What is a freeform (in Australia)?
Freeforms are the other style of game that conventions offer, and are quite different to tabletops: in a freeform, players – usually 12-25 but we have had freeforms with 60 players – move around a room and interact with each other in character. Rather than a single narrative line, there are dozens of plots and subplots, each involving a handful of characters, although there may be one overarching plot line which acts as the justification for assembling all the characters in one place, such as a funeral, a party, a journey, etc. The GMs (and there are often multiple GMs for a freeform) are much less ‘in control’ as they cannot possibly overhear all the conversations that are going on. There is also less resolution to a freeform, as it is usually impossible for all the characters to ‘win’. There is often less emphasis on combat than in a tabletop, and the success of actions are likely to be determined using alternatives to dice, such as cards or rock, paper, scissors.
