Cambridge University Treasure-Trap New players

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Information for new players

What is roleplaying?

Roleplaying is the act of pretending to be something which you are not. Specifically, roleplaying games are games played where the players take on the roles of specific characters, and describe what they do. Roleplaying games have been around for quite a long time, and range from tactical fantasy combat simulation (such as the rather famous Dungeons and Dragons) to comedy games (such as Paranoia). Roleplaying games exist for pretty much any situation you care to play, and there are some generic systems designed to incorporate any scenario.

Most roleplaying games tend to take place around a table, with the characters existing on paper, or as models on a board. Some roleplaying games are played without any paper at all, with the players just sitting around and talking. These games are commonly referred to as "tabletop" roleplaying games.

What is LARP?

LARP (Live action roleplaying game) is a type of roleplaying where instead of recording your character on a sheet of paper, and representing them with a model, or in your imagination, you take on the mantle of your character physically, and act out their actions in real life. This has some advantages and some disadvantages over traditional tabletop roleplaying. Swinging heroically from a chandelier while fighting a horde of screaming harpies might work in your imagination, but actually doing it is another matter. On the other hand, what you do in LARP is a lot more immersive than most tabletop games.

What is Cambridge University TT?

Cambridge University TT (Treasure Trap) is a particular LARP system which is was originally an offshoot of Durham's TT system. Currently there are about thirty players and four refs, so the system is a lot smaller than some more well known ones such as LT or Maelstrom. This year the CUTT system has been rewritten a little, so it is now unique to the society.

What do I need to know to show up?

You don't need anything specific to show up and find out what we do, but since we like people to get involved, we recommend that you come along to "monster" if you're thinking of trying us out. This involves playing short character roles, briefed by the ref team on what they are trying to achieve, and monsters that try and cause the players trouble from time to time. TT sessions run on Fridays and Saturdays, and the times and locations are published on our front page.

In order to monster, you need to read the System calls page, and the hit system page, which will let you know how to act if someone starts shouting confusing instructions at you. The refs will take you through this when you first arrive, and give you a quick safety talk as well as answering any questions you may have. You'll also want to wear loose, comfortable but plain clothing. Try to avoid anything modern looking - in particular, denim, white trainers and obvious logos can look decidedly out of place. Finally, you might want to read our guide to roleplaying.

What do I need to know to play a character?

In addition to knowing about the calls, you'll need a few extra things to play a character:

A guide to creating characters - This is where you should start.
the Experience system - This should give you the information you need to stat a character. At this point you should read through the pages under "system" in the index to decide what statistics you want to give your character.
At this point you will want to give your characters stats, and email them to the ref team. This can be a little awkward if you havn't played before, as it's not always obious which skills are the most useful to your character. The refs are available to discuss character sheets, and members of the society are always happy to help. Eight sample character sheets are available to download below- there is one sample 90xp character taking skills only from one class, a warlock (warrior/mage) and a paladin (warrior/priest). You don't have to use these by any means, but they can be a useful starting point.
Finally you'll want to give your character some kit. At the beginning you may not have anything you want to wear. However, we have an extensive armoury that we do lend out to new players.

Here are links to the other introductory guides:

As always, email queries downtimes and general musings as to the nature of the multiverse to tt-refs@srcf.ucam.org.