Nordic Larp

Author: Sarah Lynne Bowman

  • The Larp Domino Effect

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    The Larp Domino Effect

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    Many of us have seen it unfold before us in larps: a seemingly insignificant piece of information suddenly becomes the central topic of every conversation; one character’s personal business somehow becomes a topic for public debate; a rumor spreads across the larp, somehow becoming accepted Truth; a plot point intended for a small group of characters sweeps through the group, becoming the Big Plot of the weekend. Whether players or organizers, we may have even orchestrated such effects, catalyzing the larp in a certain direction.

    This article will discuss some of the pros and cons of this larp domino effect, in which content from one area of the game spreads throughout the fiction like a wildfire as the result of emergent play. In larps where the content is “seeded” by game masters through the character sheets or delivered via non-player characters throughout the larp, such a result may be desirable. But, in larps where a particular tone or theme is central, such emergent play can derail the emphasis of the design. In extreme cases, the larp domino effect can potentially upset or even trigger other players, if “surprise” content spreads throughout the larp without their consent.

    The goal of this article is not to criticize this domino effect, but rather to explore its pros and cons. The larp domino effect is neither positive nor negative at its core. Instead, I plan to discuss the ways in which organizers and players might either use it to their advantage in order to stimulate play, or work to contain it as needed. In addition, understanding and discussing the domino effect can help us strategize ways for larps to accommodate multiple styles of play, such as participants who enjoy “hardcore” violence versus those who prefer more philosophical, social play. The article will advocate for the use of zoning in these latter cases in order to help contain sensitive scenes to specific locations and players when necessary.

    Some games and larp situations may benefit from the domino effect, whereas others may suffer from it. This article uses examples from a variety of play cultures and formats, including one-shots, campaigns, boffer, theatre style, etc. Regardless of style, greater awareness of how the introduction of certain content might affect emergent play can help designers and players steer toward their optimal larp experiences. Note that all of the below examples are hypothetical and not specific to my own larp experiences.

    Organizer-Driven Dominos

    In some cases, the entire design of a larp event is intended to produce some degree of the domino effect. Some examples:

    • Organizers seed a particular piece of information to various characters through character sheets or rumors, hoping to spur some sort of group reaction, e.g. whispers of political corruption for a beloved ruler or intelligence that a ticking time bomb somewhere in the town requires defusing.
    • Organizers send out specific non-player characters meant to catalyze action, either as sympathetic or antagonistic agents, e.g. a crying mother hoping to find her lost child or a villain wanting to kidnap characters for ransom.
    • Organizers embed certain types of emotionally provocative content into the larp, e.g. explosive relationship dynamics between two characters or backgrounds with domestic violence, systemic abuse, or grief from the loss of a loved one.
    • Organizers create a setting that encourages a certain degree of volatility, e.g. a lawless state where “anything goes” or a political environment filled with characters with questionable ethics.
    • Organizers establish a “common enemy” in the setting in the hopes that the characters will mobilize against it, e.g. a warring state threatening to take over the town or a disease that the town doctors need to contain before it becomes an epidemic.
    • Depending on the design style, this type of content is typically deployed in one of three ways: 1) through the history of the setting itself, with various social practices that reinforce it; 2) through pre-written character sheets and other fictional briefs given to the players in preparation for the larp; or 3) through run-time delivery as physical messages, props, or embodied characters.

    In some cases, this embedded content ends up falling flat, failing to topple the rest of the dominos. Perhaps the players find the “plot” uninteresting, become distracted, or fail to pass on the information. Perhaps they steer their characters in a different direction. Organizers sometimes express frustration when their carefully orchestrated plots “go nowhere” with the player base.

    However, the best case scenario for some organizers is for such content to “go viral,” in the sense that it spreads throughout the larp, generating interest and engagement. In these cases, the organizers hope the larp domino effect will occur, because they want the players to feel immersed and captivated.

    Such plots can backfire, however, when a significant number of the players feel overtaken by them. Some players bemoan railroading, a practice in which the organizers have set up a plot train that everyone must jump upon in order to engage (Bowman 2013). The domino effect of a plot can also reduce a player’s sense of agency; if a player enjoys quiet, romantic play, but their kid brother has been kidnapped by the moustache-twirling villain, they may find it unrealistic to pursue their personal goals of play by ignoring this overarching plot. This domino effect is especially potent in larps that feature factions to which players belong; if a faction must mobilize to address a certain conflict, the individual player-character may feel pressured to engage with it, abandoning their personal character goals.

    Player-Driven Dominos

    In other cases, individual players introduce content that may cascade throughout the larp in unforeseen ways, such as:

    • Player-written backstories that feature difficult content, e.g. sexual violence, unwanted pregnancies, or the death of close family members.
    • Player-requested scenes, where the staff produces content by request in order to incite dramatic conflict, e.g. a character confronting their abusive parent or a violent encounter leading to that character’s planned death.
    • Players improvising scenes that unfold in unpredictable directions, e.g. a beloved couple’s dramatic confrontations leading to their breakup or a character’s unethical actions becoming common knowledge, forcing everyone in town to take sides.
    • Players introducing new content into the larp that does not match the design goals of the organizers or the setting, with the other players adopting it as fact, e.g. spreading rumors about a villain hiding in the town, causing everyone to become hypervigilant.

    Some larps thrive on player-driven content, with very little “plot” dispensed by the organizers themselves. In these larps, the introduction of player creativity through interactions, stories, rituals, events, or other spontaneous improvisations can become the lifeblood of the larp. In these cases, player-driven content can be deeply moving and personal for the players involved — even more so than generic plots designed by the organizers to keep players engaged.

    Other larps rely heavily on the players following along with the design of the game or on characters responding to organizer-driven content. In these cases, player-driven content may enhance the larp to some degree, but can sometimes overpower the design. For example, if players show up to a murder mystery dinner refusing to discover who committed the crime, but instead throwing a raucous in-game party, they may still find the experience enjoyable, but the organizers are likely to become frustrated. Similarly, other participants may grow frustrated if they were still invested in solving the mystery, but their co-players have decided to “derail” the larp. The common phrase, “No plot survives contact with the players,” often applies in these circumstances. To read more about the creative tensions inherent to emergent play, see Evan Torner’s “Emergence, Iteration, and Reincorporation in Larp” in this volume.

    Some larps feature a “sandbox” style, where both player-driven and organizer-driven content exist alongside one another. In these types of larps, characters often feel free to choose their own adventure, so to speak — to engage with the metanarrative or to focus upon their personal goals and stories. However, sandbox style larps can also domino. For example, if a beloved character dies — even if the player chooses it — the shock can ripple through the entire sandbox, affecting the narrative for many of the characters. That shock may be experienced as cathartic and powerful for some players, but others may find it frustrating or overwhelming, as they feel forced to respond to it authentically. As Eirik Fatland and Markus Montola describe in their article on brute force design in blockbuster larps (2015), plot trains disrupt the flow of play when “the emergent narrative of one group can easily disable the play of another group; crisis and conflict in particular trump subtler themes.” In such situations, some players do not feel free to steer (Montola et al 2015) toward their desired stories, whether due to conformity, peer pressure, or the fear of judgment for “playing incorrectly.” Indeed, in some play communities, intentional steering might be considered a form of cheating or poor role-play. However, character immersion advocate Mike Pohjola has explained how character fidelity and steering are not incompatible (Pohjola 2015).

    Complications with the Larp Domino Effect

    The larp ecosystem is delicate and chaotic. What one player might experience as the most epic moment ever, another might view as deeply upsetting on an out-of-character level. What one group might think to be an amusing or engaging plot to introduce, another might find boring or challenging. The smallest of actions can sometimes have dramatic effects throughout the larp.

    In extreme cases, this domino effect can impact players in a profoundly negative way. The content of certain plots or the ways in which they unfold may make certain players extremely uncomfortable. A common example of this sort of content is sexual assault. Some larps feature an “open world” setting, in which anything can happen as long as those actions are not expressly forbidden by the rules. Thus, a person can discuss sexual assault in their backstory, a character can threaten rape, or an actual assault can occur within the framework of the fiction. Other larps feature sexual assault as a central part of the setting in order to illustrate brutal power dynamics. In my view, such content is acceptable as long as everyone in the scene expressly consents to its inclusion and the parameters of enactment.

    Problems occur, however, when such content spreads via domino effect elsewhere to the larp to others who have not consented. For example, if a beloved character in the larp is assaulted and word spreads, the vengeance of righteous townspeople seeking justice for that character may become a central theme through emergent play. Such play may be extremely gratifying for those who consent to enacting it. However, some players may not wish to engage with sexual assault at all for personal reasons or due to past trauma. While the content did not technically happen to their character, they may still get triggered, feel alienated, or disengage if the content spills over into their play emergently. Thus, a scene that a player may not have even witnessed can still deeply negatively impact them as a result of the domino effect.

    On the other hand, such unintended ripple effects can also occur with positive experiences, such as an impromptu wedding raising the spirits of the group; feelings of relief if the local town guards fight off assailants; or feelings of pride if one’s faction is victorious in a competition. Perhaps the entire group celebrates their success in the streets as a result. Even if a character is not personally involved in those victories, they may experience vicarious pleasure via the domino effect. Ultimately, a great deal depends on the circumstances at hand and the comfort levels of the players involved.

    Another unintended consequence of emergent play involves larp muscle memory. Certain players may have learned how to larp in a particular style, such as boffer combat, secrets and powers, play-to-lose high drama, etc. Thus, even if the organizers work hard to set a certain tone, in some situations, the larp muscle memory from past play experiences may kick in — and all of a sudden, players are reacting in a manner common to their previous style. A light-hearted fantasy game may become a survival horror game if the players react to an external threat based on their larp muscle memory, particularly if players in leadership positions model that behavior. This muscle memory is not entirely conscious and relies on previous models of understanding how to problem solve or deal with conflict in larps. Issues arise when those models spread to other areas of the game, accounting for a dramatic shift in tone or playstyle against the intentions of the design. Such instances require conscientious steering and recalibration among the organizers and players in order to get everyone back on track.

    Zoning as Boundary Enforcement

    As mentioned above, the larp domino effect is neither negative nor positive as a force. Just as a crowd may take up the same chant started by one person at a music concert, the impact of one player’s strong role-play might ripple through the rest of the larp. Such effects can be powerful and profound. However, when the larp domino effect unfolds in an unchecked manner, some players and organizers alike may feel frustrated or upset by this emergent play. The question remains: how do we set boundaries around emergent play in order to contain these unintended consequences?

    One approach that some designers have found successful is zoning. With zoning, certain types of play are confined to specific areas of the larp space. Some examples:

    • In Convention of Thorns (2016) by Dziobak Studios, the castle was zoned according to the degree of “hardcore” play, with the lower floor designated mainly for social interaction and dancing; the middle floor allocated to political meetings and rituals; and the upper floor reserved for more graphic forms of violence, feeding, and/or sexual play (Bowman 2016).
    • Dystopia Rising chapters sometimes zone specific locations of the play space as “splatter mods” or “hardcore scenes,” with organizers standing guard to warn unsuspecting players about the content.
    • Conscience (2018) by NotOnlyLarp features specific areas of the town where sexuality, nudity, and sexual violence are permitted if off-game consent is negotiated among all parties.
    • In the United States run of Just a Little Lovin’ (2017), the organizers encouraged players to use the black box if they wished to play out planned scenes involving brutal marginalization due to the character’s gender, sexuality, race, and/or ethnicity.

    While zones do not ensure that everyone entering the space is comfortable, they do allow players to more consciously steer toward their desired intensity of play or type of content by physically marking off areas of the playspace for those specific experiences. Zoning makes it more difficult for sensitive players to wander into a scene that might trigger or upset them off-game, especially if the organizers are explicit about what sorts of activities take place in those areas. Zones also make it much easier for players to obtain consent in small groups or one-on-one, rather than playing out such content in public or easily accessible locations where others might accidentally witness it. Again, witnessing might create powerful play for some participants, but feel intrusive to others.

    However, the larp domino effect can still impact players, even if they are not present. As mentioned above, sometimes other characters may learn about events occurring within a zoned location, causing a chain reaction. In the example of a sexual assault in a “sandbox style larp,” while both players in the scene may have consented, the rest of the larp may not have made that social contract and may feel ambushed by that content. Alternatively, in a larp like Conscience, in which that theme is explicitly stated up front, the players are not necessarily consenting to experience sexual violence, but are agreeing to play in a fictional reality where such acts routinely take place.

    Thus, content advisories are also useful, both for specific scenes and for larps in general. Stating the sorts of content a player may potentially experience can help set expectations about whether or not that larp is right for the player in question. Many of the example larps mentioned above feature content advisories connected to particular zones. On a meta-level, a larp’s website may feature a content advisory that effectively zones the whole game as a space for those potential themes.

    Reality Hacking

    As players, organizers, and designers, larpers intentionally hack reality, adopting new identities and social conditions. This reality hacking is temporary and flexible, in that we can alter these conditions in order to optimize the experience for multiple types of players. While the larp domino effect is not always a negative condition for a larp, it can have unintended consequences. As larpers, we can develop tools to redirect the tide of play to make the experience more enjoyable for everyone.

    Upon reflection, our Western social reality is already zoned in certain ways. Acceptable behaviors in a bar may be unacceptable in a corporate boardroom. Just as we wear different social masks and adopt specific roles based on the demands of our default lives, so too are our social spaces coded in particular ways, affording certain behaviors while discouraging others. With awareness of the ways in which we operate on social stages, we can construct our larp spaces to create certain bounded experiences, redirecting the flow of the dominos as they fall.

    Bibliography

    Bowman, Sarah Lynne. “The New World Magischola Revolution.” Nordiclarp.org, July 4, 2018.

    Bowman, Sarah Lynne. “Social Conflict in Role-Playing Communities: An Exploratory Qualitative Study,” International Journal of Role-Playing 4 (2013): 4-25. http://www.ijrp.subcultures.nl/wp-content/issue4/IJRPissue4bowman.pdf

    Bowman, Sarah Lynne. “White Wolf’s Convention of Thorns – A Blockbuster Nordic Larp.” Nordiclarp.org. Last modified on December 16, 2016. https://nordiclarp.org/2016/12/06/white-wolfs-convention-of-thorns/

    Fatland, Eirik and Markus Montola. “The Blockbuster Formula: Brute Force Design in
    The Monitor Celestra and College of Wizardry.” In The Knudepunkt 2015 Companion Book, edited by Charles Bo Nielsen and Claus Raasted, 118-131. Copenhagen: Rollespils Akademiet, 2015. https://nordiclarp.org/w/images/2/27/Kp2015companionbook.pdf

    Montola, Markus, Jaakko Stenros, and Eleanor Saitta, “The Art of Steering: Bringing the Player and the Character Back Together.” In The Knudepunkt 2015 Companion Book, edited by Charles Bo Nielsen and Claus Raasted (Copenhagen: Rollespils Akademiet, 2015), 106-117. https://nordiclarp.org/w/images/2/27/Kp2015companionbook.pdf

    Pohjola, Mike. “Steering for Immersion in Five Nordic Larps: A New Understanding of Eläytyminen.”  In The Knudepunkt 2015 Companion Book, edited by Charles Bo Nielsen and Claus Raasted (Copenhagen: Rollespils Akademiet, 2015), 94-105. https://nordiclarp.org/w/images/2/27/Kp2015companionbook.pdf

    Torner, Evan. “Emergence, Iteration, and Reincorporation in Larp.” 2018. In Shuffling the Deck: The Knutpunkt 2018 Companion Book. Edited by A. Waern and J. Axner. 153-160.  ETC Press.

    This article is part of Re-Shuffling the Deck, the companion journal for Knutepunkt 2018.

    All articles from the companion can be found on the Knutpunkt 2018 category.

  • Larp Counselors: An Additional Safety Net

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    Larp Counselors: An Additional Safety Net

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    Many contemporary larps are adopting structures to bolster their players’ feelings of emotional safety, including Codes of Conduct, safety teams, Sanctuary Spaces, special mechanics for signaling discomfort, and consent negotiations. This article advocates for the inclusion in certain larps of the unique role of a counselor, who is part of the safety team and a member of the overall organizing body of the event.

    photo of Alex Rowland and Brodie Atwater embracing
    Alex Rowland and Brodie Atwater as counselors Watson and Whipple, New World Magischola 7.

    The counselor role is considered both diegetic and non-diegetic. In other words, a safety team member is embedded in the fiction as a character. Depending on the type of fiction, this role may be called a “counselor” — as in New World Magischola, Event Horizon, — or may be renamed something else appropriate to the fiction, such as “bartender” or “goddess.” Similar to a Storyteller or non-player character (NPC), while these individuals are immersed in the story, the counselor can also step out of their role in order to tend to the emotional needs of players in distress and help with calibration of play styles. They can help overwhelmed players find the off-game room, Sanctuary Space, or other members of the safety team on staff. Therefore, the counselor role requires a strong degree of sensitivity to the needs of others, flexibility to switch in- and out-of-character with ease, deescalation skills, and willingness to perform emotional labor for the player base and other organizers.

    Counselors are especially useful at bigger larps that are spread over a large area. While the role is present in other larps, such as Lindängen International Boarding School, we are describing the counseling role that we first developed for Run 1 of New World Magischola (2016), where 160+ players were spread over 100+ acres. Since then, Magischola has featured embedded counselors for all eight runs, as well as two Yule episodes. Event Horizon (2016) adopted the role, as has the U.S. run of Just a Little Lovin’ (2017). Ideally, the counselor job is compensated if the larp budget allows, e.g. expenses, lodging, food, and/or stipends for travel.

    Optimally, counselors serve other roles on the safety team such as leading workshops, de-roling, and debriefing sessions. The staff should introduce costumed counselors at the opening of the game if possible. That way, players can easily identify them as trained safety team members in play. Embedded counselors make safety both visible and pervasive in a larp culture. However, counselors are only one part of the safety culture of the larp. Ultimately, we hope to encourage a community of care, where other players feel motivated to provide support for one another, rather than relying on staff to handle all problems that arise.

    Distinctions from Traditional Therapy

    While we use the generic term “counselor,” we would like to make clear several core distinctions between this member of the safety team and a traditional therapist. While counselors may provide advice for players in- or out-of-character, they do not perform therapy as a psychologist would in an office setting. The counselor’s job is more akin to crisis management than therapy. In a therapeutic setting, a client enters into a relationship with their psychologist in which trust is built over time and personal information is revealed in order to produce meaningful change in the client’s life. In a larp, that relationship has not been established, and neither the space nor time needed for traditional therapy are present. Indeed, such intensive analysis of a player’s psychology could work against the goals of individuals in this role.

    Instead, a larp counselor’s role is to provide players and organizers in need with the following:

    • Immediate support when distressed, triggered, alienated, or overwhelmed
    • Help in re-establishing a feeling of safety
    • Problem solving for emotional difficulties arising from the larp itself, such as plot-related issues and social conflicts
    • Assistance in processing bleed if it occurs
    • Calibrating play in order to help players adjust to one another’s comfort levels
    • Snacks, water, a quiet place to relax, and any other basic comforts
    • In extreme cases, crisis management for abuse, harassment, mental illness episodes, and other serious issues.
    photo of a larp counselor in glasses
    Thomas Whipple (Harrison Greene) in New World Magischola 1.

    Thus, the counselor’s primary goal is to help establish a sense of emotional well-being in the hopes that the participant can re-engage with the larp and social environment with minimal disruption to their experience. Unlike a therapeutic session, where upsetting or traumatizing personal information is often unearthed, the larp counselor only engages with such content if the player spontaneously discloses personal information.

    In this regard, while having trained psychologists on staff is desirable in larp settings, we recognize that emotional distress and even crisis can arise in any social situation. Larp can be particularly intense and place emotional demands upon players in terms of focused attention and intensity. In some cases, larpers experience physical strain, lack of sleep, or insufficient food or water, whether by personal choice or the event’s design. These demands can lead to powerful larp experiences, but can also add psychological strain. These issues can arise even in larps with presumably light-hearted content. In our experience, having a system in place to aid in these situations is important, as other players may not be able to provide care and organizers may be overwhelmed. The counselor serves as a safety net to help player’s process this strain and receive immediate help.

    Thus, while we advocate for counselors to obtain professional development around emotional safety, crisis treatment certifications, and psychological training, we recognize that these requirements are not always practical. We believe the primary skills needed for a larp counselor are empathy, active listening, patience, and the willingness to help others through immediate emotional issues. Counselors should also work well in a team with other safety committee members and organizers, reporting often about the events occurring in the larp and any emotional difficulties that arise in the player base.

    While counselors should strive toward confidentiality, they may need to report serious issues that arise to the larger team, especially if action needs to be taken to stop problematic behaviors such as harassment. Counselors are not subject to the same strict rules of confidentiality that a licensed professional may be, as they are working in service to the larp organizers. However, ethically, restricting who is exposed to sensitive information is extremely important. In issues of alleged harassment, legal repercussions could ensue if counselors reveal the details of a claim. Retaliation against reporters is also a possibility, which reinforces the need for discretion. Counselors should make clear to participants who they will inform about safety issues, particularly in the case of violations, before participants reveal personal details. Counselors can also disclose potential actions the safety team might take. Ideally, such information is contained in their Code of Conduct, Internal Procedures, or other design documents. If your larp needs help developing these procedures, we encourage you to borrow with attribution from the Living Games Conference safety documentation, which also includes professional development exercises for crisis management and empathy training.

    Psychic twin sister counselors Winnie (Alex Rowland) and Raindrinker (Sarah Lynne Bowman) in Event Horizon. Photo courtesy of Event Horizon.

    Ultimately, counselors work to try to resolve issues that happen during the larp, as well as keeping their fingers on the proverbial pulse of the events unfolding, often reporting back to the rest of the staff. We believe that dedicated counselors whose only role in the larp is to provide in-character and out-of-character assistance can not only assist players in need, but can relieve some of the pressure from other organizers, who are often overtaxed by logistical concerns. Thus, safety members in this role should also offer support to other members of staff in need, including each other, in the case of a larp with multiple embedded counselors. While counselors can double as physical safety staff trained in CPR and first aid, the skills required for these two jobs are often different and should not be conflated. Unless a larp is seriously understaffed, we suggest another organizer handle physical safety issues.

    Advantages to Embedded Counselors

    Having a member of the safety team embedded in the larp has several advantages. They are involved in the fiction and can better understand the references made by the characters and players. Counselors may even be present for key scenes and know which events have unfolded. This practice makes it less alienating for the counselor when hearing about larp events, as they understand the context.

    Counselor Whipple (Brodie Atwater) with the Dean (Maury Brown) in New World Magischola 7.

    For example, in New World Magischola, counselors are part of the staff of the school. They have in-character reasons to run administrative events, connect with faculty, and be available for students to express their career or personal issues. In the fiction of Event Horizon, counselors were hired by the corporation hosting the event. These counselors were telepathic twins with empathy powers. In both cases, magic can enhance the in-game counseling role, e.g. by providing flashbacks or future sequences, as one would in a black box, to help process character emotions. Embedded counselors can also work in a socially realistic setting. In the 2017 run of Just a Little Lovin’ in the United States, Joani, a New Age self-help guru character, was adapted to have counseling training.

    The fiction influences the way counseling is portrayed, but provides a convenient reason for players to steer toward emotional processing or a satisfying resolution without breaking immersion. We term these strategies diegetic interventions, or ways to solve in-game problems through magic, psychic powers, role-played therapy sessions, or other creative solutions. Diegetic interventions are powerful because they redirect players to the fiction and that resolution becomes canonical, not just imagined. Players feel like they are getting a special scene, which can raise spirits and help them reconnect with the larp.

    Additionally, embedded counselors can:

    • Monitor the emotional well-being of a person, e.g. with the Okay Check-in System. For example, if a character is crying alone, the counselor can clandestinely check-in and help if needed.
    • Remove a distressed person from play and take them to a safer space, e.g. another in-game location or an off-game room. Ideally, a larger larp has a Sanctuary Space for such a purpose, while small games may have an off-game room.
    • Model checking-in for other players in order to encourage a community of care, such as using the Okay Check-In System, Lookdown, Pronoun Corrections, Largo/Break, Cut, and any other safety mechanics. While players can bring distressed participants to a counselor as needed, we want to encourage participants to care for one another.
    • Serve as the eyes and ears on the ground to help the lead organizers calibrate the game.
    • Coordinate with the team when dispersed over a large play area.
    • Make story adjustments as embedded NPCs with in-character reasons for doing so.
    • Guide players back into character when needed.
    • Help players solve larp-related issues while in play when possible, such as overstimulation, difficulties engaging with plot, uncertainty how to move forward with a storyline, boredom, etc.
    • Offer emotional care while in the fiction, which may allow enough of a release valve that the player need not break in order to regroup.
    • Allows player alibi to seek help, particularly in play cultures where breaking immersion is discouraged.

    Ideally, each larp has at least two counselors, which enables them to tap out if necessary, as well as to emotionally process with one another. Sometimes, counselors may need to check with one another to figure out a course of action. If a participant feels comfortable, having both counselors present to address an issue can be helpful, although some players prefer one-on-one private interactions.

    In the most recent runs of New World Magischola, all counselors were coordinated through the use of walkie talkies, so that they could communicate regardless of their location in play. The Sanctuary Space also had a walkie talkie, which allowed players to page a counselor if needed. Counselors listed their schedule on the door of the Sanctuary Space to identify their approximate location. Sanctuary Spaces also feature water, snacks, blankets, soft music, and coloring books when possible. Ideally, Sanctuary Spaces have a door that can close for privacy. These logistics allow embedded counselors to slip smoothly in and out of play to address issues as they arise.

    Drawbacks to Embedded Counselors

    Embedding counselors into the fiction does have some drawbacks, which we will address in turn. They are:Active counselors in the play space are not always easy to find.

    1. Active counselors in the play space are not always easy to find.
      • Walkie talkies and other forms of communication such as text may help, assuming the technology is working and counselors regularly monitor these devices.
      • Counselors can serve in shifts, where some are in-character while others remain in the Sanctuary Space or off-game room. Downtime may be necessary when performing emotional care, although boredom and alienation may arise if off-game shifts are too long.
    2. Counselors can become involved in major stories or plots through emergent play as part of the fiction.
      • Counselors can become central figures to the play of others due to the emotional bonds formed through the act of sharing, which can lend to player comfort.
      • This engagement can also become negative, if players associate the counselor with a particular plot, player, or social clique that they find undesirable or alienating.
      • Counselors should strive to maintain neutrality and objectivity in plots and social groups when possible as a best practice. Non-embedded members of safety teams are less biased in general, so counselors may direct players to these individuals in specific situations.
    3. When immersed, counselors may show a range of emotions outside of their “professional” role.
      • Counselors should strive to play characters who have a pleasant, welcoming, and empathic demeanor. Preferably, the characters’ default personalities are both engaging and emotionally available. However, these traits are not always possible to maintain when engaged in intense stories or moments.
      • Players should not be afraid to show other ranges of emotions during role-play, but when interactions focus on counseling, this default personality should predominate.
    Counselors Raynar and Traquility Whipple explore a mystery with a Divination professor in Magischola 4. Photo courtesy of Learn Larp LLC.

