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These notes have both game information and design thoughts on how to do something intermingled together. Oftentimes thinking about the story would cause us to think about how to manifest the idea and vice-versa.
The Land of Pan-Tree was peaceful and prosperous. The King started expanding the roads and trails throughout the kingdom. The King had sent out open invitations to anyone who wanted to move to the Land of Pan-Tree as a way to expand the population of the kingdom. Soon after the invitation went out, road crews started having problems. Someone or some group was attacking and killing the crews. Sending squads of soldiers with the crews didn't help. Hidden from him and his people, the Evil ones were planning a new invasion.
Before the King and his men came to the Land, the native inhabitants had been enslaved and endangered by the Evil ones (dark elves, orcs, goblins, and other nasty creatures). The native inhabitants were the Ents, the Gnomes, and the Fairies (or Fae). They gave the King and his people, the title, "Friends of the Land." These three Tribes created a Staff of Power for the King as a token of their appreciation for driving the Evil ones out of the land. Before it could be given to the King, the Evil ones had opened four portals between their home land and the Land of Pan-Tree. The Evils ones placed the portals near the newly expanded roads and trails. To protect the Land, the Staff of Power was broken into four pieces; each piece or Talisman was placed in a portal. The Magic of the Talismans prevented the Evil ones from physically passing through the portals. However, their spirits and mental beings could still pass through. But the spirits power was limited by the distance from the portal.
After the welcoming dinner, the King's wizard, Mage Chatterbox, led those who had come for the "Land Grab" on a short tour of the land. Earlier that evening, the King had sent the Captain of the Guard to escort in one of the road crews. As the tour party approached a new trail, they discovered the road crew dead and the Captain mortally wounded. As he perished, he murmured, "From all sides …, they came …, out of nowhere … attacking me!"
Thus began MNLA II.
All four portals had compulsion spells drawing people into them. Once one was drawn inside, you saw another compulsion spell which gave instructions to pick up a sword and attack anyone near you. If you were killed or you killed everyone in the area (15-20 feet of the portal opening), you were to return the sword and go away (or die). In one of the portals was a black cloth which would kill you instantly and transform you into a Zombie. Again, you would attack everyone within range, replace the cloth and go to the Land of the Dead. Also, inside the portal was a Talisman padlocked to a tree. Three sides of each portal were marked with wide blue ribbon. The Door side used blue fabric rope with loops tied in the ends. At the beginning, these loops were placed on sticks making a door way. With the proper extra equipment, a person could safely ignore the compulsion spells and enter the portal. Using a key, one could unlock the Talisman and using the same lock, seal the portal by putting the loops together and relocking the padlock. Then you had to say a spell which would last until the end of the day. The major objective was to retrieve the four Talismans and bring them to the King. The King, with help from the three Tribes, would join the four Talismans into the Staff of Power. Finally, using the combined magic and spirits of the survivors, the portals would be permanently sealed (not destroyed).
In MNLA I, we used an area known as the island for the Land of the Dead and an area next to it as Limbo (maze area). This time the island became "Fairy Island" and we had forty fairies out there. Each fairy had a message or clue to the game. Some clues were real and helpful, while others were not. One clue told you everything. It was placed under a flower pot which sat inverted in a moat of "pud" and on top of the pot was a small lighthouse. This was placed near the edge of the stream running by the island. The search design was for people to go to the Fairy Island, get a clue which would send them to the Hawk Shrine. At the Hawk Shrine, several different colored ribbons and sashes were hanging. A person was to take a ribbon. Each color gave the wearer different powers. If you had seen the right clue, you would know to take a blue ribbon. It would allow you to ignore compulsion spells.
The next stop was at the Rabbit Shrine where you would be given a key and a spell. You then had the necessary equipment to retrieve a Talisman. Once all four Talismans were given to the King, the game moved into "end-game" and the final spell was cast.
While our game is still mostly a family affair, we did have two local outside families join us. We had several children ten and under. The game designers (Phyllis and Betty) set up a separate treasure hunt for them. They had to find six foam puzzle pieces and fill in the puzzle on top of a treasure chest. Once the puzzle was completed, the treasure chest could be opened. It was filled with treasures that children love-chocolate candy. The young group had weapons and took part in the major objectives of the game as well as their own treasure hunt. This group had an "unexpected" leader (unexpected by me) and they had a major battle between them and the assassin-trainee. He killed all of them. Having something separate for the young ones to do as well as letting them interact with the adults, kept them from being bored. The adult who watched over them was exhausted by the end of the day.
We had intended with the four portals that there would be battles all day. That was the plan. Then a wizard (Mage Solarius) teamed up with the assassin-trainee. Their approach to handling a portal was to blindfold the assassin (who had a demon spirit guide) and send him into the portal. This team had been to the Rabbit Shrine but not the Hawk Shrine. They gathered three of the four Talismans without harm. The fourth was retrieved by a pirate who then hid the Talisman before bringing it to the King. The pirate had a zombie woman following him (she was, and still is, in love with him). Before the Staff of Power was completed, the pirate approached both mages, gave them a special book of spells, and asked them to resurrect the woman. After agreeing to share his soul with her, the two mages were able to read the book and cast the resurrection spell. Needless to say, it worked.
Did the game go as planned? Of course not. The outcome was the same. Only one big battle was fought. Several people did die and go to the Land of the Dead. I borrowed an idea from the New York game. We did not have a Lord of the Dead; instead, it was a self-guided tour area which was roped off and only dead players could enter. We also had another unexpected outcome. The assassin-trainee was exposed. Thus the King declared assassination illegal and all proved assassins would be killed.
Most important, everyone have a great time!
On a more personal note, one of our daughters lives in Israel and has three children. Her twins are ten. While Grandma Phyllis and Sister/Aunt and nearly everyone else knew she was coming to the game, the idea was to surprise the King. Let's just say the King is slowing down as he ages and he was completely surprised despite unintentional clues. Grandma got her own surprise because she didn't know the twins were coming.
General Note: We have owned our property since 1974. While the children were growing up, we did do things in the woods. The boys built tree houses and platforms in a couple of places but we never explored and used the land like we have playing MNLA. A special "thank you" to Betty and Ben for introducing us to LARP.
Will there be a MNLA III? Yes! The game designers are working on it now. The date for MNLA III is June 23-25, 2006. So get ready to register, get set to have some family fun, and come to MNLA III.
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