PLAYSTYLE

What will the organization provide?
We aim to create an immersive environment (venue, decoration, partial costumes provided and a few crafts).

For things like using magic or fighting, we will rely on workshops to establish common tools and play each other up.

Foam swords will be used. Every fight must be slow and theatrical, the fights are collaborative and not based on players' skills or on any kind of rules.

Templars won’t be in armors and won’t carry shields, for a number of reasons: 1. It’s easier to create visual coherence without it. 2. For most of the larp, it doesn’t make sense for characters to be in armor and carrying a shield, especially inside the tower. 3. This sort of equipment is both pricy and hard to travel with, and we want the larp to stay as accessible as possible.

There won’t be any special effects for magic, or any grand scene involving dragons and big rituals.

However, there will be very little verbal description of scenes; most of the time, what you see is what you get, outside of a few mechanics that you can find in the Game structure - all of them will happen behind closed doors and outside of the larp’s present time.

At all times, players’ well-being is more important than immersion.

Organizers’ intervention

As organizers, we aim to provide:

- the setting, the lore documents and the character sheets,

- the venue and our efforts to make the larp immersive,

- safety mechanics, a safety person and a safe room,

- a game structure (see Game structure for more info),

- a mild control over some of the powerful characters’ decision making process, with the intention of respecting the Game Structure and adjusting the pace of the larp,

- minor outside interventions for some characters (letters, spirits and demons, afflictions…) that can be ignored if you don’t like it,

- guidance for anyone who needs it and openness to change or create stories (with every involved player’s consent).

Reminder
The team is not making any money from organizing this larp and doesn’t want to. While it is normal to have expectations and to want to have a good experience, we ask that you keep in mind that the team is 100% made of volunteers doing this out of passion. Please stay kind with the team even if you are disappointed. A consumerist mentality, for example going “I paid, so I get to be as unpleasant as I want” will not be tolerated.

Slow play and pacing

This larp is not packed with constant action. You won’t always have something to do, especially as the rules become harsher and the walls start to feel like those of a prison. It’s part of the larp’s themes and you should accept to be bored from time to time (unless your character decides to fill these moments with small acts of rebellion, of course).
If that’s your thing, bring a journal to the larp and write in it during these moments. Play, or pretend to play, with dice or cards. Take a book, pretend you’re reading while you listen to the templars chit chat. Exchange tense glances with your nemesis. Fall on a sofa and complain loudly about being bored. Pray in front of the altar and guilt trip everyone else for not praying enough.

One of the larp’s key elements is routine: every day will look the same, with only small changes (see Routine). That routine will occasionally get interrupted by events planned by the organization or by players’ scenes, but it should mostly be a slow escalation.

We ask that you respect that slow escalation as much as you can. We will give you guidance during the workshops and through the larp so that we collectively try to achieve it.

Last night: the Circle’s Annulment

The end of the larp is set in stone. The Circle’s Annulment will be decided by the Knight Commander, no matter what happens. Most of the characters will die, no matter what happens. You accept this if you sign up to this larp. To know more about this, see The last night.

How does calibration go, then ?

If you don’t have a preference regarding the level of transparency, it is best to ask your co-player which level of transparency they wish to experience and to adapt to their preference. You are allowed to say you prefer secrecy.
But if you need transparency to enjoy the larp or the scene, or to experience a relationship in a safe way, you have priority and your co-player has to agree to fully transparent calibration. Again, outside of private and group calibration, it is asked that you stay discreet about the characters’ secrets, for example when mingling off game before the larp.

Players will also have access to a schedule of the larp with tabs showing different levels of transparency, from “low intensity / high intensity moment” to “a description of what might happen at that time”. Players are free to decide how informed they want to be.

You may come to the team at any time, before and during the larp, to ask for more information on any part of the plot. It will always be welcomed.

What is “nordic style” about your larp ?

While we don’t feel the need to make this larp fit perfectly into a box, some of the Nordic larp’s characteristics are at the heart of our vision:

A strong emphasis on collaboration and collective creation,
Unobtrusive rules.

We would like for our players to keep that in mind and to try to work in the direction of collective creation, even if they are not familiar with Nordic larps yet.

Meaning it is important for players to try to:

Play to lift their co-players,
Play generously, share the attention and the plot,
Not turn the larp into a competition of any kind,
Watch out for other players’ emotional safety and for their personal emotional safety.

This is an ideal to reach for as best as we can, so please stay kind to yourself and don’t put pressure on yourself or your co-players.

What is “semi transparent” for you ?

This larp has pre-written character sheets. All players can access all character sheets and can decide to read them or not.

On this larp, priority will always be given to players who prefer transparency.

STILL, it is asked of all players to stay sensitive and not let secrets out, especially other characters’ secrets, without good reason. Good reasons are calibration and safety.