    Counseling and Self-Care

    Counselors are not superheroes. They cannot help every player or be emotionally available at all times. Just like any member of the safety team, counselors should maintain boundaries with regard to their time and energy. A good rule of thumb is to help a person for a maximum of one hour. Players should not feel that they have unrestricted access to the emotional labor of counselors, so good boundary and expectation setting are necessary. Ideally, these boundaries are mentioned in workshops and enforced by the organizer team.

    Counselors must be extremely vigilant about their own self-care regimen, including getting enough sleep and food. If necessary, a co-counselor, another member of the safety team, or another organizer can relieve them of their duties if self-care is needed. Counselors should feel enabled to self-advocate. For example, they can say,

    • “I feel that I have addressed your issue as best I can. I’m not sure how to proceed from here. Can we figure out a way to help you get back into play together?”
    • “I wish I could help right now, but I am going to need to get something to eat. Do you mind if I introduce you to our other counselor, who may be able to help?”

    Note that while two counselors may decide to help the same player at once, they should avoid enabling players to monopolize their emotional resources by coming to different counselors with the same issue.

    photo of a Divination and Ethics professor
    Divination Professor Ziegler (Kat Jones) and Ethics Professor Hassinger (Evan Torner) also served as counselors at Magischola Yule.

    Additionally, counselors should also remain vigilant of their own emotional capabilities throughout play. Some counselors have their own mental health challenges or trauma triggers. They should make sure that they feel sufficiently rested and comfortable addressing certain issues before engaging. They should also be upfront about their own limitations. For example, a counselor can say,

    • “I don’t deal well with angry people. Do you mind handling this situation? I don’t think I can be of help.”
    • “I just helped six people in a row and am emotionally depleted. Can you take over while I take a nap?”
    • “I am having anxiety today. I should probably avoid crowded rooms. Do you mind covering for me while I eat outside of the main play space?”

    Counselors should not feel responsible for players during off-duty hours. Therefore, it is preferable to set boundaries around when counseling shifts are, e.g. 8am-1am, with breaks in between. The exception to this guideline is in cases of harassment or other serious mental health issues, where counselors may be needed when off-duty.

    Finally, counselors may wish to make themselves available before and after the larp over social media and personal message. Sharing links about bleed, post-larp depression/blues/drop, debriefing, and other resources is helpful, especially the during 72 hours after the larp, or the bleed window, where players are often still transitioning back to their default lives. However, counselors should not feel required to perform additional emotional labor above and beyond their role in the larp unless they wish to do so. Again, boundary setting is necessary. Counselors are not community managers. They should decide upon how much post-larp emotional labor they are willing to provide. Some suggestions:

    • Allowing a player the opportunity to share a bleed issue, but limiting communication to one conversation.
    • Only discussing issues during the bleed window and declining overtures for conversation that occur more than 72 hours after the larp.
    • Redirecting participants to Facebook groups or their co-players for assistance, further reinforcing a culture of care.

    Common Counseling Issues

    Counselors Tullamore and Tranquility Whipple attempt to guide a student away from a dark path in New World Magischola 5.

    In our experience, these problems arise in larp settings, although some are far more common than others:

    • A player needs help figuring out what to do next in-game, due to boredom, frustration, or a character dilemma.
    • A player has anxiety about their own play ability, their own plots, whether they are doing it right, or being good enough.
    • A player feels overwhelmed by the amount of plots or emotional content happening and has trouble deciding which thread to pursue.
    • A player feels shut out of play from other groups due to an exclusive plot, a social clique, or another participant refusing to play upon an established connection. The important thing here is to listen, empathize, and figure out solutions. Embedded counselors can provide play for the person if needed, or introduce them to other possible social groups/plots.
    • A player feels emotionally overwhelmed due to the intensity of a particular scene, be it romantic, violent, embarrassing, etc. The important thing is for the player to be able to express their feelings without feeling judged. Embedded counselors may have been present for the scene and/or able to offer some additional context, advice, etc. Reframing the event together through a more favorable perspective can sometimes be helpful. Note that, later, players might view these scenes as the best parts of their larp when properly reframed and put into context.
    • A player feels uncomfortable with another person’s playstyle, attention toward them, or level of aggression. Focusing on how to help the player feel most comfortable is optimal here. The counselors may want to suggest ways to remove the two people from proximity if possible and suggest in-game reasons for such a change.
    • A player is experiencing bleed due to the fiction connecting to real-life emotions or events. Allowing the person to express themselves without judgment is key. Sometimes, the bleed can be used for positive growth, but a player should not feel obligated to continue to play on a theme or relationship that they find distressing. Give options.
    • A player feels personally harassed by another player or staff member. These issues should be handled on a case-by-case basis according to the Code of Conduct and Internal Safety Procedures. If a larp does not have these resources, the counselor should follow the guidelines established informally in their local larp culture, although we highly suggest establishing a Code of Conduct and set of Internal Procedures. Confidentiality is extremely important in these situations. The player may not want to report the harasser officially and their comfort should be respected as tantamount. Ask questions and offer options, but do not pressure them to make a decision or take action.
    • A player is unable to fulfill personal goals, gain closure, or steer toward their desired trajectory. This problem does not usually led to an agitated state, but rather a deep sense of disappointment or loss. In this case, the goal is not to deescalate, but rather deflate the issue by doing solution-based counseling or introducing a diegetic intervention.

    Diegetic Interventions

    The structure of New World Magischola, with its player-driven scene requests and consent-based play, meant that counselors could take the tools available to players and use them with proficiency. Diegetic interventions allowed players not only to return to the larp, but to resolve their issues through play. Counselors could cancel scenes, make new ones, plan for plot events, or encourage negotiation with other players about closing or opening up storylines. They could use freeform scenes to create canonical content that could have happened in a story in order to justify a new character direction. While anyone can create this content, an embedded counselor can demonstrate proficiency in how a player might use it to transform their play.

    Alex Rowland as Winnie posing
    Counselor Winnie at Event Horizon

    Some example diegetic interventions are:

    Scene requests

    Player: “I had a lot of ambitions for this storyline about my family, but the person playing my sibling brought a bunch of people to the scene and took most of the spotlight.”

    Counselor: “Well, what if we put in a scene request for your character to meet one of their family members again, but on their own this time?”

    Player: “Can I do that?”

    Counselor: “Of course, and you can also talk to that other player to see what they’re trying to get from the plotline, so you can discuss expectations of where the play should lead.”

    Freeform

    Player: “I was really hoping that my character would get arrested before the ball so they could break out of prison to see their date. But there won’t be much play after dinner.”

    Counselor: “What if we checked with the NPCs to see if we can make that scene? If not, we can take some time to act out the scene together, with us playing the marshals who arrested them.”

    Plot Knowledge

    Player: “I’m feeling exhausted by being around so many people.”

    Counselor: “There’s going to be a big scene that draws everyone out into the forest in about an hour. What if you just focused on being in the common room or resting, then looked for other quiet people who weren’t out at the scene, and tried to play with them? There will be someone drawing people to your character’s common room about an hour after they get back, so you can make plans to be gone by then.”

    Future Steps

    While not all larps may require a counselor, we believe that they provide communities with a distinct advantage. For this reason, Brodie Atwater and Alex Rowland — experienced larp counselors, academics, and therapists-in-training — are developing a guide for counselors. This manual will serve as a touchstone for people who want to begin contracting and training counselor roles for their game. Starting from a standardized crisis counseling model, this work will also examine ACA Compliance in order to start synthesizing larp communal wisdom with wider psychological standards. Ultimately, we hope that this work will serve as a foundation for increased professional development and more nuanced safety team design in larps.

    Bibliography

    Bowman, Sarah Lynne. “A Matter of Trust — Larp and Consent Culture.” Nordiclarp.org, February 3, 2017.

    Bowman, Sarah Lynne. “Bleed: The Spillover Between Player and Character.” Nordiclarp.org, March 2, 2015.

    Bowman, Sarah Lynne. “Returning to the Real World: Debriefing After Role-playing Games.” Nordiclarp.org, Dec. 8, 2014.

    Bowman, Sarah Lynne. “Social Conflict in Role-Playing Communities: An Exploratory Qualitative Study.” International Journal of Role-playing 4: 4-25.

    Bowman, Sarah Lynne and Evan Torner. “Post-Larp Depression.” Analog Game Studies 1, no. 1.

    Brown, Maury. “19 Truths about Harassment, Missing Stairs, and Safety in Larp Communities,” Nordiclarp.org, March 14, 2017.

    Brown, Maury. “The Consent and Community Manifesto,” Nordiclarp.org, last modified March 17, 2017. https://nordiclarp.org/2017/03/24/the-consent-and-community-safety-manifesto/

    Brown, Maury. “Creating a Culture of Trust through Safety and Calibration Larp Mechanics,” Nordiclarp.org, last modified September 9, 2016. https://nordiclarp.org/2016/09/09/creating-culture-trust-safety-calibration-larp-mechanics/

    Brown, Maury. “Player-Centered Design,” Keynote at Living Games Conference 2016, YouTube, last accessed June 10, 2016, https://youtu.be/oZY9wLUMCPY

    Brown, Maury. “Pulling the Trigger on Player Agency: How Psychological Intrusions in Larps Affect Game Play,” Wyrd Con Companion Book 2014 (Los Angeles, CA: Wyrd Con), https://www.dropbox.com/s/3yq12w0ygfhj5h9/2014%20Wyrd%20Academic%20Book.pdf?dl=0

    Brown, Maury and Benjamin A. Morrow, “Breaking the Alibi: Fostering Empathy by Reuniting Player and Character,” Wyrd Con Companion Book 2015 (Los Angeles, CA: Wyrd Con), https://www.dropbox.com/s/xslwh0uxa544029/WCCB15-Final.pdf?dl=0

    Brown, Maury and Benjamin A. Morrow, “Playing for Empathy Workshop,” Living Games Conference, August 18, 2016.

    Dalstål, Elin. “Self Care Comes First: A Larp and Convention Policy,” Nordiclarp.org, August 17, 2016.

    Game to Grow. “Game to Grow Webisode Project Episode 2: Emotionally Intense Play, Calibration, and Community Safety.” With Maury Brown, Johanna Koljonen, Lizzie Stark, John Stavropoulos. Moderated by Sarah Lynne Bowman. YouTube, September 1, 2016.

    Game to Grow. “Game to Grow Webisode Project Episode 6: Consent Based Play.” With Maury Brown, Johanna Koljonen, Lizzie Stark, John Stavropoulos, and Azzurra Crispino. Moderated by Sarah Lynne Bowman. YouTube, March 26, 2017.

    Koljonen, Johanna. “Opt In/Opt Out Safety System.” Keynote at Living Games Conference 2016. YouTube, June 10, 2016,

    Koljonen, Johanna. “Toolkit: Let’s Name this Baby! (Bow-Out Mechanics).” Safety in Larp: Understanding Participation and Designing for Trust, May 30, 2016.

    Koljonen, Johanna. “Toolkit: The Okay Check-In.” Safety in Larp: Understanding Participation and Designing for Trust, September 18, 2019.

    Living Games. “Living Games Safety Documentation.” Living Games Conference, July 18, 2016.

    Living Games. “Sanctuary Space, Safety Team, and Crisis Management Programming.” Living Games Conference, April 15, 2016.

    Montola, Markus, Jaakko Stenros, and Eleanor Saitta. “The Art of Steering: Bringing the Player and the Character Back Together.” Nordiclarp,org, April 29, 2015.

    Pedersen, Troels Ken. “Your Larp’s Only as Safe as its Safety Culture,” Leaving Mundania, August 4, 2015.

    Stark, Lizzie. “Building Larp Communities: Social Engineering for Good.” Leaving Mundania: Inside the World of Larp, March 18, 2014.

    Stark, Lizzie. “Player Safety in Nordic Games.” Leaving Mundania: Inside the World of Larp. April 26, 2012.

    Stavropoulos, John, Samara Hayley Steele, Sarah Lynne Bowman, and Sara Hart. “Crisis Management Workshop: Bleed, Harassment, Trauma Workshop.” Living Games Conference, July 18, 2016.

    Cover photo: Catching the Light by Chi Tranter on Flickr. (CC BY 2.0). Photo has been cropped.

  • Enlightenment in Blood: A Pervasive World of Darkness Nordic Larp

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    Enlightenment in Blood: A Pervasive World of Darkness Nordic Larp

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    It’s not a revolution… it’s an insurrection.

    Anarch catchphrase during Enlightenment in Blood
    A smiling vampire female with visible fangs
    Enlightenment in Blood was a night of celebration for many vampires in the setting. Photo by Tuomas Hakkarainen.

    Enlightenment in Blood was an official White Wolf larp in the Nordic style spanning 10 locations for approximately 200 players in the city of Berlin. The larp lasted five hours and took place in the Friedrichshain district on May 12, 2017. Developed by Participant Design Agency for the World of Darkness Berlin convention, Enlightenment in Blood was created primarily by Juhana Pettersson with help from a team of writers. Tickets were available for convention participants and some local players.

    While a few locations were kept private by security, this game is considered a pervasive street larp in that play takes place in public locations and, in many cases, around non-larpers. In this respect, Enlightenment in Blood is similar to previous city larps, including Prosopopeia Bardo 2: Momentum in Stockholm, Sweden; The Spiral, an ARG-larp hybrid that spanned many European cities; and Neonhämärä (Neon Twilight) in Helsinki, Finland.((See Andie Nordgren, “Prosopopeia Bardo 2: Momentum,” in Nordic Larp, edited by Jaakko Stenros and Markus Montola (Stockholm, Sweden: Fëa Livia, 2010; Bardo AB Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/bardoab/posts/266925533406299; Jaakko Stenros, “Nordic Larp: Theatre, Art, and Game,” in Nordic Larp, edited by Jaakko Stenros and Markus Montola (Stockholm, Sweden: Fëa Livia, 2010). For more information on pervasive larps, see Markus Montola, Jaakko Stenros, and Annika Waern, Pervasive Games: Theory and Design (CRC Press, 2009).))

    The primary narrative of the larp focused upon the celebratory first night of a successful vampiric Anarch revolution over the traditional Camarilla. However, the larp was cross-genre, meaning players could choose from an array of character types: Camarilla, Anarch, and Sabbat vampires; Technocracy and Tradition mages; changelings; werewolves; kinfolk; ghouls; and mortals. Players were expected to uphold “the Masquerade” both in-character and out-of-character in order to preserve the surprise. Some groups featured supernaturals and mortals of many types, whereas others, such as the Church of Caine, were vampire-specific. These features contributed to an authentic-feeling World of Darkness larp, where characters walked through the streets of Berlin as if denizens of the city and encountered an array of different creatures with unique agendas.

    Though the overall tenor was one of aggression and adrenaline, the larp felt like a large sandbox with multiple locations throughout the city. To reflect this multiplicity of experiences, in addition to my personal account, I collected informal data from 40 participants of the larp, who shared brief descriptions of their experiences. This article will contain some of this information in a consolidated form. For other examples of the variety of experiences, check out Ivan Žalac’s blog post about playing a Gangrel Anarch and the Darker Days podcast, where Mike and Chris discuss playing Technocracy Syndicate mages.((Ivan Žalac, “World of Darkness Berlin and Enlightenment in Blood,” Diary of a Croatian Larper, last modified May 20, 2017. http://www.crolarper.com/2017/05/world-of-darkness-berlin-and.html; “Darker Days Radio Episode #78,” Darker Days Podcast, last modified May 21, 2017. http://podcast.darker-days.org/e/darker-days-radio-episode-78/))

    various vampires posing for photos
    Members of the Church of Caine. Right-hand photo by Tuomas Hakkarainen.

    A Tech-Heavy Larp Experience

    We were the Chosen of Caine and that night we took to the streets. Beset by enemies at all sides, we stood strong and took care of each other.

    Bastian Retzlaff, Malkavian Anarch, Shepherds (Church of Caine), Losers Club

    Enlightenment in Blood featured digital components that enhanced the modern feel of the larp. All character creation took place on an online app called Larpweaver, developed by Matthew Webb from Incognita Ltd. Players selected aspects from a limited list of characteristics: primary groups, secondary groups, short backstory seeds, supernatural types, factions, memories, goals, and basic powers where applicable. In this way, character creation was streamlined by offering the player a limited number of options based upon their previous selections. In many cases, the most important selection players made was their Primary group, as all characters started play with this faction at a particular location.

    a chart with the primary groups from Enlightenment in Blood Enlightenment in Blood primary groups.

    The majority of the plot was seeded through the Larpweaver platform, as the character affiliations with their groups, their stories, and their goals were the primary drivers for interaction within the larp. However, the organizers also offered some major plot points at various times in the evening. Players could choose to chase these plots or instead decide to focus upon their personal interactions.

    While Larpweaver offered character connections through the groups and factions, players were expected to establish independently personal ties such as romances, childe-sire relationships, etc. through Facebook before game. Other players were able to establish these connections at the convention leading up to the event. As with many larps in the collaborative style, this practice meant that players who engaged in extensive pre-play by establishing connections and playing out scenes tended to have more extensive personal interactions within the larp than those who did not.

    Description of the Shadow Enlightenment
    Description of the Shadow Enlightenment primary group in Larpweaver.

    In addition, during the few days leading up to the larp, during play, and for a week afterward, the organizers activated an online social media network called Undernet. Undernet was based upon the Kin framework used for the College of Wizardry larps. The platform had a main channel for all players, private channels for specific groups, and private messaging. While online engagement during a larp can sometimes detract from the in-person interactions, Undernet provided a fast way to spread information to players scattered in 10+ locations. However, some players relied on Facebook for coordination as well, as Undernet access could be spotty in places.

    As the furthest locations were a fifteen-minute walk from one another, having an online means to coordinate proved important for the flow of the game. Players could find out where certain groups were headed and where key plot points were unfolding. Characters also used the Undernet platform to post in-game photos and provide running commentary. As one Brujah Anarch player explained, “Glued to my phone, I managed to network my way through the evening, surprisingly up-to-date on everything happening in the city. I didn’t feel lost at all.” Players were encouraged to take in-game photos, as the documentation team could not reach all locations of the larp. However, the organizers placed strong limitations on the sharing of photos and emphasized the need for consent.

    smiling vampires over a dead body
    Anarchs celebrate the death of the Camarilla sheriff by taking a selfie. Photo by Tuomas Hakkarainen.

    Revolution Comes in Many Forms

    They may have hurt us before. They may have controlled us. But in this moment, we are free. We are beings of love. We are one with the universe.

    Numina, Malkavian Anarch, Shadow Enlightenment, Immanentize the Eschaton

    I played a Malkavian Anarch tantrika named Numina who was part of two groups: the Shadow Enlightenment, who sought ways to cope with the Kindred condition through spiritual means; and Immanentize the Eschaton, a group who believed that spiritual transcendence could occur on earth. Interestingly, while the Shadow Enlightenment opposed the Church of Caine — a hierarchical Anarch religious faction gaining power in the area — Immanentize also contained Church of Caine and other members, so we had some crossover in connections through these groups. In this regard, for some pockets of the larp, the themes of enlightenment and revolution focused primarily on the metaphysical aspects of existence rather than physical revolt.

    a clothed man and woman embracing on a bed in a bar
    Alaric, a Cult of Ecstasy mage, and Numina, a Malkavian Anarch tantrika. at the Camarilla bar. Photo by Suvi Korhonen.

    A trauma survivor, Numina believed in trying to reclaim her Humanity through meditation and connection with others, leading her to run tantra workshops for Kindred and anyone else interested. Her form of anarchy led her to feel vehemently opposed to hierarchies and power structures, believing strongly in personal autonomy and freedom. My larp consisted mainly of trying to extract “misguided” friends from the Church of Caine, leading an in-game tantra workshop to help center other characters in the midst of chaos, and engaging in metaphysical discussions with members of the Shadow Enlightenment and other spiritual seekers. Numina was particularly concerned with saving Metatron, an autistic Malkavian boy with suicidal tendencies who she was worried had been bloodbound by the Church. Her most consistent companions throughout the night were two Cult of Ecstasy mages: Sabine, her mentee posing as her childe, and Alaric, the love of her life for several decades. Alaric was a member of the primary group the Relationship Anarchists, who believed in pursuing non-traditional relationship structures, genders, and sexualities.

    As a writer for the larp, I was able to contribute the two primary groups of the Shadow Enlightenment and the Relationship Anarchists. I was pleased to see these groups unfold in game. Much of the “action” of the larp focused upon the violent uprising against the Camarilla, along with the other supernaturals taking advantage of the chaos, including werewolves and changeling Redcaps. I wanted to provide a space in the sandbox for more philosophical, metaphysical, and romantic play to unfold should players choose those options.

    a group of larpers posing on a Berlin street
    Members of the Shadow Enlightenment. Photo by Sarah Lynne Bowman.

    Stripped Down Mechanics, Increased Safety Tools

    The insurrection is finally here and freedom beckons. We are the merciful bullet to the head of the malignancy that is the Camarilla.

    Viktor Keller, Toreador Anarch, Stirner Group, Berlin Intelligentsia

    The organizers explained game mechanics in emailed preparatory materials and mandatory pre-game briefings held at the convention. While the larp did not have workshops, play started with a pre-game poem and list of questions that players were asked to read ritually at their respective starting locations in order to gradually phase into character.

    text for poem and starting ritual
    Starting ritual and poem for Enlightenment in Blood.

    As the larp was in the Nordic style, the designers stripped down the mechanics to incentivize basic, low-level, playable actions that would enhance role-play. For example, my Malkavian character was able to use a stripped-down version of the Dementation power by touching a character’s clothing and saying “You really, really feel everything intensely” or “You really, really want to make someone happy.” Used in both End of the Line and Convention of Thorns, the “really, really” mechanic signals the enactment of a discipline to co-players in a subtle way. The recipient of the power decides the effect on their character, which should last no more than ten minutes. Larpweaver offered a few options from which to choose among these powers, which allowed us to customize our characters based upon the play we aimed to experience. In practice, we negotiated additional types of powers typical to our particular supernaturals in smaller collaborative groups. However, the system gave us a basic understanding of the limits of our power levels and what aspects we could enact during play.

    Combat skills were similarly minimized to a small score between 1 and 5, with supernatural powers enhancing this number slightly. No combat scores could exceed 5. In the Nordic style, players are encouraged to collaboratively plan the outcome of scenes rather compete. However, if players wished to have a competitive combat, the larp provided a barebone framework for them to determine the winner. The only exception was the Prince of the city, who could be held by five characters, but could only be defeated by ten. These rules were in place in order to demonstrate his superior power level compared to the rest of these low-level denizens of the World of Darkness. While combat was possible at any point, character death was only permissible in the last hour, although presumably players could arrange consensually for character death before that time. Regardless of these combat mechanics, players were still expected to negotiate consent out-of-game for the content of such scenes and make agreements regarding physical enactment.

    Bjarke giving presentation of combat rules
    Bjarke Pedersen explaining the combat rules in the briefing. Photo by Sarah Lynne Bowman.

    Safety and calibration were also emphasized in pre-game briefings with Johanna Koljonen. The larp featured three tools: the Tap-out, a non-verbal means of leaving a scene by communicating through physical touch; the See-No-Evil hand gesture over the eyes, which allows players to bow in and out of scenes without comment; and the Okay Check-In, a way to make sure other players are emotionally comfortable out-of-game.((For more information about these tools and other aspects of larp safety and calibration, see Johanna Koljonen’s blog at https://participationsafety.wordpress.com/)) Players were also asked to step out of game and negotiate physical boundaries in a consensual manner. As the participants came from a large range of larp cultures — those quite familiar with negotiation in the Nordic style, those from a very physically rough play style, and those where touch is not acceptable — workshopping these techniques would have helped standardize their use. Unfortunately, time was limited due to the busy convention schedule.

    Johanna giving a presentation on safety
    Johanna Koljonen explaining the safety tools in the briefing. Photo by Sarah Lynne Bowman.

    Pervasiveness and Engagement

    Walking around in a neighborhood that seems almost immune to Masquerade breaches…

    Ludwig Müller, Toreador Anarch Stirner Group, Losers Club

    As with many larps, player experiences varied depending on location, cohesion of the groups, and interactions with co-players. All primary groups started game in the same location, e.g. a bathroom stall after a Diablerie, a willing ritual sacrifice at the Church of Caine, etc.. Our group, the Shadow Enlightenment, started play at a restaurant, where we discussed matters of metaphysical philosophy, as well as our concerns around the Church of Caine, which would surely rise in power during the revolution. Because we ate together before play and engaged in the starting ritual together, then launching into serious discussion, our group cohesion was strong. Many of us walked together to confront the Church of Caine directly afterward, attempting to extract members about whom we worried. Others splintered off to pursue their own plots, experiencing varying degrees of intensity.

    larpers at a restaurant
    The Shadow Enlightenment at their starting location. Photos by Sarah Lynne Bowman.

    Anecdotes suggest that the cohesion of the primary group was central to this larp, especially for players who did not establish other ties ahead of time or who could not find their other connections in the city. The secondary groups came into play far less frequently. Players were instructed to stick together during play for safety reasons and in order to remain connected to the larp. While some players were frustrated by the distances between locations or felt like they just missed the action, others remarked that role-playing while walking was an exceptionally immersive experience. Ultimately, the degree of engagement depended upon interactions with co-players, as main plot points were few and far between.

    larpers walking on a bridge to a church
    Members of the Shadow Enlightenment walking to the Church of Caine. Photos by Sarah Lynne Bowman.

    While the larp had 10 locations, the three central play areas were: Zwinglihaus, the Church of Caine location in an actual church; Raumklang, the low-key and fancy Camarilla Bar; and Jägerhutte, the gritty Anarch Bar where the game ended, located in the RAW-Gelände arts district. Regarding the atmospheres of the different locations, a Nosferatu Anarch player said, “Loved the Camarilla bar and giving the finger to a few of them, but nothing could match the energy, fear, threat and violence of the Anarch bar.” Despite the fact that many groups had starting locations in more intimate spaces, most participants reported flowing between these three main places during play. Some players suggested that a tour of the various locations would have helped players know their other play options and see more of the sprawl of the larp.

    A larper wearing scarves in low lighting
    A Bone Gnawer Ahroun from the pack After the Wall, Trash Fuckers, Life in Filth. Photo by Tuomas Hakkarainen.

