The Old School

	...you take a world... A step-by-step method for larp-making In the abundance of larp-theory there is relatively few texts that give practical tips on how to create a larp. It is usually assumed that the reader is a larper and that he/she already has organised a larp. In this situation you run the risk of getting a number of freshman organisers with no knowledge of all kinds of theories and manifests. These will walk straight into the pitfalls already fallen into by experienced organisers, the errors are repeated and these (new) organisers spend just as much time and effort overcoming them as those before them did. The following is based upon experiences made by myself and many others through larp-organising for more than ten years. It is my hope that by publishing this, new organisers can avoid repeating the mistakes of the past and in stead using their creative and practical energy to improve larp. The approach below is - granted - largely based upon experience with fantasy/medieval-larps, but it is written to make it possible to create larp in any genre with the method. Larp-makers with artistic ambitions can also benefit from the method by simply discarding elements they find limiting to the vision or ambition they have in using larp as their medium. Keep in mind that both authors of pulp fiction as well as authors of surreal novels utilise many of the same methods in their creative process. As with most things published on the 'Net, this document will have a dynamic life; I welcome pointers and suggestions for additions and alterations, so the text gradually can become an all-encompassing approach for larp-makers. Both the ones reading this and using it for their first larp, as well as 'grumpy old men' that larped in the '80s are hereby encouraged to comment! Please note that this is primarily a method concerning the creative process of the organisers. Practical methods and methods for players are covered by documents elsewhere in Morigel. Even so, the text can still be useful for those that only want to play, because it is smart to know the frame of mind of the organisers when you get your character and you start working on it.
	The Idea - The Real Estate Most larps start their lives as an idea in a bright mind. Someone gets the idea, tells it to others, and they get new ideas based upon the first one, and pretty soon you have a set of ideas and a group of people who thought them out. Inspirations for these ideas can come from anywhere and in principal contain anything. The ideas can be a vision of an event, they can be a speculation as to how a philosophical concept really works, they can be a desire to see ones friends in a fun/embarrassing/intense situation, they can be a dystopia of our own times or our own world, or they can be a question; What happens if I place 11 persons in a dark room and tell them they are blind? You should not restrain yourself with regards to what ideas one could imagine translated into a larp (or more). Restraining the free flow of ideas in conception of the larp is not smart, as you may miss out on many good things. So a good way to start can be as such: One person gets an idea and tells it to five friends that he knows are creative/practical enough to organise a larp. He then asks them to come to a workshop of ideas in a relaxed atmosphere (i.e. a picnic, barbecue-night or whatever you prefer) The point is that you find a way of meeting that is a proven and fertile ground for lots of creativity. Now the fun begins! This workshop should be a limitless exploration of possibilities and random notions. The one thing to keep in mind is that someone remains levelheaded enough to take notes and preserve the ideas. Do the workshop of ideas until all brains feel like squished raisins and then go home. The ideas can be manifold; World-encompassing, a small 'snippet' for an event, an object with certain qualities, a society on the brink of ruin or a society on the brink of greatness - and last but not least - ideas for types, characters - ideas for roles. A few days later the same people get together again, this time for axing. Now starts the complex work of puzzling together the pieces that work together, and discarding the ones that do not fit the overall Image. In doing this, on should be prepared for babycide, i.e. kill your babies. The Great Idea that someone had that is discarded, does not die, it just crawls back into the persons head, to be reborn as the defining element of a different larp. So how do you do this? Start with rejecting the ideas that stands out as the ones that are too extreme. Then look at ideas that stand out as possible mainframes for entire larps. Gradually you will be able to puzzle the large and small ideas to fit with these 'mainframes' and create a set of ideas that work well together. Now comes the hard part: Cut away about 1/3 of the ideas you are left with. Be heavy-.handed in this, so that you simplify the basic set of ideas and even remove some of the ideas you find to be SUPERIOR. Again - in short; Kill your babies! It turns out that larps overflowing with ideas - however well, will be chaotic. Half the great ideas will drown in an ocean of merely good ideas. Once this reduced set of ideas is ready, you have created a good foundation for the larp. You have made a plot of land for the larp, but it lacks two VITAL elements: No one knows where it lies, and no one know when there is a house built there. In other words: The next step is to find a place for the larp and a time for the larp. Take your time in finding the best place, this will pay of for the larp as a whole.
