You arrive at the Sidereus LARP site in Becket, MA shortly after 5:00 pm on Friday. Carpooling with some friends made it an easy trip, and now you’re here ready to get into the game. You head up to the Logistics Sign-in station near the entrance and the Sidereus store to pay for your admission. Once you’ve paid, the Sign-in clerk takes your photo and prints out your Sidereus ID card. He hands it to you and tells you to head to a character creation kiosk to begin the character design process since you didn’t do it online earlier.

Once you step over to the character creation kiosk, you pull up the character design screen. You’re eager to play, so from the three options of Basic design, Intermediate design, and Advanced design, you choose “Basic” just to get things going. You create your character, deciding it would be best to make a fighter-type character for your first event. Since all new characters may be re-written once for free, you’re not really all that concerned about experimenting.

Your fighter has the Sword Skill since you have a longsword for use in-game, and thanks to the “What type of character are you?” program in the Basic design program you’ve also decided to enter game as a human with the Iron Will Trait. You didn’t have to pick your statistics, since the program did that for you based on the fact that you chose a Fighter-type character, so now you’re ready to move on. 

Once you’ve completed designing your character you head over to the Logistics area to get tags for your equipment as well as your starting money. You take the character design printout from the kiosk and bring it to the Logistics area where you hand it to one of the Logistics clerks. She takes the card from you and hands you your official Sidereus Character Card in exchange. She then examines your equipment, and seeing that you are wearing no armor hands you a tag for your longsword, and a pouch with 15 silver pieces for your starting money. She mentions to you that you’ve also taken the Guard Skill which means your character has experience working as a guard as a “day job”, so you receive an additional 2 silver pieces.

The Logistics clerk also hands you a small card detailing a small bit of information about what your character has been through over the past few months in-game. When you created your character you participated in a “What type of character are you?” survey that helped design your character and their history.

This feature is fully customizable and available to all players regardless of what character creation format they use.

The computer questions, along with details you filled in, helped generate a short history for your character to enter game with, but also allow the Plot Committee to ensure that you are provided with events, adventures, and encounters that help you become engaged in the game.

You then move to the last Logistics station, where one of the game referees called “Judges” checks your weapon for safety purposes and then places a tag on it stating that it is safe for use in game.

Getting your weapon checked is something that takes place every game for every player.

Now that you’ve completed all of the out-of-game preparation, you are directed over to the new player advisor. The new player advisor goes over the basics of the rules with you, explaining how to use your weapon, and showing you what to look for on your character card so you can understand what your character can do.

Most basic weapons in the Sidereus LARP are counted as being made of steel, even if they would really be wooden, claws, or made of some other material. This is to simplify combat. The standard call for all basic weapons is “Steel”; so when you attempt to strike an opponent, you would call out the amount of damage you deal with the weapon, saying “Steel” at the end.

The new player advisor then explains to you that you have 8 Hit Points, meaning you can be tagged for a total of 8 points of damage before your character risks death. After taking a little more time to talk to the players who have magic-using characters, and allowing you some time to spar with another fighter-type, the new player advisor directs you over to a screen where you watch a short video introducing you to Sidereus.

Once you’ve seen the video you’re incredibly eager to play. The new player advisor separates you into groups. You and your two friends are placed in one group, along with the fighter-type player you were sparring with earlier.

Your friend Ryan is playing a cleric of the god Sûldin, the god of blacksmithing and stone. He is wearing some armor he made at home out of heavy plastic, and he’s carrying a warhammer. He’s named his character Darius.

Your friend Christine is playing a Chatûl wizard named Lieflik who casts arcane spells, and has her claws to rely on if her spells fail.

The fighter introduces himself as Jesse. His character seems to be another Human, though he is dressed in heavy furs and carries an axe and shield. He tells you his character’s name is Dogin of the Hounds, a human barbarian from the North.

