3 ms·

A Weekend at the Immersion Larp Festival

69 points by adrianhon 2y ago

JaumeGreen 2y ago
Really interesting kind of live roleplaying, never knew it could get so serious. Is there any similar view on sword and sorcery larp scene? One of my projects wants to drink from that, but I have little real knowledge about it and wouldn't like to disrespect larping.
- ratlrrr 2y ago
  Personally, I never got into the art of LARP, even though TTRPGs took me hostage in the '90s, the first time around when I took hold of a box of Cyberpunk 2020, and the Stockholm syndrome never faded, because designing, running, and playing long-form campaigns is one happy sanctuary. That branched out to computer games, but let's not digress. We had Vampire LARPS in Finland from way back in the early 2000's and possibly earlier than that, but i only played in the tabletop with some people who on the side were keen on boffering battles and the political campaigning pertaining to the World of Darkness. > Is there any similar view on sword and sorcery larp scene? One of my projects wants to drink from that, but I have little real knowledge about it and wouldn't like to disrespect larping. If you can elaborate on this, i could maybe give more substantial advice, but personally, i’ve seen most fantasy LARPers take it to the streets and wilderness, and even our backyard, although it was rare that i would run into a group when taking the dog out or out hiking. Only the most bohemian of gatekeepers would take offense at your approach to the hobby.
  - JaumeGreen 2y ago
    If anyone likes the idea feel free to steal it. One of the projects I have on my endless things to do is to create a computer RPG (maybe dabbling in the action RPG genre) in where the characters are dressed up and playing in a LARP. Weapons are foam weapons. Confetti or water balloons for area effect spells, serpentine or other similar effects for line attacks, ... . NPCs are also people dressed, and maybe some cardboard cutouts for goblins, kids, and other things that could be big in numbers or shouldn't take part in a larp. I don't know what things go in the back, such as, should some NPCs just be GMs doing the rolls and acting on the scenery? It probably would be easier to make it straight, but it would be less "fun".
    - ratlrrr 2y ago
      Cool, that has a nice ring to it. Also, please don't sell your work short in the opening sentence :-P. So, maybe i'll take a prod at that myself if you take a crack at it somewhere down the line, to tell how serious you are about executing on each piece in that project.
    - mathteddybear 2y ago
      You could make it a dating sim. Less drama than in the "Wild Hunt" movie, please. Generally speaking, we have all kind of LARPs in the sword-and-sorcery scene - battle LARPS - no story, just hit the participants belonging to the other faction, preferably in formations. This ranges from smug reenactment-quality groups, like Warhammer Fantasy fans in Europe, to groups that retain fantasy-themed clothing the way sports such as tennis have a specific proper attire, like Belegarth society in USA. - (story-rich) LARPS - these originated with to "let's play D&D but in real life" and some of them even kept the trappings of the original, such as "levels" or "character classes"; some of them drop most of the gamey aspects, becoming more or less like those "chamber" LARPs mentioned by the OP (only in a fantasy setting; though, a Dune LARP could be a thinly-veiled middle-east, for all I know)
      - ratlrrr 2y ago