	The World - The Outer walls A world that is to be used for larping needs a few basic elements. These elements can however be kept secret to the players, in such a way that what the players - and thus the characters - perceive as 'real' is not necessarily what is real. The world is the organisers' main tool for ensuring that the larp becomes what they want it to be. It is important that the organisers think through both the small and the large elements, but at the same time they should be prepared to make adjustments along the way so the world works for the players. The world is the organisers Great Secret, a secret they will do wise in making the players feel they know through and through, when the organisers still keep secret the truth. It is a different balancing act, but one the organisers need to master for the world to work for the game. Whether or not the world is logical, adherent to known laws of nature and physics and holistically made is virtually insignificant, as long as it is possible to give characters and thus players plausible explanations to events and elements within the world. Even if the organisers should give the characters/players explanations for what the stars are, what makes the seasons change, how magic works and so on, it is irrelevant whether this is 'real' or not, as long as it is coherent to the players. Inner consistency in the world is important. What does a world need then? Principally you need a number of areas inhabited by human beings. Even if you in traditional fantasy-worlds or any other kind of world can meet and even play other creatures (elves, orcs, blobs etc.), the basic population must be human. Players can more easily relate to humans. But, having players play different creatures and thus transfer them to a completely different reality may be a desired challenged. Doing this is possible, but puts great demands upon players and organisers. The humans in the world should have a racially common perception of themselves. I.e. they should be able to relate to one another on a fairly common ground. This boils down to everyone having the same basic needs for food, shelter and warmth. The humans in the world should have the same needs in these areas, but of course with cultural and social differences that lends dynamics to the game. Some may fulfil their needs through living a simple and almost ascetic nomadic life, whilst others live in complex city-states with different classes and castes. It is in relation to this framework that the forces influencing the world from the outside must be defined. In other words: This is where the gods belong. Even if the organisers imagines and creates gods for the characters to believe in, there will always be a group of gods superior to these: The Organisers. The Effective divine hierarchy is dual; The Organisers and The Gods of the World. The Inner divine Hierarchy is singular and consists only of the gods perceived by the characters. In a world devoid of gods or similar forces, there is only one set of gods; The Organisers. I emphasise this because the organisers will have to have a divine and omnipotent control of their larp-world, simply because they are the only ones that can/should say what is possible within the world. BUT: The players must be allowed to influence the world to a greater or lesser extent through other channels than simply playing, I'm thinking of additional texts supplied by them, imagined functions for an object and various other kinds of contributions. Keep in mind that with the concept of 'gods' (or anything equivalent to gods) there follows an entire mythology, an entire physical or metaphysical reality. This means that it is not enough to name two or three gods and assigning wide 'areas of influence' for them. One should also imagine and create ways for the mythology to work. This mythology can be populated with all kinds of creatures, described with legends, contain levels of existence (heaven & hell) and give the characters everyday things to relate to (e.g. "Do not pee in the grass, The Little Ones will get you!"). Animals and plants in the real world must also be part of this imagined world, possibly with other names and functions. If you for instance choose to call 'owl' a 'napkin', you need to present this creature to the players in such a way that they understand that this is an owl, but that it is called a napkin and that the napkin flies through the woods and hoots out announcements of death and despair. A world/universe thus consists of geography, physics/mythology and of physics/chemistry/biology and so on. But 'toying' with these concepts, to create distortions in some way, or to create a framework completely different from anything from the past or present is a perfectly ok base for a larp, as long as the organisers are sure they understand the framework to a certain extent. As mentioned elsewhere, none of these things exist as concretes before the moment the larp starts, but at that moment everything should be firm and concrete.
	The Milieu - The Inner Walls This is a fairly simple choice made by the organisers: What kind of surrounding milieu should the larp have? This may be about defining climatic conditions, about defining the world as dark and dry or bright and damp etc. It may also be about defining what kind of flora, fauna etc. exists. The important thing is to make it possible to host games in this fictitious world, i.e. making it possible to use existing environments in our own world as models for the imagined world without having to resort to costly atmospheric alterations, Olympic Games-class building projects or terrain-shaping in Tunguska-style. The Nordic (or anywhere else) climate limits this to some extent, but it is ok to stage a game during a Nordic summer in a sand-pit and claiming it takes place at winter in a desert-region. The Milieu should extend beyond the area the game is set in. Many of the characters played within the milieu may have their origins outside it in different milieus, but these milieus still need to be milieus the player can relate to. Presenting most Scandinavians with an environment that most of all resembles a Brazilian rain forest or Rumanian sewers can pose a challenge. Extreme milieus (i.e. milieus not necessarily considered possible for play, but still defined in the imagined world) must thus be known to the players. If you have a player familiar with the aforementioned rainforests or sewers, he or she is a useful source of information about these and also the closes to play characters that know these milieus. In this way exotic milieus can still be considered part of the world. BUT: Larping is about making a fictitious environment, largely deviating from or own, credible. Keep in mind though that we are capable of imagining quite a lot, including different environments. Use your imagination freely to describe exotic and weird milieus and make inspired attempts at using them for larp. A good description, with well though-out milieus, may work and give you an exceptional experience. Detailed worlds and milieus may make the larp better, but also worse. Endless listings of cities, including naming half the population may work in contrary to the intentions. Even so, many players are able to pick up on details in milieus and worlds and use them in the game. The objective is to balance this, but it is not so that there can be too much of a good thing! Especially to creators and players of serial larps will find detailed worlds and milieus a real boon! These details will function as bottomless wells of inspired ideas to be used in ever-newer games. As an organiser one should though be aware of the fact that many players may have little regard for the many details, but this does not matter, as long as they know what the character needs to know. The message is: The energy spent making a fictitious reality is never wasted, no matter what you create!
