It’s been about five years since you all started at Franklin University, four since you all joined Franklin’s Sci-Fi fantasy club, the FORCe.  It’s been a year since graduation.  A year since you were all able to really spend time together.  This weekend is a time to get together, to catch up, and to enjoy.

Reunions is a series of two reunions for six college friends, set six months apart.  One takes place Friday night of a three day Star Wars con, in a hotel room, as everyone catches up and figures out plans for the rest of the con.  The other takes place at one character’s birthday party.  Each game is two hours long, and will be separated by a break (probably a food break).  By signing up for one game, you are signing up for both.

Reunions is an experimental LARP, in all meanings of the word.  That is, the game itself is experimental, and it is an experiment.  The game is set up for research in linguistic anthropology--how the way people talk and who they are go together.  That means I am not studying LARPing, I am using LARPing to do linguistic research.  The game will be videotaped, and used for study, but only character names and pseudonyms will be used in the paper.  Upon completion of this study, the video and transcripts will be kept for future studies.  Only character names and pseudonyms will be used in the transcripts.  There will also be a exit questionnaire, which will be recorded into a form marked only by run and character.  All information obtained in this study is strictly confidential unless disclosure is required by law. In addition, the Institutional Review Board, the sponsor of the study (e.g. NIH, FDA, etc.) and University or government officials responsible for monitoring this study may inspect these records.

Reunions is also a serious game, taking place in the real world.  This is not a typical Sharone game, please do not expect GM Space or 36 Degrees of Separation.  All situations and plots in the game are based on the types of situations we have all been through with our close friends, and therefore players will likely find themselves in scenarios that are very familiar.  It is also very high characterization, with very few actual set goals, and next to no mechanics. 

Filling out the questionnaire does not mean you are locked into playing, you can pull out afterwards, and you should pull out if you end up with a character you are at all unsure about.  Also, due to research constrictions, there is an age restriction of 18+, but this has nothing to do with the content of the game itself.

Also, there is currently no one set date, one of the pages in this questionnaire is devoted towards finding out when and where people are available from Late March through early June.  As these dates are long past, I have a separate survey for September and early October.  So please skip the logistics pages here, and instead go on to http://www.journeysurveys.com/answer/326