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Freak Show, an Autopsy
Freak Show, a larp held in an abandoned amusement park in Finland. The larp told the story of the last freak show and explored otherness through a romantic gothic horror setting. The participants played a family of outcasts and freaks who struggled to survive in a hostile world. The story ended with the devil coming…
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Epiphany – A Collaborative Mage: the Ascension Larp
Epiphany was a collaborative larp based loosely on Mage: The Ascension that took place December 15-17, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The larp was set during a weekend-long spiritual retreat where mentors help initiate mages navigate their Awakenings and come into their power.
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Playing Nasty Characters
Nasty characters can be important and necessary in larp; and then somebody has to play them. This article looks at the practical issues of taking on such roles; at the social and psychological implications of this kind of play; and at the important things to consider when coming out of play.
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The Death of Hamlet – Deconstructing the Character in Enlightenment in Blood
In the 2017 larp Enlightenment in Blood, we created a new form of character creation tool using a software tool called Larpweaver. It’s based on the idea the larp can provide a selection of elements for the player to choose from and compile their own character.
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Keeping the Candles Lit, When the Light Has Gone Out
Eclipses are funny things. They stop the world, and we all look up together, watching that constant sun slowly disappear before our very eyes. And together, we wonder, for just a moment, if the light will ever come back.
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Safety and Calibration Design Tools and Their Uses
Safety & Calibration techniques are important design tools that help diverse players access your larp and create stories together. This article offers three Safety & Calibration Tools that have been in use since June 2016 and are now used internationally in a variety of larps & other events.
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Lobbying for the Dead – Vampire larp at the European Parliament
Organizing the first ever larp played partially at the European Parliament gave the opportunity to explore design concepts such as indexical larp, where the fiction of the larp corresponds to actual reality as closely as possible.
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Playing Safe?
A number of high profile articles and discussions about safety in Nordic larp seem to imply that safety has become the primary concern for larp design. This article interrogates that implication by a series of interviews with larp designers, and experts on safety.
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All Cards on the Table
The theme of this year’s Knutpunkt is shuffling the deck. With this theme, the organizers aim to rethink some of the ways in which the Nordic larp conference has traditionally been staged and perceived. Inspired by the theme we took on the challenge to rethink also the Knutpunkt publication.
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Bad Larp Design: Choking Hazard
When someone seems to be choking or having difficulties breathing at a larp, you should always assume the situation is real and go to their immediate aid. Designers should never, ever design larp mechanics that require participants to role-play that their characters have breathing difficulties or are, indeed, choking.