	Society - The rooms This is the bit that applies to the local society that surrounds the playing area and the society that this area is a part of. In this level, things have to be specified and thorough, and this is where the need for static logic, throughout all the larps the society is used for, is the greatest. This is where the organisers should make the greatest effort, because this is where environment most players will have the energy and interest to relate to. Changes may occur during games, but these must be based upon what was there prior to the change - i.e. do not make changes that can affect what has been. Whilst everything surrounding the society can be relatively fluent, the society in which the larp takes place should be solid and constant from the moment the characters are firmly laid down in an agreement between organisers and players, and AT LEAST from the moment the game starts. If there is no coherency between the various descriptions and notions of the society of the game as presented to the players, one risk bad misunderstandings that may ruin the game. The limits of the society is roughly the same as the physical limits to the game, in so much as everything going on outside these limits has to remain abstract. It is only when elements becomes concrete within the physical limits that all the social framework surrounding the element also solidifies. Example: During Arcadia's game "Vingeslag" ("Stroke of Wings") A group of foreign soldiers advancing slowly upon the limits of the game remained abstract, until we who played these soldiers were massed just outside the gaming area and moved in. The organisers knew we were coming, some of the characters and some of the players may have suspected that we were coming, but we were not concrete. The moment we stepped into the gaming area we became concrete; we became 'real' in the larp. Emerging from the physical space of the larp, its 'reality', are a number of threads tied to points that need to be solid. These threads are those descriptions and notions players and characters has of the characters past and the places he or she comes from. Sometimes these threads will be tied to different characters, but the same external point. If this is the case, it is very important to give all characters the same description, but not necessarily the same perception of these areas. Also keep in mind that what surrounds these points are fluent and remains so until they are defined in someone's character or in other documents. Example: A beggar from the city of Borondas will know this place as a "hellish place under the iron-boot of the city guards", whilst the mayor of the same place will know it as "a tidy city where law and order prevails".
	The action - the interior During the course of a larp, organisers should keep track of the action. They should plan special events and find proper times to stage these. The organisers should however not make these events completely dependant upon certain things being done by the players, instead they should try to plan events that are relatively independent from the character, but still able to influence characters and groups of characters. Once again, however, there may be cases where the opposite is correct: The organisers have a conscious notion of the larp having a certain course of events, or that certain characters perform certain acts. In this case organisers must announce this beforehand, so that everyone involved is aware that the organisers heavily control the larp. A third option is that the organisers plan the events to happen according to the ways players interpret their characters. If this is the organisers' ambition, they should not plan any kind of staged event - with exception of those happening as a direct consequence of characters acts. To understand a bit more of what I'm talking about, I suggest you study text concerning Narrative larps and Fate-Play. It is difficult to decide upon the right degree of organisers' intervention in a game. Sometimes organisers has to physically remove certain characters from the game for a while, so the organisers can give them important guidelines to acts they are about to do. Other times just a small hint is enough. Organisers determine their own degree of control, but they should base it upon a number of conditions: Do potential players at our larps desire strict guidelines for the action? Do we want to tell ONE single story, or do we want to give the premises for a story, and let the players tell it through their acts? Do we want to be part of the larp's story ourselves, or are we happy with being completely on the outside, after having laid down the basis for the action? What do we really want with the game? The organisers should thinks these issues through and base their answers upon the basic idea that made them start working on the game in the first place. Some times players in a game that on the outset is completely 'free' come to the organisers before the game starts or during it, asking for guidelines. If this happens, organisers should consider carefully how much they want to 'steer' this player or this character in relation to the overall frame. To create action, an imperative or a motivation is needed. Players and characters need things to grab hold of that causes action. One way is giving the players specific objectives for the characters to achieve; thus creating action based upon the players/characters acts towards these objectives. Another way is to incorporate emotional tension between the characters. I for instance, two characters are told they love each other, the way the two players have their character act out this love will have caused action. A third option is building the game around an event that involves a number of or all characters. This is really only limited by your imagination, but it its important that all possible incentives for action is clearly presented to the players in advance so that the action can begin the moment the game starts. Note that the term 'action ' relates to everything the character does one his own or in relation to others. Action should not be understood as a detailed story, but as everything from the small gesture to grandiose and complex stagings. Rephrased: Action is everything the character does when he/she is not completely immovable and does nothing - even sleeping is an action, because you DO snore! Depending on the games starting point and the basic idea, it is usually a good idea to 'kick things of' with a staged event that catches the attention of all characters. This must be a visual and spectacular event and contribute in making the world, the milieu, the society and the characters real. This event is the moment the door opens, and characters inhabit the newly built house. Example: The game "Moderens Vrede" ("Wrath of the Mother") commenced with one of the organisers reading a prologue, then two SiS performed a stylised wrestling-match. As the match ended the organisers announced that the game began and that what they had just witnessed had taken place shortly before the starting moment.