    The pacing was also variable. One Anarch player from the Red Liberation, an anti-Camarilla gang, explained, “The game, for me, was long lulls of uncertainty and cacophony, punctuated by an occasional (and strong) sense of urgency and purpose. But when they came, those moments were very powerful.” Alternately, another player from the Church of Caine faction felt engaged the entire time, stating, “The flow was great, swept me away from the starting ritual onwards right to the end. Complete illusion, full immersion.” A Toreador Anarch player summed up her experience by saying, “I managed to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time to take part in the action. But it’s okay, it was fun roaming the streets.” Larp flow varies from player to player in any game, but the pervasive nature of Enlightenment in Blood made these lulls more punctuated due to travel times and fear of missing out on the “action.” Some players wished the larp was longer in order to explore more of their desired connections.

    a woman with a bloody face gets the attention of a boy in a tie
    Metatrron with another Anarch vampire. Photo by Tuomas Hakkarainen.

    Finally, the pervasive nature of the larp was immersive for some players, but jarring for others. The Friedrichshain district of Berlin is full of colorful nightlife, which meant that roaming gangs of costumed larpers did not draw much attention overall. As one Virtual Adept mage player explained, “It felt very immersive and engaging. Berlin felt like the World of Darkness that night.”

    However, the larp did pique the curiosity of outsiders, particularly in the private location for the Anarch bar, where physicality around feeding and violence was more prominent. We were instructed to keep physically aggressive or transgressive actions limited to these private locations and explain to anyone asking that we were a theatre troupe. While the ambiance of the environment helped some players feel engaged, others were uncomfortable. A Toreador Anarch player shared, “The environment was too rough for me to play; too many players in the same spot and I was afraid of non-players’ reactions to our play.” Another player reported waiting outside an in-game billiard hall, feeling “a little uncomfortable surrounded by non-players.” While this area of Berlin provided an ideal location for the themes, costuming, and atmosphere, not everyone felt at ease with the pervasive qualities of the larp.

    A Changeling Redacap. Photo by Tuomas Hakkarainen.

    Little Pockets of Story

    As mentioned above, although much of play took place at the three central locations, the bulk of the story was distributed throughout the characters through Larpweaver and established through pre-game negotiations between players. As overarching narratives, the Camarilla Sheriff and Prince were killed by Anarchs, the Church of Caine rose to prominence, only to become mostly destroyed at the end, etc. However, the smaller stories ended up providing much of the drama of the larp for players. Therefore, I have included a selection of brief summaries of these stories in order to demonstrate the variety of character experiences. Character names, supernatural types, factions, primary, and secondary groups are listed as identifiers.

    Total devotion for the Church powered by rituals thinning hour by hour as Elijah observed [a failure] in leadership. An attempt to find his place through fighting and aggression aimed at [the] Church’s attackers. Broken blood bonds and a search for a new group to belong to now.

    Elijah Stern, Brujah Anarch, Bene Elohim (Church of Caine), Cryptoanarchists

    Leeches started to kill themselves. We got a bit closer to each other, but stayed and waited for the actual slaughter to start.

    White Spirit, Garou Bone Gnawer Ragabash without a pack, Anticapitalist Culture Center, Life in Filth

    The vampire uprising was a dangerous time for a mage to go out and play, but you gotta take risks to shape your fate! Friends helped her in her quest for Ascension: vampires and mages by coming together in a tantra session and an old Satyr by taking her momentarily to Dreaming in the toilet of a concrete shack.

    Sabine Riedel, Cult of Ecstasy mage, Shadow Enlightenment, Exquisite Agony

    Arguments about whether Marx is German or Russian and other activist banter. Uncertainty when hooking up with the Red Lib, an imposing group of real vampire rebels. Ecstatic about getting to drain the Prince.

    Ron, Brujah Anarch, Anticapitalist Cultural Center, The Prince’s Dogs
    Raelyn, Elijah Stern, both Brujah Anarchs; Myra Redford, a Changeling.

    Going from ‘I’m on top of the world and life is great’ to despair when Nichole realized that it’s not going to stop with the sheriff. Loneliness and fear when her world collided. Realization of the consequences of how she had treated others and diving into emotions locked away.

    Nichole, Ventrue, Camarilla Orthodoxy, Queen Machine Records

    Investigative, observer, looking for the chance to invest in the city. A [larp] that started out focusing primarily on a very human part of the game, but which rapidly spiralled out as the lid was blown off the vampire and werewolf politics.

    Alexander Hurst, Technocracy Syndicate mage, Integral Solutions, Green Action Force

    Woke up, had plans to change things, but saw butterflies and got carried away by distractions. (Satyr life…)

    Hallam Jung, Changeling Satyr, Total Party Explosion, Cryptoanarchists

    I was a hub for information. I was communicating across the city and sowing chaos, leading crazy fae partiers from one chaotic fight to the next. I was one of the Enlightened, breaking something more and more just to see how it fell apart, with no regard for the consequences.

    Sinistar, Virtual Adept mage, Total Party Explosion, Berlin Intelligentsia
    Three Enlightenment in Blood characters
    Hallam Jung, Changeling Satyr; Katherine “Kat” Meridian, Brujah Anarch, photo by Rick Boeve; Bastian Retzlaff, Malkavian Anarch.

    It’s not a revolution, it’s an insurrection and I enjoyed every moment of it. Omg we diablerized my Sire who I tried to find for decades! Wait…I have a blood brother and he is with the Church of Caine?

    Dana van Rijckevorsel, Malkavian Anarch, Stirner Group, The Rabbits

    Mahler had a good time watching his kin fighting the night away. Got some good scares out of people, including one vampire starting to believe he was a true nightmare. It was completely chaotic but good for a Redcap.

    Dirk Mahler, Changeling Redcap, Total Party Explosion, Animal Trainers

    As the Camarilla collapsed, he fought a lone and valiant fight to uphold order and everything he believed in. Was beaten to near final death in front of his siress Katharina Kornfeld, [who] had given up on him, the Camarilla, and the clan (phantastic scene!). Broke his chains and in the end lost everything but his humanity and his personal honor.

    Hamid Mansour, Ventrue, Camarilla Orthodoxy, Berlin Wine Tasting Society

    Fear, fascination, horror, then chaos at the church. Changing locations, making alliances and choosing a way forward. At the Anarch bar, a high of emotions, a flurry of bodies (fighting, loving, conspiring), a Vaulderie of three, drinking liquid sun through the veins of a satyr, and finally being set free from three decades of tyranny by the arranged death of her sire.

    Luise Siegel, Toreador Anarch, Blood Gardeners (Church of Caine), Voice of Reason

    In addition, participants provided three word descriptions of their game, which are summarized in the below word cloud. When viewed together, these emotions help construct a more cohesive amalgam of the chaotic experience of Enlightenment in Blood.

    word cloud
    Emotions and themes collected from Enlightenment in Blood players.

    A Revolution for White Wolf Larp

    Revolution is not an economic and social cause, but an act of free will.

    Isabella Chiaromonte, Malkavian Anarch, Mortal Lovers, The Ethics Committee

    Organizers have run pervasive White Wolf larps from their inception in the ‘90s, playing in public locations such as bars and restaurants. The idea of upholding the Masquerade while among “kine” or “sleepers” resonates well with the themes of the World of Darkness, which emphasize how supernaturals influence reality from behind the scenes and must remain secret to protect themselves. What Enlightenment in Blood did for White Wolf larp was to demonstrate that a high budget pervasive larp spanning multiple locations and utilizing mobile technology is a viable format. Additionally, with mechanics stripped down to their minimum, the physicality of walking between locations and enacting character moves in a collaborative manner helped increase immersion for many players. As a result, Enlightenment in Blood was an ambitious fusion of the World of Darkness content with the aesthetic principles of Nordic larp, creating a truly unique experience for players.

    several larpers posing in a conference lobby
    Pre-game photo of Anarchs. Photo by Sarah Lynne Bowman.

    Enlightenment in Blood

    Participation Fee: €90

    Players: approx. 200

    Date: May 12, 2017

    Location: Berlin, Germany

    Production: White Wolf Publishing and Participation Design Agency

    Lead designer and writer: Juhana Pettersson

    Designer: Bjarke Pedersen

    Writers: Sarah Lynne Bowman, Mika Loponen, and Jesper Kristiansen with David Pusch & Daniel Thikötter

    Producers: Bjarke Pedersen & Johanna Koljonen

    Producer (locations): Zora Hädrich

    Werewolf ritual design: René Kragh Pedersen

    Character creation design: Bjarke Pedersen, Juhana Pettersson & Matthew Webb

    Character creation tool (Larpweaver): Matthew Webb, Samuel Phelps & Riley Seaman / Incognita Limited

    Social Media tool (Undernet): Kin software developed by Thomas Mertz, Per Sikker Hansen, Alena Košinárová, Richard Wetzel, and Daniel Sundström

    Workshop design: Johanna Koljonen & Bjarke Pedersen

    Runtime lead: Johanna Koljonen

    Runtime organizing and NPC coordination: David Pusch

    Runtime organizing and location coordination: Daniel Thikötter

    Runtime organizing: Monica Traxl & Bjarke Pedersen

    Creative consulting: René Kragh Pedersen, Maiju Ruusunen & Sarah Lynne Bowman

    Documentation lead: Brody Condon

    Documentation: Keren Chernizon & Tuomas Hakkarainen

    White Wolf: Karim Muammar & Martin Ericsson

    © 2016 Participation | Design | Agency AB. World of Darkness®, Vampire: The Masquerade®, Werewolf: The Apocalypse®, Mage: The Ascension®, Wraith: The Oblivion®, Changeling: The Dreaming®, Copyright© [2017] White Wolf Publishing AB All rights reserved.

    Cover photo: Isabella Chiaromonte, a Malkavian Anarch from Enlightenment in Blood. Photo by Tuomas Hakkarainen. Photo has been cropped.

  • A Matter of Trust – Larp and Consent Culture

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    A Matter of Trust – Larp and Consent Culture

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    Consent culture in larp communities is a subject of great interest in the current discourse. While previous decades have witnessed roaring debates on the superiority of various rules systems, distribution of narrative control, or emphasis on specific themes, several larp communities have shifted their focus to discuss issues of emotional and physical safety. In the last several years, the annual Nordic larp conference has featured panels and workshops on safety. The Living Games Conference 2016 showcased a series of keynotes on Community Management, with presentations from organizers such as John Stavropoulos, Avonelle Wing, Maury Brown, and Johanna Koljonen. Several scholarly and popular articles have emerged on topics such as emotional bleed from player to character and vice versa; triggers and larp; how to calibrate play styles; steering play to maximize role-play potential; the importance of debriefing; post-larp depression/”blues”; and playing for empathy. Other recent panels have focused upon playing intense emotional content more safely; role-playing as potentially therapeutic; and crisis management in communities, including policy, deliberation, and decision making.

    Of central interest in many of these discussions is the rise of consent-based play, where actions within larps must take place according to a collaborative agreement between players. This style of play has gained recent popularity in games such as College of Wizardry, New World Magischola, End of the Line, and Convention of Thorns, although earlier precedents certainly exist. For many participants, consent-based play provides greater degrees of trust between players, personal autonomy over one’s story, and collaboration in the larp community.((See for example Maury Brown, “Creating a Culture of Trust through Safety and Calibration Larp Mechanics,” Nordiclarp.org, last modified September 9, 2016.))

    wizards point their wands at each other
    In consent-based resolution magic systems like College of Wizardry, the recipient decides the effect of a spell. Photo courtesy of Dziobak Larp Studios.

    Controversy around Safety and Consent-Based Play

    Participants in some larp communities express resistance and scrutiny in consent and safety discussions. In the past, any discussion of the social and psychological effects of role-playing was a taboo subject, as religious extremists groups and the mainstream media often portrayed the hobby as psychologically damaging. During the so-called Satanic Panic, many non-players worried that larpers would “lose touch with reality,” commit suicide, or become drawn to the occult.((Lizzie Stark, Leaving Mundania (Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press, 2012).)) Thus, many role-players prefer to downplay any social or psychological effects, instead emphasizing the alibi of “it’s just a game” and “it’s what my character would do.” Additionally, role-players often claim that their communities are far healthier and more inclusive than mainstream society as a result of many participants feeling marginalized as “geeks” or “nerds” throughout life.((See for example, Sarah Lynne Bowman, The Functions of Role-playing Games: How Participants Create Community, Solve Problems, and Explore Identity (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2010).))

    Two vampire players looking at one another
    In the Nordic vampire larp End of the Line, players use scripted consent negotiations before enacting intimacy. Photo courtesy of Participation Design Agency.

    Meanwhile, academics have begun to study these effects in detail, investigating the ways in which role-playing impacts individual consciousness and community dynamics. For example, I have studied qualitatively the ways in which larp communities are negatively impacted by conflict and bleed, and am conducting a follow-up quantitative study with Michał Mochocki.((Sarah Lynne Bowman, “Social Conflict in Role-Playing Communities: An Exploratory Qualitative Study, International Journal of Role-playing 4: 4-25.)) Diana Shippey Leonard has examined the sociology of larp groups, including their life cycles and the ways in which creative agendas lead to conflict according to Larp Census 2014 data.((Diana Leonard, “The Dynamic Life Cycle of Live Action Role-playing Communities,” in Wyrd Con Companion Book 2013, edited by Sarah Lynne Bowman and Aaron Vanek (Los Angeles, CA: WyrdCon, 2013); Diana Leonard, “Conflict and Change: Testing a Life-Cycle-Derived Model of Larp Group Dynamics,” International Journal of Role-playing 6: 15-22.))

    Similarly, Brodie Atwater has examined the ways in which marginalized people in larp communities report feelings of exclusion and alienation due to their social identities. Gender, sexuality, and race are also at the forefront of the academic conversation, as people from marginalized groups do not always feel that their identities are respected or represented appropriately in role-playing communities. These conversations spill over into discussions on social media networks and are often the cause of much divisiveness when perspectives differ. Some players believe that sexism, racism, and homophobia no longer exist in contemporary society or are not problems in role-playing communities, whereas others cite personal experiences to the contrary. For example, members of some larp groups insist that plots should no longer feature sexual assault or rape in order to avoid triggering abuse survivors in the community, whereas other participants feel that such content is appropriate to the setting and, therefore, permissible.

    While these debates will likely continue for years to come, many designers find their game spaces less accommodating than they would like and are working to develop strategies for more consensual play. Some role-playing groups have methods for players to opt-out of content that they find uncomfortable, such as safe words, whereas others discuss ways to make content more opt-in. For example, some larps feature trigger warnings, content advisories, or ingredients lists to warn players ahead of time about the sorts of themes they will likely encounter.((Organizers like Karin Edman advocate for such lists, also called Content Declarations. See for example “Content Declarations,” Nordic Larp Wiki, last modified October 8, 2015 and the Ingredients list for the Dystopia Rising network.))

    Other larps build consent-based play into the mechanics of the game. For example, in College of Wizardry and New World Magischola, the recipient of a spell determines its effect, not the rules or the initiator. Similarly, End of the Line, New World Magischola and Convention of Thorns have instituted a script for consent negotiations, in which organizers instruct players on how to calibrate with one another when enacting specific physical and verbal content around intimacy, violence, romance, bullying, and other sensitive topics.((For an example, see the consent mechanics from Convention of Thorns: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yTgK4ZKqg9H9opBKau7nKZC3y5jOqwlo7D4PWCKPB5s/edit?usp=sharing))

    Players in Convention of Thorns must negotiate intimate scenes off-game before engaging. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska for Dziobak Larp Studios.

    Originally developed by Participation Design Agency, these consent negotiations require discussion of specific actions rather than generalities in order to ensure each player understands the agreement. Consent negotiations adjust to the comfort level of the person with the strongest boundaries rather than expecting them to become more flexible with their limits. For example, in a romance, if one player is comfortable kissing, while the other prefers only to verbally flirt, the negotiation would resolve with flirting as the agreement.

    Another emerging aspect of consent-based play is the development of safety and calibration mechanics that allow players to communicate their levels of comfort during the larp. The Okay Check-In is a non-verbal signal for making sure a player is comfortable in a scene; it involves one participant flashing the Okay symbol to another, who can respond with thumbs-up, thumbs-down, or so-so hand gesture. This mechanic, originally developed in the Los Angeles area by Rob McDiarmid, Aaron Vanek, and Kirsten Hageleit, has seen significant recent adoption in New World Magischola, End of the Line, Hidden Parlor Austin, and the Dystopia Rising network. Another new mechanic is the Lookdown or “See No Evil” signal, developed by Trine Lise Lindahl and Johanna Koljonen. With Lookdown, a player shield their eyes with one hand in order to exit a scene at any time without explanation or request that others pretend their character is no longer present. With these tools, the emphasis is on the comfort and emotional safety of the player rather than the importance of the continuity of the scene. The common refrain for these mechanics is, “Players are more important than larps.” Koljonen’s Participation Safety blog features additional information on these tools and others.

    Fairness, Immersion, Competition, and the Cult of Hardcore

    Violence is prenegotiated ahead of time in Convention of Thorns. Photo by John-Paul Bichard for Dziobak Larp Studios.

    While many players laud these innovations as affording them a greater level of comfort to explore sensitive content, common complaints against consent-based play emerge in larp communities. The first centers upon the traditional emphasis on rules in role-playing games, where any form of conflict – including many social interactions – are arbitrated by a rules system and an authority figure, such as an organizer or game master. Many players feel that such rules level the playing field by providing a non-arbitrary method by which a character can succeed in a scenario. These players may perceive the introduction of consent-based play as threatening to their preferred style, as it opens the door for individuals to “avoid consequences for actions” or act unfairly. In spite of these claims, as Planetfall designer and organizer Matthew Webb explains, “In three years of using emotional safety techniques, we’ve never had a complaint of dodging consequences though we explicitly say we will deal with that situation if it arises.” While any rule can be abused, including consent mechanics, few players actually manipulate consensual play to impose their will upon others or “cheat.” On the contrary, many players use consent negotiations in order to orchestrate playing to lose — where something dramatically terrible happens to their character — by planning the scene ahead of time through collaboration. John Wick advocates for this “friendly enemies” approach in his Houses of the Blooded setting.

    Another common complaint against consent negotiations and safety/calibration mechanics is that they negatively impact immersion. Immersion itself is a widely-debated term, with many schools of thought emerging regarding what experiences the concept actually describes.((For recent theories on immersion, see Sarah Lynne Bowman and Anne Standiford, “Enhancing Healthcare Simulations and Beyond: Immersion Theory and Practice” International Journal of Role-playing 6: 12-19.)) For the purposes of this article, immersion will refer to the sense of feeling highly engaged in the narrative, world, or character of a game. Since checking for consent requires brief off-game negotiations, some players protest this practice as “breaking their immersion.” However, immersion is best viewed as a spectrum rather than an on-off switch. A brief check-in may lessen someone’s immersion, but will rarely impede their ability to re-engage. Similarly, discrete off-game consent negotiations that are designed to run smoothly tend to proceed quickly, often without other players noticing. As opposed to disrupting the intensity of play, brief consent discussions can allow larpers to feel more comfortable playing deeply with one another, taking chances they might normally avoid because they established a greater sense of trust.

    satirical comic about the okay check-in breaking immersion
    Satirical comic about some American boffer larpers’ reactions to the Okay Check-In system. Copyright by Paul Scofield.

    Some proponents of competitive play, such as Matthew Webb, suggest that competition brings out the best in people when conducted in a fair manner. Through competition, players are challenged to greater levels of achievement and agency, potentially training social skills in the meantime. Competition also provides motivation for many players, as the system, mechanics, or scenario encourages achievement through challenge and the desire to win.((Matthew Webb, “Let’s Fight – In Defense of Competitive Play, Part 1,” Nordiclarp.org, February 2, 2017.))

    These potential benefits make strong arguments in favor of competitive play in certain contexts. For example, students in edu-larp scenarios may find competition inherently motivating, especially in classroom environments where achievement is already encouraged through grades and social status. For players living in what sometimes feels like an unfair world, knowing the rules in a larp space and learning how to succeed in a clear manner are deeply rewarding.

    However, in order for one person to succeed, other components of the larp environment must fail, whether they are the scenario objectives, organizer-generated antagonists such as non-player characters (NPCs), or other players within the game. The latter two styles of play are often called player vs. environment (PvE) and player vs. player (PvP) respectively, although some prefer the term “character” here to distinguish between on- and off-game antagonism. Such a loss is not always perceived as negative; indeed, playing to lose can often feel fun for larpers. Also, losses in the short term can provide learning experiences for winning in the future.

    On the other hand, if a player in a larp has invested a significant amount of time and energy into their character and another person socially humiliates or physically harms that character without consent, the experience can feel unbalanced, unfair, and alienating.  Therefore, while competitive play holds risks that some may find acceptable, these risks can be ameliorated in large part by consent negotiations. Indeed, consent discussions can often enhance antagonistic play, as both parties feel that they have opted-in to the experience. Thus, cooperative competition is also possible as a middle ground approach.

    In End of the Line, the recipient decides how to react if a vampire enacts a Discipline. Photo by Participation Design Agency.

    Finally, a potential problem in role-playing groups of all sorts is the cult of hardcore. Whether in a competitive or collaborative play environment, the cult of hardcore refers to the group imposing a certain degree of emotional intensity or mature content onto its members. In a competitive larp group focusing on interpersonal politics and backstabbing, the cult of hardcore often manifests as pressure to engage in socially antagonistic play. Such antagonism sometimes results in simulated violence or emotional hazing. Even players who attempt to opt out of the political part of such larps may be subject to aggressive play such as economic warfare, the arbitrary use of political power, or forced interactions through role-play.

    In cooperative larp groups with scenarios based on serious themes, the pressure of the cult of hardcore is somewhat more insidious, in that players are often expected to push their own emotional limits in order to preserve the immersion of the rest of the group or keep the story moving. In both competitive and cooperative larps, players can feel coerced into accepting situations that make them feel uncomfortable. The logic of this playstyle is that if a player enters the social space of a larp, they are implicitly accepting the social contract of that space: anything that occurs within that environment is acceptable as long as it adheres to the rules and setting.

    While the cult of hardcore style can produce high intensity, cathartic experiences for many players, it calibrates group play to correspond with the participant who has the more flexible boundaries. In other words, the player who is able to tolerate the most emotional or physical intensity becomes the baseline for the rest of the group, as they will likely play to their own limits. If other players experience discomfort or distress, the common response in hardcore play cultures is that the larp is “not for them.” This statement begs the question: who, then, are cult of hardcore larps for? In general, such larps are designed for people who a) do not often experience emotional distress, b) are willing to experience distress as a means of “toughening up,” or c) are unwilling to risk losing their social status or connections by expressing their distress. Thus, these environments are often problematic for people who are trauma survivors, neuro-atypical, from marginalized groups, or simply prefer lower intensity play.

    New World Magischola students participate in an academic case study competition, trying to earn a job at a major corporation. Competitive play can co-exist with consent culture in larp. Photo by Learn Larp LLC.

    Consent-based play does not negate the possibility for high intensity play to exist within the larp space. If the lessons learned from the BDSM subculture are any indication, consent negotiations actually facilitate more intense brink play, as both parties can discuss limits and steer toward the desired experience. The cult of hardcore can ratchet up the intensity for one another without level-setting the larp for everyone else. Similarly, competition is entirely possible within consent-based spaces as long as limits are discussed between the parties involved. Thus, the notion that consensual play will eradicate intensity or competition is a false dichotomy.

    More Accommodating Spaces

    Diablerie scene from Convention of Thorns. Photo by John-Paul Bichard for Dziobak Larp Studios.

    Ultimately, the goal of consent-based play is to make larp spaces more accommodating and enjoyable for participants. Instead of calibrating the group to the playstyle of the person with the most flexible boundaries, consent-based play allows people with multiple backgrounds and degrees of sensitivity to engage. For example, a veteran with PTSD triggers may have difficulty playing a larp with flashing lights and pyrotechnics. Organizers can make the space more accommodating by disclosing ahead of time that such effects will take place and by limiting them to a particular physical location where players can opt-in to that experience. Thus, organizers can pay careful attention to the scenography and design of the space in order to facilitate different levels of engagement.

    Organizers can also disclose themes by providing content advisories, ingredients lists, or trigger warnings, making the specifics clear to participants ahead of time. Knowing that content will be present in a larp enables players to make informed decisions about their participation. For example, many people feel uncomfortable playing themes of sexual violence due to personal experience or object to designers using the theme as a plot device. However, when these themes are discussed respectfully beforehand with a clear understanding of how the larp will address them, players often feel more comfortable opting-in. Therefore, consent negotiations can engender greater trust within the community and enable more people to feel comfortable participating.

    Finally, thinking about consent-based play as a spectrum rather than an on/off speech is likely to prove more fruitful. In other words, a group need not redesign their entire larp to include consent. Instituting calibration mechanics that seamlessly communicate comfort levels — such as safe words, the Okay Check-In, and the Lookdown signal — can help existing spaces feel more consensual for players. Brief off-game negotiations for sensitive scenes, pre-planning antagonistic interactions, and discussing physical boundaries can enhance trust in even competitive larp environments. Ultimately, as Troels Ken Pedersen has suggested, the techniques themselves do not increase feelings of safety, but the safety culture established within the community does.((Troels Ken Pedersen, “Your Larp’s Only as Safe as its Safety Culture,” Leaving Mundania, August 4, 2015.)) Workshopping and modeling these techniques help establish the safety culture by indicating that the group takes the emotional needs of the individual seriously. The more that players can learn to empathize with one another and adjust play according to one another’s needs, the more cohesive and strong a larp community can become.

    Cover photo: Students dance at the ball at New World Magischola Yuletide Escapade 1. Photo by Learn Larp LLC.

  • White Wolf’s Convention of Thorns – A Blockbuster Nordic Larp

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    White Wolf’s Convention of Thorns – A Blockbuster Nordic Larp

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    Convention of Thorns is an official White Wolf Nordic-style Vampire: the Masquerade larp. The first run was held between October 27-30, 2016 at Zamek Książ, a castle in Poland. The larp was a joint collaboration between White Wolf and Dziobak Larp Studios. This scenario plays out a crucial moment in the canon of vampiric history, in which representatives from various cities across Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa engage in peace talks at a meeting in Thorns, England in 1493.((For general information, see The Unofficial White Wolf Wiki, “Convention of Thorns,” Whitewolf.wika.com, December 4, 2015. http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Convention_of_Thorns))

    The Nosferatu Josef von Bauren, one of the Founders of the Camarilla. Photo by John-Paul Bichard.
    The Nosferatu Josef von Bauren, one of the Founders of the Camarilla. Photo by John-Paul Bichard.

    During this time, the Inquisition was purging many of the vampires throughout Europe. The Kindred were involved in a brutal civil war, in which elder members of the Establishment attempted to maintain their power while younger Anarchs rose up to kill and usurp them in a bloody revolution. The Convention represents an attempt to establish a code of rules – or Traditions — as well as to standardize a new form of government called the Camarilla, which is based mainly on Establishment values. In the White Wolf canon, this event leads to the official division between the Camarilla, the Anarchs, the Independent clans, and a new sect called the Sabbat. The latter factions ultimately reject the Camarilla’s authority, with the fledgling Sabbat declaring a war upon the Establishment that endures through the modern nights.

