Congrats. You Win.
Here’s an idea. Something I’d implement if I were running a Vampire LARP. Once you become Prince, we throw you a party. Everyone congratulates you on your well-earned victory–becoming Prince is rough–and then… your character becomes an NPC.
An NPC. Controlled by the Narrators. You move off the front page and move behind the scenes. You become the invisible man. Nobody gets to talk to the Prince directly. He isolates himself. He doesn’t come to games. He’s far too busy to socialize with the masses. And he remains there, in the shadows, until someone deposes him. Then that character becomes the Prince.
This process changes the dynamic of the game. The struggle to become Prince is the focus of the game, pitting all the weight on the court officers: the Seneschal, the Harpy, the Sheriff. Also, once you’ve become Prince, you join a kind of elite club. “Yeah, I’ve made Prince three times.” I’d even buy rings for the folks who made it.
I’ve been in games where the Prince was removed from the game, made distant and difficult to reach. The focus went to little story lines. Yes, the politics were still there–especially among the Primogen–but removing the Prince really changed the dynamic. And for the better.
Narrator/Servant
Here’s an idea. In the Houses of the Blooded LARP, all the Narrator staff will be playing the serving staff. The butler, the maids, the footmen, etc. So, if you need a test, you don’t say “I need a Narrator,” you say, “I need a servant.” You call the servant over, he humbly begs you not to kill him, and you demand service.
This way, you never need to break character. “I need a Narrator.” Hells no. “I need a servant.” You can call over the Narrator in character, talk to the Narrator in character, and resolve the issue in character.
This also means the Narrator staff goes around the game being part of every conversation. Asking the players if they need anything, serving drinks and food, making sure everybody is okay.
(It also means they can be bribed by characters for all the conversations they overhear.)