        The logistics in the designs surrounding games of any substantial proportions must be hellish to coordinate with the playmaking's unpredictability. More construction companies should take it upon themselves to start looking into erecting things like what those Warhammer dudes were enacting in one video i mulled over. Establish some crude barracks, keeps, bastions, and whatever else a play site could sustain. Gather a crew with cameras, editors, and a designer or two, then put some attendees on the grounds, and you’ve got yourselves the trappings of an amateur production going in no time.
    - throwup238 2y ago
      That sounds a lot like South Park: The Stick of Truth.
      - 2y ago
- adrianhon 2y ago
  Author here! Lizzie Stark's Leaving Mundania (2012) is a good introduction to more mainstream American larping. There's also Michael Cramer's Medieval Fantasy as Performance (2009) about the Society for Creative Anachronism, which isn't larping but shares many characteristics.
saargrin 2y ago
[flagged]
- aredox 2y ago
  If they roleplayed the Israeli side (and no, not "Jewish", those are not the same thing, all Jews are not stand-ins for Israel, thank you), someone like you would have dunked that they "spoke in their place"/"stole their voice" and had no legitimacy to do so. (Oh, by the way, any indication that nobody roleplayed the Israeli side? Or are you just taking offense from supputations about something you know little about? Talk about "dunking" on "apriori"...)
  - saargrin 2y ago
    im going by the text of the article you're welcome to present a better source
  - sgift 2y ago
    > Oh, by the way, any indication that nobody roleplayed the Israeli side? The description implies that nobody did: > Seaside Prison is a Palestinian-Finnish-Norwegian larp that deals with the siege of Gaza trough an alternative reality setting where the situation on Åland Islands resembles that of real world Gaza. Two ordinary families live as neighbours in Marienhamn. Their family drama and wedding preparations are interrupted by bombings in which some of the family members are killed. (Copied from: https://www.nordicrpg.fi/immersion/programme/#seaside https://www.nordicrpg.fi/immersion/programme/#seaside
  - saargrin 2y ago
    all jews are not stand ins for israel, which is why there have been tens of terror attacks on non-israel related jewish community centres/religious facilities and so on in the past month ,right? so as preventative measure for "someone like me" complaining , your suggestion is to deny one of the sides in the conflict a voice completely? fair and balanced, arent you .
- cultofmetatron 2y ago
  One of the most damaging things israel has done (aside from killing entire school districts worth of children) has been the disastrous PR the jewish community. Israelis basically go out of their way to tell everyone that they represent the will of all jews and will attack jews who object to this war. I know several jews personally who are horrified by whats going on in gaza including a few who are afraid to speak out because of the way more outspoken members of their community are being targeted. One I know was banned from a jewish reddit he frequented because he had the nerve to point out that palestinians used the watermelon because they were not allowed to display their flag. But to also point out, nettenyahu himself funded Hamas's campaign so that they'd win against the PLO because nettenyahu himself is a staunch authoritarian and relies on the existential threat posed by israel's enemies in order to secure his power. Its a matter of record now that egypt had intel about the impending oct 7 attacks and warned Israel ahead of time only to have nettenyahu sit on that info and do nothing. But what do I know, I'll probably be flagged for this post anyway.

