Tag: Knutepunkt-books
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Blue Valkyrie Needs Food, Badly!
Many different types of energy come into play during a larp. This short article surveys some of the terms larpers have used to describe the types of energy they bring to a larp. It also considers why understanding this may be important for our ability to larp effectively and safely.
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Reading Others for Interaction
When we larp, we make deductions about other characters and the types of role-play they will provide. Through speech, costuming, body language, and other signs, each player signals to others how to interact with their character. As you play, analyze what a character looks like, wears, and does with their body to learn important clues…
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Writing a Life
When you write as the character you are going to play in a larp, you remember — not just the background and story of the character provided to by the organizers, but the mind of the character as you want it to be, with the knowledge and quirks characterizing this person.
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Larp-Related Stress
Larping is a recreational activity, and larps are positive life events. However, larps can be more demanding than the player expects, and thus create stress.
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Playing an Engaging Victim
We draw from our experiences to give you tools as a victim player. What can you do to help tell the story of the relationship? How can you support the perpetrator’s game or have agency even when your character doesn’t?
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Playing a Sex Worker
The way we portray sex work can reproduce harmful biases in the world, and can also alienate and isolate your co-players — more of whom than you expect may have themselves done sex work.
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Your Body Is Your Body
This piece tries to provide a practical tool for overcoming machismo, internalized norms, and other patterns that can lead to physical injury to the player’s body.
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Sketch Comedy Characters
As a player, I build my larp characters using the tools of sketch comedy. The style may be different, but the toolbox is the same. The crude basics offered by sketch comedy provide a functional basis on which to build more nuanced play during the larp.
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Performing Dominant
Dominant characters come in different forms: authority figures (benevolent or not), antagonists, or outright villains. However, each of these figures presents the same challenges: establishing and displaying dominance in a credible manner, managing interactions with dominated characters, and balancing character domination with respect for player agency.
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Learning from NPCs
Supporting characters tend to accept invitations to play more easily than some player characters (or some players.) This is the most important lesson we can learn from supporting characters: to always find a reason to engage, to initiate play, and to offer other players alibi to engage with you.