A stupid LARP idea that might work.

[Levi]

I've been thinking about this one for months.

Ever seen the board game Junta?

Right. I want to run a LARP the feels exactly like that, recast as a "Mafia families" game.

Anyone have any thoughts on this score?

[komradebob]

I've been thinking about this one for months.

Ever seen the board game Junta?

Right. I want to run a LARP the feels exactly like that, recast as a "Mafia families" game.

Anyone have any thoughts on this score?

Sexy.

What about the old Mafia TAG variant?

[Levi]

Sexy.

What about the old Mafia TAG variant?

Huh? Whuzzat?

[komradebob]

Huh? Whuzzat?
The Assassination Game by Steve Jackson Games. There was a variant where each team was a Mafia Family, with different levels of made guy ( Dons, Capos, and Soldato IIRC).

Anyway, the Dons controlled the dough with which to buy various and sundry weapons, and parcelled it out. If I remember right, part of the game was to be on the trusted list and payroll of more than one Family.

And, of course, rubbing out rivals was also part of the game...

[Valfader]

I have played Junta, and I guess it could easily be converted to LARPing I'm guessing, but how?

Multiple rooms would likely be needed. Or corners, anyway.

I was once in a semi-live thing in a spaceship, where everyone had been replaced by shapeshifting aliens, and I was the only human left. Something had happened, and everyone had lost their memory, so the aliens did not know that they weren't the only alien on board.

It might be tangential to the point, but it certainly had a very "everything is ucertain" feel, which Junta also does.

[weaponofchoice]

I've seen a mafia style LARP work - though I don't know enough about Junta to draw a comparison.

The idea of stratified organised crime could allow you to run a larp which doesn't descend into violence - you can't kill a 'made' man and if you do want to kill someone, you need to get approval from the upper echelons. Kinda in the same way that Vampire should work.

You could run several high costume, high plot, low combat events - the funeral of the former Don, an illegal high stakes casino, negotiations with other criminal groups.

I can certainly see the funeral working well - the different factions meeting together in an environment where they can't tommygun each other, a power vacumn to be filled and possibly an unknown assassin. I guess that its similar to a traditional Vampire start - the prize of being prince being up for grabs, but without the supernatural powers.

[Merten]

I've been thinking about this one for months.

Ever seen the board game Junta?

Right. I want to run a LARP the feels exactly like that, recast as a "Mafia families" game.

I haven't played Junta (though I'm familiar with the idea), but it reminds me of a game run here some years ago. I didn't participate, and I've been kicking myself for it every since, but [i]Hacienda Eldorado[i] was set into an imaginary country next to Mexico. Judging from what I've heard, it had lot of generals, presidents, ex-presidents, and United Fruit Company.

I'm not sure I'm connecting Mafia with this, though.