Nordic Larp

Tag: Techniques

  • Accepting Limits: The One-Hour Online Role-Play Experience

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    Accepting Limits: The One-Hour Online Role-Play Experience

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    “An hour?!” someone asked me the other day, incredulous. “How can you run a whole tabletop RPG session in an hour?!”

    I’m all too happy to answer that question.

    My recent practice of running one-hour-length role-playing sessions over voice channels on the online social platform Discord apparently baffles people. What else can I say? I am proud of the format and, furthermore, know of many folks who might benefit from adopting it as their own. In this short piece, I describe how I run one-hour sessions, whilst also painting a portrait of what “role-play” looks for me now at present.

    Let’s start with the “why.” Why do this brutally short format with my players? Don’t I enjoy their company? Isn’t role-play supposed to be a many-houred, luxurious affair, with chips and conversation aplenty?

    As with anything, we can blame society for my current constraints. With the advent of not only the Covid-19 pandemic but also pressures of modern parenthood of two small children under late capitalism, it has been difficult for myself and others to larp or even schedule regular RPG sessions. Larp seems largely consigned to a life I once led, now rapidly receding into the past.

    Nevertheless, I’ve refused to give up role-playing the past several years, as I’ve kinda devoted my life to it and am disinclined to give up my favorite medium in the world. Moreover, Nordic larp design principles emphasizing that “everything is a designable surface” help us accept our seemingly-impossible limitations as simply constraints on design. Live-action online games (LAOGs) have also normalized this form of play, for which Gerrit Reininghaus and the Open Hearth Gaming Community (formerly known as The Gauntlet) can take credit (see also Reininghaus and Hermann). And almost no one in my circles can find a proper 2-4 hours to spend online and role-playing, but everyone seems to, at least, have an hour to spare.

    The simple constraints of compressed time and remote play have forced me to prioritize the following principles:

    • Scheduling, the great beast that every successful role-playing group must slay
    • Grace in negotiation, or assuming the best and remaining affirmative with the group
    • Efficiency of play, in which the group voluntarily adopts different norms of speaking and turn-taking to facilitate a memorable hour of role-play
    • Minimalism, both in the systems used and in “special time” situations, such as combat
    • Externalized memory, because you never know when you might play next

    Putting these principles into practice means choosing to accept the limits on one’s time, energy, and format, in exchange for regular, rich hours of role-play with folks all around the world. 

    It works as follows. I gather everyone who has communicated interest in playing in a regular one-hour session into a single private Discord channel. This “general” chat will be used for scheduling, logistics, meme-posting, etc. A second Discord text channel is created for campaign notes, which will become the externalized memory of the group. A third “voice” channel is created for the actual play of the campaign. In the “general” logistics chat, we then attempt to find a shared hour in our schedules within the next month. 

    screen shot of discord chat
    Getting everyone together for an RPG session can be tricky, and flexibility is important. Screen shot of discord chat taken by Evan Torner.

    Scheduling happens with the pre-understanding that it is a difficult task, often crossing many time zones! If one month doesn’t seem to have availability for everyone, we skip it and go to the next month. For example, a recent game went on hiatus for 18 months on account of a baby’s birth, and then resumed as soon as players gradually found a shared hour to resume play. Because the time unit is only an hour in length, no major child care or babysitter needs to be pursued, and any players who need to drop the session last-minute are easily forgiven: a game that’s one hour in length can always be rescheduled, no questions asked. This is what I call grace in negotiation, which always assumes the best of others. Players should in no way be punished or shamed for scheduling issues. It should remain a pleasure to show up, sit down, and play.

    Play itself will be regulated by the principles of efficiency of play and minimalism. Players cannot make overlapping table conversations on Discord, so everyone must wait their turn to speak. Contributions must therefore be kept short, meaning that one should  think about one’s 1-3 sentences of description beforehand. Dialogue is conducted like a fanfic table read, with players being very transparent about their characters’ motivations and actions as they speak. Dramatic irony is a great tool to create tension between what a player knows and what a character says and does. 

    Above all, the facilitator must keep track of time. Resolve any fights within 30 minutes, or maybe within two full character actions by a player, whichever way is quicker. Your own system of distributing player agency over combat, and the fiction in general, is worth far more than following the letter of the rules for every game. Every player should get the spotlight on their character at least once during a session, and that spotlight should be reasonably evenly distributed. This also means the maximum group size is usually four or five players. Short scenes that are cut abruptly are magnitudes better than ones that drag on in the hopes of more drama.

    Critical to this model is the externalized memory of writing down the general results of a session in the appropriate Discord channel. Who knows when you’ll get your next hour together? Preferably on the same day as the play session, you will write down a brief summary of what “happened” in the fiction during the session, tracking in particular characters, locations, and actions taken. Make sure there’s an easily accessible link to any shared character sheets, either on a platform such as Roll20 or an online character keeper.

    screen shot of externalized memory chat in discord
    Example of the externalized memory log. Screen shot taken by Evan Torner.

    In summary, the one-hour online role-play experience helps us busy adults “fit in” role-play while accepting limits on our time, money, patience, and memory. It acknowledges care-givers, overburdened employees, and neurodivergent adults. It celebrates the fact that even smaller campaigns shared among a few people are just as valuable as more-ambitious projects and, for some isolated by their circumstances, can indeed serve as a lifeline to the hobby and communities they cherish. Open your Discord and see if anyone is up for an hour of role-play.

    This article has been reprinted with permission from the Solmukohta 2024 book. Please cite as:

    Torner, Evan. 2024. “Accepting Limits: The One-Hour Online Role-Play Experience.” In Liminal Encounters: Evolving Discourse in Nordic and Nordic Inspired Larp, edited by Kaisa Kangas, Jonne Arjoranta, and Ruska Kevätkoski. Helsinki, Finland: Ropecon ry.

    Cover photo by Sadia from Pixabay. Image has been cropped.

  • An Introvert’s Guide to Playing High Status Characters

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    An Introvert’s Guide to Playing High Status Characters

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    As someone who is nominally a rather quiet introverted type of person but who absolutely loves playing the complete opposite – big commanding character types, I am often asked for advice on how to do it well. So here is my collection of tips and tricks that I have accrued over 20+ years of larping. I hope they can be useful.

    You may think that to be a convincing leader, you need to be loud, charismatic, outgoing and confident in real life. However, I have found a number of strategies that can be used to ‘fake it’. And indeed, it is highly likely that many real life leaders are actually ‘faking it’ by using very similar strategies.

    Please note that some of these techniques should be calibrated with other people in advance so that everyone is on the same page and no one gets hurt by your antics!

    With that, let’s go!