    While larp groups have organized immersive, Nordic style Vampire games before,((Jaakko Stenros and Markus Montola, eds. Nordic Larp (Stockholm, Sweden: Fëa Livia, 2010).)) as well as several one-shots set in the canonical Convention of Thorns, this event marks a historically significant moment in the development of White Wolf larp. This larp represents an effort by White Wolf to embrace the blockbuster style of larp,((Eirik Fatland and Markus Montola, “The Blockbuster Formula – Brute Force Design in The Monitor Celestra and College of Wizardry,” Nordiclarp.org, May 6, 2015. https://nordiclarp.org/2015/05/06/the-blockbuster-formula-brute-force-design-in-the-monitor-celestra-and-college-of-wizardry/)) which features high production values, an expensive location, richly detailed setting information packed into pre-written characters, and some plots or NPCs deployed by the organizers during the game.

    The Tzimisce Irenka Brozek, the White Spider. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska and Nadina Wiórkiewicz for Dziobak Larp Studios.
    The Tzimisce Irenka Brozek, the White Spider. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska and Nadina Wiórkiewicz for Dziobak Larp Studios.

    Blockbuster larps are a form of what one of Convention of Thorns’ designers, Claus Raasted, calls larp tourism, in which players can use time and resources usually reserved for a vacation to larp in an impressive setting and have an immersive experience.((Claus Raasted, “Claus Raasted: Larp Tourism (Produced for Nelco 2015).” YouTube, August 28, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0Lu9ct_se4)) Such projects draw participants from around the world, are well documented, and garner a remarkable amount of mainstream attention, as witnessed by the media frenzy around the College of Wizardry larps. True to form, Convention of Thorns attracted players from several countries, producing impressive documentation photos of the authentic-looking castle, costuming, and prosthetics from several photographers, including John-Paul Bichard, Przemysław Jendroska, and Nadina Wiórkiewicz. These new White Wolf larps such as Convention of Thorns, End of the Line, and the upcoming Enlightenment in Blood are not intended to replace traditional Vampire games, but rather to augment them, by creating one-shot, uniquely immersive experiences set in the World of Darkness.

    A vampire gives a speech to a large crowd in a ballroom.
    The Camarilla Ventrue Founder Hardestadt addresses the assembled Kindred in the opening scene. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska and Nadina Wiórkiewicz for Dziobak Larp Studios.

    Consent Negotiations, Day Play, and Collaborative Style

    While the blockbuster style is certainly visually impressive, the Nordic roots of these games also represent a departure from White Wolf’s usual type of larps in their embodiment of physicality. The game did feature a few mechanics, most notably in the use of the “really really” mechanic for simulating Discipline use. Originating in White Wolf and Odyssé’s End of the Line, a player could lay a hand on another player and issue a verbal command with the words “really really” to indicate the use of a Dominate, Presence, or Auspex command. However, physical combat was highly discouraged. Unlike most Vampire larps from the Mind’s Eye Theatre tradition, no traits are spent to perform actions and no rock-paper-scissor throws resolve conflict. Instead, Convention of Thorns used a consent-based style of play, in which players negotiate violence, intimacy, and feeding through a scripted off-game consent negotiation workshopped before the game. Developed and piloted at the New Orleans run of End of the Line, these negotiations required players to discuss openly physical and emotional boundaries before engaging in scenes with sensitive content.((For more on the safety and calibration tools developed for End of the Line, see Johanna Koljonen, Safety in Larp: Understanding Participation and Designing for Trust, September 18, 2019. https://participationsafety.wordpress.com))

    Two vampires stare each other down.
    Tzimisce enemies Premislav Aksinin and Piotr Danchina confront one another. In consent-based play, conflict resolution is negotiated off-game with all parties agreeing on the outcome. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska and Nadina Wiórkiewicz for Dziobak Larp Studios.

    Additionally, in consent-based play, all participants agree upon the outcome of an event based upon their out-of-character needs, rather than their character’s abilities, points, or role-play driven motivations. Consent-based play has proven highly successful at creating a culture of safety, play-style calibration, and trust,((Game to Grow, “Game to Grow Webisode Project Episode 2: Emotionally Intense Play, Calibration, and Community Safety,” YouTube, September 1, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YtRJd5CR2I)) even in role-play environments such as New World Magischola in the United States,((Maury Brown, “Creating a Culture of Trust through Safety and Calibration Larp Mechanics,” Nordiclarp.org, September 9, 2016. https://nordiclarp.org/2016/09/09/creating-culture-trust-safety-calibration-larp-mechanics/)) which attract both new players and larpers from more traditional settings with conflict resolution mechanics. These consent mechanics aligned with the overall goals of the Safety team at Convention of Thorns, of which I was a part: to create an environment where players felt safe to engage in whatever level of intensity of play they desired and, most importantly, felt comfortable disengaging or opting-out of content if needed. Therefore, an hour of workshop time was set aside to practice safety techniques and negotiation.((For the complete Safety workshop instructions, click here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yTgK4ZKqg9H9opBKau7nKZC3y5jOqwlo7D4PWCKPB5s/edit?usp=sharing))

    Along these lines, a major point of departure from traditional Vampire larps was the emphasis on transparency in Convention of Thorns. In the Nordic style, the goal of the game is not to succeed or “win” in a traditional sense, but rather to “play to lose,” or “play for what is interesting.” For this reason, all of the character sheets, casting, and Domain relationships were visible to the players before the start of the larp. In a game that centers upon information hoarding, power dynamics, plotting, and secrecy, this design choice was remarkably effective. Similarly, in pre-game planning, participants were able to communicate their interests on Facebook for particular types of play, including posting Looking for Relations requests, creating groups, and asking for specific relationships such as sire/childe, love interests, rivals, etc. Players often aired their character’s secrets in public forums in order to create more drama in game, broadcasting to others what themes they find most interesting to play.

    A vampire in a Renaissance gown
    The Toreador Geneveve Orseau. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska and Nadina Wiórkiewicz for Dziobak Larp Studios.

    For example, I played Geneveve Orseau, an Enlightenment-seeking Toreador co-Harpy in the Domain of Paris. Geneveve ran an art academy and salon, which functioned as a civilizing finishing school for young Kindred. Before game, I created a Facebook group for salon attendees and students, establishing a group of people who may not agree on important topics such as humanity, art, or philosophy, but who had met one another socially in the past.

    Another player created a group called Correspondence in Humanities, for those of us interested in playing on the theme of trying to regain our humanity. In a sense, this group ended up having a double meaning, as the characters within it wrote one another long letters on the nature of vampiric existence, the practicalities of trying to grapple with the inner Beast, and reflections on spirituality that deeply resonated with the humanistic Renaissance setting. This sort of pre-play helped participants locate co-players interested in the same sorts of interactions and themes, establishing ties and creating relationships before arriving on site. In my experience, these ties greatly aid in facilitating excellent scenes with these co-players on-site. For example, the Humanities group developed a secret handshake to indicate their interest in Golconda and also organized a discussion on the nature of Enlightenment around an altar during the larp.

    In addition, while game play took place at night, the daytime hours were reserved for Day Play and collaborative planning. As a player, this element of the game most inspired my participation. Building upon Nordic and American freeform techniques, I co-wrote the Day Play instructions((For the complete Day Play instructions, click here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YlYay_h2IctkRQ3Kt6jqXYMK87aMon9Q6d0xyR55qIc/edit?usp=sharing)) with Maury Brown, using a system I originally developed for Planetfall larp in Austin, Texas.((Matthew Webb, “Imagining the Future with Planetfall: Mobile Technology and Hard Science in Science Fiction Larping,” in The Wyrd Con Companion Book 2015, edited by Sarah Lynne Bowman (Los Angeles, CA: Wyrd Con) https://www.dropbox.com/s/xslwh0uxa544029/WCCB15-Final.pdf?dl=0))

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    Day Play cards. Photo by Renee Ritchie.

    In Day Play, facilitators led small groups of players through a series of scenes in which they could enact parts of their backstory, fantasies, dreams, or future events. In a game like Vampire, where characters are many decades or even centuries old, past memories and traumas are often formative to the psychological makeup of the Kindred. During Day Play, participants could enact their own characters, NPCs, or simply watch. Some players opted to create their own scenes; others used the card system, where participants drew an emotion and a scenario from two decks. The facilitator would then guide the group through developing the scene, using metatechniques such as angel and demon (a variant of bird-in-the-ear), monologue, rewind/fast forward, Last Line, and Switch.((See Day Play Instructions above for definitions.)) These scenes also contributed to the atmosphere of collaborative play and transparency. Participants witnessed scenes that would normally remain hidden, enabling them to steer toward content during the evening that would inspire deeper scenes. Day Play allowed participants insight into the motivations and emotions of the other characters.

    A veiled woman in white comforts a monstrous-looking vampire.
    The Malkavian Vasantasena comforts the Nosferatu Dáire mac Donnchada. While evening play took place in the castle with full costuming and scenography, Day Play was freeform style in street clothes. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska and Nadina Wiórkiewicz for Dziobak Larp Studios.

    Participation in Day Play was strictly optional and some players opted to eat, socialize, sleep, or plan out-of-character. This relaxed atmosphere also lent to the collaborative style of play. While players did plot, as they often do in between Vampire larp sessions, they mostly did so as large groups. The consent-based play encouraged participants to negotiate and agree upon the outcomes of confrontations off-game.

    Jürgen von Verden, who masqueraded as his sire, Hardestadt. Photo by Jean-Paul Bichard.
    Jürgen von Verden, who masqueraded as his sire, Hardestadt. Photo by Jean-Paul Bichard.

    For example, my character Geneveve had maintained a centuries-long secret love affair with Jürgen von Verden, a Ventrue Crusader. Jürgen was hiding the relationship from his sire, Lord Hardestadt, who became one of the Founders of the Camarilla. A central canonical conceit of Convention of Thorns is that Hardestadt is killed by the Anarch Tyler decades before, and Jürgen must masquerade as his sire in order to keep the dream of the Camarilla alive. In our story line, the two characters had not seen one another since this transformation until the Convention. This relationship dynamic was player-driven rather than established by the canon or the team of writers, representing an alternate history version of events.

    During the daytime hours before the final game session, we collectively planned several major events in our small groups. For example, we plotted the complete destabilization of the Domain of Paris due to the Prince becoming an Anarch and the Seneschal getting killed, as well as the selection of a new Prince, who had been the Sheriff. In addition, we decided that after the clans had voted on their participation in the Camarilla, Jürgen would run off to Paris to live with Geneveve, abandoning his mantle as Hardestadt and retiring from politics, at least temporarily. Many players were informed of this decision and the power vacuum created by Hardestadt’s departure was resolved through out-of-character discussion, with a new Justicar pre-determined to stand in his place. In traditional Vampire games, players would plan such maneuvers secretly, then enact them in game with uncertain results in a competitive style. Alternatively, we had determined these outcomes as larger collective groups, which did not diminish their intensity in play, but rather magnified it.

    Player Agency Trumping Canonical Authenticity

    These examples illustrate some key principles about Convention of Thorns: the emphasis on transparency, collaborative play, and the power of player agency to change canonical endings as their personal stories demanded. We were permitted a certain degree of freedom to play with canonical “truths,” as players were only required to read the Design Document and their character sheets.

    While some political meetings occurred, the majority of social play transpired in the ballroom. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska and Nadina Wiórkiewicz for Dziobak Larp Studios.
    While some political meetings occurred, the majority of social play transpired in the ballroom. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska and Nadina Wiórkiewicz for Dziobak Larp Studios.

    The ability to change the outcome of the Convention was of particular interest to many players. The game was structured around clan meetings, council deliberations, and votes. However, these events were intended to be short and not dominate the social play of the game, which took place mainly in a large ballroom. In this regard, while we could not change the number of Traditions or the scheduled times of the votes, we could alter the wording of the Traditions, which resulted in some surprising departures from canon:

    The Traditions established at the Convention of Thorns larp.
    Photo courtesy of Eva Wei.

    Additionally, clans that were normally considered Independent, such as the Giovanni and the Ravnos, ended up joining the Camarilla.

    In this regard, players felt some flexibility not only to bend canon as desired, but also to bend history. Although the larp was set in the Renaissance, players were not expected to memorize historical facts or dress in strictly period-appropriate costuming.  While White Wolf officially endorsed Convention of Thorns, these canonical changes are not meant to alter the existing timelines, but rather to serve as an alternative history. In future runs of the game, other deviations from established storylines are likely to emerge as players explore their own desired interests, relationships, and themes.

    The Nosferatu confer. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska and Nadina Wiórkiewicz for Dziobak Larp Studios.
    The Nosferatu Andrei Romanovich confers with his Clan. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska and Nadina Wiórkiewicz for Dziobak Larp Studios.

    Variable Degrees of Engagement

    While the castle itself offered a stunning location, complete with a gold-gilded ballroom for the opening scene and character portraits, the scenography team transformed several rooms in the castle to suit various moods and styles of play. The main floor of the castle was the primary area of play, including another ballroom and antechamber, where social and political scenes unfolded. Intact and destroyed areas of the castle were converted to Clan rooms, complete with themed music, special décor, and even unique smells. The top layer of the castle was reserved for players interested in darker, more visceral scenes, including rituals, intimacy, and violence.

    The scenographers individually designed each Clan room. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska and Nadina Wiórkiewicz for Dziobak Larp Studios.
    The scenographers designed each Clan room with an individualized aesthetic. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska and Nadina Wiórkiewicz for Dziobak Larp Studios.

    In this regard, players could choose their desired level of intensity with darker content based upon their location in the castle to a certain degree. NPCs were deployed primarily as monk retainers in service to the Abbey of Thorns or as humans to be fed upon in various ways. The emphasis on feeding served as a reminder of the Bestial nature of the vampiric existence, with the second major scene of the game after the opening speeches being a “feast,” complete with screaming villagers offered to the guests as meals. As my character, Geneveve, fed almost entirely on animal blood as a way to stave off her vampiric side, she completely avoided these screams, finding solace in the small antechamber. Throughout the larp, this space functioned as a makeshift salon and was relatively free of violence. In this way, the physical location and scenographic design afforded players some degree of control over the experiences they wished to explore.

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    The Lasombra Francesca Della Rovere. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska and Nadina Wiórkiewicz for Dziobak Larp Studios.

    Similarly, the game was scaled structurally in terms of power level and intensity. Regardless of their power level, characters could only use low level Disciplines on the first night, medium level ones on the next night, and high ones on the last night. Similarly, characters could not die or be diablerized until the last night, encouraging players to ratchet up the tension and intensity until the climax of the game. Combined with the consent-based play, these techniques assuaged some of the fears of the participants regarding the inequity of power levels and the physicality of the playstyle.

    The Brujah Anarch Tyler reviews the new Traditions. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska and Nadina Wiórkiewicz for Dziobak Larp Studios.
    The Brujah Anarch Tyler reviews the new Traditions. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska and Nadina Wiórkiewicz for Dziobak Larp Studios.

    The organizers encouraged us to think of these peace talks as the equivalent of the vampiric UN — where violence would be rare and unseemly — rather than a battleground. In the final scene, the factions split onto two sides of the ballroom: one in favor of the Camarilla and one against. As many chanted the word “war” while staring at their opponents, the organizers ended the game. Therefore, the intensity of the violent intent remained, while the details of what happened in the future could be negotiated by players as they wished after the game or in Day Play scenes.

    A vampire hissing
    The Toreador Rosado Trastámara. Some Kindred played upon their more monstrous side, whereas others tried to preserve their Humanity. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska and Nadina Wiórkiewicz for Dziobak Larp Studios.
    As a participant who primarily enjoys social, romantic, philosophical, and metaphysical play, I was pleased at the design of Convention of Thorns. The structure, themes, and spatial design were thoughtfully crafted to accommodate a variety of playstyles under the same roof. While the voting, Tradition wording, and meeting structure was a bit too under-designed for the smoothness of play that the organizers intended, the overall experience exceeded my expectations after seventeen years of White Wolf larping.

     

    A Bright Future for the World of Darkness

    Convention of Thorns represents the latest in a series of games developed by White Wolf in conjunction with designers in the Nordic scene. The organizers announced that they will rerun the larp next year, with details forthcoming. Meanwhile, several cities have expressed interest in hosting End of the Line, with two runs scheduled for World of Darkness Berlin, a White Wolf convention that will take place May 11-14, 2017. World of Darkness Berlin will also feature talks, workshops, the new documentary on the history of White Wolf, and the delightful dance-off larp, Dancing with the Clans. Finally, participants can look forward to Enlightenment in Blood, a several hundred person pervasive larp((“Pervasive Game,” Wikipedia, November 13, 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pervasive_game)) set in modern times that spans multiple locations around the city of Berlin. In short, games like Convention of Thorns point strongly toward a bright future for the World of Darkness.

    White Wolf Lead Storyteller Martin Elricsson narrates future events after the Convention in the final scene, standing between the Kindred battle lines. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska and Nadina Wiórkiewicz for Dziobak Larp Studios.
    In the final scene, White Wolf Lead Storyteller Martin Elricsson narrates future events after the Convention, standing between the Kindred battle lines. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska and Nadina Wiórkiewicz for Dziobak Larp Studios.

    Convention of Thorns

    Participation Fee: €480-530

    Players: 175-190

    Date: October 27-30, 2016

    Location: Zamek Książ, Poland

    Production: White Wolf Publishing and Dziobak Larp Studios, Claus Raasted

    Logistics and Volunteer Coordinator: Agata Świstak

    Lead Character Writer: Edin Jankovic Sumar

    Location: Szymon Boruta

    Costumes: Agnieszka “Linka” Hawryluk, Szymon Boruta, Mikołaj Wicher

    Scenography: Agnieszka “Linka” Hawryluk, Szymon Boruta, Agata Świstak

    Technical Support: Mikołaj Wicher

    Promotion: Fred Brand

    Safety Team: Agata Świstak, Petra Lindve, Sarah Lynne Bowman, Maury Brown, Mila Ingalls, Claus Raasted Herløvsen

    Main Character Writers: Anders Edgar, Jamie Snetsinger, Petra Lindve, Mia Devald Kyhn, Arvid Björklund, Simon Svensson, Frida Selvén, Jørn Slemdal, Anna-Lisa “Muckas” Gustavsson, Magnus Thirup Hansen

    Volunteer Writers: Richard Svahn, Sorcières Cat, Andreas Svedin, Stefan Lunneborg, Freja Lunau, Elina Gouliou, Mathias Oliver Lykke Christensen, Garett Kopczynski, Marta Szyndler, Vilhelmīne Ozoliņa, Nika Anuk

    Day Play Designers: Sarah Lynne Bowman and Maury Brown

    Documentation: John-Paul Bichard, Magdalena Gutkowska, Aleksander Krzystyniak, Przemysław Jendroska, Maciej Nitka, Nadina Wiórkiewicz

    Props: Yoru Kamiko, Marta Szyndler

    Production assistants: Eevi Korhonen, Radek Gołdy, Halfdan Keller Justesen, Joanna Janik, Richard Svahn, Janina Wicher, Joanna Maryniak, Ania Gęborska, Ida Pawłowicz, Ole Risgaard Hansen, Samuel Arnold, Kasper Lundqvist, Johannessen, Freja Lunau, Yleine Aerts, Eva Helene Antonsen, Christine M. Christensen, Linnea Fredin, Katrine Kavli, Louise Svedsen, Kamilla Brichs, Mira Suovanen, Antti Kumpulainen, Lau K Lauritzen, Suus Matsaers, Stefan Lindgren, Casper Gatke, Dracan Dembiński, Herwig Kopp, Piotr “Kula” Milewski, Ola Wicher, Olivier Hoffman, Mila Ould Yahoui

    Cover photo: The Malkavian Celestyn, The Librarian. Photo by Przemysław Jendroska and Nadina Wiórkiewicz for Dziobak Larp Studios.

  • When Trends Converge – The New World Magischola Revolution

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    When Trends Converge – The New World Magischola Revolution

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    Be the change! Break the chains! Change the world!

    Dan Obeah motto, New World Magischola Run 2

    New World Magischola is an American blockbuster larp produced by Learn Larp, LLC about students and faculty attending a wizard university in a new North American magical universe. Inspired by the hugely successful College of Wizardry larps at Czocha Castle in Poland, designers Maury Brown and Benjamin A. Morrow decided to bring a version of the larp to the United States. Bolstered in part by the media fervor around the College of Wizardry documentary((Cosmic Joke UK, “College of Wizardry – Documentary,” YouTube, last modified Dec 9, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW0bi_XgMY0. See also the promo trailer: Cosmic Joke UK, ““College of Wizardry – Documentary Promo,” YouTube, last modified Dec 2, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVL-ts38-Rs.)) by Cosmic Joke Productions that went viral on multiple media outlets((Johannes Axner, “College of Wizardry 2014 Round-up,” Nordiclarp.org, last modified Dec 9, 2014, https://nordiclarp.org/2014/12/09/college-of-wizardry-2014-round-up/.)) and by the designers’ own successful marketing, the Kickstarter for the larp raised an astounding $303,877. These funds went toward establishing the logistics for four runs of the larp in June and July of 2016 at the University of Richmond in Virginia. This article will discuss the first two runs of the game in June, where I served as a staff member and non player-character (NPC) counselor in the first run and House President player in the second.

    While this article will cover some of the content of the game, the focus of this discussion will center upon the culture that has emerged around New World Magischola through intentional design and player contributions. Based upon initial blog posts and Internet discussions, the game appears to be inspiring a paradigmatic shift in many participants about the nature of larp, what sorts of experiences it can produce, and what kinds of community standards a play culture can establish. Therefore, this article will discuss the following topics within these contexts: basic game logistics, my personal narrative as a player, the progressive design goals, the consent-based play culture, and the relative success of introducing Nordic-style larp to a primarily North American audience. I will not discuss specific plotlines in the interest of protecting spoilers for future runs.

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    College of Wizardry producer Claus Raasted as the Chancellor in NWM1.

    While this game stands as a landmark on its own, I invite readers to consider this information as a convergence of trends that have been building for the last several years: increased communication between North American larpers and international players through Facebook, blogs, and other social media channels; innovations in North American indie game design; other cross-cultural collaborations including College of Wizardry; a greater interest in establishing safety, consent, and calibration around play; and the continued development of academic and practical publications including the Nordic larp Knutepunkt books, the International Journal of Role-playing, Analog Game Studies, The Wyrd Con Companion Book, and Game Wrap, etc. Combined with Brown and Morrow’s talents in intentional design and marketing, these factors have culminated in a remarkable experience for many of the players: College of Wizardry veterans, experienced North American larpers, and new participants alike.

    The Setting: Progress, not Perfection

    New World Magischola presents an environment where much progressive social change has occurred, but the result is far from a perfect utopia. Similar to College of Wizardry, New World Magischola is set in a fictional world similar to that of Harry Potter, but with an entirely new lore based in regional history and mystical traditions specific to North America.

    Student attend a late-night club at NWM2. Photo courtesy of Learn Larp LLC.
    Students attend a late-night club at NWM2. Photo courtesy of Learn Larp LLC.

    Players start as either professors, third-year, second-year, or first-year students. Third and second-years are already sorted into one of five Houses with distinct personalities and histories: House Croatan, Maison DuBois, Lakay Laveau, Casa Calisaylá, and Dan Obeah. The larp starts Thursday afternoon with a series of briefings and workshops. Play begins Thursday night with group dining and announcements. Then, House parties take place, where the Houses get to know the first-years and decide who they would like to recruit. Clubs also meet Thursday night. Classes take place during the day on Friday, with the House draft and sorting ceremony on Friday night, as well as clubs. Classes resume on Saturday, with a formal dance that evening. The game ends at around midnight, with structured debriefing on Sunday morning.

    Brown playing an NPC hob. Photo by Learn Larp LLC.
    Brown playing an NPC hob. Photo by Learn Larp LLC.

    With regard to the lore, the designers had to walk a fine line between wedding invented magical elements with real world historical facts and cultures in a way that was respectful, informed, fair, but also honest. The goal of this design was to create a magical universe that did not whitewash history or cherry pick events based upon the stories of the victors, but rather to directly confront the biases, hypocrisies, and violence that stain the American promise of “freedom” while acknowledging the potential embedded in that promise. In this regard, Brown and Morrow consulted with several players of color from diverse backgrounds in order to portray certain cultures respectfully, as they integrated elements into the lore from First Nations, voodoo, slavery, etc. Traumatic moments such as the Civil War are intertwined with invented magical lore to create a universe that feels both grounded in this world and otherworldly.

    While these historical elements exist within the lore, the bulk of the game deals with social issues through this otherworldly lens of metaphor, allowing participants enough distance to engage with topics without triggering real world personal issues of social discrimination. Examples include using werewolves, vampires, “Unsoiled vs. Mundane” blood, and cryptid sapience rights as metaphors for real world social issues. In order to help cement these themes, all students are required to take a Magical Theory and Ethics class where such topics are brought to the foreground.

    A major topic of debate is the rights of sapient creature like the chupacabra. Photo by Learn Larp LLC.
    A major topic of debate is the rights of magical creatures. Photo by Learn Larp LLC.

    Many are assigned to social clubs that meet after class, such as the Sapience Advocacy group. These issues are also interwoven into character concepts in complex ways that avoid stereotypes and demonstrate their multifaceted nature. In the first run, I played a counselor who held an impromptu group therapy session as the result of inclement weather keeping us from leaving a classroom. Within this session, students shared their backgrounds: a Mundane artificer who hates Unsoiled — the higher class in this world — due to discrimination and wishes to break all the things they create; an Unsoiled whose grandparent was killed for defending Mundane rights in court; an ecologically conscious student who wants to take obsolete Mundane technology and recycle it for magical purposes, etc. By the end of this discussion, characters from multiple sides of issues were willing to expand their perspectives. The sophistication of the writing allowed for students to play “dark” or “light” according to their wishes, but to have complex motivations for doing so that often brought important discussions to the foreground.

    As a player in the second run, my personal story involved playing a Light-oriented Astromancer named Sedona Winters who could divine the future and travel the astral plane. Sedona was co-House President of Dan Obeah. Aside from my duties toward my House mates and collaboration with fellow Presidents, my personal plotline involved trying to encourage my estranged ex-boyfriend to avoid committing an act that would land him in Avernus prison. These discussions centered around his feelings of determinism based upon his history in a Mixed Heritage crime family and my more privileged, Unsoiled character’s belief in free will and personal choice. Ultimately, he made the Lighter choice and we attended the formal together, but the play could have gone many ways. As sequels are planned for future runs, this storyline remains open.

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    House Dan Obeah in NWM2. Photo by Learn Larp LLC.

