Writing Children of the Stars (part 2)

Last time I covered the initial steps in writing Children of the Stars. This time I’ll talk about outline characters, setting, character sheets and structure. Before I do, here’s a reminder of my overall process for writing freeform larps:

The process

1. Choose a subject
2. Themes
3. Character basics
4. Outline characters
5. Character Sheets
6. Structure
7. Plots
8. Rules and mechanics
9. Background
10. Finishing off

So far I’ve done stages 1 and 3 (although as you’ll see, I’ve also pretty much nailed 5 and 6.)

(You can read the overall summary of the process here.)

Step 4 Outline characters

The next step is to write character outlines, so I know who the characters are when I come to dropping them into plots.

This is an example: 

McDonald: US government Chief Science Director. Early 50s.

• Start: Washington
• Continuing character? No.
• Plots: Science projects, the children, keeping America in front
• Opening para: You are Chief Science Director McDonald—you are responsible for allocating America’s science budget. The budget needs fixing in two weeks’ time, and while much of it is already allocated, you still have funds still unallocated. While you like to keep an open mind, your main priority is maintaining America’s technological leading edge. (You are very proud of American achievements like the space shuttle.)

I kept these brief and wrote them for all thirteen characters. 

Setting and background

At this point, I also wrote the setting and background. I like to settle this early so I have a clear idea of where the game is set. With some help from A Year in History: Timeline of 1983 Events I ended up with this:

It is 1983. The space shuttle has been flying for two years. Michael Jackson’s Thriller tops the US album charts. W and Z particles discovered at CERN. The last-ever episode of M*A*S*H is screened. The CD player is released. Pioneer 10 crosses the orbit of Pluto. Return of the Jedi completes the Star Wars trilogy. Over a million people demonstrate against nuclear weapons at a Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament march in London, England. A baboon embryo is successfully ‘conceived’ in a laboratory dish in San Antonio, Texas. ARPANET is moves to TCP/IP. The Soviet shuttle Soyuz T-10 explodes on launch. The first version of Microsoft Word is released.

And in December, the 1983 UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Science Conference is held in Geneva, Switzerland.

Cast

• Dr Abdaluni: NASA’s Chief Scientist. Mid 40s.
• Dr Bakker: A scientist working for the US defence contractor Shark Systems Inc. Mid 30s.
• General Billings: Head of the USA’s Department of Extra-Terrestrial Defense (DETD). Mid 60s.
• Dr Blake: Head of the US’s Xenobiology Forensic Investigation of Life and Extra-terrestrial Science Working Group. Early 70s.
• Dr Chén: Administrator in the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. Mid 40s.
• Jackson: A retired bounty hunter. Mid 60s.
• McDonald: Newly-appointed US government Chief Science Director. Early 50s.
• Dr Russo: US science advisor. Mid 30s.
• Saito: Hosata Manufacturing executive. Late 20s.
• Sánchez: An intern at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech. Mid 20s.
• Dr Sokolov: Director at the USSR Academy of Sciences. Mid 30s.
• Dr Visser: UNESCO Deputy Science Director. Mid 40s.
• Dr Wescott: UK science advisor. Mid 40s.

This is the public information that’s also on the game website.

Step 5 Character sheets

I like to define my character sheets at this point so I know what sections I am writing for the players.

However, I already had this sorted as I was using the same character sheet layout I used for The Roswell Incident and All Flesh is Grass (the earlier two episodes).

These character sheets consisted of a background section, followed by “Other Folk” (for information that character knew about other people) and then “Your objectives” (for that character’s goals for the game). The sheets also had starting locations and suggested first moves, although I knew that would be less important this time.

Step 6 Structure

I also knew the structure of Children of the Stars, as that was one thing I decided early on. This is what the game structure looks like.

• Start: Welcome and introductions
• 0 to 30-45 minutes: Characters start in initial groups.
• 30-45 to 150 minutes: UNESCO science convention
• 150 minutes: Game end and decisions

So I think it will be about 2.5 hours long—maybe three hours.

NEXT TIME

So I’ve done all this and haven’t started writing any plots yet! That changes next time.