    Goetia, photo by Kai Simon Fredriksen Goetia, photo by Kai Simon Fredriksen

    Take up Space

    This for me is the core rule. Many of us in real life (especially those of us born with the curse of being British) are taught from an early age to not take up space. To not be a hassle or a bother. To not get in other people’s way. To not make a scene. So, the golden rule is to throw all of that out of the window. If you are high status, take up as much space as possible. Some simple ways of doing that:

    • Wear big clothing. Obviously costuming will depend greatly on the setting of your larp, but there are always ways to go big. Whether that’s wearing a great billowy cloak, a huge bustle, a ridiculous hat… If your clothing is big, you will look big and people will pay more attention to you. You can also add accoutrements to your outfit to look more extravagant (ie, bling bling bling!), but even a simple costume will demand respect if it fills the room.
    • Move! And keep moving! Don’t ever be static. Use the space around you. Stride across the room. Pace around while talking. Use your hands and arms to gesture. If you keep moving, people have to keep adjusting themselves to watch you, and that means you have their attention.
    • Where possible, be higher than those around you. If there is a stage or podium, use it. If there is a high table, sit at it. Otherwise, try ordering everyone around you to sit while you remain standing. Or reverse that – be the only one sitting while everyone else has to stand.
    • Walk through people not around them. In a typical larp, there will be clusters of people talking. Don’t go around them. Barge through the middle of them, forcing them to move aside for you.

    Example: At Goetia – Night of 100 Demons, I played Belial, the King of Pride. I wore a coat with an attached cape that billowed while I kept moving around. I strode about like I owned the place, and people had to dive aside to get out of my way!

    Goetia, photo by Kai Simon Fredriksen Goetia, photo by Kai Simon Fredriksen

    Meanwhile at Wicked Hearts, a short American larp about Imperial Russian fairytales. I was playing Old Man Winter. The costume brief was to dress extravagantly for the Imperial court, but I decided to subvert that and instead wore a simple ragged robe and bare feet. It definitely made the desired statement and made me stick out!

    Claim Your Territory

    A good tactic that has worked for me is to claim a space at the larp – whether that’s a room, a table, or a corner with a good chair – and make it my own. Decorating it adds to the effect, but the main aim is to make it clear to everybody in the larp that this is YOUR space. If interlopers try to move into your space… get them evicted. Use the people under your command to hustle them out.

    Use that space. Occupy it. Demand that people come to you. I have spent entire larps in just one place. People who want to talk to me HAVE to come to me. And even if it is me wanting to talk to another person, they still have to come to me, not the other way around. Having underlings helps a lot with this. Dispatch them with the message that you want to talk to someone and get them to bring that person to you. In a good play-to-lift environment, people should be more than willing to go along with this.

    Cyberpunk London, photo by Alex Helm Cyberpunk London, photo by Alex Helm

    I used this technique at Cyberpunk London where I was playing a London gangster boss. I claimed a booth in the nightclub and didn’t move from that spot for the entire game. Instead, a constant stream of visitors came to me.

    You Don’t Have to be Loud, but You Do Need to be Clear

    Having a loud booming voice definitely helps but is by no means essential. As a naturally quiet person, I have achieved much by speaking in a low but ultra clear tone. Be very precise with your language. Make statements not questions. Say exactly what you want and what you mean. Do not hesitate in your language, just demand. Keep it calm and clear, and people will listen. And if someone tries to interrupt you, interrupt them back: “I AM SPEAKING!”.

    As another mob boss in Tenement 67 (a British take on Cyberpunk style game), I exuded calm and quiet confidence throughout the game. I never raised my voice once. People said they found it quite intimidating as they began to realise that the quieter I was, the more furious my character had become, and they quaked accordingly.

    Cardinal Wolsey at Meeting of Monarchs, photo by Oliver Facey Cardinal Wolsey at Meeting of Monarchs, photo by Oliver Facey

    Be Unpredictable

    If people are not paying attention to you, or if they are disrespecting you… get their attention by doing something they are not expecting. Here are some suggestions:

    • If someone disrespects you, calmly stand up, stride across the floor and slam them against the wall (get quick consent first, of course!). Then calmly return to your place.
    • If the tone in the room is serious, crack a joke.
    • Make a ridiculous demand. Call for food or a new chair, or simply demand the people around you shuffle around into a more pleasing arrangement.
    • Walk away mid-conversation. Nothing is more infuriating than someone declaring they are bored of you and leaving you to it. So, infuriate people in this way.

    At Goetia (again), the King of Pride was furious for being snubbed by the chefs in the banquet (if you know about the trifle, you know…), and demanded chocolate as compensation. Minions and NPCs alike scurried around to fulfil this demand! Later on in the game, I strode out of the banquet in a fury, screaming that nobody was paying attention to me! (I was the King of Pride after all).

    Use Your Underlings

    If everyone is playing to lift, the people under your command or beneath you in the setting hierarchy will want to do what they can to big you up. Calibrate with them so they know what you need. If one of them does have a particularly loud voice, use them to announce your arrival or to silence the room when you want to talk. Dispatch your minions across the room to deliver messages for you, to intrude on other people’s conversations in your name, to spy and obtain gossip, or to simply tell everyone how great you are. The more people talking about you, the better.

    As a Sith Lord, photo by Alex Helm As a Sith Lord, photo by Alex Helm

    Do Not Tolerate Disrespect

    This for me is the hardest aspect to manage. If someone disrespects your status, then what do you do? I’ve found a few things to try:

    • Turn to your underlings and loudly ask them if this person is seriously disrespecting you. It’s a rhetorical question, but signals to them to support you.
    • Be over the top in your reaction. Huff and pant in annoyance. Shake your fist. Throw a tantrum. Make it very very clear that you are annoyed, and other people around will start to notice.
    • Demand an apology or compensation.
    • If you have some supernatural power or equivalent to display your might, use it. Especially if it forces them to the floor before you.
    • If you have some societal authority or similar, then invoke it. Demand they bow or kneel or salute.

    If nothing seems to work, then it’s time for calibration. Grab the offending player OC and talk it out. Often they are simply enthusiastic about their character and are not intentionally trying to bring you down, so a quick chat will resolve things. And if that doesn’t work, then involve the game organiser, who will generally be keen to help.

    At Mörkveden, I was playing a terrifying 800 year old undead draugr warrior, but was being snubbed by some mortals. This was proving impossible to resolve in character without taking actions that would remove someone from the game, so instead, I asked their group leader for some calibration. It was quickly revealed that they hadn’t intended the disrespect effect and apologised profusely. From there we were all able to work out what to do next to make everyone feel as badass as desired.

    Those are my techniques, but I am sure there are more, so if you are reading this, feel free to add something in the comments!

    Ludography

    Goetia: Night of 100 Demons by OmenStar. Ingestre Hall, UK, October 2023. There will be another run in 2024/25. www.omenstar.com
    Mörkveden also by OmenStar. Berghem Lajvby, Sweden, August 2023.
    Cyberpunk London, OmenStar again! Camden Underworld, London, UK. October 2022.
    Tenement 67 by Carcosa Dreams. Oakham, UK. August 2019
    Wicked Hearts by Alison Joy Schafer and Kristen Patten, run at Consequences, UK in 2023, but it has also run several times at Intercon in the US.

    Photo by Resafey, from Harvest Dance. Image has been cropped.

  • Play on Lies

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    Play on Lies

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    We’ve all been there – “Is this character lying, or is the player just not being very believable?”

