC role as your PC so it'll be easier for you to get into game when space inevitably opens up. Because it will!

If you know someone we should target for NPCing, let us know! We all have a friend who is really good at doing certain types of roles, a good fighter, or just all around amazing. Let us invite them to our world! The LARPing community is a big one, and we might not know of them. Drop us a line with the names of these amazing people, how we should contact them, and what we should keep them in mind for as far as roles.

Again, thank you all for your interest, energy, and contributions to Occam's Razor! Hope to see you all on the field, in one way or another!

-- Your Occam's Razor GMs