Werewolf in the library (quick, run)

[Carl Cross]

I’m starting a horror themed reading group for 12-16 year olds soon
and am looking for a launch event.

For obvious reasons I was thinking that a game of werewolf (or
vampires which would be less gory thematicaly) might be fun in a
chaotic kind of way. Donald has cast his doubts about teenagers not
peeking in an earlier thread but I’d still like to give it a go.

Anyone foresee (oohh, you must be the seer!) any other problems or
have any experience of running werewolf with teenagers?

Your help, as always, is appreciated.

Carl.

[Matthew Morrison]

Depends - are you doing it LARP style or sitting down at a table, pen-and-paper style?

Matt Morrison
Burleson Public Library

________________________________

[Cross,Carl (Cultural & Community Services)]

Don’t know, I’ve not run one before.

 

I was thinking everyone stands in a large open space – I guess that’s LARP style?

 

Carl.

 

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[Gillian Wiseman]

That's definitely LARP (Live Action Role Play). You want to have a VERY simple game system, where the rules are easy and clear to resolve. If you're going to allow combat at all, it needs to be very plain that it is all DICE, no physical contact. Otherwise, things degenerate really quickly into a game of attack-tag, and injuries (if only bruises) will follow.

 

Otherwise, I'd suggest more of a "find the clue, follow it to the person, talk and get the next clue, explore the evidence and make a decision based on it, find the next clue, ad nauseum..." type game. A friend of mine and I did a really good set of games like this 8-10 years ago; they were RPG-flavored, but much more structured. The kids were given a story outline (ie there was a burglary at the museum last night; a famous jewel was stolen; there are 5 suspects; you are detectives, figure out who did it), and then there were posters that represented each potential clue, suspects to interview (sometimes they were real people, other times they were just info posters), and such. We had a LOT of fun - you could do a scenario where the players are all attendees at the event where the crime happens, and the crime is plainly supernatural. Give each person a secret piece of info (things they saw or know about each other or themselves), and tell one person he/she is the criminal. Then let them all try to solve the mystery. Each person can only lie about THEMSELVES, or the secret they started with, not things they discover later...

[Cross,Carl (Cultural & Community Services)]

Hi Gillian,

 

Thanks for the advice. Your LARP game sounds like a lot of fun but I was thinking of the LARPish Werewolf “party” game which seems to be a mutated version of Murderer in the Dark that we used to play at parties rather than a fully fledged RPG.

 

A version of the rules can be found here:

 

http://www.eblong.com/zarf/werewolf.html

 

Sorry for the confusion it was probably down to my lack of capitalisation.

 

Thanks anyway,

 

Carl.

 

 

---

<BR

[Gillian Wiseman]

Ahhhh, so you already have a good framework to follow - I'll look into the rules - we're doing a Sci-fi party at the end of summer here, and this might fit in...

 

Anyone who is looking for a good generic RPG set of rules to try in a library setting, might look here: http://microlite20.net/

 

This pen-and-paper game is simple enough to play without written rules, or bare-bones reference to the single page rules version, and has proven to be playable by folks who've never before "gamed" in their lives.

 

Obviously, pen-and-paper RPGs are my hobby, so if anyone has any questions... feel free to contact me...

 

Gillian Wiseman

Electronic Resources Librarian

Waco-McLennan County Library

(254)750-5944

gwis...@ci.waco.tx.us

[laini greenstein]

Gilian, do you have any scripts or outlines of the LARPs you have run in the past?  I wanted to do a game based on the Fablehaven series.  In order to involve more people and less waiting, I was going to let the kids play in teams.  They were going to get playing cards, representing four types of power-physical, intellectual, magical, and one other.  They could choose their character and give them attributes which would count as points and the cards would strengthen certain ones.  Also, group members could exchange cards.  In each scenario, they would work in teams...discuss and then, act.  But, it was becoming too time consuming to make up.  I would like to try in the future though.
 

---

Subject: {LibGaming} Re: Werewolf in the library (quick, run)

Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:17:59 -0500
From: gwis...@ci.waco.tx.us
To: LibG...@googlegroups.com

<BR

[Gillian Wiseman]

Unfortunately, it has been SO LONG since I did these, that I've lost the scripts. But Hmmm... they weren't hard to make up. I remember one was a murder mystery:

 

A man was dead in a room. There were five potential suspects with motives for killing the victim, who was a wealthy something-or-other. The murder weapon was found, and had a fingerprint on it (clue one). The victim and a suspect were seen arguing (red herring). There was a timeline of all the events of the evening, which, if properly filled in, eliminated two suspects unless they were working in collusion. There was evidence in an overheard conversation (clue 2) that revealed they hated each other. There was a footprint outside the window of the murderee's room, which fit the killer's shoe (clue 3). This one may have been the mystery where they had to decide if the lock had been picked, or if the killer had a key. Of course, only one suspect had access to the key.

 

There were two other clues, I'm sure, but I can't remember what they were. We actually MADE the clues, so we had a posterboard that had a (partial) fingerprint on it that we said was "lifted" from the weapon, and we then had "sample" fingerprints from all the suspects to compare it to. There was a station that contained a literal tray of "dirt" with a footprint in it, and then a posterboard with prints of each suspect's shoe. We did hair samples once, and blood samples once or twice, and I think we even had plans to do a voice print once, but never did work it out.

 

One mystery involved a pair of twin sisters, one of whom was the criminal. The students had to interview the twins (my fellow librarian) and decide which one was lying through her teeth. She did a quick change of clothes between characters, and even switched make-up. The kids were absolutely convinced she was two people! That was  the "jewel stolen from a museum" mystery. We did one for younger kids that involved a prize rose bush snatched from the owner's garden the day before the big flower show...