    The progressive intent of the design extends from the themes of the game outward to the practices of casting and the establishment of an inclusive play culture. According to the lore, when their daughter was denied attendance to the Imperial Magischola because of her gender, New World Magischola was founded by Virginia Dare and Maximilian Samson in 1635. In this regard, issues of feminism and social progress are interwoven into the school from the ground up, further reinforced by its current ethos, “New World Magischola strongly believes in diversity – of magical tradition, of gender, of race and ethnicity, etc.– both among students and staff, which has been part of its mission since its founding.”((New World Magischola, “About NWM – The School,” Magischola.com, https://magischola.com/about-nwm/.))

    The designers encouraged participants from diverse gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and racial backgrounds to apply for professor and president roles. Photo by Learn Larp LLC.
    The designers encouraged participants from diverse gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and racial backgrounds to apply for professor and president roles. Photo by Learn Larp LLC.

    Brown and Morrow reinforced this ethos by encouraging people from diverse gender, racial, ethnic, and sexuality backgrounds to apply for professor and House president roles. In this way, the design allows for multiple layers of diversity: representation in the lore makes space for the plausible physical embodiment of diverse individuals in positions of authority. In this regard, the progressive mission statement of the school is similar to many real world universities, with some enhancements.  For example, the default pronouns in the Magimundi — the magical universe — are “they/their/them”; players practiced using these pronouns in workshops, as well as gently correcting each other with a P hand signal from British sign language and a verbal “pronouns” reminder. While this practice caused anxiety for some players initially, by the end of both runs, corrections became mostly seamless and the players respected this expectation. Expanding upon principles from College of Wizardry, discrimination based upon sexuality, gender, race, or ethnicity is not acceptable in the game, with the lore conceit that the Magimundi are beyond such biases. This practice allows vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural beings to act as stand-ins for players to explore issues of discrimination without potentially harming players who experience marginalization in real life. This design also encourages characters to feel comfortable exploring non-traditional types of gender presentation, relationship types, and sexual orientation; all characters are gender-neutral by default and character ties aside from family relations are chosen by the players. Finally, the play culture emphasizes strongly consensual opt-in play, as I will describe in the section below.

    Morrow as an NPC in NWM2. Photo by Learn Larp LLC.
    Morrow as an NPC in NWM2. Photo by Learn Larp LLC.

    All of these factors contribute to an environment rife with potential conflicts, but sensitively written and deployed in order to create a more inclusive space for each player, specifically for players from marginalized backgrounds. Anecdotally, this space proved transformative for some players, as evidenced by recent blog reviews of the game: Shoshana Kessock((Shoshana Kessock, “Orlanda in the Light of Upraised Wands,” Shoshanakessock.com, last modified June 21, 2016, https://shoshanakessock.com/2016/06/21/orlando-in-the-light-of-upraised-wands/.)) discusses her experiences as a queer player in the wake of the Orlando tragedy; Elsa S. Henry((Elsa S. Henry, “Blind Lady Versus New World Magischola,” Feministsonar.com, last modified on June 21, 2016, http://feministsonar.com/2016/06/blind-lady-versus-new-world-magischola/.))describes the empowerment she felt as a player with disabilities in the larp; and Tara M. Clapper((Tara M. Clapper, “Chasing Bleed – An American Fantasy Larper at Wizard School,” Nordiclarp.org, last modified on July 1, 2016, https://nordiclarp.org/2016/07/01/chasing-bleed/.)) speaks of using bleed in the game to practice interpersonal skills and process grief. Other American players have discussed the psychological impact and transformational nature of the game in a (spoiler-filled) Ace of Geeks podcast interview recorded directly after the second run.((Contains spoilers. Mike Fatum. “AOG Podcast Episode 197: New World Magischola – The Experience,” Ace of Geeks, last modified on July 1, 2016, http://aceofgeeks.net/aog-podcast-episode-197-new-world-magischola-experience/.))

    The emphasis on metaphorical social issues and discourse embedded in the design led some players to have deeply profound learning moments that I heard echoed by several players after the game. These elements combined with the freeform and consent-based magic mechanics to empower characters to explore issues, find agency, and make change in the magical reality. Brown and Morrow describe this design ethos in more depth in their documents on “Queering the Wizard World & Using Feminist Game Design in NWM,”((Maury Brown and Benjamin A. Morrow, “Queering the Wizard World & Using Feminist Game Design in NWM,” Google Docs, last accessed on July 2, 2016.)) Brown’s “The Trouble with Gender” article in Analog Game Studies,((Maury Elizabeth Brown, “The Trouble with Gender in Larp,” Analog Game Studies, last modified on September 13, 2015, http://analoggamestudies.org/2015/09/the-trouble-with-gender-in-larp/.)) and the “Who We Are” section on their website, along with other resources listed in the below sections.

    Magical Ethics in NWM1. Photo by Learn Larp, LLC.
    Magical Theory and Ethics in NWM1. Photo by Learn Larp, LLC.

    The Mechanics: When Nordic Style Meets North Americans

    LUV_9650 2Both College of Wizardry and New World Magischola are designed around freeform conflict resolution mechanics that rely heavily on player choice and improvisation; if a character casts a spell on another character, the recipient player decides the effect. The player casting should telegraph the intent of the spell through verbal description, then use a phrase of their choosing to incant while waving their wands. Magical combat is intended to only take place during duels and is therefore not a strong component of the game, although the school teaches both combat and defense. All effects should be physically plausible in a “What You See is What You Get” (WYSIWYG) environment, meaning that setting something on fire would not be plausible as fire is banned on the actual campus, but a spell may produce a burning sensation with no visible effect if the recipient chooses that response. The designers and volunteers of both larps produced a series of informative, short videos on the magic system.

    As many experienced North American larpers are accustomed to complex conflict resolution mechanic systems — sometimes encompassing hundreds of pages of rules — this system was difficult for some players to understand. Most North American resolution mechanics determine for both players who “wins” an encounter, whereas the Nordic style often encourages “playing to lose,” “playing for drama,” or “playing for what is interesting.” In other words, a spell failing can often lead to even more interesting play than its success.

    Special NPC requested by players at NWM2. Photo by Learn Larp LLC.
    Special NPC requested by players at NWM2. Photo by Learn Larp LLC.

    Additionally, this system relies heavily on player-driven plotlines. While some overarching stories in the setting are seeded by the organizers or announced throughout the game, players are enabled to make change in their environment by creating their own side plotlines for people to follow, declaring magical effects have taken place in an environment, and even requesting special non-player characters (NPCs) from the staff to arrive at specific times for a purpose. For example, a character may enlist others to go on a ritual through the astral plane in order to cure their curse, declare everyone in a specific room magically unable to tell a lie, or request a special creature to use for demonstration in a Cryptozoology class. In this regard, professors are considered players, while other staff are considered NPCs with more limited goals. The vast majority of these actions can transpire without organizer assistance, with the exception of ordering NPCs, particular props, or special effects. Such a system relies heavily on “yes, and…” or “yes, but…”  improvisational play, where everyone feels enabled to present options within the environment and others should play along as they wish without shutting the other person down completely. This design allows for many and varied personal story hooks and small group plotlines, as opposed to finding and taking part in an overarching staff-run “metaplot” — the latter being a common component of North American larps.

    While ultimately, the system was successful, play culture differences did emerge, as was anticipated. Organizer-seeded plotlines had a tendency to become major metaplots, as many players prioritized them as more important than personal plotlines. Occasionally, players did report feeling “shut out” of play or other players “hoarding plot.” “Hoarding plot” is a common complaint in many North American systems that include staff-run plotlines to solve, where certain players receive the bulk of the information about the overarching story and keep it for themselves or their smaller social groups. Many players are sensitive to this issue, as they perceive that individuals who receive “more plot” from the organizers hold more social status in the community.

    A student interacts with an NPC ghost. Photo by Learn Larp LLC.
    A student interacts with an NPC ghost. Photo by Learn Larp LLC.

    Discerning the dynamics involved in such situations at New World Magischola is difficult: Did players intentionally exclude others? Did participants not fully realize the extent to which their personal creativity could affect play? Regardless of intentions, for some experienced North American players, a sort of larp “muscle memory” seemed to kick in occasionally, where instincts from other play communities activated. Another example of this tendency is that some players tended to look for faculty or NPCs to provide “answers,” operating under the typical assumption that people who possess in- and out-of-game authority have more information and agency to resolve situations than typical players do.

    Finally, even though players were instructed to wrap up all plotlines before the formal, many left the dance area to pursue plotlines anyway, including a ritual intervention that took place in a classroom on the other side of campus, a public investigation of a student accused of using blood magic, a duel outside, and other personal NPC requests. The tendency of many North American larpers to want to escalate the plotline at the “climax” of the game overtook simply enjoying the social play of the dance for many players, especially since several characters clustered around to watch these activities, drawn to the “action.”

    While some players had trouble adapting to the new mechanics, many embraced the freedom of the creative playstyle. Photo by Learn Larp LLC.
    While some players had trouble adapting to the new mechanics, many embraced the freedom of the creative play style. Photo by Learn Larp LLC.

    Despite these difficulties, the vast majority of players seemed to adapt to the collaborative nature of play, particularly by the second and third days. Interestingly, the new players appeared to adapt easily to the style, leading many of us to become surprised when we learned that they were first-time larpers. Sometimes, previous experience can lead to expectations of play that constrict possibilities rather than enhance them. On the other hand, experienced players may know how to better insert themselves into scenes or create play for others. Future runs with experienced New World Magischola players will likely run more cohesively in this regard, as the group will have a higher herd competency in the Nordic style.

    Opt-In Play: Negotiation, Calibration, Consent, and Safety

    As mentioned above, the larp designers believe strongly in creating a play culture of inclusion, which is evident in the design of the workshops, signaling systems, in-game rituals, and debriefing.((Sarah Lynne Bowman and Harrison Greene, “Sample Debriefing Exercise,” Google Docs, last modified March 18, 2015, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RcsSBhlhMw8jlZqsMsQLx5azBXT1a3L9hgx85i6TJVo/edit?usp=sharing. This exercise borrows heavily from debriefing strategies in the Nordic tradition.)) Harrison Greene and I were honored to help flesh out some of these systems, which borrow heavily from various techniques in other communities.

    Players often created their own rituals, here in NWM1. Photo by Learn Larp, LLC.
    Players often created their own rituals, as seen here in NWM1. Photo by Learn Larp, LLC.

    The design of New World Magischola included explicit instructions for certain components, including the content of rituals, acceptable vs. unacceptable pranks, a form for first-years to fill out their first and last choices for their Houses during the draft, etc. These elements allowed the designers to set clear expectations for tone and appropriate behavior in the hopes of providing a fulfilling experience for the majority of players, rather than leaving this content open to chance.

    House initiation ritual for Lakay Laveau in NWM2. Photo by Learn Larp, LLC.
    Lakay Laveau at a ritual in NWM2. Photo by Learn Larp, LLC.

    Workshops included instruction on how to play in the Nordic style, how to cast spells, how to participate in Houses, status lines for various character aspects, “hot seat” interviewing to establish character beliefs/ties, creating an off-game buddy system, etc. We also practiced the safety metatechniques, which included the standard “cut” for stopping a scene and “brake” or “Largo” for decreasing the intensity of a scene. The game included a version the “okay” symbol system developed by Aaron Vanek and Kirsten Hageleit for clandestinely checking in with other players; players could flash the okay symbol to someone else, with that person responding with a thumbs up, a so-so, or a thumbs down gesture. We also included the aforementioned pronoun workshop with verbal and visual signals for correction, which we developed with assistance from Liz Gorinsky and Sara Williamson, inspired by their groundbreaking game about gender identity See Me Now.((Liz Gorinsky and Sara Williamson, “See Me Now,” Fastaval 2017, last accessed July 2, 2016, http://www.fastaval.dk/aktivitet/see-me-now-2/?lang=en.)) In addition, we piloted a new technique devised by Trine Lise Lindahl and introduced by Johanna Koljonen((Johanna Koljonen, “Toolkit Premiere! Let’s Name A Bow-Out Mechanic,” Participationsafety.wordpress.com, last modified on May 30, 2016, https://participationsafety.wordpress.com/2016/05/30/toolkit-lets-name-this-baby-bow-out-mechanics/. See also Koljonen’s keynote from the Living Games Conference, “Opt-in/Opt-out Safety Systems,” YouTube, modified on Jun 10, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bFdrV3nJA8.)) that we called “Lookdown,” in which a player places their hand over their eyes to duck out of a scene without being followed or questioned. 

    Players could also leave a scene by saying, “I need to do something for the Chancellor…” without repercussions. We integrated the hand-raising technique, where when one person raises their hand, everyone follows suit and becomes quiet, as well as the “deaf applause” from American Sign Language, where people shake their hands in the air instead of clapping loudly. Additionally, players were encouraged to go off-game subtly to negotiate any sort of violence, romance, or physical touch, all of which required opt-in consent by all players involved. While some worried about the sheer amount of metatechniques to remember, players seemed to use them regularly, particularly “lookdown” and the “okay” symbol. By the end of both runs of the the larp, most players were freely asking each other for consent to hug and fluidly using “they” pronouns. Several experienced players expressed a wish to bring these techniques back to their home communities.

    For player safety, the game included counselors, who players could approach in- or out-of-game with concerns. Greene and I performed these roles in the first run, with an NPC ghost serving as a counselor in the second. These roles were important release valves for some players, helping them process emotions or redirect their play. The game also implemented a Sanctuary Space,((Living Games Conference, “Sanctuary Space, Safety Team, and Crisis Management Programming,” Livinggamesconference.com, last modified on April 15, 2016, http://www.livinggamesconference.com/sanctuary-space-safety-team-and-crisis-management-programming/.)) where players could go to decompress in- or out-of-character with a counselor, a friend, or alone. Adapted from Burning Man culture and the recent Living Games Conference 2016, the Sanctuary Space provides a spot for introverted, overstimulated, or physically ill players to relax until they are ready to rejoin play.

    House initiation ritual for Casa Calisaylá in NWM2. Photo by Learn Larp, LLC.
    House initiation ritual for Casa Calisaylá in NWM2. Photo by Learn Larp, LLC.

    Greene and I also helped write a guide for the House Presidents for creating initiation rituals to welcome first-years. These rituals were not to include any sort of hazing or other humiliating play and should create feelings of trust among the House members.

    A member of Casa Calisaylá howls "awoo," the House chant. Photo by Learn Larp, LLC.
    A member of Casa Calisaylá howls “awoo,” the House chant. Photo by Learn Larp, LLC.

    During this ritual, first-years were assigned a second year mentor, giving players an extra connection within the game. Emergent ritual concepts included imbuing one’s intention into an item, puzzle rooms, summonings, finding one’s spirit cryptid in the astral plane, leading first-years blindfolded through a “wall of sound” through instruments and voices, etc. Many players reported having powerful experiences and even moments of catharsis during the House rituals. Additionally, players were warned in workshops against mean-spirited play between House members and Houses themselves. Friendly rivalries were fine, while purposeful ostracization or trash-talking was discouraged unless consensual between all parties.

    All of these techniques encourage what Brown and Morrow call “Playing for Empathy”((Maury Brown and Benjamin A. Morrow, “Breaking the Alibi: Fostering Empathy by Reuniting the Player and the Character,” in The Wyrd Con Companion Book 2015, ed. Sarah Lynne Bowman (Los Angeles: Wyrd Con, 2015), 102-116, https://www.dropbox.com/s/xslwh0uxa544029/WCCB15-Final.pdf?dl=0)) and “People-Centered Design,”((Maury Brown, “People-Centered Design,” YouTube, last modified on June 10, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZY9wLUMCPY.)) in which the comfort level of members of the community is more important than the story.

    A New World Awaits

    Having played as a professor in College of Wizardry, an NPC counselor in the first run of New World Magischola, and a House President in the second run, I have seen the power of both larps to bring in new players, re-enchant the Mundane world, and produce powerful experiences.

    Players forged new in- and out-of-game friendships, here between two "opposing" House presidents. Photo by Learn Larp, LLC.
    Players forged new in- and out-of-game friendships, here between two “opposing” House presidents after the larp. Photo by Learn Larp, LLC.

    The progressive nature of the themes of New World Magischola in particular produced a powerful sense of belongingness and purpose for many of us in run 2. Our Dan Obeah house motto was “Be the change. Break the chains. Change the world,” a Ghandi-inspired reminder that each of us is capable of social change if we use wisdom and strive toward the greater good. We also developed a five fingered, palm-open salute to show unity between the Houses; characters from other Houses could press palms together to show solidarity. This feeling of collective connectivity was palpable in both runs.

    Preliminary data from a survey designed by Markus Montola suggest that player responses to the first run of New World Magischola are overwhelmingly positive, both when evaluating whether they had a “great game” and whether this was their “best larp experience ever.”  According to the preliminary results, players generally felt “psychologically and emotionally safe,” and almost all of the respondents reported having made new friends as a result of the game.

    How New World Magischola will affect the world of larp in North America remains to be seen, but I hope for great things, as players from previously separated communities come together and experience something unique and magical.

    Cover photo: A first year receives their House tie during the drafting ceremony, courtesy of Learn Larp LLC. All other photos used with permission from Learn Larp LLC.

    New World Magischola

    Date: June 16-19, June 23-26, July 21-24 and July 28-31, 2016

    Location: University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia, United States

    Duration: 4 days including workshops, play, and debriefing

    Participants: 140-165 per run

    Participation Fee: $375 to $895, $450 for a regular ticket

    Website: https://magischola.com/

    Credits

    Producers: Maury Brown and Ben Morrow, Learn Larp LLC.

    Make-up Lead: Katherine Kira “Tall Kat” McConnell. Prosthetics by Mark Mensch

    Costuming Lead: Derek Herrera.

    Stitchers: Jenny Underwood, Robin Jendryaszek, Jennifer WinterRose, Amber Feldman, Summer Donovan, Michele Mountain, Nancy Calvert-Warren, Jennifer Klettke, Kristen Moutry, Caryn Johnson, Datura Matel

    Music: Original songs (lyrics and music) by Austin Nuckols (Maison DuBois, Lakay Laveau, Casa Calisaylá and House Croatan) and Leah K. Blue (Dan Obeah), lyrics to New World Magischola Anthem by Maury Brown and Ben Morrow, music by Austin Nuckols. Other music and sound by Evan Torner and Austin Shepherd

    Props: Mike Young, Carrie Matteoli, Indiana Thomas, Summer Donovan, Kevin Donovan, Gordon Olmstead-Dean, Jason Morningstar, Matt Taylor, Molly Ellen Miller, Michael Boyd, Moira Parham, Martin John Manco, Ken Brown, Dale, Laura Young, Harry Lewis, Mark Daniels, Michael Pucci, Terry Smith of Stagecoach Theater Productions, Yvonne and Dirk Parham, Jen Wong, Caryn Johnson, Jess Pestlin, Orli Nativ, Kaitlin Smith, The Center for the Arts of Greater Manassas at the Candy Factory, Melissa Danielle Penner, Jess Sole, Liselle Awwal, Nathan Love.

    Helpers and advisors: Anders Berner, Claus Raasted, Christopher Sandberg, Mike Pohjola, Bjarke Pedersen, Johanna Koljonen, Anne Serup Grove, Mikolaj Wicher, Jamie MacDonald, Eevi Korhonen, Markus Montola, Jaakko Stenros, Staffan Rosenberg, Anna Westerling, Michael Pucci, Ashley Zdeb, Emily Care Boss, Daniel Hocutt, Charles Bo Nielsen, Joe Ennis, Kristin Bezio, Rob Balder, Kat Jones, Sarah Lynne Bowman, Harrison Greene.

    Assistance with writing, editing, graphic design, music, art: Frank Beres, Claus Raasted, Richard Wetzel, Bethy Winkopp, Oriana Almquist, Craig Anderson, Zach Shaffer, Erica Schoonmaker, Madeleine Wodjak, Toivo Voll, Marie DelRio, Mike Young, Laura Young, Anna Yardney, Lee Parmenter, Stephanie Simmons, Nancy Calvert-Warren, Jessica Acker, Jason Woodland, Jason Arne, Harrison Greene, Sarah Lynne Bowman, Kristi Kalis, Quinn Milton, Anna Kovatcheva, Browning Porter, Orli Nativ, Rhiannon Chiacchiaro, Miranda Chadbourne, Lars Bundvad, Ffion Evans, David Horsh, Dani Castillo, Frank Caffran Castillo, Dayna Lanza, Sarah Brand, Tara Clapper, Suzy Pop, David Neubauer, Chris Bergstresser, Jason Morningstar, Evan Torner, Peter Woodworth, Peter Svensson, Daniel Abraham, Harry Lewis, Alexis Moisand, Alissa Erin Murray, Jennifer Klettke, Kathryn Sarah, Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, Austin Nuckols, Leah Blue, Joelle Scarnati, Dan Luxenberg, Chad Brinkley, David Clements, Niels Ull Harremoës, Adria Kyne, Emily Heflin.

    Production and logistics: Austin Shepherd, Claus Raasted, Olivia Anderson, Kristin Bezio, Shayna Alley, Mike Young, Zach Shaffer, Dayna Lanza, Derek Herrera, Kristin Moutrey, Jenny Underwood, Jennifer WinterRose, Caryn Johnson, Amber Feldman, Michele Mountain, Summer Donovan, Robin Jendryaszek, Jennifer Klettke, Datura Metel, Amanda Schoen, Mark Mensch, Katherine McConnell, Chris Bergstresser, Christopher Amherst, Holly Butterfield, Uriah Brown, Kyle Lian, Evan Torner, Jeff Moxley, Ashley Zdeb, Thomas Haynes, Mikolaj Wicher, David Donaldson, Brandy Dilworth and the staff of the University of Richmond Summer Conference Services office.

  • End of the Line: White Wolf’s First Official Nordic-Style Larp

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    End of the Line: White Wolf’s First Official Nordic-Style Larp

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    The desperation of tomorrow fuels the joy of today. Self-destructive choices don’t seem so bad when there’s no future.

    from the End of the Line introduction document

    End of the Line is the first official Nordic larp under the One World of Darkness produced by White Wolf and Odyssé since the intellectual property was purchased by Paradox Entertainment in October 2015. While the owner Tobias Andersson Sjogren and creative lead Martin Elricsson have announced that they do not plan to alter significantly most of the existing games or associated production companies, they do plan to create a One World of Darkness under which all of the existing content falls.((UlissesSpiele, “Tenebrae Noctis: White Wolf – One World of Darkness (uncut, audio repaired),” YouTube, last modified Dec. 15, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlA6LKUNDWs&list=PLYW0RCU4vh23ZoQC26d8D0O-zvMDrGlQn)) Additionally, they plan to run Nordic-style larp events, which differ significantly from the way traditional Vampire larps are played. These larps are meant to exist in addition to the other larp experiences available, rather than replace them or compete with them in any way. This article will cover the first larp from these official events, entitled End of the Line, which took place in Helsinki, Finland on March 7, 2016 for six hours.((Jussi Ahlroth, “Blood and Close Contact in Illegal Raves — Vampire Larp Played in Helsinki,” HS, last modified Mar. 9, 2016, http://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/a1457497605103#)) Bjarke Pedersen, Juhana Pettersson, and Martin Elricsson created the larp, running it in the week leading up to the Nordic larp conference, Solmukohta.

    Martin Ericsson, Lead Storyteller for White Wolf. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen. Martin Elricsson, Lead Storyteller for White Wolf. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.

    End of the Line took place in an abandoned mental asylum in central Helsinki.((For a complete photo album, see Tuomas Puikkonen, “End of the Line (larp),” Flicker, last accessed Mar. 17, 2016, https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkismus/sets/72157665084152550)) While the main building was used for briefings, preparation, and off-game facilities, the play space was a multi-storiedbuilding off to the side of the hospital that recently housed squatters. The organizers and volunteers spent a considerable amount of time preparing the space for play, making it relatively clean and safe considering its recent inhabitants. Bonuses of the space included an abundance of gorgeous graffiti and an upstairs loft, which the organizers turned into a rave club. This rave felt authentic thanks to ongoing music provided by the Suicide Club, as well as fantastic lighting, visuals, and scenography by Marcus Engstrand, Anders Davén, and Aleksander Nikulin.

    Lighting, Sound, and Scenography

    Lighting and sound were integrated into the larp design. The first and last fifteen minutes of the larp were spent in a communal rave “workshop,” in which we all slowly glided in- and out-of-character through dance. This technique proved especially useful in enhancing the visceral physicality that was central to the intention of the larp, as discussed in more detail below; we were encouraged from the beginning to inhabit our bodies rather than view the larp as an intellectual or strategic experience. While many of us admitted to feeling uncomfortable dancing under normal circumstances, our characters regularly frequented these types of underground raves. Therefore, the technique helped put us in the mindset of a group of lowlifes coming together for a shared, not-quite-legal experience.

    The Suicide Club kept the dance party going throughout the larp. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.
    The Suicide Club kept the dance party going throughout the larp. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.

    In terms of the lighting, the larp was organized in three acts according to colors, which each represented a specific theme. Red represented Lust/Passion, Green represented Selfishness/Envy, and Blue represented Control/Power. As we transitioned into these phases, which all lasted 1.5-2 hours, we were encouraged to direct our play toward these general themes. However, the colors themselves were only visible from the dance floor, which made it difficult to assess when the themes were active without revisiting the upstairs. Still, having a general idea of the narrative arc toward which we should push helped guide play.

    Color was also used in the three meta rooms, sometimes called blackbox rooms in the Nordic scene. As with the Acts, the three rooms were themed and colored Red, Green, and Blue. In these rooms, players could enact flashbacks or hypothetical futures, although we could use the rooms for whatever we chose. In practice, this ambiguity led to some confusion as to whether or not scenes happening in these rooms were transpiring in real time, especially since the Red room featured an eye level hole in the wall through which players could watch. Despite this ambiguity, having experienced both the Red and Green rooms, the themes definitely contributed to the types of play enacted within them.

    Traditional Vampire Themes, Setting, and Mechanics

    Outdoor shot of the location of the larp, which took place at an abandoned asylum in Helsinki, Finland. The Blue, Green, and Red rooms are visible. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.
    Outdoor shot of the location of the larp, which took place at an abandoned asylum in Helsinki, Finland. The Blue, Green, and Red rooms are visible. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.

    This larp was functionally different than any Vampire game I have played in the past. As an active participant in both Mind’s Eye Society and troupe games from approx. 1997 to 2010, as well as a researcher who has studied conflict and bleed in White Wolf games, I found this larp appealing to try precisely because we would experience events differently.((Sarah Lynne Bowman, “Social Conflict in Role-playing Communities: An Exploratory Qualitative Study,” International Journal of Role-Playing 4, 2013, pp.17-18. http://www.ijrp.subcultures.nl/wp-content/issue4/IJRPissue4bowman.pdf)) Below is a breakdown of the primary differences I noticed in the design and play of this larp as opposed to traditional Camarilla-based Vampire games.