69 points by adrianhon 2y ago

Really interesting kind of live roleplaying, never knew it could get so serious. Is there any similar view on sword and sorcery larp scene? One of my projects wants to drink from that, but I have little real knowledge about it and wouldn't like to disrespect larping.

ratlrrr 2y ago
Personally, I never got into the art of LARP, even though TTRPGs took me hostage in the '90s, the first time around when I took hold of a box of Cyberpunk 2020, and the Stockholm syndrome never faded, because designing, running, and playing long-form campaigns is one happy sanctuary. That branched out to computer games, but let's not digress. We had Vampire LARPS in Finland from way back in the early 2000's and possibly earlier than that, but i only played in the tabletop with some people who on the side were keen on boffering battles and the political campaigning pertaining to the World of Darkness. > Is there any similar view on sword and sorcery larp scene? One of my projects wants to drink from that, but I have little real knowledge about it and wouldn't like to disrespect larping. If you can elaborate on this, i could maybe give more substantial advice, but personally, i’ve seen most fantasy LARPers take it to the streets and wilderness, and even our backyard, although it was rare that i would run into a group when taking the dog out or out hiking. Only the most bohemian of gatekeepers would take offense at your approach to the hobby.
- JaumeGreen 2y ago
  If anyone likes the idea feel free to steal it. One of the projects I have on my endless things to do is to create a computer RPG (maybe dabbling in the action RPG genre) in where the characters are dressed up and playing in a LARP. Weapons are foam weapons. Confetti or water balloons for area effect spells, serpentine or other similar effects for line attacks, ... . NPCs are also people dressed, and maybe some cardboard cutouts for goblins, kids, and other things that could be big in numbers or shouldn't take part in a larp. I don't know what things go in the back, such as, should some NPCs just be GMs doing the rolls and acting on the scenery? It probably would be easier to make it straight, but it would be less "fun".
  - ratlrrr 2y ago
    Cool, that has a nice ring to it. Also, please don't sell your work short in the opening sentence :-P. So, maybe i'll take a prod at that myself if you take a crack at it somewhere down the line, to tell how serious you are about executing on each piece in that project.
  - mathteddybear 2y ago
    You could make it a dating sim. Less drama than in the "Wild Hunt" movie, please. Generally speaking, we have all kind of LARPs in the sword-and-sorcery scene - battle LARPS - no story, just hit the participants belonging to the other faction, preferably in formations. This ranges from smug reenactment-quality groups, like Warhammer Fantasy fans in Europe, to groups that retain fantasy-themed clothing the way sports such as tennis have a specific proper attire, like Belegarth society in USA. - (story-rich) LARPS - these originated with to "let's play D&D but in real life" and some of them even kept the trappings of the original, such as "levels" or "character classes"; some of them drop most of the gamey aspects, becoming more or less like those "chamber" LARPs mentioned by the OP (only in a fantasy setting; though, a Dune LARP could be a thinly-veiled middle-east, for all I know)
    - ratlrrr 2y ago
      The logistics in the designs surrounding games of any substantial proportions must be hellish to coordinate with the playmaking's unpredictability. More construction companies should take it upon themselves to start looking into erecting things like what those Warhammer dudes were enacting in one video i mulled over. Establish some crude barracks, keeps, bastions, and whatever else a play site could sustain. Gather a crew with cameras, editors, and a designer or two, then put some attendees on the grounds, and you’ve got yourselves the trappings of an amateur production going in no time.
  - throwup238 2y ago
    That sounds a lot like South Park: The Stick of Truth.
    - 2y ago
adrianhon 2y ago
Author here! Lizzie Stark's Leaving Mundania (2012) is a good introduction to more mainstream American larping. There's also Michael Cramer's Medieval Fantasy as Performance (2009) about the Society for Creative Anachronism, which isn't larping but shares many characteristics.

saargrin 2y ago

[flagged]

aredox 2y ago
If they roleplayed the Israeli side (and no, not "Jewish", those are not the same thing, all Jews are not stand-ins for Israel, thank you), someone like you would have dunked that they "spoke in their place"/"stole their voice" and had no legitimacy to do so. (Oh, by the way, any indication that nobody roleplayed the Israeli side? Or are you just taking offense from supputations about something you know little about? Talk about "dunking" on "apriori"...)
- saargrin 2y ago
  im going by the text of the article you're welcome to present a better source
- sgift 2y ago
  > Oh, by the way, any indication that nobody roleplayed the Israeli side? The description implies that nobody did: > Seaside Prison is a Palestinian-Finnish-Norwegian larp that deals with the siege of Gaza trough an alternative reality setting where the situation on Åland Islands resembles that of real world Gaza. Two ordinary families live as neighbours in Marienhamn. Their family drama and wedding preparations are interrupted by bombings in which some of the family members are killed. (Copied from: https://www.nordicrpg.fi/immersion/programme/#seaside https://www.nordicrpg.fi/immersion/programme/#seaside
- saargrin 2y ago
  all jews are not stand ins for israel, which is why there have been tens of terror attacks on non-israel related jewish community centres/religious facilities and so on in the past month ,right? so as preventative measure for "someone like me" complaining , your suggestion is to deny one of the sides in the conflict a voice completely? fair and balanced, arent you .
cultofmetatron 2y ago
One of the most damaging things israel has done (aside from killing entire school districts worth of children) has been the disastrous PR the jewish community. Israelis basically go out of their way to tell everyone that they represent the will of all jews and will attack jews who object to this war. I know several jews personally who are horrified by whats going on in gaza including a few who are afraid to speak out because of the way more outspoken members of their community are being targeted. One I know was banned from a jewish reddit he frequented because he had the nerve to point out that palestinians used the watermelon because they were not allowed to display their flag. But to also point out, nettenyahu himself funded Hamas's campaign so that they'd win against the PLO because nettenyahu himself is a staunch authoritarian and relies on the existential threat posed by israel's enemies in order to secure his power. Its a matter of record now that egypt had intel about the impending oct 7 attacks and warned Israel ahead of time only to have nettenyahu sit on that info and do nothing. But what do I know, I'll probably be flagged for this post anyway.