 

the important thing was to make sure to go over all the crime lab stuff ahead of time, describing HOW to match fingerprints, etc... and then divide the kids into teams, give them each a list of questions to answer, a timeline to assemble, and a chart to fill in that shows who could/could not have done what (a logic problem graph). Then send each team to a "station", and give them a set amount of time. Rotate between stations at set times. Interviews with "real people" can either be done with each group, or as a whole room at the beginning or end. Each group gives more fun and more room for individual teams to "get" or "miss" bits, but means your actors have to be present for the whole program, can each really only play one role, and must be willing to act out their scene/interview numerous times. Very tiring!

[kelly...@gmail.com]

Holy cow, this seems like a lot of work. Costume changes? Acting? I didn't take any drama classes in library school.

Don't get me wrong. I love these gaming programs. I think they are a great public service for people can't afford these expensive game systems. And I think they bring in people to the library who might not actually come to the library. And I can see a progression from gaming into graphic novels into science fiction/fantasy genre novels into classic literature.

But this sounds a lot like dinner theater. Is this more of a community building program than one that translates into getting people to read more?

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

[Gillian Wiseman]

We actually took these programs out to the local schools - they ran a latch-key kid after-school program where the kids could study, play games, attend programs, and such. It ran until around 5:00 in the afternoon, at the four local district middle schools. We did a lot of outreach there, including these mystery games. Both I and the other librarian were die-hard roleplayers, and we did these programs to have the fun of doing them, as well as to make ourselves known to the kids. We also did science programs, book talks, and storytelling at these schools on other occasions. I think one or both of us went once a month to each of the four schools. We also did these programs in the library on Saturday afternoons, and for a couple of local homeschool groups who met regularly in the library.

-----Original Message-----
From: LibG...@googlegroups.com [mailto:LibG...@googlegroups.com]On
Behalf Of kelly...@gmail.com
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 1:16 PM
To: LibG...@googlegroups.com
Subject: {LibGaming} Re: Werewolf in the library (quick, run)

[Kat Werner]

I remember people talking about in-library cases for video game systems, and I've searched the archive but found nothing.  I've also talked to my local Game Stop manager about the cases they have to lock down their systems in store, but he didn't know where they got them or how I could get one for the library.

 

Does anyone on the list use systems that are available all the time (not just during special events?) how do you protect them? Do you have a locking case, and if so where did you get that case from?  We really want to make use of the systems we have and want to get them out on the floor for the kids to use instead of just tucked away in a closet and only brought out once a month or so but we want to make sure our systems are protected.

 

Thank you!
 

Kat Werner

Asst. Librarian/Teen Services

Benton Harbor Public Library

213 E. Wall St. Benton Harbor, MI

bhlibr...@yahoo.com or tige...@bentonharborlibrary.com
check us out on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/bhlibraryteen

 

[Jack Schultz]

Try talking to the Librarians at Detroit H.Y.P.E they have a teen center with games out on the floor constantly and I know they have locking stations. The following link is to their contact page.

http://dplhype.org/contact_us.html

--
Jack Schultz
Westmont Public Library
428 N. Cass Ave
Westmont, IL 60559
(630)969-5625 ext. 314

[Neal Starkey]

Brodart has a mobile gaming station that locks:
http://www.shopbrodart.com/shop/cb/product.aspx?pgid=6848

I am sure I have seen other vendors with something similar.

neal

Kat Werner wrote:
> I remember people talking about in-library cases for video game
> systems, and I've searched the archive but found nothing. I've also
> talked to my local Game Stop manager about the cases they have to lock
> down their systems in store, but he didn't know where they got them or
> how I could get one for the library.
>
> Does anyone on the list use systems that are available all the time
> (not just during special events?) how do you protect them? Do you have
> a locking case, and if so where did you get that case from? We really
> want to make use of the systems we have and want to get them out on
> the floor for the kids to use instead of just tucked away in a closet
> and only brought out once a month or so but we want to make sure our
> systems are protected.
>
> Thank you!
>
>

> /Kat Werner/

>
> Asst. Librarian/Teen Services
>
> Benton Harbor Public Library
>
> 213 E. Wall St. Benton Harbor, MI
>

> bhlibr...@yahoo.com <mailto:bhlibr...@yahoo.com> or
> tige...@bentonharborlibrary.com <mailto:tige...@bentonharborlibrary.com>

[John Scalzo]

That's pricey (I imagine a local woodworker could build a locking game cabinet for half the price), but it is very slick looking.

 

John

--
John Scalzo
Media Librarian - Irondequoit Public Library - Rochester, NY
http://www.videogamelibrarian.com

[Kate Pickett]

Woah!  That is expensive.  We had one of our facilities staff people build us a box for an old Xbox that keeps the controllers and power and AV cables all secured.  It cost about $20 in scrap wood (most of this went towards paint, locks, hingest etc).  It works great and we can just set it on the TV stand and hook it up or take it off if we need to use the TV for something else.

Kate Pickett
Johnson County Library

--
Kate Pickett
www.katepickett.com

[Amy Arey]

Could you take a picture and send us?

--
Amy Arey
Teen Services Coordinator
Kanawha County Public Library
123 Capitol St
Charleston, WV 25301
304-343-3636 x301
amy....@gmail.com

[Kate Pickett]

Here are some pictures from our Flickr.  I tried to add some comments so that you could understand what the pictures were of.  Please let me know if you have any questions!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jocolibrary/sets/72157620857982958/

Kate

--
Kate Pickett
www.katepickett.com