    Most Vampire games center upon the events during and surrounding the vampiric court. The premise of the game is that a secret cadre of immortal creatures who feed on human blood are running the city through a variety of forms of influence, both supernatural and social. For example, a vampire may have control over the Opera House because they have used their supernatural powers to make the owner fall in love with them, which affords them a certain amount of Influence. Similarly, a vampire may have control over a gang in the area or own an underground club where other denizens of the World of Darkness frequent for feeding, seduction, or secret meetings. In general, very few of the humans involved in these exchanges have any idea that vampires exist, as they might become angry and hunt them. Thus, vampires must remain secret and preserve a concept called The Masquerade in order to pretend to be human and avoid detection. Court is one of the only places where vampires can openly show their nature, although they are expected to follow certain social conventions that resemble Renaissance courtier politics as described in Machiavelli’s The Prince. Breaches of the Masquerade are kept to a minimum, as they may result in punishment or death by the reigning ruler.

    A Ventrue and another vampire consult one another in a private corner. Photo by Tuomas Hakkarainen.
    A Ventrue and another vampire consult one another in a private corner. Photo by Tuomas Hakkarainen.

    Since the majority of play happens at court, while gaining these forms of external Influence may take place through role-play, they are represented most often through mechanical abstractions on a character sheet, e.g. Street 2, High Society 1, Herd 3, etc. Players can use these types of Influence to enact some sort of advantage through interaction with the Storyteller. For example, vampires generally attend court having fed upon humans beforehand, which may be represented by their scores in Herd, Manipulation, or Seduction. Feeding allows some mechanical advantages in terms of use of powers, while lack of feeding can lead to dire consequences in terms of loss of control of the beastial nature of the vampire character. In other words, some vampires have an inherent advantage over others in the seductive feeding part of the game, whereas other characters may excel at having Street level contacts that give them access to drugs, gangs, or information that may become useful in play. As mentioned before, this Influence system usually comes into play most often during downtime actions between games or while interacting with a plot through the Storyteller. For example, a player might ask, “I have Street 2. Do I know anyone involved in this gang associated with this plot?” The Storyteller may choose to embody that non player-character (NPC) briefly or simply deliver information gained from that Influence.

    While influence actions often take place during downtime in conventional Vampire larps, the players embodied interactions between vampires, street thugs, and feeding victims during End of the Line. Photo by Tuomas Hakkarainen.
    While influence actions often take place during downtime in conventional Vampire larps, the players embodied interactions between vampires, street thugs, and feeding victims during End of the Line. Photo by Tuomas Hakkarainen.

    Similarly, all sexual, violent, or supernatural activities generally take place off-game or through mechanical interventions such as rock-paper-scissors. For example, if a character tries to seduce another, they may role-play out the dialogue leading up to the attempt, then use rock-paper-scissors to resolve whether or not the seduction was successful. Depending on the comfort level of the participants, they may verbally describe what follows or “fade to black,” but actual physical touch is discouraged in violent, sexual, or supernatural contexts. Players may mime the feeding of blood, but are not encouraged to actually bite one another. A character may direct a slow punch toward another character for dramatic effect, but these actions are rarely meant to feel or look real. Indeed, in the official larp rules for the game, the writers imposed a no-touch rule from the beginning. This rule served many purposes, notably making players feel more comfortable engaging in edgy content and reassuring mainstream authorities that no “real” feeding, sex, or violence was occurring. Depending of the comfort level of the play group, these rules are sometimes bent, but the larp system as is features a large amount of abstracted rules to arbitrate these activities. For example, if combat breaks out in a group with several characters present, each person in the area must declare their actions, which can sometimes take hours to resolve due to the multiple tests involved.

    End of the Line flipped the script on traditional Vampire role-playing in many ways, at least as represented by the official rules. Instead of taking place at court surrounded by vampires, the game setting was an underground party. I should note that some Vampire larps do take place in semi-public settings such as nightclubs amongst non-larpers where characters attempt to maintain the Masquerade. Thus, this article should be viewed through my experience with these games, which overwhelmingly took place in private homes or reserved public spaces and focused upon court politics.

    In short, my experience of End of the Line was that we role-played out the activities usually handled before game or through game mechanics. As mortals, we embodied those Street and Herd contacts normally represented numerically or briefly embodied as NPCs by Storytellers. We physically played out biting, seduction, brawl, drug use, and partying. While some Camarilla politics took place behind the scenes – Ventrue, Brujah, Toreador, and Malkavians were present – I was able to play the larp as a mortal mostly unaware of these secret conversations and fully feel engaged. Another theme was that at various points of the larp, each of us would feel equally predator and prey. For my character, at least, I felt quite empowered as my drug dealer hipster mortal; sometimes, I was the seductress or corrupter rather than the prey, as was written into my character.

    Vampiric feeding and Discipline use sometimes took place in the open, despite the Masquerade rule. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.
    Vampiric feeding and Discipline use sometimes took place in the open, despite the Masquerade rule. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.

    To clear up potential miscommunication from the outset, no real blood drinking or drug use was present in this larp. Fake drugs consisted of sugar and calcium pills. Fake blood was made of water, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and red dye. Alcohol was served in small amounts. No fake guns or knives were permitted. Physical fights were permitted with negotiation of intensity, but fighting in general was discouraged in order to preserve the “all is love” rave atmosphere. Sexuality was negotiated ahead of time and was represented by activities ranging from verbal descriptions to dry humping and making out. Players could bite one another, but should do so slowly with clear visual signs of advance facing the front of their victim. Players could tap out of any scene that made them feel uncomfortable.

    Themes, Setting, and Mechanics

    In End of the Line, the activities that are usually relegated to mechanical representations were enacted physically. The larp did feature some mechanics – actually, a large amount by Nordic standards – but those mechanics often involved physicality. One of Martin Elricsson’s goals in introducing the Nordic style of larp to the larger White Wolf community was to steer away from the “talking heads” larps. In other words, one goal of End of the Line was “show, don’t tell.” Thus, the mechanics were designed as guides toward enacting the physical aspects of play in a consensual way agreed upon by the group, as well as means to conceptualize the character’s goals and typical behaviors. Also, the game featured pre-written characters, which is not usual for Vampire campaign play, but sometimes happens in traditional convention one-shots. Players were asked to fill out a short questionnaire on the type of play desired, as well as email a picture for casting to the organizers. Characters were given at least three ties with other characters and at least two larger subcultural groups to which they belonged.

    A millionaire hanger-on; my character’s girlfriend; me as drug dealer and party organizer Carolina Kaita; and my in-game best friend. All three ties in my character sheet worked well for me in the larp. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.
    A millionaire hanger-on; my character’s girlfriend; me as drug dealer and party organizer Carolina Kaita; and my in-game best friend. All three ties in my character sheet worked well for me in the larp. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.

    Some additional descriptions of the themes and mechanics present in End of the Line:

    Play for What Is Interesting

    Vampire is promoted as “a game of personal horror” that explores the trauma of losing one’s humanity to one’s increasingly beastial nature. However, because the mechanics of the game are focused upon leveling and win conditions for challenges, play often becomes more about what has colloquially been called “superheroes with fangs.” White Wolf designers such as Eddy Webb have encouraged the concept of Playing to Lose,((Onyx Path Publishing, “Playing to Lose — Atlanta By Night 2012,” YouTube, last modified Dec. 3, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrkGTnYjbuM)) in which allowing your character to have some sort of failure can lead to more dramatic scenes, although the impact of long-term play and character investment sometimes make this style of play difficult. Nordic larps, on the other hand, often feature one-shot, intensely immersive experiences where Playing to Lose((“Playing to Lose,” Nordiclarp.org, last modified on May 29, 2014, http://nordiclarp.org/wiki/Playing_to_Lose)) is a normative part of the play culture.

    In the briefing for End of the Line, Bjarke Pedersen suggested we Play for What Is Interesting, or Play for Drama, as losing is not always the most accurate description of this style of play. This direction allowed me to feel enabled to have a surprise, in-character engagement and marriage in the middle of the Vampire larp, as it made sense based upon the way play unfolded, but would not normally be classified as “losing.”((For additional photos of the larp, including the engagement and wedding, see Singen Sternenreise, “End of the Line: A White Wolf Larp,” in Exposure, last modified Mar. 15. 2016, https://singen.exposure.co/end-of-the-line)) Of course, my new wife was turned into a vampire thirty minutes later without consulting me, so loss happened regardless, which added more interest to the larp for me. Ultimately, the one-shot format and the fact that the characters were all written to be terrible people allowed for greater alibi,((Sarah Lynne Bowman, “Bleed: The Spillover Between Player and Character,” Nordiclarp.org, last modified Mar. 3, 2015, http://nordiclarp.org/2015/03/02/bleed-the-spillover-between-player-and-character/)) meaning that I did not have to feel terribly emotionally connected to my character or responsible for her unethical actions.

    Play for What Is Interesting gave participants permission to take the story in whatever direction they found thematically appropriate. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.
    Play for What Is Interesting gave participants permission to take the story in whatever direction they found thematically appropriate. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.

    Masquerade

    Out of around 66 players, only one third were vampires. The rest of the characters were mortals or ghouls, i.e. servants of vampires. As players, we were not aware of who was playing each group and were encouraged to keep this information secret. In this way, the game was — in a meta sense — about enacting the Masquerade, but also about breaking it, as we were encouraged to do with abandon. Unlike traditional Camarilla Vampire games where breaches of the Masquerade are considered treasonous and often punishable by final death, in this game, we were encouraged to play the weaknesses of mortals and immortals alike. When breaches of the Masquerade occurred, mortals were instructed to view them as “drugs gone bad,” “abuse,” or “people pretending to be vampires,” rather than escalating to “vampires exist!” This guideline helped us preserve the Masquerade theme of the game without the larp breaking down.

    As a mortal character, I was fed upon once, offered the chance to become immortal, and proffered fake blood to drink from a wrist while in a dazed state, which I eventually declined in favor of asking my girlfriend to marry me. As directed, I played only having a vague recollection of this scene as a “weird drug experience” that let me “see my future,” as the events transpired in the Green meta room.

    A potential breach of the Masquerade. The organizers encouraged players to act with greater abandon than in a traditional Vampire larp. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.
    A potential breach of the Masquerade. The organizers encouraged players to act with greater abandon than in a traditional Vampire larp. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.

    Stats

    Characters were given three base stats that had absolutely no mechanical effect, but rather served as guides to role-play. Some players found these stats pointless, although I thought they preserved the original feel of the character sheet while not limiting my character’s agency. My stats were Using People 3, Cruelty 3, and Jaded 1. Each of us had custom stats based upon the design of the character.

    Vampires also had supernatural abilities such as Presence, Obfuscate, Fortitude, Potence, and Celerity, although the disciplines were significantly pared down from the original rules. Presence worked by placing a hand gently on the back of someone’s neck and saying, “You really, really want to do X.” Some examples are “You really, really feel in love with me” or “You really, really want to leave now.” The character under these effects chose how to interpret the command, but was expected to follow it for 10 minutes with no after-effects or memory. Disciplines worked on other vampires as well. From what I understand, Celerity and Potence merely added a bonus to Brawl. Interesting, vampires also could only use certain Disciplines if they fed upon characters that had specific emotional states. For example, “feeding from a forgotten, lonely or homeless person fuels Obfuscate,” while “drinking deep from someone that lusts or loves fuels Presence.”

    A player uses the “You really, really....” mechanic for Presence by placing his hand on the back of another participant’s neck to indicate supernatural persuasion. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.
    A player uses the “You really, really….” mechanic for Presence by placing his hand on the back of another participant’s neck to indicate supernatural persuasion. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.

    Brawl allowed for a mechanical representation of who would win in a fight if winning was desirable. While some players might choose to simply lose, Brawl stats were compared by flashing the number to one another, then discussing how the fight would play out before enacting it. While fighting was discouraged in the overall setting, I did see some fights break out that looked quite physical, as is the norm in many Nordic larps. Players could negotiate how close to real violence they wished to get, from miming to close-to-real physical strength.

    Scents

    Players were instructed to spray themselves with one of three scents at the start of game: coconut, citrus, or floral. These scents were appealing to vampires in that order from highest to lowest, which most of us did not know until the end. This mechanic was an interesting way to integrate multiple senses into the larp, although practically speaking, it was sometimes difficult to tell who smelled like what scent in close quarters.

    Feeding

    The feeding mechanic involved the vampire squirting fake blood into their mouth, biting the player with varying degrees of intensity, and licking the wound to heal it. Similarly, players could squirt blood on their wrists or neck and allow players to feed on them, which was experienced as ecstatic by all parties. Similar to the Presence mechanic, the effects of the blood lasted for ten minutes and resulted in feeling dazed and confused about what happened, at least for mortals.

    Feeding scene in the Blue room. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.
    Feeding scene in the Blue room. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.

    Players were instructed to do all feeding slowly and from the front, although a couple of us experienced being bit and having our neck sucked hard as a surprise from behind while in the process of a slow scene. As the tap-out mechanic puts the onus on the recipient to opt-out if uncomfortable, such a practice led in our cases to feeling uncomfortable with these scenes, as tapping-out at that point would have been too late. However, several of the vampires asked for consent before biting and made sure to act slowly and visibly, which seemed to work well in most contexts. Additional workshopping of the mechanics before the game would have helped everyone feel more comfortable about the expectations ahead of time, as I will discuss in a later section.

    Sexuality

    As mentioned above, the sexuality rules were the most variable and also, in some ways, the most vague. Sex could be played through activities ranging from narratively explaining what happens to dry humping and making out based upon the comfort level of the participants. While nudity was possible, I did not personally witness much in the rooms in which I frequented. Hypothetically, real sex was possible, though not encouraged explicitly by the organizers.

    Physical intimacy was negotiated between players based on individual comfort levels. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.
    Physical intimacy was negotiated between players based on individual comfort levels. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.

    Dance

    Players were encouraged to dance through the intro and outro scenes and the DJs played throughout the larp. One interesting metatechnique involved dancing. If a player was looking for interaction, they could enter the dance floor and attempt to engage in eye contact with another player, inviting a scene between the characters. While I did not use this technique often, other players reported it working seamlessly. Also, being able to dance when not engaged in role-play was a nice release for some players.

    The dance floor played rave music throughout the night. Locking eyes on the dance floor was a metatechnique for starting a scene with a new person. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.
    The dance floor played rave music throughout the night. Locking eyes on the dance floor was a metatechnique for starting a scene with a new person. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.

    Death or Embrace

    Players could determine if and when they wanted to die. A character could be fed upon multiple times with no negative consequences except those the player choose to role-play. Some characters were offered the opportunity to become vampires – i.e. the Embrace — which they would role-play out. I witnessed one character undergo this transformation, role-playing out the proceeding hunger and traumatic delirium post-Embrace quite convincingly. A couple of characters died during the game, with one playing a corpse in the closet for at least thirty minutes at the end of the larp.

    Alibi and Agency

    The characters in End of the Line were all written to be horrible people, regardless of their status as mortals, ghouls, or vampires. These characters represented the lowlifes of the streets and underground culture. As stated by organizer Martin Elricsson during a pre-game briefing, each character would experience being both predator and prey at some point. My character was specifically written to be a sociopathic hipster party organizer and drug dealer who sometimes messed with people because she was bored. Fortunately, this character was quite similar to my long-running Vampire character in her early days, so she was an easy default for me to inhabit. Other players reported having a more difficult time enacting the darker parts of their character’s nature.

    What this design produced is a sense that all people have their inner monster and that vampires are merely a supernatural expression of that inhumanity, a theme that I have always felt was central to Vampire and often overlooked in traditional play. We do not need to look far in actual humanity to see the Beastial nature within us, nor do we need to invent supernaturally creative ways to be cruel and selfish. The metaphor of feeding and domination is useful to play out in this circumstance, but in reality, is no different than how people treat one another emotionally in their darker moments. For more information on this concept, depth psychologist Whitney Strix Beltrán has academically explored this expression of the players’ inner Shadow through Vampire and other games.((Whitney Strix Beltrán, “Shadow Work: A Jungian Perspective on the Underside of Live Action Role-Play in the United States,” in The Wyrd Con Companion Book 2013, edited by Sarah Lynne Bowman and Aaron Vanek (Los Angeles, CA: Wyrd Con, 2013), 94-101. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1793415/WCCB13.pdf)) As one of the players, Bob Wilson, summarized for World of Darkness News, “Emotionally, people manipulated, lied, and did all the other terrible things people do to each other.”((Harlequin, “‘End of the Line’ LARP Interview,” World of Darkness News, last modified on Mar. 16, 2016, http://www.worldofdarkness.news/Home/TabId/56/ArtMID/497/userid/2/ArticleID/15/End-of-the-Line-LARP-interview.aspx))

    Characters in End of the Line often embodied some of the worst parts of human nature, whether vampire or mortal. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.
    Characters in End of the Line often embodied some of the worst parts of human nature, whether vampire or mortal. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.

    Some of the mortal players did find themselves lacking sufficient agency toward the end of the game, although we were instructed to make our own role-play scenes, also known as “bringing your own basket” to the picnic. One of the problems in traditional Vampire larp is the structural inequalities built into the game, where higher-level players with more status get more access to secret meetings, powers, plots, etc. While the beginning of End of the Line featured an equilibrium of play between mortals and supernatural characters, by the end of the larp, player-characters not involved with secret Camarilla meetings or getting Embraced as vampires sometimes felt excluded from play, as is often experienced by Neonates in traditional Vampire larp. Perhaps adding some sort of element to engage the still-mortal toward the end would help these players maintain engagement and their sense of agency, such as dealing with a police raid or some other type of plot.

    Consent, Workshopping, and Debriefing

    As mentioned above, the main opt-out mechanic of the larp was tapping-out. This mechanic places the onus on the person receiving the action to be cognizant enough of their own experience to remember to tap-out, to be comfortable enough with their co-players to not feel shamed for not being “hardcore” enough, etc. The organizers did a good job of trying to alleviate concerns around consent in the pre-game social media groups, assuring us that we could exit any scene without repercussion and that actions such as feeding would happen slowly, from the front, and with plenty of opportunity to tap-out. In practice, this rule was not always followed.

    In my view, both the aggressor and the recipient should be equally responsible for consent in a scene. Briefly stopping play to check in with another player or negotiate the degree of intensity may cause a short break in immersion, but offers the net gain of allowing players the sense that their personal boundaries are important and will be respected by the other players. This comfort level can often lead to greater intensity if trust is established.

    Because of the lack of space in the main building and time constraints, we were only given a thirty minute briefing rather than the usual workshopping often associated with Nordic larps.((The Workshop Handbook, Workshophandbook.com, last accessed Mar. 17, 2016, https://workshophandbook.wordpress.com/)) Similarly, we were not offered a chance for structured debriefing,((Sarah Lynne Bowman, “Returning to the Real World: Debriefing After Role-playing Games,” Nordiclarp.org, last modified Dec. 8, 2014, http://nordiclarp.org/2014/12/08/debrief-returning-to-the-real-world/)) as the organizers needed to clean the site and close it to the players. Some players convened for an after-party off-site, but I was unable to attend due to a conference in the morning.

    Organizer Bjarke Pedersen running the pre-game briefing. Space and time constraints made extensive workshopping infeasible. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.
    Organizer Bjarke Pedersen running the pre-game briefing. Space and time constraints made extensive workshopping infeasible. Photo by Tuomas Puikkonen.

    I believe that when playing with physically intimate scenes that feature feeding, violence, and sexuality, workshopping serves many important purposes. It helps players build trust before inhabiting their characters; offers opportunities to model and practice the mechanics; and opens up opportunities for players in their assigned groups to negotiate boundaries. We did some of these activities in our small groups over email, but recognizing each other at the venue was sometimes difficult and not everyone in the larp communicated boundaries beforehand. While I respect the fact that logistics for such an event can be difficult, one thing I learned from the Nordic larp Just a Little Lovin’ was the importance of off-game negotiation and workshopping in facilitating the ability to play intimacy more safely.((Sarah Lynne Bowman, “Love, Sex, Death, and Liminality: Ritual in Just a Little Lovin’,” Nordiclarp.org, last modified July 13, 2015, http://nordiclarp.org/2015/07/13/love-sex-death-and-liminality-ritual-in-just-a-little-lovin/)) Additionally, Just a Little Lovin’ featured clear negotiation before sexual scenes and ritualized this play in a way that allowed player input to influence the scene, not just character desires. This practice cut down on ambiguity.

    Similarly, debriefing is important when processing the events that happen in such a game. While some individual players felt comfortable speaking informally after the game, a structured debrief – perhaps in small groups – would have allowed people the chance to de-role and speak seriously about their experience. I especially would have appreciated a structured opportunity to speak with the individuals with whom I had intimate scenes, insulted, or threatened in-character. I do think such debriefing sessions should be offered by organizers, but I also think they should be optional for individuals who wish to take part. It was difficult for some players inexperienced with Nordic larp and/or Vampire to transition quickly back to their daily consciousness and not perceive themselves or others as predators, an issue that can be ameliorated in part with a debrief.

    The organizers of the larp plan to adjust the next run according to these critiques, with greater variability of options for physical play, negotiation between players, workshopping, and debriefing. In essence, this run showed excellent proof of concept with refinements that should and will be made for future iterations.

    The Future of White Wolf and Nordic-style Vampire Larp

    The Helsinki run of End of the Line is just the first of several events planned for the next two years. The organizing team plans to rerun a version of this larp at the Grand Masquerade in New Orleans in September 2016.((“The Grand Masquerade,” Masqueradebynight, last retrieved on Mar. 17, 2016, http://www.masqueradebynight.com/)) Potential players should note that based upon feedback, the above-mentioned mechanics and structure may change in the next iteration. Interested players can subscribe to the End of the Line mailing list here. Additionally, this team plans to run Enlightenment in Blood as a pervasive larp spanning many locations in Berlin in 2017 as a part of a multi-day World of Darkness festival.((“World of Darkness Berlin 2017: Enlightenment in Blood,” Enlightenmentinblood.com, last retrieved on Mar. 17, 2016, http://www.enlightenmentinblood.com/))

    Finally, Liveform and Rollespilsfabrikken plan to run a White Wolf-endorsed larp called Convention of Thorns between October 27-30, 2016.((“White Wolf Presents Convention of Thorns,” Cotlarp.com, last retrieved on Mar. 17, 2016, http://www.cotlarp.com/)) This larp will provide an alternate history account of the famous 15th century event in White Wolf history in which the Camarilla organizing body was formed. Notably, this historical larp will take place in a Polish castle and will focus upon interactions between vampires of various power levels, from Neonate to Methuselah. While some of the mechanics will resemble those from End of the Line, the two productions will offer different takes on the genre. In short, World of Darkness players interested in trying Nordic-style larps have several options coming soon.

    To summarize, these larps are not intended to replace or alter existing Vampire larps, but rather to add additional experiences for players interested in this style. The physicality of the Nordic approach will likely not appeal to certain players, which is understandable. For potential players unused this style, I suggest fully reviewing the content of this article and other documentation before signing up for one of these games in order to understand the expectations of the play culture. I also suggest being clear from the outset with yourself and your co-players about your boundaries via email or other forms of communication. Players should feel enabled to negotiate those limits before, during, and after play and tap-out of any scene that makes them uncomfortable. In my view, physical play in larp is certainly possible — indeed, some of the organizers of End of the Line started role-playing in traditional Vampire larps before exploring other forms of embodiment — but should be done with careful consideration of the off-game needs of other players.

    End of the Line

    Participation Fee: €25
    Players: 66
    Date: March 7, 2016, 6 hours
    Location: Helsinki, Finland
    Created by: Bjarke Pedersen, Juhana Pettersson & Martin Elricsson
    Production: José Jácome & Mikko Pervilä
    Characters: Elin Nilsen, Jørn Slemdal & Mika Loponen
    Decor: Marcus Engstrand, Anders Davén & Aleksander Nikulin
    Documentation: Tuomas Hakkarainen, Tuomas Puikkonen, Julius Konttinen & Joona Pettersson
    Catering: Kasper Larson & Aarne Saarinen
    Production assistants: Outi Mussalo, Tia Carolina Ihalainen, James Knowlden, Bob Wilson, Irrette Cziezerski, Jukka Seppänen & Ville-Eemeli Miettinen
    Featuring: Suicide Club (Gabriella Holmström & Ossian Reynolds)
    Produced by: White Wolf Publishing and Odyssé with Solmukohta and Inside Job Agency

    Cover photo: Part-larp, part-rave, End of the Line provided a unique and authentic World of Darkness experience, in game photo by Tuomas Puikkonen. Other photos by Tuomas Puikkonen.

  • A Refreshing Take on Larp in Film: Review of Treasure Trapped

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    A Refreshing Take on Larp in Film: Review of Treasure Trapped

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    Treasure Trapped (2014), directed by Alex Taylor, is a documentary about larp made by the UK company Cosmic Joke. In a short article in the Wyrd Con Companion Book 2012, the filmmakers describe the background of the film’s journey. The movie started as an exploration of modern day fantasy larp in the UK and its roots in the seminal 1981 larp Treasure Trap, in which players engaged in a dungeon crawl-type adventure wearing full costume in a castle. The filmmakers summarize their work as such:

    “Whilst making our documentary, Treasure Trapped, we have been trying to focus on the unexpected twists and turns in the development of larp—not least that, in the Scandinavian world, it has become a method of teaching, something completely unheard of in the UK. No matter how far our journey takes us into the intricacies and developments of modern larp, we always unearth the same core values: ideals of warmth and community spirit; jokes and eccentricities; language and rules; all of which have stayed with the hobby since a group of people set out to acquire a Victorian folly in Thatcher’s Britain and could only have dreamt of what they’d create.”((Alex Taylor and Michael Surman, “In the Beginning: Treasure Trap – Opening the Pandora’s Box of Larp,” in Wyrd Con Companion Book 2012, edited by Sarah Lynne Bowman and Aaron Vanek (Los Angeles, CA: Wyrd Con), 55.))

    Treasure Trapped

    Expectations for the documentary have been high based on the lofty scope, especially with the inclusion of Nordic larp and edu-larp placed in conversation with more mainstream forms like fantasy boffer and post-apocalyptic genres.

    Many readers may already find Cosmic Joke’s work familiar, as they recently produced the documentation footage for the Polish-Danish Harry Potter-inspired larp College of Wizardry (2014), which transpired in a gorgeous castle in Poland. The footage went viral last year, reaching dozens of media outlets((Johannes Axner, “College of Wizardry 2014 Round-up,” Nordiclarp.org, December 9, 2014.)) and placing high-quality, immersive larp at the forefront. At the time of this review, the trailer for the College of Wizardry documentary has reached almost a million views, with the longer documentary itself at over 64,000 views.

    Previous to this footage, mainstream audiences were likely only familiar with the infamous “Lightning Bolt!” video (2005), in which an American boffer larper throws lightning bolt packets at a foe, which became a viral sensation and a rallying point for the mocking of larpers. The movie Role Models (2008) was one of the only other mainstream representations of larp, which emphasized boffer combat and the social ineptitude of the players engaged in the activity. Even before these representations, role-playing games have faced extreme stigma and moral panic since their inception in the ‘70s and ‘80s, with parents terrified that their children would engage in occult activities or “lose touch with reality.”((Lizzie Stark, Leaving Mundania: Inside the Transformative World of Live Action Role-playing Games (Chicago: Chicago Review Press). You can read Lizzie’s review of Treasure Trapped here.))

