Mop Fair
| Game | Mop Fair |
|---|---|
| Storyguide | Andrew Oakley |
| Length | 2 hours |
| Players | 18-30 (can be run with 12 with some loss of plot strands) |
| Suitability | Any |
| Prerequisities | This game ideally requires 3 storyguides. Note that this game uses custom cut-down rules based on ArM5, adapted for live play without dice. |
| Pre-rolled characters available? | Yes |
Contents |
Sign up
There is no need to sign up for this game; you will be presumed to be playing unless you indicate otherwise. Please fill in the freeform survey and you will be allocated a character in advance by email, otherwise you can turn up on the day and be allocated a character.
The only thing you need to read is your character sheet. For players with busy lives, short attention spans or who are just new to freeform games, the bare minimum you need to know has been condensed down to 3 bulletpoints at the top of your character sheet.
Notes
England, 1360. It has been nearly ten years since the worst of the Black Death wiped out over a third of England's population. The balance of power between nobles, landowners and the peasantry has been upset by the resulting labour shortage.
It is November and the riverside market town of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, is holding their annual Mop Fair. Labourers and employers are gathering in the town for negotiation and hiring.
Those looking for work can be seen around town carrying the tools of their trade, so they can easily be recognised by potential employers. Domestic servants might carry a mop (hence the name "Mop Fair"), agricultural labourers might carry a hoe, spade, crook or scythe, stonemasons might carry a hammer or chisel, carpenters might carry a saw.
New employment is usually sealed with the payment of a shilling. It has been decreed that all negotiations must cease when the taverns open at 6pm.
The employers - nobles, knights, clergy from the local abbeys and magi from the local covenants - are going to face some hard bargaining. And maybe settle some scores between each other.
As the fair progresses, it seems like the labour shortage is the least of the players' worries.
Props
Costume is optional but props are strongly recommended.
- Knights should carry a sword or shield
- Nobles should wear large jewelry, chains, large brooches or a small crown
- Clergy should wear a large cross
- Magi should carry a wand
- Peasants should carry a tool of the trade (fork, spade, basket, mop, dustpan, hammer etc.)
Rules and play
- Grand Tribunal UK 2014 Programme PDF contains the game outline
A freeform is a variant of Live Action Role-playing (LARP) with no physical contact.
Mop Fair is a very short game, only 2 hours long. A more typical freeform or LARP would last a minimum of 4 hours, more typically 6-10. The main goal for this game is as an icebreaker for the convention.
An overview of the game, with a map of the game area and physical room layout, are detailed in the Grand Tribunal UK 2014 Programme. This game uses a cut-down set of Ars Magica 5 rules, specifically adapted for live play without dice. You can download the rules here but you do not need to read or learn these rules unless you are a storyguide (or love roleplaying game details).
Note that powerful magic costs viz in the cut-down rule for this freeform
List of Player Characters
| Faction | Character | Player |
|---|---|---|
| Storyguides | Town Crier | Andrew Oakley |
| Storyguides | (none) | Kevin Sides |
| Storyguides | (none) | Luke Price |
| Clergy | Abbot of Hailes | CJ |
| Clergy | Abbot of Tewkesbury | Andrew Sceats |
| Clergy | Bishop of Gloucester | David Chart |
| Knights | Lady Beatrice the Untamed | Anna Jones |
| Knights | Sir Boris the Black Knight | Nathan Hook |
| Knights | Sir Rowland the Red Knight | Lloyd Graney |
| Magi | Greybeard of the Forest | Jonathan Elcock |
| Magi | Longteeth of the Forest | Philip Jenkins |
| Magi | Wild Erica of the Forest | Laura Knighton |
| Magi | Antonia of Winchcombe | Kirstie Sceats |
| Magi | Claudius of Winchcombe | Mark Threlfall |
| Magi | Lucia of Winchcombe | Felicity Boyce |
| Nobles | Earl of Worcester | Leif Olav Jøsang |
| Nobles | Earl of Gloucester | Håkon Gaut |
| Peasants | Alfred the Ferryman | Neil Taylor |
| Peasants | Ellis the Peasant | Mark Steedman |
| Peasants | Owen the Peasant | Andreas Jellinghaus |
| Peasants | Wulfrina the Washerwoman | Sheila Thomas |
| Peasants | Peasant for Hire | Jean-Francois Leveque |
| Peasants | Peasant for Hire | Karl Trygve Kalleberg |
| Peasants | Peasant for Hire | All other players |