    The Problem

    Early on in my larping career, I was very interested in playing on lies. Back then, I really enjoyed fiction focussing on intrigues and scheming, like renaissance politics and Game of Thrones. I quickly learned that there were problems when it came to lying in larps: since larp means collectively pretending, collaborating in telling the same “lie”, it is much more difficult to decide if a character is lying or not, and knowing what is actually true in the reality of the larp.

    In everyday life, we have a lot of different tools at our disposal to decide if someone is being truthful or lying:

    The Unlikely Statement. If the suspected liar makes a statement that seems highly unlikely, it feels very probable that they are lying. However, in a larp context we can never be certain that our co-players have read all of the material explaining the fiction of the larp, that they remember it correctly or that they understood it in the same way we did. There are also a lot of aspects of the fiction that are not detailed in the fiction documents, where we as players need to fill in the blanks. We can never be certain that we have a joint view of what is probable and believable. As good co-players, we usually opt to “yes, and…” the improvisations of others.

    Verifying the Truth. When someone makes a statement, it is usually possible to verify it – for example by investigating directly. In larps, this is difficult, as we often need to play on a lot of things that are not in fact there, and are not verifiable.

    Conflicting Statements. If you were to talk to different characters about something that they have a joint knowledge of, you might get a lot of conflicting statements. In reality, this would be a pretty sure sign that some or all of them are lying. In larp, however, it might just be a sign that they are all trying to improvise, and have not had a chance to decide off-game what the truth is.

    Signs of Uncertainty. When someone is lying, especially if they are not very good at it or are in a very difficult situation, they usually show signs of uncertainty. They might wring their hands, bite their lips, glance off to the sides, stutter or even change what they are saying during the conversation. However, things like this are also signs of nervousness, and often occur when we are finding it difficult to improvise something believable.

    It is possible to broadcast that we are lying to our co-players. The surest way to do this is by overdoing the signs of uncertainty, and not needing much pressure to give away the lie. This is useful when playing a bad liar – smooth, polished lies are more difficult (but of course not impossible) to signal. This usually requires a high-resolution play-style, in which you are able to communicate much with very subtle gestures and variations, and having co-players who are able to read these hints.

    The Poker Face

    At the recently played larp The Future is Straight (2021) I found myself wanting to play a capable liar, while still being able to signal to my co-players what was true and what was a lie, and at times invite them to challenge the lies and call me out as a liar. Inspired by this need, after the larp I came up with the Poker Face meta-technique.

    The Poker Face is used to signal if something is true, if it is a convincing lie, or if it is an obvious lie. This is done through the positioning of one’s hands when making a statement.

    The technique is best suited for dialogue between two people sitting down, with their hands free and visible to each other. It can be used in situations with more people involved, and it is possible to use while standing up. It can be used by all players present in a scene, or just by the one currently in focus (for example, in an interview or interrogation). To make the technique more easily recognizable, both hands should be used.

    The technique uses three hand positions:

    Palms facing upwards: This statement is true. The character is being honest.

    Seated person with open hands resting on legs
    Photo by Patrik Åkervinda.

    Palms facing downwards, hand is open: This statement is a lie, but it is told smoothly and convincingly. It should only be called out if there is a good reason for it.

    Image of a seated person with open hands resting on their legs
    Photo by Patrik Åkervinda.

    Hands closed into fists: This statement is a lie, and it is not told very convincingly. The player welcomes the co-players to call out the lie.

    Image of seated person with closed fists resting on their legs
    Photo by Patrik Åkervinda.

    This is the technique in its most basic form. In addition to this, I have two suggestions that you may or may not want to use, depending on the design of your larp:

    Palms together, directed at interviewee: If the Poker Face technique is available as a tool at the larp, players may nevertheless forget to use it. If a player would like to know whether a recent statement is true or false, they can put their palms together and point them at the person they’re talking to, and ask “Really?”, “Is that so? Tell me more!” or something along these lines. The co-player is reminded to use the technique, and can give the requested meta-information while continuing to talk about the same subject.

    Image of seated person with open hands pressed together in front of them
    Photo by Patrik Åkervinda.

    Hand half-closed, palm facing downwards: You may come to decide that the difference between the smooth lie (palms down) and the obvious lie (fist) is too stark, and that you would like to have a middle-ground. This is one more gesture for your players to remember, but the scale from open hand to closed fist is intuitive if workshopped.

    The design of the hand-signs is connected to our views of how lying looks in our natural body language. Open, visible palms are understood to signal openness and honesty, while hidden palms are not. The reason fists signal a bad lie is because a bad liar is likely to look tense and uncomfortable. Someone who lies well is more likely to have a relaxed, natural posture, hence the relaxed hands with palms facing downwards.

    Cover image: Photo by Patrik Åkervinda. Photo has been cropped.

    This article is published in the Knutpunkt 2022 magazine Distance of Touch and is published here with permission. Please cite this text as:

    Greip, Julia. 2022. “Play on Lies.” In Distance of Touch: The Knutpunkt 2022 Magazine, edited by Juhana Pettersson, 142-144. Knutpunkt 2022 and Pohjoismaisen roolipelaamisen seura.

  • Le Jean-Michel Douchebag Technique

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    Le Jean-Michel Douchebag Technique

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    Living is tough, especially when your identities are marginalised. Fortunately, we larpers are good at pretending we are the oppressors. Sometimes a bit too convincingly. This essay is for people who want to be confident at larp, or are struggling with impostor syndrome outside of larp: do not embrace your inner douchebag – let’s call him Jean-Michel((Please accept my humblest of apologies if your name is Jean-Michel.)) – but harness your inner Jean-Michel.

    Warnings: mention of oppressions, cringe humor, impostor syndrome, thought-provoking

    Le Jean-Michel Douchebag technique((As you can read, I am French.)) is the ultimate secret weapon to develop confidence, which is a concept I coined and can share with you at my exclusive immersive party for a keyholder discount of 57.99€ (about 1 or 2 Norwegian krones or whatnot). This is what my inner Jean-Michel would say. But I am not Jean-Michel, and you are not either. All the credit actually goes to writer Sarah Hagi’s tweet “God, give me the confidence of a mediocre white dude”. I added a twist.

    “Fake it until you make it” is what you would read in personal development techniques, method acting, or pick-up artists’ twisted frameworks to ignore a woman’s consent. But all of these life rules seem to bend over backward, which seems just a tad counter-productive. If productivity is your concern for finding a way to express yourself, wouldn’t you rather directly explore who you are, what you like, or who you like? Yes? Then stop reading right now and go be yourself, don’t learn about le Jean-Michel Technique, do it for the sake of the utmost sacred neo-liberalist productivity!

    Le Technique((It becomes obvious now I use footnotes for no logical reason whatsoever.))

    Most cis-gender men are people. They are perceived and feel like men since they were born. Most artists I’ve worked with were not cisgender men, have a tendency to overperform while undermining themselves and unsurprisingly, have anxiety issues. They also have a common point: they all know someone who is the complete opposite, a cis-gender man of a someone, who does the same work they do but seems so entitled to everything that he gets infinitely more recognition. And he is not even that good.

    Step 1: Think about someone that fits. Picture them as a character named Jean-Michel: he does exactly what you do, he is not better at your craft, but gets all the recognition, so what is it about him? Is it his hair? Is it confidence?

