I tend to enjoy running games when I have a specific goal in mind, I tend to run rules-light events with a supernatural or occult bent and like to try and surprise people - I like telling a story and heavy immersion.  I knew around three quarters of the players, and around half of the players had little experience of contact LRP.  I got a low-down on the type of people the quarter I didn't know were - this told me next to nothing, so I decided to just crack on with writing the game.

Firstly, I put about the idea that I wanted to run something significantly different to my usual violent/supernatural games, so I told the players that I would be writing a rom-com style game, dealing with: "Love, both requited and unrequited in situations calm and stressful".  I wrote a long descriptor (including pretentious quotes and the like), and copy-pasted the rules/combat blurb I'd used from my other games - so I could include combat rules without it looking too suspicious (most of the players had played my other games - and I knew would be likely to relate this to those that hadn't).

A number of players communicated to me their concern that this game might be rubbish - but I traded on a reputation for having run a couple of decent games in the past...so people were up for it.

Making the players believe this was a mundane game was key to the surprise.

The setting was an informal party hosted by a popular and wealthy single woman, at a cottage she owns in the grounds of an abbey.  Each player had an individual brief detailing some of their character's background, career, what they knew other people knew about them, and what they knew about the other characters.  The only character that knew everyone was the Hostess.  There were lots of players playing a different sexuality, plenty of love triangles and blackmail going on.  I would be at no point playing a character - reasons for this should become obvious!

The hostess of the party had a brief telling her that she needed to create as much conflict and negative emotion between people at the party to fulfill a ritual that would ensure her continued wealth.  Her mother had failed to do this, and met an early death.  She was aware that doing this would cause other people to die.  So, she thought she was the 'bad guy'.

Another character was looking for a particular rare book - she had arranged for armed men to come to the party and interrogate the guests (I'd persuaded some other people to gate crash later in the game).  So, she thought she was the 'bad guy'.

The Gatecrashers had guns and knew they were the big surprise (though didn't know who their contact was - unless she used a phrase to identify herself)...so, they thought they were the 'bad guys'.  NB: They all had to drive up to where we were holidaying to take part...

Another character was briefed that if he heard a certain phrase, he would turn into a Michael Myers (ala Halloween) style creature, able to withstand severe wounds, and would start killing everyone else except his IC wife, until I told him otherwise.  So, he thought he was the 'bad guy'.

Lastly, the IC wife knew that her husband had been brainwashed by a Catholic cult she was in, and was there to protect her.  She investigated people on their behalf, and he was her bodyguard.  So, she thought she was the 'bad guy'.

The game had a staggerred start with the hostess and her closest friends at the party - people arrived at various points over the next hour, often with a bottle of wine in hand.  There were lots of introductions, and gradually the secrets came out...and some outright lies were told by the hostess, causing screaming rows.  There were assignations in the pleasure gardens outside, and a couple of trysts going on.  Plenty of characters were 'on the pull' and there were a couple of characters trying to break up relationships.  In the meantime, the hostess had wandered off and cut the phone lines and the car fuel pipes.  She'd also used a mobile phone jammer.

Around three hours into the game, the four gatecrasher characters arrived on site, looking every inch the thugs, armed with realistic looking guns, faces covered with ski masks or tights.  They were forceful and threatening, and started taking the players one by one to be questioned.

Some time into the hostess had to choose a character to die (which could have been one of the thugs).  She chose, and a man had a heart attack.  This caused another player to start hearing a word repeated in their head.  More time passed, more interrogations happened, someone else was chosen, and they had a heart attack.  At this point the thugs started worrying, and another character started hearing a word.  A little later, the two players related their words - hearing them together forced the mild mannerred accountant to get to his feet and start killing.  In the confusion, some of the other characters made a grab for weapons (though in a panicked and terrified way).

Another heart attack occurred and the accountant stabbed another character who fell to the floor screaming "Jesus Christ!"  This impassioned religious plea broke the accountant out of his trance and he fell to the floor coming round with no memories moments later.  I had specifically wanted it to be possible for him to come out of the trance - but not via cheesy roleplay.  I was happy for him to murder all of the characters if that's how it went.

Finally, when the hostess was asked to make another choice for death, she chose herself - and that was it.  She lived, the heart attacks stopped...

I mostly got very positive feedback from the players (including the thugs) - and people were certainly on an adrenaline high.  Everyone agreed that the events unfolded in a way they couldn't predict, and there was a general consensus that the thugs breaking in was pretty terrifying.

I was surprised to hear how much people enjoyed the social start of the event - and would like to try and explore that as a full game in the future.  I had a logistical problem with some of the thugs getting lost on their way to the game - but as it turned out this wasn't too much of a problem.  I had a minor issuee with some of the players talking about their characters before the game - but this was mainly vague info (the staunch labour party member and union worker playing a Tory MP).  In the future I'd make it clearer that I wanted to avoid this.

I was very happy with players playing different sexualities and being in relationships - despite doing this with strangers and in front of their real life partners.

It was unusual to run such a short event (I'd normally do an overnight or weekender), and I plan to do another next year - but am likely to do something highlighting the social conflict LRP that the start of the event emphasised.