Getting Started - Operation Sunup

Joining the Game / Character Creation

If you are interested in participating in Operation Sunup Larp, the process is fairly straightforward. For Season 1, we'll be primarily operating in Southern California, and Seattle. If you're outside this area and interested in participating, feel free to contact us via email and you can see about participating as an C&L personnel.

The character creation guide is as follows:

Step 1: Select Service Type

There are 3 types of service a character can fall into, they are as follows:

Command and Logistics

Command and Logistics represents "Headquarters". These are analysts, tacticians, desk jockeys, and policy makers. Generally speaking C&L doesn't participate in any field work. This is a role to select if you are interested in solving online puzzles, crafting props, organizing people, setting up mission rules, and playing a strategic metagame. Generally C&L Personnel are highly vetted, so these positions aren't for "infiltrator/double agent" type characters. Their gameplay is based on real-life puzzle solving and organization.

Case Officer

A case officer is personnel doing Fieldwork and carrying out contact with Agents. For the purposes of Operation Sunup they represent "Generally Trusted" individuals and are less likely for double-agents, though possible. They will often be in-charge of counter-espionage. They will try to spoil the plans of other organizations and catch enemy agents. Their gameplay is based on real-life perception and vigilance.

Field Agent

An Agent is someone trained in Tradecraft. Their job is to steal documents, collect espionage, eavesdrop, and defeat enemy assets. They are often converted case officers, or specifically trained for these purposes. They are the most at risk for being double-agents. Their gameplay is based on real-life stealth and cleverness.

Step 2: Choose an Affiliation

Information is kept purposefully sparse, more info will be given once play begins.

Organization 1 Themes: Revolution, Get it Done, Knowledge

Organization 2 Themes: Status Quo, Do it Right, Power

Organization 3 Themes: Balance, The Ends Justify The Means, Money

Step 3: Betrayal Gameplay

Are you interested in being a betrayer, playing multiple sides. This is generally higher risk/reward gameplay.

Step 4: RP Color

Everything in the Dossier after this point is flavor for creating your character. You will begin on equal footing with other players, regardless of what's entered here, but this flushes out your character.

Fill out your dossier. This is primarily OOC but some elements will be rolled IC:

Name:
Emergency Contact: (Player Name)
Service Type: (C&L, Officer, or Agent)
Operational Theatre: (SoCal or Seattle)
Codename Clearences Received: (What Local LARP's do you play in?)
City where recruited: (The OOC city where you live, for organizational purposes)
Prefered Organization: (1, 2 or 3)
Secondary Organization: (1, 2 or 3)
Interest in Betrayal Gameplay: (Low/Medium/High)
Previous Service Branch: (Choose 1 or more government/private organizations)
Likely Angle of Compromise: (What is your character most likely to fall victim to? Enter your weakpoint!)
Country of Origin: (Whatever you like)
Brief Bio:

What Next?

After you've got your dossier completed, mail a copy of it to "operationsunuplarp@gmail.com", with the subject line "Trainee Application". Any emails from operationsunuplarp@gmail.com are considered to be both OOC, and factual. Any other gameplay emails you receive should be taken with a grain of salt. Once your character sheet is entered, you'll be linked a copy of it to the email address you sent. You can change the email address associated with your character, but we recommend making a throwaway email and using that.

The STs will be working with the C&L staff for your organization to organize your initial logistics, but the majority of Gameplay will begin in January. You will receive information on game mechanics for your Service Type before then.

Game Costs!

There are some costs associated with running the game. To begin these are primarily based around webhosting, though as we go there will be some prop costs, and on-site event costs. Operation Sunup is not a for-profit game, and we hope to keep costs as low as possible, and be transparent with these as they come up. These costs will be cleared up by C&L with you, but they will be on the order of magnitude of $100 per ORGANIZATION per year (plus individual game costs). Having larger organizations will hopefully make these costs negligible for each individual player (ideally $10-$20).

Time Costs

Ultimately the time commitment for the game is going to be one you can set yourself. While there might be opportunities for one-off RP sessions, and online communication, the goal will be for one "operation" every 1-2 months. These operations might be online only, or require a physical component, and will need to be completed by one or more members of an organization. Players will be able to choose their time commitments as desired.

RL Operations

There will also be occasional real world operations. These will generally be less frequent, and bigger budget than other operations. They may involve rescue and debriefing of a key VIP. Or successfully filling a dead-drop. Generally speaking these operations themselves will be fairly short, the game generally won't require extended camper/day games. We may look at something along these lines for a finale/climax.

Informational Secrecy

It can be very tempting to talk about games. In a game about secrets though, even letting people know you're playing a game can give them a serious advantage over you. We highly recommend limiting talking about the game OOCly, as this game doesn't really have the concept of IC and OOC information. If you know a player is in the game, you're welcome to use this information to your advantage. Once Season 1 is complete, players will have the opportunity to talk about the game and share their experiences. So we suggest waiting till then as much as possible!

Getting Caught/Killed

While the specific mechanics of getting your character captured or killed will be handled in the additional documentation you receive once the game starts, it's worth knowing that if your character is killed, you'll be unable to participate in the game for its remainder. You are welcome to help the ST staff run the game, but having strong penalties for dying are to help establish big risks.

Code of Conduct and Participation

First and Foremost it's important to remember that Operation Sunup is a game. And while it has ideas of secrecy, PVP, betrayal, and espionage, we in no way encourage taking this beyond the bounds of the game. Stalking, pushing the boundaries of these rules, and otherwise engaging in inappropriate behavior will result in expulsion from the game with extreme prejudice and being banned from any future activities.

There are a handful of calls for the game from the Blurred Boundaries ruleset. Many of these calls are unapplicable as there will often not be an ST present, but Brake Check and Ampersand should always be obeyed. If you're unfamiliar, the calls are as follows:

Brake Check

This call means that a character is being potentially made uncomfortable by the direction your roleplaying is going. If a player uses this on you, you should consider fading to black, or otherwise being less graphic if possible. Ask at game if you have questions.

Ampersand

This call means a player is being triggered or otherwise uncomfortable with the scene. After making this call the PLAYER should be allowed to exit the scene immediately and remove themselves from the source of their discomfort. The scene can be adjudicated later but the player should be allowed to leave immediately no questions asked.

Hold

This is a call that should ONLY be started by the ST staff. It is a way to get everyone's attention. When you hear "Hold" you should pause where you are, and echo the Hold call, and place one hand over your head so that others will see and know there is a hold and can repeat the call. The ST will then make some announcement and count the game back in. The only time this call should be used by a PC is when there is some kind of real life emergency, like a medical situation, that the whole game needs to pause for.

Are You Ok?/Yes I am

This handsign is the universal thumbs up symbol. Fist out, thumb up. You should only use this if you're worried someone is roleplaying being injured a little too well, or if another situation arises where it would be disruptive to roleplay to ask if someone is ok. Instead you can make the thumbs up symbol to them while you continue roleplaying. If they make the thumbs up symbol back you know everything is fine despite anything they might be saying.