	The characters - the residents When the process of writing the characters starts, the things above should be more or less ready. A game usually starts it life as an idea about a certain event or a certain scene, or simply as an idea about a usable framework. The first thing one should do is create the characters at the focus of this idea. Luckily the idea workshop the organisers did at the start will contain a number of sketches for characters, and now is the time to produce these and study them. Example: The main event at the game is a trades-fair in a medieval world. The fair is traditionally held on a plaint near the estate of landlord Are. The first characters that need to be written are thus: Are himself, his family and others living at the estate. When the personalities of the first characters, and the relations between these gets worked out, a number of conflicts and other items between them will emerge. Based on these conflicts large and small stories and events can be intertwined in the characters. Example: Are may have a rebellious young daughter - Rannveig - and she does not want to become a landlord, but rather a travelling entertainer. In these minor stories and conflicts other persons will appear. These are somehow related to the principal characters, and may be given motivations for approaching these so they can somehow resolve the conflicts. Now you may have a whole new set of characters to write. These may have close relations to the principal characters, or the principals may be more peripherally known persons to the new characters. Example: Attending the fair is the troupe of entertainers called Twigs, in which Gunnar is a member. Gunnar has previously been flirting with Rannveig. He is looking forward to seeing her again, but he does not know that Rannveig wants to elope from her family. Also attending the fair is Count Lychestein who among other things has come to collect taxes from Are - and who is Gunnars father, something that is unknown to him and to Gunnar. At this stage, brand new clusters of characters will emerge, based on the minor and major stories/conflicts in the principal characters. In this way, the characters are woven together, so that most of them are directly or indirectly connected. The characters will also become so different that it will be easy to adapt them to individual players' requests. The minor and major stories can also to varying degrees be characterised by things such as super-naturality and by events and characters controlled by the organisers. Example: A soothsayer has come to the fair by chance. Gunnar goes to him to find out exactly what Rannveig feels about him, but instead the soothsayer (with the help of an organiser) tells him that Count Lychestein is his father. The soothsayer also predicts death and despair (he would, wouldn't he? ;) ), and this is fulfilled later at night, when the fair is attacked by evil human-eating creatures… The organisers should not that with each new cluster of characters or single character, the perspective should be altered, so that the new cluster or the new character becomes the main focus. It is actually a good idea to gradually remove oneself from the primary cluster and see what happens when the focus is shifted to a different cluster. When writing a character, there are three important elements that need to be described: Personality, background story and motivation for the current game. This must be carefully considered for every character, and the organisers should do the writing together, so that every player will find that the game yields results related to the basic elements of the character. Example: The goldsmith Åsleik was robbed on the way to the fair. He has one clue as to who the disguised robbers were: a piece of red cloth torn from one of the bandits clothing. At the fair he spots three mercenaries, one of which has a read cape torn at the edge. The elements linking the characters can be as obvious as in this example, or they can be more complex. Nor is it always necessary to make it blatantly obvious which actions are needed to follow up on the conjoining elements. The whole picture can be well hidden, and require the linking of multiple elements that may seem independent of each other. Once the organisers start writing the characters, communication is vital! Have frequent writing workshops, and keep your head calm and straight, so that all information given to the various characters about the same elements is tuned correctly. Example: The organisers make a mistake in the matter of the torn cape. The mercenary carrying it is told that the cape was torn on a rusty nail, but a tailor at the fair will be capable of establishing that the material in the piece Åsleik has and the cape matches exactly. The stories don't match, and those involved get an impossible dilemma because the organisers overlooked this detail. Extensive usage of computers and constant crosschecking of characters is in important to avoid discrepancies such as this one. One easy way to avoid this is of course to minimise the connections between clusters and characters, but then you loose many opportunities for giving the characters conflicting motivations. Example: The mercenaries mentioned earlier is looking for a criminal. They do not know what he looks like, but they know that he is called The Slob and that he has a scar on the left leg. One of the mercenaries has been given a picture of the player playing the Slob, but he has been told that this man once saved his life - and that is all he knows about him. As The Slob (through some other course of action) gets revealed, the mercenary is faced with a dilemma: Should he aid The Slob in escaping, or should he tie him to the stake and watch him burn? The Slob also turns out to be Ares brother, causing further action.
