TAG Talk Tuesdays – Doug/Turret
Greetings to the second TAG Talk Tuesday! Here is where me, Mel, and Mat (aka Dr. Cyrus) get to know our fellow players in Tristate Adventuring Guild! Each player receives two interviews; the first one we explore our player’s background with LARPing while the second interview delves into their character in Odyssey. Today, we get to meet the lovely and effortlessly charming Doug! He plays Turret, a very interesting character~ Hello Doug! Tell us a little about yourself.
Well, to start off, my name is Doug Black, and I’ve been LARPing for just over 22 years now.
Whoa, 22 years! That’s a whole person lol. Through the years, how has LARP changed for you?
Wow, so the main thing that has changed for me is what LARP is. When I started, it was a lot more like a first-person video game that everyone was playing simultaneously. There was a lot of seeing other people as NPCs in your story. As I’ve played, I have seen, and tried to do more of, working with other players as opposed to at them.
Also the costumes/phys-reps. When I started, it was laughed at, but a lot of people had baking pan armor. Some of the change from that has come from access to better cheaper supplies, tutorials, riding the coattails of cosplay, and LARP in general not being as stigmatized as it used to be.
Indeed! It’s so nice that cosplay and LARP is more accepted by the populace. I imagine that there’s so many games ‘n at compared to when you first started. Other than Odyssey, what other LARPing games have you played throughout the years?
I started back with Quest, I tried out an airsoft LARP many years ago. I’ve played in a Vampire the Masquerade LARP for 13 years. Then LORE was the most recent, until Odyssey.
What a history, especially with dedicating 13 years to VtM! I imagine slipping into your character’s persona gets easier over time? Or do you still find it hard to get into their mindset?
Haha. Unfortunately, there have been quite a few characters in that game. As I am developing what my characters are, I always get a short playlist together, and sometimes phrases I can say to myself to slip back into that mindset. Though I often find myself having full on conversations when I’m putting pieces together.
You’ll have to forgive me, I forget who your character is in Odyssey. When you have the conversations, is it you and the character? Or a made up scenario? Either way, you’re def not crazy!
My character in Odyssey is Turret.
The conversations are normally between the character and someone else, or building up reactions to scenarios. Sometimes it’s them ranting, or threatening, or just some sort of planning. It is really useful for a character that has an accent or particular way of speaking, like with Turret who uses ‘we’ as the pronoun of choice.
That’s right, I remember now! I think I’ve met them before. X3 Speaking of pronouns ‘n at, have you found it challenging to play a character who uses different pronouns than yourself?
Yes and no. I have played male, female, and nb (non-binary) characters in tabletop, and it hasn’t been difficult in those situations, as the pronouns I use stay the same. Turret is different, because the pronoun used when speaking are different. So, it is a lot harder to use ‘we/us’ when speaking when I have always used ‘I/me’. Which circles back to my need to run conversations in my head, and have some key phrases set up as kind of a mnemonic device to help me slip into the right phrasing.
Aaahh, that’s so interesting about them! And a perfect stopping point! I look forward to learning more about Turret when Mat interviews you. Thank you so much~
Let me once again thank Mister Doug for being our second player to interview~ I loved learning about his vast experience with LARP throughout the years. If YOU wish for us to learn more about you, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Mel or Mat in our Discord!
Thank you everyone and please have a lovely day~
(Other than small grammar and spelling mistakes, the interviewee’s text is unchanged.)
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