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Playing Safe?
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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
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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.
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Tenement 67: Tales from the Tenements
How a UK larp’s take on dystopian cyberpunk is learning from Nordic larp design principles One day you will see the truth, you will learn to understand the patterns and numbers in the data. When God left the analogue world they left us a trail to follow, a path to enlightenment and a way to…
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Larp Tools: Pronoun Markers and Correction Mechanics
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In role-play, players and their characters do not always use the same pronouns. Some players use role-play to explore personal questions of gender identity, using the alibi of the character to give them a chance to try on a new identity and experience being known, seen, and referred to as that gender. Others are simply…
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BAPHOMET – The Road to Damnation
BAPHOMET was a larp about personal horror with the themes terror, lust, desire, power and loss of control; a group descended into madness together.
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Living Games Conference 2018
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The third Living Games Conference will take place May 17-20, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. Inspired by the Nordic Knutpunkt tradition, the conference focuses on the academic and practical aspects of larp, including scholarship, design, and play. This year, the conference theme is Our Full Potential. The conference plans to feature…
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Immerton: A Fire in the Desert
I knew as soon as I heard about Immerton that I wanted to go. I’d been to one other women-only larp — the U.S. run of Mad About the Boy (2012) — and while it was some of what I wanted from the experience, it wasn’t quite all of it. Immerton sounded closer to what…
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Tensions between Transmedia Fandom and Live-Action Role-Play
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Larping in a franchise means players are familiar with the material. Yet fan practice may contradict larp’s flexibility. How to address these tensions?
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Let’s Talk Freak Show
An honest, possibly scrambled, and very emotional review and critique. Trigger warning: Contains coarse language and depictions of violent acts. In September 15-17, 2017, I attended the larp Freakshow by Nina Teerilahti, Alessandro Giovannucci, Dominika Cembala, Martin Olsson, Morgan Kollin, and Simon Brind. The larp was held in Vaasa, Finland. Pre-game painting of Charlie “Edge”…