    While the College of Wizardry videos may not reassure parents on either of these points, the high production values of the larp in the video footage ignited the excitement of Harry Potter fans around the world who have always dreamed of having the opportunity to attend a school like Hogwarts. More importantly, perhaps, the footage made mainstream viewers more aware of the term “larp” and its potential as an art form. As Claus Raasted, one of the College of Wizardry organizers, explains in an article about a Nordic larp documentary featured on the Discovery Channel, “I don’t think we benefit from having ‘Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt!’ as one of our strongest media representations. If we don’t do something to change it, we’ll never move past that image.”((Claus Raasted, “Taking Nordic Larp to Discovery Channel,” in Wyrd Con Companion Book 2013, edited by Sarah Lynne Bowman and Aaron Vanek (Los Angeles, CA: Wyrd Con), 65.))

    Due to the early hype around the film, even before this newer footage went live, many of us waited in anxious anticipation for the release of Treasure Trapped. Never sure if journalistic representations will mock or otherwise misunderstand larp, the production of a new documentary tends to arouse emotions of both excitement and apprehension for researchers and practitioners. Fortunately, Treasure Trapped does not disappoint, offering a series of examples of high production quality larps interspersed with excellent interviews from experts like UK scholar Laura Mitchell and several larpers in the UK, Scandinavia, and Germany. Many of the interviewees are familiar faces in the Nordic larp scene, such as Cecilia Dolk, Mads Lunau, Eirik Fatland, Claus Raasted, Astrid S. Andersen, and Jamie MacDonald, among many others.

    The movie starts with the filmmakers seeking out their first larp experience by shooting the last session of a 6-year run of Maelstrom in the UK, a larp run by the company Profound Decisions. Maelstrom is notable for featuring elaborate props and costumes, as well as a large player base. They then travel to other local larps, including the post-apocalyptic themed Wasteland. While we do see the filmmakers’ confused reactions to these initial experiences and hear the confusion common to outsiders trying to understand larp, their attitudes are more curious than scornful. Eventually, they dip their toes into larping themselves, taking up foam swords at a boffer practice.

    Interested in seeking out other forms of larp, the filmmakers journey to Sweden, where they film the first run of Monitor Celestra (2013), the Battlestar Galactica-inspired larp that took place on a real historical warship. The filmmakers explain Nordic larp in broad strokes, then offer detailed footage of the Danish rerun of PanoptiCorp (2013) and the Danish all-larp boarding school Østerskov Efterskole. The filmmakers had released these vignettes previously on YouTube; I found watching them edited together in their entirety quite special, especially when streamlined with more traditional styles of larp to demonstrate the wide spectrum of the form.

    Overall, the film does an excellent job of presenting larp at its best, emphasizing high production values, its educational potential, strong community bonds, and the potential for psychological transformation. The footage is visually gorgeous and carefully spliced with thoughtful interviews from a nice variety of sources, such as experts on larp and students at the school. Particularly touching are the interviews with original Treasure Trap attendees speaking about how much the larp changed their lives and their nostalgic yearning for that past experience. I was especially pleased to see workshopping and debriefing shown in the film in the Nordic section, including scenes with Norwegian larp designer Eirik Fatland leading players through rituals to start and end the PanoptiCorp larp.

    Despite the excellence of the content, notable inclusions to the documentary would have enhanced the finished product. I would have liked to have seen the high quality British theatre-style games, such as the Regency larps that take place in nineteenth century period costumes and locations. Brief footage of mainstream fantasy larps in Sweden or Denmark would have provided a larger picture, as Nordic larp is but a small subset of overall larps in those regions. Ideally, the film also would have touched upon the freeform scene and filmed at Fastaval or the Stockholm Scenario Festival, although admittedly freeform is less visually stimulating than full-costume larps.

    Portrait PosterThe film would also benefit from a brief explanation about larp around the world. Though Grand Expedition founder Rick Wynne discusses the worldwide scope a bit, a sense of the history of larp in other locations from a scholarly perspective would add to the utility of the film as an introduction point for uninitiated viewers. Alternately, the filmmakers could explain that their scope is limited to the UK and Scandinavia and is not representative of all larp. These are minor critiques, however, and did not detract from my enjoyment of the film.

    In summary, I highly recommend Treasure Trapped as an excellent larp documentary. The inclusion of various styles — from fantasy boffer to educational to Nordic larp — gives a much broader view than other documentaries to date. The interviews are thoughtful and deep, while cute animated graphics and editorial comments by the filmmakers add a bit of levity to the piece. From a big picture perspective, the documentary provides a refreshing counterpoint to many of the notably shallow representations of larp in past films.

    From what I understand, aside from film festivals, the documentary is currently only available if groups set up a special screening through Tugg, though the film should see wider availability at the end of 2015. I definitely suggest setting up a screening if your local community can draw enough people to buy tickets, as the visual imagery and sound quality is worth seeing on the big screen.

  • Love, Sex, Death, and Liminality: Ritual in Just a Little Lovin’

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    Love, Sex, Death, and Liminality: Ritual in Just a Little Lovin’

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    The theme of alternate sexuality, identity, and freedom juxtaposed with the tragedy of death permeates Just a Little Lovin'. Photo by Elina Andersson. CC-BY-NC. The theme of alternate sexuality, identity, and freedom juxtaposed with the tragedy of death permeates Just a Little Lovin’. Photo by Elina Andersson. CC-BY-NC.

    Just a Little Lovin’ is commonly touted as one of the best Nordic larps ever designed by those who have played it. Originally written in 2011 by Tor Kjetil Edland and Hanne Grasmo, the larp explores the lives of people in alternative sexual and spiritual subcultures during the span of 1982-1984 in New York who attend the same 4th of July party each year. As the larp progresses, the AIDS crisis increasingly sweeps through their community, affecting each member directly or indirectly. The result is a cathartic explosion of emotions that leave a lasting impact on the majority of the players.

    This article will discuss some of these rhetorical threads surrounding the design of Just a Little Lovin’. Then, I will emphasize the importance of the ritual spaces and structures within the larp, which work to enhance communal connection in- and out-of-game and help produce these strong moments of catharsis.

    Player Discourse Surrounding Just a Little Lovin’

    Oh no, not I! I will survive!
    Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I’ll stay alive!
    I’ve got all my life to live.
    I’ve got all my love to give.
    And I’ll survive! I will survive!

    Gloria Gaynor, I Will Survive
    Most characters came together each year in a ritualized fashion for the drag/variety show. Here, they enjoy a performance by the rock band Urban Renaissance. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC. Most characters came together each year in a ritualized fashion for the drag/variety show. Here, they enjoy a performance by the rock band Urban Renaissance. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC.

    In play reports, participants mention several powerful elements of the design. The characters have realistic motivations and relationship dynamics. The intersecting themes of desire, love, friendship, and fear of death interweave beautifully throughout the larp to provide a roller coaster of emotions for the players. The mechanics for sex and death are thoughtfully implemented, providing a meaningful, relatively safe framework in which to experience these powerful moments. The larp is organized into three Acts, with careful workshopping and debriefing exercises framing each phase. These breaks allow players opportunities to co-create the experience with one another through negotiation and agreement. While the larp does deal with the tragedy of disease impacting a tightly knit community of creative, experimental, open-minded people, the emphasis of the larp is not to dwell in tragedy, but rather to undergo a strengthening of that community through shared experience.

    A lesbian contingent with their dutch boy. Participants emphasize an intensified sense of community after the larp in their play accounts. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC. A lesbian contingent with their dutch boy. Participants emphasize an intensified sense of community after the larp in their play accounts. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC.

    As UK larper Mo Holkar recently wrote regarding the fourth run of the larp in Denmark 2015:

    I have never had my mind opened more by a larp, nor felt more bonded to a group of co-players – including those who I didn’t actually interact with during play. And, importantly, this is not because we came through a terrible experience together: it wasn’t like that at all. It’s because we came through an amazing and uplifting and life-affirming and worldview-changing experience together.

    Mo Holkar, Just a Little Lovin’: Actually, More Than Just a Little,, Games! All Sorts of Different Ones, July 5, 2015

    Similar accounts exist in articles by other former players:

    I’ve got this sense that I’ve stolen a true glimpse of the past, or at least a past that could have been. We’ve created something real, and beautiful, and momentous. I don’t know how to handle that. It’s immense pride and I already feel nostalgic for it. In the most literal sense — I’m starting to feel the pangs of loss that are nostalgia. It’s exactly the right emotion I need to be feeling right now. Beauty, loss, sorrow, pride, admiration, longing, pining for something.

    Erik Winther Paisley, ‘We Still Have Time’: Experiencing the 1980’s AIDS Crisis Through Larp, Sobbing with Relief at a Funeral, Dancing, Dragging, and Kissing a Stranger Out of Love For the Story, Medium.com, June 28, 2015

    Just a Little Lovin’ was full of life and color. Death was real, but we needed to make the most of whatever time we had left, in order to be together. The very structure of the game was oriented towards living, and even suffering was just another way to interact with others, to deepen a character, and add even more meaning to his or her life. Death was not a beautiful release; it was just the end.

    Eden Gallanter, The Bridge Between Love and Death, Cheimonette, July 6, 2015
    Although death permeated the lives of the characters in the game, the party went on even through Act III as a celebration of existence and love. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC. Although death permeated the lives of the characters in the game, the party went on even through Act III as a celebration of existence and love. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC.

    Picture, if you will, a group of people discussing the death of one of their characters, which is directly brought about by the nature and behaviour of another in the scene, talking about what kind of impressions they want to construct in this scene. Then they play the scene, to spec, with screaming, tears, loathing, self-hatred, disgust, horror, everything. Then one raises their head and calmly says ‘thank you,’ and, with tear tracks still drying and breath still shaking, they dissect the emotions that each other’s play brought about, praising the particular moves, words, and timing that brought the greatest effect in their character’s response to the other characters. I still can’t decide if its madness, emotional vampirism, or the most awesome thing I have ever participated in.

    Miki Habryn, Google+ post, June 15, 2012

    JaLL is without a doubt the most intense and [thoroughly] designed game I have ]ever played. I understand now why some call it the best larp in the world. There [are] other as well-designed games out there, but it’s the mix of brilliant design with a theme and especially the handling of the theme that creates just a more intense experience.

    Simon James Pettitt, Just a Little Lovin’: Intro Post, Pettitt.dk, July 7, 2015
    Documentation book for the 2013 Danish run filled with player and organizer accounts.
    Documentation book for the 2013 Danish run filled with player and organizer accounts.

    For more accounts, the impressive documentation book from the 2013 Danish run is available, which includes play reports from many of the participants, as well as organizer reflections.((Casper Gronemann and Claus Raasted, eds, The Book of Just a Little Lovin’ (2013 Denmark Run): Documenting a Larp Project about Desire, Friendship, and the Fear of Death (Copenhagen, Denmark: Rollespilsakademiet, 2013), http://www.rollespilsakademiet.dk/pdf/books/book_jall.pdf)) Several other articles from past participants are also available on various web sites.((For examples, see reflections by: Elin Dalstål, “Just a Little Lovin’ 2012,” Gaming as Women, June 16, 2012, http://www.gamingaswomen.com/posts/2012/06/just-a-little-lovin-2012/; Petter Karlsson, “Just a Little Lovin’ 2012 – A Larp About AIDS in the 80’s” PetterKarlsson.se, October 26, 2012, http://petterkarlsson.se/2012/10/26/just-a-little-lovin-2012-a-larp-about-aids-in-the-80s/; Eleanor Saitta, “It’s About Time,” in States of Play: Nordic Larp Around the World, edited by Juhana Pettersson (Helsinki, Finland: Pohjoismaisen roolipelaamisen seura, 2012), http://nordiclarp.org/w/images/a/a0/2012-States.of.play.pdf; Annika Waern, “Just a Little Lovin’, and Techniques for Telling Stories in Larp,” Persona, June 16, 2012, https://annikawaern.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/just-a-little-lovin-and-techniques-for-telling-stories-in-larp/, etc.))

    Ultimately, much of the discourse surrounding the larp focuses upon the intense connections the experience creates between participants, the enhanced understanding of the struggles of countercultural movements during the period, and increased awareness about the AIDS crisis. From a design perspective, Just a Little Lovin’ is also touted as successful due to its inclusion of metatechniques from the freeform and blackbox scenes and its careful framing with regard to workshops, negotiation, de-roleing, and debriefing.

    One war veteran comforts another during a PTSD episode. The theme of death was woven into the larp in multiple ways: from AIDS to cancer to war. Photo by Elina Andersson. CC-BY-NC.
    One war veteran comforts another during a PTSD episode. The theme of death was woven into the larp in multiple ways: from AIDS to cancer to war. Photo by Elina Andersson. CC-BY-NC.

    My examination of Just a Little Lovin’ will discuss this framing in more detail, emphasizing the multi-layered, ritualized nature of the larp design. The careful construction and use of ritual space facilitates progressively deeper and more intense levels of play. In this analysis, I will discuss ritual in terms of both a) atmospheric rituals within the larp transpiring in specifically established spaces, and b) the overarching game framework.

    My intent in sharing these accounts is not to support the claim that this larp is the “best designed in the world,” but rather to emphasize that careful inclusion of heavily ritualized processes in larp design can guide players to deeper levels of connection and catharsis.

    All Larp is Ritual

    Is everybody in? The ceremony is about to begin.
    The entertainment for this evening is not new.
    You’ve seen this entertainment through and through.
    You have seen your birth, your life, your death.
    You may recall all the rest.
    Did you have a good world when you died?
    Enough to base a movie on?

    Jim Morrison, The Movie

    According to scholars Arnold van Gennep and Victor Turner,((Victor Turner, “Liminality and Communitas: Form and Attributes of Rites of Passage,” Excerpt from The Ritual Process (London, UK: Aldine, 1969). http://faculty.dwc.edu/wellman/Turner.htm)) ritual involves three stages: a departure from the mundane world with thorough separation, an entrance into an in-between state called liminality, and a return to the mundane world with an incorporation of the liminal experiences.

    1. Separation: During the separation stage, the group prepares to shed their everyday roles and enter into new ones for the purpose of the ritual. The separation phase can include practicing the ritual, costuming, makeup, masks, establishing ritual space, or other activities intended to facilitate the transition.
    2. Liminality: Participants enter their temporary social roles and play parts in a performance of some sort, either actively or passively. They cross over a “threshold” – or limen – into another state of being, which often transpires in a physical location specifically demarcated for the ritual. All participants agree to take part in this temporary, “betwixt and between” state, collectively agreeing to these new terms of their social reality. Turner refers to the liminal state as a “moment in and out of time”: a paradoxical, transitional experience.((Turner would distinguish play activities like larp as “liminoid” rather than “liminal” as they arise from leisure cultures, but this distinction is beyond the scope of this current discussion. For more information, see Victor Turner, “Liminal to Liminoid in Play, Flow, and Ritual: An Essay in Comparative Symbology,” Rice University Studies 60.3 (1974): 53-92.))
    3. Incorporation: Participants then return to their previous social roles, leaving the ritual space behind. However, they incorporate the liminal experiences into their own lives to greater and lesser degrees. For example, if a community holds a rite of passage to mark a marriage, the couple leaves the wedding with a new social status acknowledged by all present. After leisure ritual activities – called “liminoid” moments — the individual can determine how the experience will impact their involvement in the community and their development of self.(( Turner, ibid.))

    Turner believed that rituals create communitas: a greater feeling of communal connection between participants. Additionally, rituals are often guided by a shaman figure: some sort of guide or facilitator of the process who helps establish the atmosphere, tone, and components of the ritual.

    Larp designer and co-organizer Tor Kjetil Edland gets everyone's attention during pre-game workshopping. Organizers often serve the role of guide in facilitating the ritual activity of larp. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC. Larp designer and co-organizer Tor Kjetil Edland gets everyone’s attention during pre-game workshopping. Organizers often serve the role of guide in facilitating the ritual activity of larp. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC.

    Several scholars have emphasized the ritual nature of larp itself.((For a few examples, see Christopher I. Lehrich, “Ritual Discourse in Role-playing Games,” last modified October 1, 2005, The Forge, http://www.indie-rpgs.com/_articles/ritual_discourse_in_RPGs.html; J. Tuomas Harviainen, “Information, Immersion, Identity: The Interplay of Multiple Selves During Live-Action Role-Play,” Journal of Interactive Drama 1, no. 2 (October 2006): 11; Sarah Lynne Bowman, The Functions of Role-playing Games, Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2010, pp. 15, 48-53; J. Tuomas Harviainen and Andreas Lieberoth,”The Similarity of Social Information Processes in Games and Rituals: Magical Interfaces,” Simulation & Gaming (April 10, 2011): 528-549; Sarah Lynne Bowman, “Returning to the Real World: Debriefing After Role-playing Games,” Nordiclarp.org, December 8, 2014, http://nordiclarp.org/2014/12/08/debrief-returning-to-the-real-world/)) While not religious as many rituals are, secular ritual rites do exist in society. Generally speaking, larp includes the shedding of social roles, donning of new identities, performance of these identities in a temporary space guided by an organizer, and a return to the previous self, often with some sort of change individually and socially. Players often report a greater sense of community as the result of these experiences, as evidenced by several of the quotes above.

    Therefore, Just a Little Lovin’ is not unique in its ability to create these bonds, as all larp has the potential to do so. What I believe the larp excels at doing is creating well-timed, nearly continuous ritual activities that have the potential to personally transform both the player and the character. Due to the personal nature of the larp’s content and its emphasis on sexuality, intimacy, vulnerability, and fear of death, the play offers participants the opportunity to reflect upon these aspects within themselves.

    The larp afforded players the opportunity to shed old social roles, including sexual preference and identity, and explore intimacy in a relatively safe framework. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC. The larp afforded players the opportunity to shed old social roles, including sexual preference and identity, and explore intimacy in a relatively safe framework. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC.

    Each of the three Acts is framed by standard rituals common to the experience of most Americans to greater and lesser degrees: 1) the raising of the American flag while singing the National Anthem in the beginning and 2) a funeral at the end. Between these two poles of ritual experience, several smaller rituals are timed at regular intervals to offer potent, transformative experiences for characters and, by proxy, their players. On each side of these Acts, out-of-character ritual activities of workshopping, debriefing, and negotiating provide an even more structured frame. In this regard, Just a Little Lovin’ can be seen as producing rituals within rituals within rituals for the players. Leaving mundane life to go to a camp for five days with a group of people is a shift in perspective in and of itself, which is then followed by larping, and then followed by ritual activities within the larp.

    Ritual Spaces and Subcultures in the Larp

    Hey, babe. Take a walk on the wild side

    Lou Reed, Walk on the Wild Side

    The structure of the character relations in Just a Little Lovin’ involves each character belonging to one or more subcultures that were representative of the alternative scenes of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s in America. These subcultures include: rich gay men; the gay leather/fetish scene; drag performers; lesbian clubs; literary circles; the night club scene as exemplified by Studio 54; alternative spirituality seekers; tantra practitioners; members of a polyfidelity commune; performance artists; swingers; peace activists; a group of cancer survivors; the Radical Faeries masculinity movement; and AIDS activists. Effectively, each character had multiple connections within some of these subcultures, including their core group of friends, their primary social circle, and their extended connections within their party scene.

    Map of the character core groups and subcultural associations in Act 2. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC. Map of the character core groups and subcultural associations in Act 2. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC.

    These subcultures often had ritualized activities associated with them, as outlined in detail below. I played Joani, one of the leaders of the Spirituals, which meant that my in-game husband Kohana (Kevin Burns), best friend Kim (Caroline Christiane Kasten Koren), and I were responsible for running some of these rituals ourselves. Joani and Kohana ran the Saratoga Pact of friendship for the cancer survivors in a copse of trees in the woods; Kohana and Kim ran the Green Drink ritual of personal transformation around the bonfire at midnight; Joani ran tantra workshops in a special room complete with lava lamps, dark lighting, and pallets; and Kohana ran all-male drum circles, also around the bonfire. Other subcultures had similar ritual spaces, such as the stage, the dance floor, and the “dark room.”

    Joani, Kohana, and Kim made up the Heart of Saratoga core group, running rituals for the cancer survivors and the larger gathering as a whole. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC. Joani, Kohana, and Kim made up the Heart of Saratoga core group, running rituals for the cancer survivors and the larger gathering as a whole. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC.

    These spaces were established carefully as important parts of the scenography and were not in any way incidental to the setting. They offered Temporary Autonomous Zones for the Temporary Autonomous Identities of the characters: spaces where the rules of reality could function differently and where both characters and players could explore new facets of themselves.((Mike Pohjola, “Autonomous Identities: Immersion as a Tool for Exploring, Empowering, and Emancipating Identities,” in Beyond Role and Play, edited by Markus Montola and Jaakko Stenros (Helsinki, Finland: Ropecon ry, 2004), 84-85; Saitta, ibid.))

    This design created the possibility for overlap and exposure to new experiences. Rather than creating little pockets of exclusion, the social space was designed so that the environments occupied by members of these groups were in close physical and social proximity to one another. For example, the tantra room where my character ran workshops was physically next to the “dark room,” where cruising, BDSM, and lesbian activities transpired. Sounds from that room emanated into our space and some participants wandered between both at various times.

    Members of the Saratoga Pact of cancer survivors and their loved ones head to the woods for their yearly ritual of recommitment. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC.
    Members of the Saratoga Pact of cancer survivors and their loved ones head to the woods for their yearly ritual of recommitment. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC.

    This design encouraged “regular” attendees of each subcultural space to experiment with new ones, especially when all characters were expected to participate in group rituals such as the Green Drink ceremony, which might normally not interest some individuals. As an example, my character helped run the Saratoga Pact ritual, an annual ceremony in which cancer survivors renewed their vow to remain true to themselves, live life to its fullest, and always support one another. As the years went on, we inducted new members into the Saratoga Pact based upon their connections with previous survivors: lovers, close friends, family members, etc. Therefore, other characters were exposed to a small part of the survivor experience, just as many from the Pact were exposed to the new worlds of drag queens, BDSM, performance art, etc.

    In another example, due to my off-game interest in drag and desire to help with the show, my character spent a good deal of time helping with makeup in the backstage area. This experience gave her access to a new subcultural realm and mode of artistic expression, as well as deeper connections with that social group in the game. The design of the physical and social space facilitated these sorts of crossovers.

    Ritual in the Structure of the Larp Design

    You can dance, you can jive
    Having the time of your life
    See that girl, watch that scene
    Digging the Dancing Queen

    ABBA, Dancing Queen

    Just a Little Lovin’ takes place over the span of three Acts, each focusing upon a central theme: Act I is Desire, Act II is the Fear of Death, and Act III is Friendship. The total game time is approximately five days. 5pm until 12pm the next day is spent in-character during the Act, framed by workshopping before and debriefing after. Before each Act, players negotiate with their groups about how best to proceed, followed by 1-2 hours of downtime. The whole experience is followed by de-roleing and debriefing, with a much-needed afterparty in the evening after Act III, where players can reconnect with their out-of-game selves, as well as process their experiences and connect with others.

    Off-game negotiation within core groups in between Acts helps direct play for the next phase. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC. Off-game negotiation within core groups in between Acts helps direct play for the next phase. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC.

    Game time itself is heavily structured with back-to-back in-game rituals, which I detail below. Players are empowered to design and run many of these rituals themselves, with the exception of the National Anthem, the Lottery of Death, and the funerals, which are run by the organizers. The 2015 run of the game had roughly the following structure, with some variation from Act to Act of non-essential rituals like tantra, BDSM, and drum circles:

    Kohana during the raising of the flag, National Anthem, and subsequent speech. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC. Kohana during the raising of the flag, National Anthem, and subsequent speech. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC.
    1. Song: The organizers play the “Just a Little Lovin’” song by Dusty Springfield while characters are frozen. This song ritually starts and ends the entire larp.
    2. Entrance to Mr. T’s party: The party is itself a ritualized escape from the mundane world, as people can feel free to explore new identities. For example, a professor by day can engage in gay BDSM scenes at night.
    3. National Anthem: The raising of the American flag on the porch, accompanied by the singing of the American National Anthem.
    4. Speeches: T gives a welcome speech. Kohana gives a speech to honor the Saratoga Pact and summons members to that ceremony.
    5. Saratoga Pact: Joani and Kohana run the Saratoga Pact ceremony for the cancer survivors in the woods away from the main party. When I ran this ritual, I had us recite the words of the pact in call-and-response format. Then, I asked each of those gathered to state their intentions for the year, evaluate past intentions, and induct new members. I hoped the intention part of the ritual would serve as a form of steering ((Markus Montola, Jaakko Stenros, and Eleanor Saitta, “The Art of Steering: Bringing the Player and the Character Back Together,” in The Knudepunkt 2015 Companion Book, edited by Charles Bo Nielsen and Claus Raasted (Copenhagen, Denmark: Rollespilsakademiet, 2014), 106-177.)), where player-characters could focus their goals for each day of play in a directed manner.
    6. The Games (optional): The Indigo House members organized some fun physical game activities in the field during Act II.
    Eating together was an important ritual activity as members from different social circles had the chance to become acquainted. During the breakfast of Act III, an impromptu gay wedding took place. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC. Eating together was an important ritual activity as members from different social circles had the chance to become acquainted. During the breakfast of Act III, an impromptu gay wedding took place. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC.
    1. Dinner: Ritual of eating together. Mr. T usually gave a speech during dinner.
    2. Tantra Workshops (optional): In the tantra room, I ran workshops in Acts I and III, primarily using techniques of guided mediation, eye gazing, and ars amandi.((Nudity and actual sex were forbidden at the larp, as was the consumption of real drugs or alcohol. The sex mechanics are described in the next section.))
    3. Dark room (optional): BDSM scenes, lesbian hour, and cruising pick-ups. The dark room was intended for characters willing to have semi-anonymous sexual encounters. Lesbian hour was part of the structure of the larp in order to establish liminal space for those characters as well.
    4. Drum circles (optional): In Acts II and III, Kohana/Kevin ran all-male drum circles for the Spirituals and Radical Faeries around the bonfire, with several other men attending as well.
    5. Blackbox scenes (optional): Transpiring throughout the Acts, the blackbox was a liminal space within which players could negotiate and play out scenes from the past, the future, or fantasies. Two blackbox rooms were set aside for these purposes and did not “exist” in the normal game space. Our group used this space, for example, for Kohana to guide the Spirituals through a shamanic journey to meet their spirit animals — a scene that had transpired in the past.
    DJ Tony, singer-songwriter Marylou, and Nate, the Queen of Manhattan during the drag/variety show. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC. DJ Tony, singer-songwriter Marylou, and Nate, the Queen of Manhattan during the drag/variety show. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC.
    1. Drag /variety show: Performance art, drag shows, singing, male stripping, poetry readings, anti-war protests, safe sex public service announcements, and rock band performances. Most of the characters attended or participated in this ritual during each Act.
    2. Dance party (optional): Seduction on the dance floor, vogue-offs, circles where characters danced in the center, and general revelry transpired during this time.
    3. Hookah smoking (optional): A “love nest” similar to a treehouse in the woods was set up with lights, pallets, and a hookah. Characters ritually smoked tobacco, laughed, and shared stories.
    4. Green Drink Ceremony at midnight: Serves as an in-game ritual and a metatechnique. The characters consumed the Green Drink, which has unspecified contents in-game. This technique allowed players the chance to steer their characters toward explosions of building conflict or redirect them into new perspectives. Brilliant in replicating the transformative moments of hallucinogens that many people experience, while also offering the player an opportunity to take the reins of the character in their desired direction.
    Lighting the paper balloons to commemorate the fallen. Photo by Elina Andersson. CC-BY-NC. Lighting the paper balloons to commemorate the fallen. Photo by Elina Andersson. CC-BY-NC.
    1. Fireworks and paper balloon ceremony: Each night after the green drink, fireworks were lit. In Act II and Act III, paper balloons were lit in memory of those who passed that year. The balloons rose into the air, then the lights winked out just over the horizon.
    2. Aerobics (optional): In at least one Act, the Amazons, a lesbian-run aerobics club, led a workout session for interested parties.
    3. Breakfast: Ritual of eating together. During Act III, two gay characters had an impromptu, “unlawful” wedding during breakfast to celebrate being alive and in love. Another ritual within a ritual. This moment later proved poignant for the players; Marriage Equality was finally ruled legal by the Supreme Court the next day in the U.S., over thirty years later in real time.
    4. Song Between Life and Death: In the diner, a song was played to indicate the space between life and death, as well as the passage of time. All players were expected to remain quiet during the song, though they could hold hands or hug.
    5. The Lottery of Death: Angels arrived to announce the Lottery of Death. Characters had to place the amount of lottery tickets in the hat equal to the risk level of their sexual activity in the last year. Names were drawn and those characters were called away.
    Death was personified in the larp, guiding the characters to the Funeral and delivering the eulogy for those who passed. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC. Death was personified in the larp, guiding the characters to the Funeral and delivering the eulogy for those who passed. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC.
    1. Death arrives personified as a woman: Characters were led outside and instructed to collect flowers for the funeral. Chopin’s “Funeral March” was played in the background.
    2. Death marches the group to the funeral space: Individuals who survived death that year were released to their loved ones.
    3. Funeral: The group approached the coffins, where the characters who died lay. Death read the second chorus of the National Anthem like a eulogy, which framed the end of the Act.