	Practicalities - plumbing and electricity A larp is usually dependent upon the following three elements being provided for the players: Food, Shelter and Sanitation. In Norway this is known as "Soria Moria's 3S": "On should Sleep well, Sup well and Shit well whilst on a larp." I gather most will agree that this is a minimum that needs to be taken care of for organisers and players to have good game. Sup well (Note: In Norwegian this is called 'Spise godt' - I couldn't find any other word in English meaning the same thing that also started with an S. 'Sup' is a form of the verb 'To sup' - that means to eat supper.) The organisers may choose not to provide any form of food, but leaving this up to the players. They can also make it possible for characters, and thus players, to buy food during the game (paying with a combination of in-game money and regular currency) or they can incorporate a limited number of meals in the entrance fee. Whatever you choose, food must be available in one form or another. The same applies for beverages, primarily water in large amounts. If the organisers choose to provide food, they must make sure that they themselves or characters in the game is given the task of preparing food. Buying food and making sure there is enough food is the organisers' responsibility if they have included food in the fee. If they do not provide food, they still have an obligation to find out where and how food can be obtained during the larp, and convey this information to the players. Sleep well Shelter of course depends upon the kind of world the game is set in. It may be too expensive to rent houses or buildings, but if the correct ambience demands this, one should factor in this expense. You can build your own buildings, but these will by necessity be 'fold-up' houses and it takes a lot of work to give such houses the right 'feel'. Once more: This is determined by the kind of setting that the larp has. If the game happens in our own world anno 1995, the problem is relatively small. Tents may be workable solution for many kinds of games. If you plan to use tents, make sure these can be heated with a woodburning stove, even in summer, as Nordic summer nights can get quite cold. The organisers should provide as many such tents as possible, thus making sure as many players as possible can be bedded down safely. Some players may however supply their own tents, something that eases the organisers' burden somewhat. Shit well Sanitation should be of a standard acceptable in the real world. I.e. both organisers and players should make sure that food is prepared in a proper way, and that pots and pans are properly cleaned after use. Food should be kept in a modern storage, or you can look up old-fashion ways that is adequate. Watercontainers should be clean, and every player should fill up his personal watercontainer so that he doesn't pollute the water. Garbage must be collected or buried (if it is organic waste) continuously in order to avoid food going bad and the spread of germs. Limit the usage of nature as a toilet, by posting special areas for (male) urination. Directly on the outside of the gaming area organisers should rig portable toilets, unless usable and properly sanitised toilets are a natural part of the games setting. Various forms of 'latrines' and 'authentic toilets' should be used with great care, as these seldom offer proper sanitary conditions. Nagging on about cleanliness and properness in terms of sanitation may seem conceited, but it is based in a simple fact: Even if players perceived the games reality as real in every way, we are still using our own bodies as 'props'. These bodies can stand no more or less than what we do in our everyday life. When you have many people gathered in one place, germs and bacteria thrive. That is just how it is. To avoid sickness in any of the participants, the organisers should thus make sure proper hygiene is observed and that the sanitary conditions are good. But this is basically the players' personal responsibility. You should not treat this in a casual way, as it may literally have fatal consequences. Beyond these basic items, there is of course a number of other practical items the organisation has to address in order to have a successful game. The players should be able to get in to and out of the area in a safe and easy manner. Usage of the area must be cleared with the proprietor and any other users. The surroundings must be told/warned of what is going on: Make posters that tell the public what is going on in a polite and straightforward fashion. Ask the public not to enter the area or approach the players. Place these posters at pathways and roads entering the area. Contact local police and explain what is going on, so they know what lies behind any hysterical phone-calls from local yokels wondering why 20 weirdoes wearing full-body aluminium-suits invade their favourite banjo-playing forest. Build necessary houses or other buildings. Sew costumes, make masks, make weapon, purchase or make necessary props. Ensure that the 3S are fulfilled for you as organisers as well.