The Knudepunkt 2015 Companion Book is out:
rollespilsakademiet.dk/webshop/k … onbook.pdf
Articles I’m enjoying so far:
[ul]
[li] Behind the larp census: 29.751 larpers can’t (all) be wrong (Aaron Vanek): tells the tale of the larp census and the lessons learned. Publication deadlines mean no actual results however; we’ll get those at Knudepunkt.[/li]
[li] Four Backstory Building Games You Can Play Anywhere! Simple and effective (Peter Woodworth): Useful, practical advice on how to work with other players to flesh out backstory in campaigns.[/li]
[li] Infinite Firing Squads: The evolution of The Tribunal (J.Tuomas Harviainen): Apparently the Tribunal has now been run more than 30 times worldwide, and has turned into a larp smash-hit. J.Tuomas has a few thoughts on why (short, easy to organise, turned into a fable via the characters all being named after animals, and strong themes to drive play). BTW, if you’re curious, I’ll be running this game at Hydra 2015.[/li]
[li] Looking at you: Larp, documentation and being watched (Juhana Pettersson): Discusses the effects of the trend towards documenting (photographing, writing about, producing books and videos about) larps, and how it affects gameplay, participation, and expectations on the playerbase. In the end, it asks an important question: “who are we larping for”?[/li]
[li] On Publicity and Privacy. Or “How do you do your documentation?” (Jamie MacDonald): A really great article on some of the issues around documentation (or photographing and videoing larps), based on a survey of larpers of attitudes to photos/videos etc. Has basicly a FAQ at the end (TLDR: “Ask your players, and let them review before publishing”). Also includes this wonderful explanation of why games get photographed:
“It’s quite clear that players love photographs of themselves and their friends; particularly in the 48-or-so hours directly after a larp, players cry out for the visual proof that tells them yes, they were really there and they looked beautiful with all that snot running all over their faces after all their friends died and they had a desolate epiphany about their own existence. Most of us are guilty as charged here.”[/li]
[li] The Art of Steering: Bringing the Player and the Character Back Together (Markus Montola, Jaakko Stenros & Eleanor Saitta): “Steering” is getting your character to do something for non-game reasons e.g. leaving a conversation because you need to go to the bathroom, or joining one because you are feeling a bit bored and want some plot. The article argues that steering is an essential skill in larp, something that players do all the time (whether acknowledged or not), and (if used positively) enhances play. There’s a good practical example of this (froma Turku-ist!) in Mike Pohjola’s “Steering For Immersion in Five Nordic larps: A new understanding of eläytyminen”.[/li][/ul]