    Little downtime existed between the non-optional scheduled events, but characters had plenty of time for seduction, explosive arguments, breakups, drug overdoses, or laughing around the hookah. The tight schedule ensured that usually no more than 1-2 hours passed where no significant group event was transpiring. This structure afforded players consistent involvement with the larp on some level.

    Additionally, these in-game spaces sometimes changed meaning or significance over the course of the larp. Spaces where casual sex once occurred such as the dark room were often eerily empty in later Acts as the fear of death became a palpable mood. Rituals also changed; the drag/variety show became much darker and sadder as the Acts progressed. Still, having the primary rituals and spaces remain intact added a sense of consistency for a community plagued by fear and grief.

    Off-game Ritualized Structures

    Let’s have some fun, this beat is sick.
    I wanna take a ride on your disco stick.
    Let’s play a love game, play a love game.
    Do you want love or you want fame?
    Are you in the game? Dans le love game?

    Lady Gaga, Love Game

    Another important ritualized structure within the larp involved the sex mechanics. In everyday life, sexual encounters are sometimes considered liminal acts in their own right. In larps, sex scenes are approached in multiple ways: not pursued at all, played literally, or enacted using representational techniques such as backrubs, ars amandi, rock-paper-scissors, or other “resolution” mechanics.

    In Just a Little Lovin‘, sex scenes also followed a ritual structure. One player would offer a pink feather to another, which represented an invitation to a sex scene. The other could choose to accept or deny the feather. Denying the feather did not represent an actual in-game rejection, but rather out-of-game consent to play a scene. Players would then go off-game and negotiate the boundaries of the scene, comfort with kissing/touching, and the events that would occur. Groping of breasts or genitals was not permitted. Players had to remain clothed and use a wooden phallus as a representational object to indicate sexual touch regardless of whether the sex was gay, lesbian, queer, or heteronormative. When the negotiated scene was over, characters stood side-by-side and used the Monologue metatechnique, which allowed them to externalize their character’s thoughts to the other player. Altogether, these metatechniques ritualized the beginning, middle, and end of each sex scene in a way that allowed for intensity, while maintaining a sense of safety and player distance.

    Members of the Indigo House, a polyfidelity commune in which all members were in an exclusive, group relationship. Photo by Sarah Lynne Bowman. CC-BY-NC. Members of the Indigo House, a polyfidelity commune in which all members were in an exclusive, group relationship. Photo by Sarah Lynne Bowman. CC-BY-NC.

    Players could also call “cut” or “brake” in any scene. They could move their bodies to subtly indicate discomfort with kissing or touching in a non-verbal way that did not break the scene, a maneuver that was termed Deflection. Again, these safety mechanisms did not affect the fiction of the larp, but provided a greater sense of comfort for many of the participants engaging in intimate encounters.

    Overall, extensive workshopping in large and small groups served as the separation phase for the main ritual of the larp, as did costuming. For the incorporation phase, the organizers ran structured debriefs that lasted around 1-2 hours in groups of approximately ten people. After Act III, we de-roled by placing a piece of our character’s costuming in the center of a large circle, then wrote letters to our characters as ourselves. We were assigned a de-roleing buddy, to whom we read the letters. We were expected to exchange contact information and check in with our buddy in two weeks after the larp. These processes aided in both the return to the self and in reconciling the relationship between the self and the character. The organizers then invited guest speakers to discuss their experiences with HIV activism and with cancer, which served as a way to contextualize the themes we had just larped with real world experiences and facts.

    Post-game connection between participants through the playing of music and drums, which were central ritualized activities during the larp. Post-game connection between participants through the playing of music and drums, which were central ritualized activities during the larp.

    As mentioned earlier, the afterparty was another crucial part of this larp, allowing players time to decompress, distance, and discuss events with other participants. Additionally, each year at the Nordic larp conference Knudepunkt, organizers host an hour-long Just a Little Lovin’ dance party, which many players attend in their costumes from the larp. Social media sites like Facebook also provide outlets for people to discuss their experiences, organize reunions, and share information about HIV and other relevant topics.

    Summary

    The game content of Just a Little Lovin’ on its own is powerful, exploring themes of sex, love, death, and friendship. Adding ritual elements to the larp works to draw players even deeper into the experience. For example, many participants can no longer hear the songs built into the larp design without a flood of memories and powerful emotions returning to them. Even if the character rejects the content of one of the rituals in-game, thinking it “weird” or “uninteresting,” these events offer the opportunity for the character to react to in-game stimuli, which can draw them deeper into immersion. Additionally, the repetition of these in-game rituals in every Act with changes in the fiction each time can create new meaning: a sense of irony, feelings of grief, a sense of stability in an uncertain world.

    All larps can include these ritualistic techniques and many larps have similar spaces set aside. Some fantasy and post-apocalyptic larps, for example, have elaborate religions built into the game, complete with rituals, sacred spaces, and mythology. Other Nordic larps such as KoiKoi and Totem have included extensive rituals as well, which are worth examining with regard to their impact on the larp experience.

    In the case of Just a Little Lovin’, however, the inclusion of vulnerability, sexuality, romantic intimacy, and death summons a particularly cathartic element for many of the players, especially since these elements become intertwined. Therefore, Just a Little Lovin’ demonstrates how ritual elements in larp design combined with complex interweaving social connections and a strong theme can provoke intense emotional reactions and feelings of communal connection in the players.

    Cover photo: The rock band Urban Renaissance closed the drag/variety show every night with an energetic performance. Although Rain (right) died in Act II, the show went on in Act III. Photo: Petter Karlsson. CC-BY-NC.

  • Bleed: The Spillover Between Player and Character

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    Bleed: The Spillover Between Player and Character

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    Participants often engage in role-playing in order to step inside the shoes of another person in a fictional reality that they consider “consequence-free.” However, role-players sometimes experience moments where their real life feelings, thoughts, relationships, and physical states spill over into their characters’ and vice versa. In role-playing studies, we call this phenomenon bleed.((Markus Montola, “The Positive Negative Experience in Extreme Role-playing.” Proceedings of DiGRA Nordic 2010: Experiencing Games: Games, Play, and Players, 2010; Sarah Lynne Bowman, “Social Conflict in Role-playing Communities: An Exploratory Qualitative Study,” International Journal of Role-Playing 4, 2013, pp.17-18.))

    Bleed is neither inherently negative nor positive. Some players erect strong mental boundaries between themselves and their characters in order to avoid bleed. Others consciously seek bleed experiences by “playing close to home.”((Jeepform Dictionary, “Bleed,” Jeepen.org.)) Similarly, some games are designed with the intention of drawing people as far outside of their normal lives as possible through fantastic elements or improbable circumstances. Others are built with the specific goal of inducing a strong emotional reaction in the players and encouraging them to contemplate how the fiction relates to their own lives.

    Bleed: How Emotions Affect Role-Playing Experiences – Sarah Lynne Bowman

    Regardless of player or designer motivations, sometimes bleed occurs without prompting. These experiences can often come as a surprise, especially when the players are unprepared and have no tools for how to discuss about or manage bleed. This article will explain the phenomenon from a theoretical perspective, detail some of the types of bleed, examine the debates surrounding the concept, and suggest some strategies for managing bleed experiences.

    The Phenomenon of Bleed

    Explaining the phenomenon of bleed first requires establishing some basic vocabulary to help understand the role-playing experience as a whole. First, when we enter the game from the outside, we adopt a new set of social rules, both implicit and explicit.((Markus Montola, “Social Reality in Role-playing Games,” in The Foundation Stone of Nordic Larp, edited by Eleanor Saitta, Marie Holm-Andersen, and Jon Back (Toptryk Grafisk, Denmark: Knutpunkt, 2014), 103-112.)) These social rules function on an in-character level, e.g., this former warship is actually a spaceship; when a character throws a packet, it symbolizes a fireball; when a player speaks, they are portraying a noblewoman, not their real world profession; etc. Out-of-game social rules also apply, e.g., we will stay in-character for the duration of the experience; we will avoid touching without permission; we will observe safe words when used; etc. Collectively, these rules make up the social contract of the game.((Shoshana Kessock, “Ethical Content Management and the Gaming Social Contract,” in The Wyrd Con Companion Book 2013, edited by Sarah Lynne Bowman and Aaron Vanek (Los Angeles, CA: Wyrd Con), 102-111.)) When the social contract is established, players can enter safety the magic circle, a poetic term describing the rules, identities, and occurrences within the game space.((Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1958); Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004); Markus Montola, On the Edge of the Magic Circle. Understanding Role-Playing and Pervasive Games, Doctoral Dissertation (Tampere, Finland: Tampere University Press, 2012).))

    Diagram of role-playing studies terminology, including the relationship between bleed and alibi. Image by Mat Walker.
    Diagram of role-playing studies terminology, including the relationship between bleed and alibi. Image by Mat Auryn. Design by Sarah Lynne Bowman.

    Perhaps the most important facet of the social contract is the alibi, in which players accept the premise that any actions in the game are taken by the character, not by the player.((Markus Montola and Jussi Holopainen, “First Person Audience and Painful Role-playing,” in Immersive Gameplay, edited by Evan Torner and William J. White (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2012).)) Phrases like, “It wasn’t me, it was my character” and “It’s what my character would have done” are a direct result of the benefit of alibi. In principle, no individual is responsible for their actions in-character if those events could unfold plausibly within the fiction.

    Alibi has a direct correlation with bleed: the stronger the alibi, the weaker the bleed. Alternately, playing close to home provides an inherently weaker alibi. For example, if a player has children in real life, playing a parent in a game will likely produce greater bleed and lesser alibi. The player might strengthen the alibi by establishing very different relationship dynamics between the character and the fictional children, thereby affording added distance. Alternately, the player can choose to push toward a greater degree of bleed by using the real names of his or her real life children in-game.

    None of these choices will ensure the participant will experience greater or lesser bleed, however. Bleed is not a factor players can necessarily control. In fact, bleed is largely an unconscious process when it occurs, whereas a conscious choice on the part of the player to alter the course of the character is known as steering.((Markus Montola, Jaakko Stenros, and Eleanor Saitta, “The Art of Steering: Bringing the Player and the Character Back Together,” in The Knudepunkt 2015 Companion Book, edited by Charles Bo Nielsen and Claus Raasted (Copenhagen, Denmark: Rollespilsakademiet, 2015), 10-117.)) Therefore, a player can steer toward greater bleed by pushing factors that are likely to cause a bleed response, but bleed is not guaranteed.((Mike Pohjola, “Steering for Immersion in Five Nordic Larps: A New Understanding of Eläytyminen,” in The Knudepunkt 2015 Companion Book, edited by Charles Bo Nielsen and Claus Raasted (Copenhagen, Denmark: Rollespilsakademiet, 2015), 10-117.)) Alternately, players can steer away from potentially emotionally impacting factors, but end up affected by them nonetheless.

    A character at the post-apocalyptic game Dystopia Rising: Lone Star in Texas mourns the death of his in-game wife, an event that took months to emotionally process. A character at the post-apocalyptic game Dystopia Rising: Lone Star in Texas mourns the death of his in-game wife, an event that took months to emotionally process. (Play, Sarah Lynne Bowman)
    Characters at DR Lone Star comfort someone after she finds out her in-game family member just died. All photos by Sarah Lynne Bowman. Characters at DR Lone Star comfort someone after she finds out her in-game family member just died. All photos by Sarah Lynne Bowman. (Play, Sarah Lynne Bowman)

    Types of Bleed

    Bleed comes in two major forms: bleed-in – when the emotions, thoughts, relationship dynamics, and physical states of the player affect the character – and bleed-out, the opposite process.((Montola, “Positive Negative”; Bowman, “Social Conflict.”)) A bleed feedback loop is also observable, when it becomes difficult to tell where the player begins and the character ends, especially in emotionally overwhelming situations. For example, in games where players experience sleep deprivation and constant attacks from enemies, the exhausted mind may have difficulty distinguishing between a “fake” attack and a “real” one. This phenomenon does not mean that the player is incapable of upholding the magic circle, but rather that the intensity of emotion has become overwhelming to the mind, causing confusion and difficulties with immediate processing and distancing.

    Bleed is most often described in terms of emotional experiences, as emotions are the least conscious and most spontaneous aspects of enactment. However, other factors are connected with emotional reactions. Out-of-game thoughts are often interwoven with emotional responses, e.g. “I can’t believe Johnny is insulting my character. He always acts this way when we play together,” which may later induce an angry outburst in-character. Also, relationship dynamics can affect bleed. If two players are best friends out-of-game, they may unconsciously replicate that dynamic within the magic circle.

    Physical states can also produce bleed, especially sleep deprivation or exhaustion, which weaken the mental defenses of the players and makes them more susceptible to impulsive emotional responses. Many games, such as high-immersion combat larps, are built upon this principle, though the designers may not realize that they are creating a game designed to produce a bleed effect.

    Another type of bleed is termed ego bleed by Whitney “Strix” Beltrán.((Whitney “Strix” Beltran, “Yearning for the Hero Within: Live Action Role-Playing as Engagement with Mythical Archetypes,” in Wyrd Con Companion 2012, edited by Sarah Lynne Bowman and Aaron Vanek (Los Angeles, CA: Wyrd Con, 2012), 91-98.)) Ego bleed occurs when the contents of the player’s personality spillover into the character’s and vice versa. This effect is most measurable when players claim to have learned skills from their in-game experiences that become useful in reality, such as leadership, seduction, etc. However, prolonged immersion into antisocial characteristics such as violent plotting and social backstabbing may impact negatively the participants’ personalities, affecting their relationships with other players out-of-game.((Whitney “Strix” Beltran, “Shadow Work: A Jungian Perspective on the Underside of Live Action Role-Play in the United States,” in The Wyrd Con Companion Book 2013, edited by Sarah Lynne Bowman and Aaron Vanek (Los Angeles, CA: Wyrd Con, 2013), 94-101.)) This issue is particularly problematic in campaign play, where long-term immersion into a particular character or fiction without distinct stopping points can produce what Gary Alan Fine calls overinvolvement, a phenomenon in which the players do not sufficiently shed the role and fail to fully reintegrate into their mundane lives.((Gary Alan Fine, Shared Fantasy: Role-playing Games as Social Worlds (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1983).))

    At its most positive, bleed experiences can produce moments of catharsis: when the player and character emotions are synced in a powerful moment of emotional expression. Most often, these experiences manifest in great displays of joy, love, anger, or grief; in-game crying is often associated with bleed.((Sarah Lynne Bowman, “Bleed: How Emotions Affect Role-playing Experiences,” Nordic Larp Talks Oslo, 2013.)) Regardless of their original intentions for alibi, players often call these cathartic experiences their Golden Moments, perhaps because the alibi of the game is still strong enough to allow them the opportunity to express emotions they might otherwise feel inhibited to share in real life.

    A character in DR Lone Star experiences a cathartic moment, crying for the death of his mother during his baptism scene into a new religion. A character in DR Lone Star experiences a cathartic moment, crying for the death of his mother during his baptism scene into a new religion. (Play, Sarah Lynne Bowman)
    Other characters comfort him, letting him know he has friends and is not alone. In-character support can help lessen the negative impact of bleed. Other characters comfort him, letting him know he has friends and is not alone. In-character support can help lessen the negative impact of bleed. (Play, Sarah Lynne Bowman)

    However, not all bleed experiences are considered positive.((Bowman, “Social Conflict”)) Players may, for example, feel lasting aggression toward someone who acted antagonistically toward their character in-game. Such feelings may do damage to their out-of-game relationships. Intimate love connections can also form in games as the result of bleed. While some of these relationships may translate well to the outside world, with happy couples forming as a result, in-game relationships also run the risk of damaging existing intimate bonds by complicating established boundaries or invoking jealousy.((Gordon Olmstead-Dean, “Impact of Relationships on Games,” in Lifelike, edited by Jesper Donnis, Morten Gade and Line Thorup (Copenhagen: Projektgruppen KP07, 2007), 195-210; Bowman, “Social Conflict.”))

    In-game wedding at DR Lone Star after a year of in-character courtship. The characters are romantically involved, but the players are not. In-game wedding at DR Lone Star after a year of in-character courtship. The characters are romantically involved, but the players are not. (Play, Sarah Lynne Bowman)
    In-game wedding at DR Lone Star after a year of in-character courtship. The characters are romantically involved, but the players are not. In-game wedding at DR Lone Star after a year of in-character courtship. The characters are romantically involved, but the players are not. (Play, Sarah Lynne Bowman)

    Finally, distinguishing between bleed and psychological triggers is important. As Maury Brown explains, psychological triggers in role-playing occur when some sort of stimuli activates a previous traumatic memory and induces a response.((Maury Brown, “Pulling the Trigger on Player Agency: How Psychological Intrusion in Larps Affect Game Play,” in The Wyrd Con Companion Book 2014, edited by Sarah Lynne Bowman (Los Angeles, CA: Wyrd Con), 96-111.)) Trigger responses can range from mild to severe. While triggers are a form of bleed-in, as they represent aspects of the player’s psychology affecting the character experience, not all bleed moments are “triggers.” Safety precautions such as in-game signaling and safe words can help community members distinguish between a player having a cathartic bleed moment and reliving the disruptive triggering of previous trauma.

    Debates Surrounding Bleed

    Some role-playing communities consider bleed a taboo subject. Because of the so-called Satanic Panic((Stark, Lizzie. Leaving Mundania: Inside the Transformative World of Live Action Role-playing Games. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press, 2012.)) and other alarmist outside perceptions of the dangers of role-playing – e.g., Mazes and Monsters, The Wild Hunt, Knights of Badassdom – many participants have endured decades of stigma. Fears around role-playing center upon the assumption that immersion into another person and fictional world will make the individual lose touch with reality and forget who they are. On the extreme end, religious conservatives fear that role-players will become involved in the occult and start using magic “for real” (see the Chick Tracts, recently dramatized in the film Dark Dungeons).

    Therefore, role-players are extremely sensitive to these allegations and often wish to distance themselves as much as possible from the perception of becoming “too close” to the character. Individuals who experience bleed and suffer negative consequences, such as players who feel long-term grief as the result of losing a character, might get shamed or otherwise ostracized from certain gaming groups. Some role-players refuse to admit that bleed exists and become defensive at the concept itself, wishing to reinforce the alibi at all costs. Often, these individuals do not wish to be held personally responsible for anything that their character does in-game, which is understandable. However, an airtight alibi can promote a dismissive attitude toward communal problems such as in-game bullying by individuals and cliques. Denying that participants can become personally impacted by game events erases the experience of many players and silences their ability to ask for help.

    Ultimately, I believe that denying the existence of the real phenomenon of bleed is not an effective strategy to manage it in role-playing communities. Instead, I suggest that groups adopt a common terminology and a set of techniques to help people experience greater emotional depths in-character and return back to their lives with minimal negative impact.

    Strategies to Manage Bleed

    Whether or not participants intend to play for bleed, the impact of bleed experiences can become quite intense for some individuals. Players with a strong distance between self and character may find themselves mystified when another participant feels long-lasting emotional devastation at the loss of an in-game companion, for example. I believe that we should acknowledge that the perspectives of both of these types of players are valid: those who experience strong bleed and those who do not. Furthermore, as a community, we can learn strategies to help individuals recover who feel emotionally overwhelmed or confused after a game is done.((Johanna Koljonen, Peter Munthe-Kaas, Bjarke Pedersen, and Jaakko Stenros, “The Great Player Safety Controversy,” Panel at Solmukohta 2012,  Nurmijärvi, Finland, April 13, 2012; Johanna Koljonen, “The Second Great Player Safety Controversy,” Presentation at Knutepunkt 2013, Haraldvangen, Norway, April 19, 2013; Johanna Koljonen, “Safety in Larp,” Presentation at the Larpwriter Summer School 2013, Vilnius, Lithuania, last modified Aug. 1, 2013, YouTube, Fantasiforbundet, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qho9O_EMG34; Johanna Koljonen, “Emotional and Physical Safety in Larp – Larpwriter Summer School 2014,” Presentation at the Larpwriter Summer School 2014, Vilnius, Lithuania, last modified Aug. 3, 2014, YouTube, Fantasiforbundet, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-cPmM2bDcU.))

    One such strategy is called in-game signaling. During role-playing, in-game signaling techniques help players communicate to one another if bleed has become too intense. Games may employ hand gestures, safe words, “okay” symbols, written check marks, or other methods that enable players to indicate to one another whether or not they are overwhelmed or in need of a break. In order for these signals to be effective, the organizers and role-playing community must reinforce and encourage their use. In other words, players should feel safe to opt-out of a scene at any time and should not feel pressured to continue in order to avoid “ruining” the game for others.

    At a briefing before the Planetfall larp in Austin, Texas, organizers explain how to signal backing away from a scene by placing a hand behind the neck. (Play, Sarah Lynne Bowman) At a briefing before the Planetfall larp in Austin, Texas, organizers explain how to signal backing away from a scene by placing a hand behind the neck. (Play, Sarah Lynne Bowman)
    In DR Lone Star, an NPC player signals being off-game with a hand over her head and a whooshing sound, to be interpreted by characters as “the wind.” In DR Lone Star, an NPC player signals being off-game with a hand over her head and a whooshing sound, to be interpreted by characters as “the wind.” (Play, Sarah Lynne Bowman)

    An important post-game strategy is creating rituals of de-roleing. De-roleing is a method by which the player ritually casts aside the role and re-enters their former identity. Some strategies for de-roleing include: players removing an article of their characters’ clothing and placing it before them in the circle; participants stating what they want to take with them from the character and what they want to leave behind; organizers leading players through a guided meditation to ease their transition; etc. These symbolic actions allow players to switch from the frame of the character to the player in a manner that is less jarring than a hard stop.

    Debriefing is another useful strategy to help players process their emotions. Creating a formal space after the game for players to express their feelings and share stories in a serious manner often helps contextualize bleed. Additionally, assigning a “debriefing buddy” provides players with a safety net for private communication after the larp with another participant. Positive, out-of-character communication with other players who were part of intense scenes may help alleviate lasting negative feelings, e.g. “I’m sorry that my character was so cruel to you in-game. Would you like to talk about it?” For a more extensive discussion on debriefing, refer to my article in this series, “Returning to the Real World.”((Sarah Lynne Bowman, “Returning to the Real World: Debriefing After Role-playing Games,” Nordiclarp.org, Dec. 8, 2014.))

    Informally, players also can engage in out-of-game socializing, such as dinners, afterparties, charity events, etc. These events help players feel connected to the community outside of the context of the fiction and their characters. Social events reinforce the co-creative nature of the role-playing experience and open up spaces for dialogue about the game, allowing for greater communication. Online forums and social media can also work toward this aim if used with the intention of building out-of-game community.

    Some players find writing a useful strategy for managing bleed. Examples include journaling in- or out-of-character, writing a letter to one’s character, creating new stories around that persona, sharing written game memories with other participants, etc. Telling war stories to each other is another popular method of sharing. Externalizing the experiences in a linear fashion, whether verbally or on paper, seems to help immensely by allowing players the chance to reframe their story in a manageable way.

    Further strategies include becoming immersed in other experiences. Some people can easily throw themselves into their work, while others have difficulty returning back to daily life. Often, the first 48 hours after a weekend-long game can prove difficult in terms of adjustment. Playing video games, another role-playing game, or immersing into another fictional reality like a television show can help ease this transition. Most importantly, adequate sleep, eating, and hygiene can help reset a player’s psychological state to some semblance of normality. For more information, see my article with Evan Torner on “Post-Larp Depression.”((Sarah Lynne Bowman and Evan Torner, “Post-Larp Depression,” Analog Game Studies 1, no. 1. (1 Aug 2014).))

    A Collective Experience

    Regardless of the degree of immersion or bleed each player feels, ultimately the role-playing experience is a co-creative and collective one. Understanding bleed and developing tools for compassionately managing intense emotional reactions can help role-playing communities reach deeper levels of trust and collaboration. Recognizing that each individual contributes an important part to the whole is an important step in this process. A healthy community is made up of individuals who feel safe and able to openly communicate with one another about their experiences.

    Cover photo: Characters at DR Lone Star attend an in-game funeral to mourn their lost friends. In-game ceremonies are one way of coping with strong emotions within the frame of the magic circle (Play, Sarah Lynne Bowman).