Edit:
I have codified my quest proposal and a list of encounters and loot in this Google document.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YG7 ... sp=sharingI was thinking about a discussion Scoot, Rose and I had last night about making Amtgard more like a video game. There are many types of video game and so far we have been playing like a competitive multiplayer game. It makes sense since we are all people and want to win. However the vast gap in skill and equipment between the regulars and newbie walk-on's probably makes this less fun for them than it is for us.
So I propose we run a quest like a single player/multi player co-op video game or D&D session. We select 4 players to be the PC's and the rest of us be NPC's except for one player who is narrating/DM'ing the quest. The PC's pick a class and start at level 1 with shorts. They are given an encounter against NPC monsters (which they should win). After the encounter they get a level and some new equipment that they get to use next encounter. Player lives/wounds/equipment get reset between encounters. If there is a total party kill they have to redo the encounter but may hire an NPC to their side as a mercenary. If an experienced player is fighting against a newbie PC the experienced player is encouraged to go easy on the newbie.
The 4 PC's should get swapped out for NPC's after a few encounters so that as many people as possible get to play as a PC. The purpose of this is to give newbies a chance to experience higher level play and feel like a big damn hero.
I realize this is getting into more LARPing territory, but my goal here is to make more of an IRL Diablo game where we have a fast iteration of kill, loot, level, repeat.