    It is more than confidence, isn’t it? He is not an alpha dog,((Which is obvious, since the alpha dog theory is scientifically inaccurate.)) he is no Brad Pitt, he does not even know why people give fucks. He is spontaneous, reckless, a bit dumb: he is Jean-Michel, an ignorant douchebag, this era’s hero. Jean-Michel feels he is your friend. Everybody’s friend. And one does not ask his friends for permission.

    Step 2: Push forward: Jean-Michel gets his inspiration from you. He takes your thing, and produces a half-baked bland version without a soul, but gets thousands of recognition likes for it.((We are not even in the realm of caricature yet, unfortunately.)) What belief allows him to firmly assert he came up with it? Why does anyone believe him?

    “You can do absolutely anything”, said his parents to Jean-Michel. And he did not only believe it for himself, but also for everyone else. So he took your work and changed a detail or two? If he is even aware it originated from you, he thinks it is some kind of hommage, a win-win situation, you know.((In French we have a saying: “Idiots are daring; that’s how you notice them.” (Michel Audiard).))

    Step 3: Act like it. In every matter small or large, think: what would Jean-Michel do? If you did not care about someone’s reaction, how would you phrase your e-mail? If you did not care whether your essay is good or not, would you submit it?

    Finding your inner douchebag is easy. Making them as realistic as a Jean-Michel may be a bit trickier. Now that you can dramatically be horrible to others by your mere daring presence, you can choose to take things a bit further. You can choose to ask yourself how this could help transform your life.

    Step 4: Who would want to be a Jean-Michel? Dig into what makes him different from you. Be specific. What does he dare to do or to say? What does he believe? And most importantly: what is his relation to others?

    Jean-Michel is a hero. He has immense bravery, faith in his values, and he triumphs alone despite all the haters. Let’s not be Jean-Michel. Let’s embrace our insecurities, keep open hearts and minds, and share with others. This is a dialogue.

    Step 5: Why are you apologising for rejecting this amazing free work opportunity? Would Jean-Michel be sorry? No, he would print that e-mail, shit on it, and send it baked in girl scout cookies. You won’t do that, but you won’t apologise either.

    In summary, harnessing your inner Jean-Michel is doing an inner voice larping, a dialogue between a douchebag inspired by someone you know of and yourself, a kind of devil on your shoulder. It can be liberating yourself from Western society’s imposed self-censorship, self-doubt, and impostor syndrome amongst marginalised people.

    Too Cringe, Didn’t Read: Please Be Explicit

    What inspired me is being socially awkward my entire life. Passing for a cisgender white heterosexual guy, I have tried to be that at work, to be Jean-Michel. I have purposefully learned how to show confidence during a job interview, and to invade people’s personal spaces to assert virility. These were the rules. But faking it does not make it. I remained queer and later, I got quite the opposite advice. It was unfortunately the most practical and useful one I ever got: if you want to blend in at work, act like you are scared, all the time. Sadly, fear is always the safest answer.

    You can read this essay as a workshop for larp, a thought-provoking provoking manifesto against heroism, or a practical exercise for marginalised people to foster discussion about privilege and oppression. Or just as my inner Jean-Michel’s production, because if I have been able to publish this, you can do anything.

    Bibliography

    Jonaya Kemper “Wyrding the Self.” In What Do We Do When We Play?, edited by Eleanor Saitta, Jukka Särkijärvi, and Johanna Koljonen. Helsinki, Finland: Solmukohta, 2020.

    Muriel Algayres “Not good enough: on larp and systemic anxiety”, at Nordic Larp Talks, 2019 URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHPfZyLLEOI

    Sarah Hagi’s writer website: https://sarahhagi.contently.com/

    Thanks to:

    Axelle Cazeneuve, Mélanie Dorey, Lars Kristian Løveng Sunde, Dorothée Lambert. And to all the douchebags out there.

    Cover photo: Image by Gregory Hayes on Pexels.

    This article is published in the companion book Book of Magic: Vibrant Fragments of Larp Practices and is published here with permission. Please cite this text as:

    Freudenthal, Michael. “Le Jean-Michel Douchebag Technique.” In Book of Magic: Vibrant Fragments of Larp Practices, edited by Kari Kvittingen Djukastein, Marcus Irgens, Nadja Lipsyc, and Lars Kristian Løveng Sunde. Oslo, Norway: Knutepunkt, 2021.

  • Tarot for Larpers

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    Tarot for Larpers

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    The best prop I can have at a larp is a deck of tarot cards. They’re pretty; they’re powerful; they’re mystical. I love going to occult themed larps where they can be brought in for pretty much any reason, but if it makes sense for your character they can make sense in almost any larp. Tarot readings are great because they are fundamentally narrative in nature and shape themselves to any kind of situation. And the kind of skills a con artist uses in real life can be used to deepen and intensify the experiences of your co-players. So I’d like to give a little guide to getting started with tarot and how to make the most of it at a larp. The concepts can be used for pretty much any kind of divination, but tarot is just so dang evocative and iconic, it’s hard to beat if it’s an option. But if rune stones, animal entrails, or the I-Ching are a better fit for a given larp, the same basics go for them.

    On Magic

    There’s no actual magic in tarot cards beyond what we invest in them. They’re just an older form of regular playing cards that later got used by occultists, latter day witches and spiritualists as a tool or trick. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be used for powerful stuff. The names and images on them have been refined to touch on very strong universal themes in the human experience that we can tap into and they’re surrounded by a mystical story that we can use to make them more serious than they really are. Especially in a context like a larp, where we allow ourselves to believe in magic and the power in things just a little more. Tarot cards tap into the power of ritual in all the best ways on a scale that’s quick and easy to use in a larp setting. They’re fundamentally a narrative device, which is why they’re a perfect complement for role-playing. They tap into our subconscious and our brain provides patterns and explanations to make them speak meaningfully. There really is no magic, but when we allow ourselves to believe, there is.

    But let’s get started with the practical side of things.

    photos of anime tarot cards
    Photo by YAGO_MEDIA on Pixabay.

    Choosing your deck

    There are a ton of different tarot decks. You can get pretty much any kind, theme, and quality. It’s really all about finding one that speaks to you. And in the case of larp: one that fits into the fiction you’ll be playing in. I have two recommendations: The first is to go for the classic Rider-Waite-Smith or Universal Waite-Smith decks gorgeously illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith. It’s the one you’ve seen used a hundred times with the iconic pictures. It fits nicely into a wide range of time periods and people know exactly what it is. The iconography is quite evocative and pretty easy to work with. You hardly ever go wrong with a classic Rider-Waite-Smith. The second, and my personal favourite, is the Thoth Tarot designed by Aleister Crowley. It has a few twists on the classic deck and is more modern looking, but the cards are more abstractly expressive in the art and each comes with a label that drips drama. But if you go to the shop and find that the panda tarot deck really speaks to your next character, go for it. Just make sure the cards can inspire you when you use them. A good beginner trick is to ditch the Minor Arcana of Swords, Wands, Cups, and Pentacles and just focus on the Major Arcana with the big hitters like The Devil, The Tower, or The Lovers, until you are more comfortable with the cards.