Once your introductions are complete, the new player advisor brings you to an area that is rather far removed from the majority of activity going on in game. It’s labeled “New Player Entrance” quite clearly which seems rather odd to you. You follow his instructions and step inside the large door, descending a few feet into an unusual area.

As you step inside, you feel as if you have entered a new world. The area is somewhat dark, lit only by lanterns hanging from the walls. The floor seems to be made of stone and is covered in grit and dirt. The walls bear carvings that seem to be ancient and another door blocks the way about twenty feet in front of you.

A somber looking character in leather armor seems to have been waiting for you, and as you look more closely you can see he’s in costume as an elf. He welcomes you to the game, explaining that you have arrived in an attempt to flee a town that had been ransacked by Blood Orcs.

You quickly glance at your character history card which also states that you and your travelling companions were on the search for a small box containing a map when you were forced to flee the town.

The elf player standing before you then introduces his character, telling you his character’s name is Xavier, and that he will only be speaking to you in character from this point forward, except to explain rules where necessary. With that he immediately snaps into character and speaks to you;

“What took you so long? We have to get moving, there isn’t much time.”
Xavier leads you through the first door, where you see a hallway stretching out before you. Down the hallway, a shaft of light falls from what must be some type of hole in the ceiling. You and your companions advance, following Xavier.

“Be on your guard,” Xavier says quietly, “the things that dwell here don’t take kindly to strangers in their domain." The caverns are winding, and as you travel you get a bit confused, but Xavier seems to know where he’s headed. After some traveling, you come to yet another door. This one appears to be locked.

“Strange,” Xavier remarks, “this wasn’t locked when I came through this way…” Just as Xavier finishes his thought, a small group of goblins springs up from behind you, their demonic stench stinging your nostrils. You and your four companions ready yourselves for battle.

Battle in Sidereus is a physical affair. If you do not want to engage in physical contact of high intensity, it is best that you avoid combat altogether. Any players who choose to go on adventures and engage in combat participate in the athletic and physical activity willingly.

“On your guard! Goblins!” Xavier shouts. You draw your longsword just in time to parry aside a blow from the lead goblin. Another goblin to your side moves in and strikes at Jesse, who easily defends against the attack with his shield. To your rear, you can hear Lieflik casting a spell…

Spellcasting in Sidereus can sometimes be a complicated process, but it is one that you can learn through doing. Spellcaster characters must memorize their spells, though the spell system is structured to minimize what non-spellcasters have to remember in terms of what the spells do. When a character casts a spell, they first speak an “incant” which is a phrase intended to declare that a spell is being cast. This will usually be shouted by the caster so as to be clearly heard. At the end of every incant, the name of the spell and the damage it inflicts (if any) is called out clearly so other players can respond appropriately. Some spells may have more complicated effects, but the effect will always be called out last. For example, a spell that paralyzes you will always require that “Paralysis” is clearly stated at the end of the spell incant regardless of the name of the spell.

“I call forth an Eldritch Bolt! 5 Magic!” Lieflik calls out, hurling a ball of magical energy. Her spell strikes one of the goblins to the rear, and the creature drops to the ground gurgling.
Magic spells in Sidereus are delivered using small packets of birdseed or similar material. These “spell packets” are thrown at a target to determine if the target was hit by the spell effect. Spell packets also represent a caster’s magical prowess. A spellcaster can only hold as many packets in her hand as she has spells in memory (to a minimum of one) at any time.

The lead goblin swings at you again, cackling something you can only barely understand. You swing low with your sword, calling out “5 Steel!” catching the goblin in the leg. The creature falls to the ground in a heap, badly injured.

The combat mechanics and character design system in Sidereus generally result in characters dealing out larger amounts of damage at lower levels than in most LARPs, however the damage an individual character can inflict does not escalate as quickly. As a result, while characters increase in versatility thanks to special attacks and other abilities, they stay generally static in their overall ability to dish out damage.

