Greetings Survivors!! Welcome to Pro-tip Thursday the Friday Addition!!!

Yes, I know you are saying.. Really Curtis? Another Pro-Tip on a Friday??? Well I can say that I needed a little more time this week after last weekend’s Game to recover enough both physically and mentally. Which is kinda helpful because Recovery is this weeks topic!

After a game, it's important to recover both physically and mentally. I don’t know about you but our first live game back hit me physically pretty hard! I think we can all blame the “Hill of Death” for our legs feeling like rubber and just being worn out!

So to recover physically, I have done the following:

I stretch every morning. My muscles in my legs and back have been super tight since the exercise. Too many of us sit at desks all day so spending a little time stretching will keep you limber and loose. It will also help get the acids out of your muscles to help them recover.
Hydration. Before a game and after a game. Hail hydrate! Drink that water.
Muscle massage. Many different ways to do this either professionally or privately. I use a muscle roller to work over my sore muscles.
Take it easy. This week I have not been to the gym. I have taken some light walks with my wife but I really overdid it this weekend so I am taking a physical break before working out again.

But the other thing we have to do is recover Mentally. Larping is an event that requires a great deal from players. It requires as much mental energy as physical energy. Many players find themselves in a state of tired confusion, exhaustion and emotionally raw after a Game. It does not help that building up to a game we wear ourselves out getting ready by crafting, packing and planning what our characters will do. After the event ends we find ourselves back in our real lives dealing with what comes after the event. Most of us call it “Larp Drop” , but it is a form of Post Larp depression.

Now this is something that is very common. So we have a few tips on how we can help each other through this.

Reach out to your friends. This is the reason we have “After’s” together. It gives us a chance to talk to each other as ourselves, not our characters. We can tell the war stories from the weekend, talk to players about events to make sure everyone is cool about what happened and just rest with each other in not a game space.
Distract yourself from the game. Spend time with friends or family doing something other than DR. Do something that takes your mind off of game, read books, play some video games. I come home and have dinner with my wife and we watch TV together on the couch. It's a very relaxing evening.
Journal your event. By writing down the feeling and emotions you felt it can help you externalize the event and help you put things down in an order that is meaningful to you.

We can help each other through the drop and watch out for our friends during this time. This may trigger other imbalances that are already in place so we want to check on our friends to help.

Another way to help process the weekend is to give feedback to the game runners! This event is Our event. Our community builds these stories together. Those of us who put this crazy thing together need to hear from you. Are we doing well? Are we doing bad? What can we do to improve? Did something happen that you need to be heard about? We cannot fix it or make it better if we do not know.

Give feedback Here!!

https://www.dystopiarisingar.com/feedback-form

Again, Yes, I know the walk to the post office in this game succccckkkkeeeddddd….. That feedback has been heard, recognized and prioritized for fixing!

So Fam, watch out for each other and I look forward to seeing you at our next live game!!!

See you in the waste!!!