    Setting the Mood

    Tarot really benefits from doing just a little bit of work on setting the mood before using them. Use a tablecloth; the cards are easier to pick up and it looks nicer. Light up a few candles; the flickering light will make the artwork come alive. And maybe place the deck on a nice plate rather than pulling it straight out of the pack. Be super obvious and ritualistic about how you shuffle them. Craft a little space where you, the cards, and the person you are reading them for are in tight focus. Tarot requires focus and a little drama to work their best. And get the recipient to contribute too: have them formulate a definite question they want inspiration for. Never offer clear answers, though. Just that you’ll help show them what lies ahead. Have them pick out a card to represent themselves if you have the time. If you’re the dramatic sort, a few invocations or ritual phrases might also be a good addition, but always play them as seriously as you can.

    Dialogue

    You can do a tarot reading like a show, talking all the way through the process while the recipient is just an audience member, but you’re much better off thinking of it as a dialogue. Both for their immersion and for making it easier on yourself. I like to get myself very calm, speaking slowly and as if I am teaching the person across from me to read the cards themselves, rather than as divine inspiration through me. I like to leave a bit of uncertainty and magic in just exactly how I know the things I say and how the cards reveal them. And I give the other person plenty of time and silence to think and react if they need it. Shape it to your own personal style, your character and the person you are reading for. It’s a one-on-one kind of show, so play into the strengths that it gives.

    photos of tarot cards on a burgundy background Photo by GerDuke on Pixabay.

    Cold Reading

    Con artists have two main techniques when doing these kinds of things out in the real world that you’ll find useful in larps as well: cold reading and hot reading. Cold reading is basically using the person you are talking to, to reveal things about themselves. It’s the same skill you’d use to guess which cards people have at the poker table, or when your friend is grinning ear to ear, but won’t tell who they kissed last night. With a little practice you’ll quickly notice which of your words impact them and which you need to skip past. Throw a lot of stuff out and see what sticks; they won’t likely remember the misses. See when their ears prick up, when their eyes become unfocused, or their attention zooms in. Try to shape moments where they’re the ones talking and you’re just confirming. The human brain is trash at remembering who said what, so odds are they’ll remember you telling them something they revealed themselves. It can be a little tricky to do while juggling the cards at first, but really fun when you get it working. There’s no reason to rush, so take your time to observe your audience.

    Hot Reading

    Hot reading is when you know things about the person they don’t know that you know about them. Con men will do a background check on their targets and then pretend angels told them, but in larp we can just read their character sheet beforehand or notice what kind of drama they’ve been in recently, or even have an offgame chat before the reading to lay out the themes. It’s where you can really help someone’s play by pushing them at choices their character has to make or realizations they’re just about to make. Bringing in characters they’re in conflict with or want to seduce. It’s a great steering tool or just a super fun way to mess with their heads. I like to leave most of it unspoken between us. I’ll hint at the thing, but never name it, to preserve the magical feeling. If I saw them have a big row with their brother earlier, I’ll start talking about how the cards mean family and the great price of loving someone, and see if they pick up on that. If they’re the ones making the realizations themselves, it’s often much more dramatic.

    Card Manipulation

    If you have the dexterity to pack the deck beforehand, you can choose which cards come up during the reading. It’s rarely subtle, but it can definitely be impactful. I personally have too many thumbs for it, so I can’t really give any practical tips; my skills are more in the area of making the most of the cards as they fall. That also keeps the magic alive a bit even after the larp is over, but that’s a matter of taste.

    Layouts

    You can do a tarot reading by just drawing a single card, but you get a lot of synergy out of having several in a layout on the table. Don’t go overboard; more cards aren’t better. The sweet spot is usually between three and five cards total. How you place them on the table is up to you. It’s a fun way to shape the dialogue beforehand. The classic is the Celtic Cross where you make a cross with the recipient’s chosen signifier in the middle and there’s a card for the past, the future, what’s working against them, and what’s helping, but you really can do any pattern. I like a Y-shape if someone is facing a choice or laying a wall if someone is up against a challenge. Or a circle if they want to know where they stand. It’s up to you. Just give each card position a clear metaphorical meaning when you lay down the card. I like to lay all the cards except the first out facedown in their place and then turn them over during the reading as needed.

    Tarot cards decorates witth stained glass spread over a colorful embroidered cloth
    Photo by MiraCosic on Pixabay.

    Layers of Meaning

    The last skill is the “actual” interpretation of the cards. This is where most beginners feel intimidated, but just remember that there is no right answer for any card. It’s all about how well it connects to the target. Just keep bringing forth meanings until you strike gold.

    Depending on the deck you have, there will be various amounts of things to work with on each, but every card will always have a couple of these:

    • What is the immediate feeling the card inspires?
    • What does the picture show? Who are the people in the picture to the recipient?
    • What is the colour of the card? What emotion does that bring out?
    • What is the value of the card?
    • What suit is the card?
    • What name does the card have?

    You don’t need to use all of them, just whatever seems to fit best in the situation. These are usually obvious enough to get started talking and seeing what the other person reacts to, if not try another aspect of the card and so on. If you have a hard time, leave it and go on to the next card; maybe the pattern will make more sense later. As more cards are revealed so does your recipient reveal things about themselves that might be brought back to previous cards.

    You can also invoke some of the structures behind most decks with a bit of practice. For example, the four suits usually align with the four elements:

    • Cups are Water, Pentacles are Earth, Swords are Air, and Wands are Fire.
    • Cups and Pentacles are usually feminine, while Swords and Wands are masculine.
    • Placement on the table matters; you can have axes of time, positives and negatives, good and evil.
    • All cards of course also always hold their own opposites within them.
    • Sometimes The Devil is in the details. It might really be the figure in the background the card is about.
    • There’s also often a structure to the values of the cards that you can play with. I won’t get into it here, but check out the Sefiroth of Kabbalistic tradition if you’re into mathematical magic.
    • Thematic decks can also have even more layers.

    But all of that isn’t necessary to get started. Just go with an intuitive reading with a strong dose of confidence and you’re good. In addition, tarot decks often also come with a booklet that details each card, but there’s really no need to memorize or buy books on tarot. In the end, it’s all a subjective artform and not an accurate science. If you’re feeling uncertain, try imagining a situation in play and draw a couple of cards and think of how you’d make them relevant to that situation as practice before play.

    Taror cards on a colorful cloth
    Photo by MiraCosic on Pixabay.

    Role-playing Opportunities

    Once you get comfortable with the basics, you can start to add layers on top. Maybe your character has an agenda and wants to twist the reading in a certain direction? Or they’re inspired by a demonic entity that loves sex, so the cards always points towards carnality? Or a theme of the larp is lost hope, so the readings tend to be cold on comfort. You can do a lot with the framing and what you emphasize in the cards to drive play in a fun direction. But all that’s for later. For now, just go get started.

    I hope this makes it less intimidating to pick up a deck and bring it to your next larp. It’s a super fun tool to have. Or if someone else has brought their deck, don’t be afraid to ask for a reading or for them to show you how it’s done; I’ve had a ton of great play moments teaching acolytes the art of the tarot. It really is what you make of it and tarot tends to pay back big dividends for the effort put into it.

