Colors Explained

Introduction: The Finnish Way

To understand how Colors was done, you might well need to know some things about the Finnish live-action genre. A fairly complete description can be found in the FLARPA (Finnish Live Action Role Players' Association) home page at http://live.roolipeli.net/english/ but I'll sum up some facts here:

• No gamemaster intervention is usually required. The players are supposed to be able to play the game and use the rules by themselves. A gamemaster is called only when something extraordinary comes up.
• The characters are usually written and created by the gamemaster well in advance, which means that no character generation system is usually required for the players.
• Many games use a very minimal rules system, the ground rule being "if your character does it, you do it". Boffer, latex, soft-air and even steel weapons are commonly used for conflict resolution. However, abstract rules systems such as the Mind's Eye Theater are also in use for genres that are hard to simulate without extensive rules.

As you will see, Colors was an exception to some of these generalizations. For those interested in gaming philosophy, the ponpous but insightful Turku School of Gaming is also worth a look - Colors was mostly created for the turkuist style of playing, although as the school didn't officially exist back then.

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