After a relatively quick fight the goblins are all slain, leaving you and your companions breathing heavily. You quickly loot the bodies, finding some copper and silver coins to split amongst yourselves. The goblin weapons are far too crude to make effective use of, so you leave them. You also notice one of the goblins is wearing a pair of bracers that look to be of Elven design. Examining them more closely they do appear to be in very good condition, so you remove them from the goblin and take them.

Some items in the Sidereus game are tagged, numbered and clearly labeled as “lootable”, which means the character doesn’t just get the tag to represent the item she has found, but may also take the physical representation as well. These items are one way to add to your character’s costuming since they become your property upon finding them.

After securing your new bracers, which count as 2 Armor Points according to the tag attached to them, you and your party continue on. During the battle, Xavier managed to get the door unlocked. As you pass through the door, you come to a very dark corridor. Luckily, Lieflik prepared a “Light” spell, and she quickly casts it to light the way.

Some spells, like Light spells, require a physical representation of some kind. A spell that requires such a prop will include details on what types of props are allowed and hints on how to employ them without breaking the aesthetic of the game.
    
As you walk forward, you can feel something making a distinct crunching noise beneath your feet. When you look down, you see you’ve crushed a leg bone of some unfortunate creature.

“Probably another traveler that had passed through here alone… not a smart thing to do…” Xavier muses as he notices you examining the remains. Something seems to catch Lieflik’s eye, and she reaches down among the remains and picks up a thin wooden rod with a small stone affixed to the end. Alongside it lies a small leather-bound spellbook.

“Whoever it was must’ve been a wizard of some kind. The spells in this book are arcane…” Lieflik comments as she flips through the book, “but there aren’t many spells… probably a novice…”

“Well they’re dead now, let’s keep moving, I don’t like the way this place smells.” Dogin interrupts, seeming as if he’s expecting another attack. Lieflik quickly takes the items as you move on.

“We’re near the exit now, just one more room…” Xavier warns, “Stay alert though, when I passed through earlier it looked as if I had just missed a party of goblins who were making their camp down here…”

As Xavier opens the door an arrow streaks out of the room, striking Darius in the shoulder. Darius clutches the wound and staggers back a bit….

When you are struck by a ranged weapon or attack and did not hear the damage call, you should automatically assume your character has suffered at least 2 points of damage, representing the attack grazing you. This is to speed up the flow of the game and prevent unneeded questions. This damage ignores abilities such as threshold, and is always taken.

Luckily, Darius’s armor is thick metal, so the arrow barely grazes him. He grunts away the pain and readies his warhammer.

Armor in Sidereus is rated by what it represents, rather than by what it is made out of in real world terms. If you make convincing “metal” armor that is actually made from plastic, you will still get the points as if it were metal. In addition, every segment of your armor will be given a tag as its own individual item rather than a cluster of armor points, making it easier to decide what you need to repair or replace when the time comes.
You advance into the room, and Dogin quickly moves to the left to dispatch a goblin archer in the corner of the room. Dogin shouts out “5 Steel!” and hacks the goblin archer down.

After a few moments of fighting you think you’ve cleared the room of goblins. You quickly search the room to gather any loot you can find. Darius comes across a simple blue cape bearing the symbol of Sûldin that seems to be in good condition and quickly puts it on. Dogin finds a hand axe in an old crate and hooks it onto his belt for use later.

Only a few moments into searching the room, you hear the yips and terrifying screams of goblins advancing. This time it sounds like a lot more of them are headed your way.

“Quickly! This way!” Xavier shouts, as a goblin from the previous battle comes out of hiding and launches a wicked looking arrow at Lieflik’s back, calling out “Activate Skill! 20 Slay!”
     