    Cover photo: Photo by Jean-Didier on Pixabay.

  • Larp Hacking

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    Larp Hacking

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    There is no right or wrong, only fun and boring

    Hackers, 1995

    When players of older characters at a Jane Austen inspired larp realise they are little more than NPCs for the younger characters, they go off piste and engineer their own romance plot. Through extremes of in-character behaviour, they force the younger characters to take on the roles of antagonists for them, thus inverting the power dynamics of the piece. This is done in a way that does not adversely affect the play of others.

    Larp hacking is when players subvert or change the design of a larp while the larp is running. At its most gentle, hacking a larp is when players find ways to push the limits of the design, or use the design of the larp in ways that the original designers did not expect. At the far end of the scale it is a revolt by players to rescue a larp from abject failure. When done for constructive reasons, subverting the design of the larp can be a useful way to improve or save an experience. Hacking a larp involves changing the overall play experience rather than simply tweaking a character. It is the output of calibration rather than gentle steering.((Steering is a conscious decision to change the character within the auspices of the design of the larp, whereas larp hacking plays with the structure. See Stenros, Jaakko. Playfulness, play, and games: A constructionist ludology approach. (2015).)) Larp hacking is called hacking because it involves changing a part of the design or structure of a larp without the designers’ involvement or consent, pushing the limits of the design, or using the design of the larp in ways that the original designers did not expect.

    How to hack a larp

    There is no single way to hack a larp, but it is useful to think about larp hacking as a three step process with little opportunity for testing and iterating.

    Step 1 – Analysis

    The approaches you take to hack will differ depending on why you’re doing it. It is more or less impossible to hack a larp successfully if you don’t understand what is not working, and why. This calls for some reflection.

    Here are some of the reasons you might need to hack:

    • The larp is not working for me
    • The larp is not working for a small group of (identified) players
    • The larp is not working for anyone
    • The larp is working, but I want to push the limits

    Imagine that a player has identified that the bulk of the larp seems to be taking place in the secure laboratory building, but as a mere janitor they are not allowed inside. The larp design imagined that there would be enough people outside of the laboratory for play to exist there as well, but for whatever reason, one player with a broom is now left sweeping up in the dark. Our imagined player is not a Turkuist,((Someone who follows the tenets of the Turku Manifesto.)) so they are not entirely happy with the situation.

    Just saying “the larp is not working for me” or “I am not enjoying myself” is not enough. “I am not enjoying this larp because I am unable to complete this particular function that the larp is supposed to offer, but does not” is better. Most constructive would be an analysis with an implicit solution: “If my character had access to the laboratory and the players there, this larp would be fun.”

    As a part of the analysis it is really useful to check in with other players. It is significantly easier to change a larp with a group. Often we’ll assume that we are the only player who is struggling, only to discover after the larp is over that we were one of many silently wishing there was someone to talk to.

    Step 2 – Design

    Larp hacking is arguably a form of larp design, except it is done by players, typically during the run-time of the larp. It uses many of the same skills and approaches as larp design. Once you understand what problem you are trying to fix, it is possible to come up with solutions. It might be possible to change part of the offgame structures of the larp. Our janitor player may, for example, create a security clearance badge to allow them passage into the lab. It may also be possible to hack from within the diegesis, e.g. by sneaking into the lab without the clearance and (when asked) state that janitors have always had access.

    Suggested approaches:

    • Creatively use or subvert the limits of the playing space. For example, climb through the air vents instead of facing the guards.
    • Introduce another element consistent with the setting, which hasn’t been used in the design. For example introducing feminism to a historical larp, which does not already have it.
    • Creatively use / subvert the rules set by the designers. For example by breaking ingame rules in ways you do not think were intended to happen.
    • Create new sub-groups or interactions between sets of players on the fly, or invent reasons for groups that are meant to compete to collaborate, if competition is blocking play. For example by creating an excuse for members of two warring factions to be trapped alone together without their weapons and work out how to escape.
    • Take the story of the larp in a direction that the designers had not considered. For example by crafting a new plotline for yourself and other players interested in getting involved.
    • Insert background material that was not in the larp from the start. For example by introducing new objects and giving them traditional or magical importance, or creating a new religion.

    Step 3 – Analysis (again)

    Your proposed hack is constrained by time, by impact, and by agency. It is like tuning the engine of a bus driving down the main road carrying 150 passengers. Stop the bus. Sit down. Think. Consider your solution carefully.

    Time

    Hacking a larp is done against the clock. The earlier in the game you are, the more likely you are to succeed. As a running experience the larp is fluid and your opportunity to implement a change tends to come with a narrow time window. Much like the fictional cyberspace cowboy trying to crack through black ICE,((Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics (ICE) is a term used in cyberpunk literature to refer to security programs which protect computerised data from being accessed by hackers. Black ICE refers to ICE that are capable of killing the intruder.)) if you leave it too long, the chance will be lost.

    Agency and Opportunity

    Your agency in-game is limited to what you can either do as your character, or what you can negotiate with players you can get hold of and get enthusiastic about your idea. You might have a great plan but if you lack the in-game agency to execute it, you need the off-game support from other players to make it happen.

    Impact

    Larp hacking is a creative use of space, but it is a shared space. Before you subvert it, consider your co-players. If the impact of your hack is significant and widespread,((See Sarah Lynne Bowman, The Larp Domino Effect)) it runs the risk of adversely affecting the experience of others. It could ruin their immersion, spoil their fun, or break their larp. Consider: Will your hack shut down play for others? Will it derail the plot? Will it break parts of the design that are working? We owe it to our fellow players to ask these questions before implementing a hack.

    Step 4 – Implementation

    You have a hack, you have thought it through, and now it is time to put it into action. Usually the method of implementation is baked into the design of the hack. In most cases it is a case of JFDI (“Just Do it.”), although sometimes the pace and timing is important. An elegant hack can be a beautiful piece of design, made all the more clever because it is done from within the larp itself.

    Conclusion

    Sometimes a larp does not work, either for us as individual players or for a number of participants. When a larp goes off-rail, it is not necessarily anybody’s fault, not the designers and not any particular players – it just happens because larps are prone to emergent chaos. For various reasons we may not want to rely on organisers to resolve these issues. Perhaps they are unable or unwilling to compromise their design. Perhaps we don’t want to discuss it with them, either through a lack of trust, or more likely because we see them as fellow larpers under an inordinate amount of pressure and choose not to burden them with our faux-world problems.

    There are plenty of strategies available for larpers when things are not working but most of these approaches are techniques that work within the structures of the larp. Sometimes that is not enough. Sometimes in order to play the game, you need to change the rules.

  • Just Breathe

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    Just Breathe

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    Feeling tired, though you have slept well, stayed hydrated and eaten? Having a hard time concentrating, but you do not want to take a rest?