Some skills have special calls that are announced before they are used so that other players understand the character in question is using a special ability. “Activate Skill” is generally used before combat abilities to announce their use. The name of the Skill used by the goblin in this example is “Slay”, which does massive damage to a target creature. When a special skill is being used with a normal weapon, you do not have to announce the “carrier” or the type of damage that is associated. In other words, the goblin in the example does not have to say “20 Steel Slay”, instead he only says “20 Slay”.
Always focus on the number of damage an attack is dealing. If you are ever confused about a carrier associated with an attack, think about what it says. For example; the “Sleep” carrier puts a character to sleep if the attack injures her. The “Paralysis” carrier removes a character’s ability to move, paralyzing her, if she is injured by the attack. Most “carriers” are self-explanatory.
    
The arrow strikes Lieflik square in the back and she stumbles to the ground, bleeding to death.

When a character is injured for an amount of damage equal to her available Hit Points, she falls unconscious. She is considered to be at 0 Hit Points and disabled. If the character is injured for an amount of damage that is more than her available Hit Points, she is considered to be “Bleeding” and is also unconscious. Characters in either of these states are unable to take any actions. Characters that are “Bleeding” are also in danger of dying.
   
Xavier quickly leaps over Lieflik’s body as he draws his sword, and dispatches the goblin, calling out “Activate Skill! Silver Eviscerate!”

As mentioned earlier, some attacks have “carriers” that designate different types of damage being used. In addition, some terms are used to designate certain amounts of damage. The “Eviscerate” Skill and any skills that use the same term at the end, cause a character to immediately take more damage than they have available Hit Points, regardless of what the actual numerical value is. This causes the target character to begin her “Bleeding” count. There are not many verbals that have this effect, but knowing the ones that do is important.

Quickly examining Lieflik, Xavier’s shows his concern. “Can any of you heal?” Xavier asks urgently, “your friend will die if we can’t mend her wounds.”

“I can help.” Darius offers.

Suddenly the sound of goblins gets even closer, and it seems as if the beasts are about to enter the room. Dogin readies his weapon and stands before the door, his shield ready.

“Well do what you have to do fast, ‘cause I don’t think these little buggers are going to wait!” Dogin shouts out to Darius. You and Xavier move to Dogin’s side to help hold the door for as long as you can.

“By the light of Sûldin, I Cure Light Wounds! 5 Heal!” Darius says, touching Lieflik on her shoulder and calling forth the power of his god to heal her injuries.

At this point, Darius would hand Lieflik the tag for the spell he has cast on her. The tag details some information about the spell. When Darius received the tag at Logistics, it had a tab on the bottom labeled “Prepared”. When Darius hands the tag to Lieflik representing him healing her, he first tears off the “Prepared” tab.

“What happened?” Lieflik asks as she is restored to consciousness.

“No time for that! Let’s go!” Xavier shouts as he leads you from the room, throwing open what appears to be the last door and leading you up a stairwell that exits into a large cave of some type. A short walk later you find yourself deep in the forest, the sun setting over the trees.

“You all did rather well in there,” Xavier says, “but there are even more deadly things out amongst the trees. We must move quickly to the nearest town. There you can secure lodging at the inn, and perhaps find some work.”

After walking for some time, you arrive in town. It is Friday evening and the town is alive with activity. Merchants are peddling their wares, guilds are having meetings, and a town crier is spreading the word about a bounty on the head of some criminal who escaped from prison. Once you start to become used to your surroundings, Xavier excuses himself.

“I have a great deal to attend to, I am glad we were able to get you here safely. If you’re in need of some work, you should talk to Cadence – she’s the bartender over at the Crimson Rose, the largest tavern in town.  She might have something for you all to do.”

After you thank Xavier and he walks off, Dogin pulls a small box out of his bag. 

“Hey, I didn’t want to mention it while that Elf was here… but while we were down there I found this box. I opened it while we were down there, and there’s a map in it!”

As you decode the map you realize that it labels a location about twenty minutes walk from town. You decide to rest and enjoy the tavern for the night and prepare for your adventure in the morning…