    Though mindfulness is a bit of a trendy word to use right now, I find that we should learn to use mindfulness as a way to steer our own play and to be more aware of here and now. Because here and now is really more what it is about. Some of us have easier to keep our minds focused on one thing at a time, while others might feel their thoughts wander away, and then maybe not always going the positive way. Using exercises to keep one’s mind on track is a way I personally have tried at larps ever since a friend (non-larper) once asked “Isn’t larp like mindfulness all the time?”. That one curious question has followed me since then, which is also why I wanted to share this with you as a reader.

    There are many different exercises out there, and many working very different from person to person. You will probably find a difference in learning exercises in your native language compared to for example English, which is why I will encourage you to search around the web for something that will work for yourself.

    The examples of exercises I will provide here are some I have tried at larps myself. The breathing stair I personally find to be easy to use even when being among a lot of other people, and I don’t necessarily need to be still or to have to close my eyes. It’s more about being aware of your breathing than to actually have to go through with the whole exercise. Depending on the larp genre, the focus exercise is easy to put in many different situations, since you don’t actually have to go through all of your senses if you don’t want to. For example, If there’s a ritual with chanting/singing/music I find perfect to just close my eyes for a while and listen.

    Maybe reloading should be a better word than mindfulness? I have found myself feeling both more into my immersion and focused at whatever I’m doing after a quick exercise. And if I have felt that I am not in control of my own experience, I have also felt that taking that short break and allowing myself to be here and now, have helped me create a better larp for myself.

    The Breathing Stair

    If possible and if you want to, close your eyes. Imagine that you are supposed to (slowly) walk up a stair with ten steps, but you have to count your breaths while doing so. You count in “in one” and “out one”, focusing on the breathing and the counting.

    In, one
    Out, one
    In, two
    Out, two…

    When coming to the top of the stairs at ten, you can, if you want to, stop there for a while and just mentally stand on that top platform. And when you are ready, you turn and walk down, doing the same thing, but going from ten down to one.

    If you lose count anytime during the exercise, it’s fine. Instead of stopping and starting over, compliment yourself for noticing that you lost your count or focus, and just go on from the step that you think that you were on before.

    Focus

    This is about very consciously choosing what you wish to focus on with your senses. If possible, close your eyes and pause what you are doing. Try not to value any of the impressions you get. You don’t necessarily have to focus on all of the senses, and you can stop any time you want, it’s not an exercise where you have to wait or do something special to stop with it.

    Start with listening.

    What are you hearing when listening to your left? What are you hearing when listening to your right? What do you hear when listening to sounds coming from behind you? Are any sounds louder? Do you hear sounds from very nearby or from far away? Is there sounds suddenly appearing?

    Then shift your focus to what you see. The things around you. Look at one thing at a time. Are there any special colours? Reflections in the light? Any shifts in the texture of things? Then move on to focus on what you feel. Let your koncentration go through your body. How does your clothes feel against your skin? If you are sitting down, how does what you sit on feel? Can you feel the air against the skin on the top of your hands?

    And finally try to notice if there’s any special smell around where you are. How does that smell? From what? Do you recognise any of the smells?

    Bibliography

    Bernd Hesslinger, Alexandra Philipsen and Harald Richter (2016). Psykoterapi för vuxna med ADHD: En arbetsbok. Hogrefe Psykologiförlaget.

  • Scary New Things

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    Scary New Things

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    Stepping outside your comfort zone to try out something new at a larp can be scary. Whether that new thing is performing, being a leader, or playing a very touchy-feely character, it is easy to fear failure and have the whole larp ruined as a consequence.

    But playing with the same safe characters and themes can get boring. And at its best, venturing outside your comfort zone can not only be empowering and fun, it can be outright transformative (Bowman & Hugaas 2019).

    These tips aim to help you feel more secure and in control when trying out new things. They work best for where players have some control over the content of their characters and at least a few weeks to prepare before the game.

    1. Limit the amount of scary new things to one or two per larp

    Larping is often exhausting. There are so many things to remember, from character backgrounds to safety rules, that some anxiety is only to be expected — even without the addition of scary new things. If on top of this mental load you add too much at once, you run the risk of feeling completely overwhelmed even before the larp has started. Inversely, knowing you only have one or two new things to tackle helps you feel more in control.

    For example, when playing a fighter for the very first time, try to have the fighting be the only completely new thing you need to do. Don’t take on a character who also needs to hold a war council, make a public speech, and be evil, if all of these things are new to you as well.

    2. Have a safety net of familiar things to fall back on

    Doing new things at larps means having to learn how to do them, and learning happens best in the zone that just borders our comfort zone (Algayres 2019). Your comfort zone in larps is in familiar things: the characters you find easy to play and the skills you excel at. Use these as your safety net. This way you won’t have to be out of your comfort zone all the time. You can try out that scary new thing, and when you start to feel overwhelmed, you can fall back on your safety net. Even if, at the end of the larp, the scary new thing still feels scary and new, you can gain a sense of accomplishment from the things you are good at.

    For example, if being touchy-feely is outside your comfort zone, but engaging in witty banter feels very comfortable, combine the two traits in your character. That way you can fall back on being witty when touching others feels hard, and you can still feel you are playing your character well.

    3. Rehearse the scary new things before the larp

    Our characters are often experts at something we are not. Very few people are immediately good at something they have never done before and, as a consequence, doing that thing for the very first time at the larp can feel very intimidating
    — the opposite of what the character should be feeling. Rehearsing the new things beforehand can help make them feel a little more familiar. Some things can be rehearsed for real — e.g. public speaking or holding a weapon —
    but even when that is not possible, many things can be rehearsed mentally. Imagining your character doing their thing helps trick your brain into believing it is not the first time when you finally do that thing for real in the larp.

    For example, public speaking is something that is easy to rehearse before the larp, for real or through your imagination. Enlist a few friends to be your supportive and enthusiastic audience, or give a speech in-character to an imaginary audience, immersing yourself in their confidence.

    4. Ask others to support you

    We all have different things we are good at, things we find scary, and things we are trying out for the first time. Much of the competence of our characters comes from the support and lift we as players give each other. Asking for that support can feel as scary as doing the scary new thing itself because it exposes our lack of expertise. But it also takes away the pressure to be instantly perfect. Telling other people — the gamemasters, people playing your closest contacts, or friends coming to the same larp — that you are trying something new and scary makes it possible for them to support you.

    For example, when playing a character who is in charge and has to make important decisions, letting the gamemasters and other players support you takes away the pressure of having to succeed everything on your own. Find ways for the others to help you make those decisions in a way that does not undermine your character’s authority or your own sense of competence.

    There is no way around it — doing scary new things at larps is scary. The trick to doing them anyway is finding ways to maintain a sense of security and control when taking the plunge.

    Bibliography

    Muriel Algayres (2019): The Impact of Social Capital on Larp Safety. Nordic Larp. https://nordiclarp.org/2019/10/29/the-impact-of-social-capital-on-larp-safety/, ref. Jan 21st, 2020.

    Sarah Lynne Bowman & Kjell Hugaas Hedgard (2019): The Butterfly Effect Manifesto. Nordic Larp. https://nordiclarp.org/2019/08/20/the-butterfly-effect-manifesto/, ref. Jan 21st, 2020.

  • Building a Fail-Safe

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    Building a Fail-Safe

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    This is a tool to give yourself a place to rest but do so in character rather than leave the game. You can use this tool if you are going to a game where your character will take you out of your comfort zone or you will portray a heavy theme. This tool works for both prewritten and self-written characters.

    A fail-safe in the context of larp can be anything from a state of mind to a physical placement to a method where you can balance the intensity of your game. It’s a means to allow you to stay ingame at times when you are stressed and otherwise might need to go off game. To boil it down, it is about creating room for you while you explore the embodiment of your character.

    Questions to ask yourself:

    • What do you need to relax?
    • What helps you become centered?
    • What does your physical and mental safe space look like?
      • Is it introspective or extrospective?
      • Is it shared or alone?
    • What do you need in situations where you are under pressure?
      • Solitude or company?
      • Guidance or to lead or control?
      • Structure or freedom?

    Identifying Your Fail-Safes

    Here you find the five core personality types known as OCEAN, which is an abbreviation of the five core traits openness, conscientious, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. We are seldom purely one of these types, but we can still use OCEAN to build an understanding of what kinds of spaces and fail safes we can design our game experience around.

    Personality type Type of space Possible fail-safes
    Open

    You are very creative and open to trying new things. You focus on tackling new challenges and are happy to think about abstract concepts.

    		 Social Gravitate towards close relationships where one can share experiences, be it with one carefully selected character/player or in a wider context e.g. where gossip is shared. If you cope well with a distraction (this requires knowledge about what you want/need to avoid) this is an option too.
    Conscientious

    You spend time preparing and are good at finishing important tasks first. You pay attention to detail and enjoy having a set schedule.

    		 Controlled Go into relations or scenes that have been negotiated. Focus on making sure you have agency in your relations, i.e. avoid relations where you are dependent on the other players to initiate play. You can also gravitate towards a location when you need to “touch base” with yourself or your group.
    Extravert

    You enjoy meeting new people and feel energized when you are around people. You may talk before you think. You enjoy being the center of attention, to start conversations and include others.

    		 Public Thriving in very social and public spaces, you might have a need to go all in and take center stage, be it a literal stage or in dramatic scenes. Being extravert you might also have a need for the opposite: solitude or extra calm places/mindsets. A close (intense)
    — not necessarily romantic — relation can be a good place to rest.
    Agreeable

    You have a great deal of interest in other people and care about others. You strongly feel concern and empathy. You enjoy helping, contributing and assisting others.

    		 Contemplative As you might tend to be a people-pleaser, make sure you create fail-safes that give you time to reflect on whether or not it’s your needs that are met or your need to accommodate others. You might find enjoyment in having characters that support others — this can be a safe space too.
    Neurotic

    You worry about many things and you find yourself getting stressed quicker than others. You can experience dramatic shifts in moods. It can take you a while to bounce back from a stressful event.

    		 Familiar Make sure you have players around you who know you. They can help you stay grounded. Ahead of the game, you should start deciding on physical places you can gravitate towards. If you relax well in contemplation, create fail-safes where you write letters, draw, or read. If contemplation makes you anxious, close relations with whom you can share your (ingame) feelings can help you relax.

    The chart offers an overview of the five personality types, what type of space they tend to gravitate towards, and ideas for fail-safes. Use the questions above to start the process of figuring out what safety is for you. Here are a couple of examples.

    Example 1 — offgame personality

    A player who wants to push their boundaries and play an extraverted character when they are far from one themselves. To accommodate their offgame personality and allow for them to stay in the game the character is designed around several different ways to be at center stage without being in the spotlight. This could be by: always introducing and including new people into conversations (open chair policy). Often seek out new conversation partners and get them to talk by showing deep interest in them. Rarely talk about themselves. And when needed, they could re-treat into a broody and closed mental space alone amidst it all. All these are ways of being deflective: Being in focus but not with attention on them.

    Example 2 — offgame energy management

    A character at a historic larp has two major themes 1) war trauma, violent, public outbursts of PTSD and 2) homosexuality in an era where this is punishable by death. Both themes have the potential to be extraordinarily heavy and the player is afraid they will end up spending more energy on this portrayal than they have or want to. To balance this out the player put the two themes on each end of a scale, where at each end the intensity are a volatile trauma and overt gayness.

    War trauma
    Volatile    		 ↔ Homosexuality
    Gayness

    This allows the player to balance one heavy theme by playing on the other and vice versa, creating room for both in their game experience. Ingame this scale functions as a coping method with two very different life circumstances.

  • Rituals of Being

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    Rituals of Being

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    Routines and rituals define much of our lives. A routine, or an everyday ritual, is a reiterated, habitual or mechanical way of behaving. Regardless of whether you’re going to a larp with an everyday or an extraordinary storyline, they can be used as a tool to get a feel of your character before the game and to get or stay in tune with them during the game. Routines can serve several purposes:

    • Structuring an (ingame) day
    • Structuring the entirety of the larp
    • Strengthening the feeling of everyday, or alternatively,
    • Strengthening the feeling of an abnormal day when broken

    When you follow or break your rituals you can steer your experience towards the vision of the game or the game you want. If you have shared your routines with your co-players ahead of the game, they will know what you’re doing and be able to play into it too.

    To start forming routines, here are some questions:

    Situations Questions
    Waking up When and how does the character get out of bed?
    Morning routine What do they do before they start their day?
    Mealtimes How do they eat their meals? Are they different from each other – in what ways?
    Personal grooming What do they do before going to bed?
    Bedtime routine How do they get into bed?
    Ways around co-workers/formal relations What does a normal work/activity day consist of?
    Leisure time activities What do breaks from everyday activity look like? What would disrupt/ruin their routine?
    Ways around friends
    Ways around family / Alone time    		 How do they prefer to spend time with close relations/
    family? Do they like doing this at all?

    Example 1: Laura the Maid-of-all-work at Fairweather Manor

    In a game designed around work-related activities, the routines of everyday work may come to mind first, but your character will still have their own personal routines. The maid-of-all-work wakes up all other servants, but she gets up even earlier to savour the moment when she has the manor to herself. She spends that time sitting on the big staircase reading. She skips down the hallways knocking on doors — because no one is up to tell her not to do so. Then she goes down to the servants hall to first turn on the coffee and tea pots and she starts the cleaning of the servants quarters. She hums when she works. Her short and sporadic breaks are spent walking outside dreaming of dancing at a ball, and if she has the time she will write a letter home to the family on the farm.

    Example 2: Badger of the Machine Dogs at Blodsband Reloaded

    Badger wakes up and puts on the clothes and makeup that are specific to the Machine Dogs, a band of engine worshipping road warriors in a post apocalyptic world. She grabs coffee and finds a quiet spot in the sun, angrily staring at everyone before the coffee soothes her mood. Badger needs her coffee and the rest of the group knows to stay away. The rest of the meals are different, eaten while lounging on top of the cars. Whenever Badger has downtime or a quiet spot, she returns to the cars, half asleep on the hood she can feel connected to the engine — and her player can reconnect to the character´s core. Badger doesn’t have a need for personal space, so whenever she sits with other dogs, she’s always touching or sitting close to them.