Empire

I mentioned the upcoming UK larp campaign Empire to a few people at Mike’s party the other week. It’s an international game that I’m keeping an eye on and really looking forward to hearing more about. It’s due to have its first event at the end of March next year, running four times a year.

It’s from Profound Decisions, a larp company run by Matt Pennington. He seems to have a real vision for running larp games - I went to their campaign Maelstrom once and was impressed with not just the scale but how much of the game was in the hands of the players. It looks like he’s fixed his mind on incrementally improving the larps he runs too.

They haven’t released their rules yet, just an overview of the game:

profounddecisions.co.uk/empi … oduction?0

I reckon the basis of the setting is excellent, all the PCs are part of an empire beset on all side by hordes of orcs and barbarians. This will give a sense of the players all being in it together, while still allowing room for political maneuvers. It’s also a great setup for military strategising and massive battles, based on PC decisions.

One of their most exciting innovations is that they’re creating big buildings that can be moved around the field of play. They’re built over steel frames the size of a container, so that they can be picked up by a hook loader. Here’s a picture of a partly-completed tavern:

facebook.com/photo.php?fbid … =3&theater

And here’s a video of a hook loader picking up a container. :slight_smile:

youtube.com/watch?v=BU6HQmtX5_E

There’s more about how they’re building the sets here:

profounddecisions.co.uk/empi … nTheCity?5

I love that they’re planning to build a Senate set where the players can debate what the empire should do, perfect for people who love political play.

Another nice thing they’re doing is releasing videos of their design process. Gives a sense of the professionalism of the company, and I get the impression it’s inspired by Peter Jackson’s behind-the-scenes teaser videos. Check out the “meet the artists” and “Meet the writers” pages on the first link I posted.

I guess the reason I love Matt’s stuff is that it feels so designed-to-purpose. There are bigger events out there (I guess this is likely to be around 1000-2000 players), but very few with such a specific vision for the setting, the rules, and the style of play as the ones that Profound Decisions produce. I love that kind of consistency in a game.

Inspiring stuff!

I’ve been watching this game develop too. Really cool!!

I want to touch base with the couple in the Wairarapa who were building a purpose-built medieval/fantasy village on their property. It looked amazing when I went there a few years ago with permanent structures including a cooking area, war tent, etc … If they’re continuing to develop it it would be really great to take advantage of that resource.

Oh I’ve joined a group to attend this game next year, and have read through a lot of the info on their wiki. So excited! Although I’m staying of their discussion forums, apparently their not as lovely to each other as the NZ community and lots of people have stopped posting in sheer frustration. Damn those few that ruin it for the rest. But I think the game’s going to be good. Also have a friend who is helping out with some of the organisation.

Yes I think NZ has definitely built up a great costuming culture, the next thing to look at is set. The things they do in Germany are amazing, and I think Profound Decisions is trying to replicate that level. really looking forward to the results.

I agree. Set, and a willingness to camp (if the right facilities are provided).

Haven’t found a forum yet - do you mean the comments on their Facebook page?

I like their policy on children. In brief, they’ve created a setting where children fit in naturally, so long as they’re accompanied by their parents (who must play their IC parents), and they plan to have lots of fun IC stuff for kids to do.

Mythodea also had an area for children/children’s activities. It also allowed dogs, so long as they were muzzled and registered. Made it very family-friendly as you could pack up the kids and dogs and enjoy a weekend away without arraging for kid/pet sitters. Also, some people really worked the dogs into their overall looks, particularly the more ‘wolf-y’ type breeds.

It can be a double edged sword though - from my experiences at CP you’ll quite often get parents who want to LARP to get away from the kids, but the kids also attend because part of the game is tailored for them. It can bit a little stressful for child and parent alike to have to pretend to -not- be those things. I also worry that it means certain more adult themes from Mael (ie the drug cartels, the burlesque show, etc) won’t be carried over. That said, I think they’ve been very clever about it all and it will add a lot more life to the game.

The scale battles are going to be amazing - they’re being organised (initially) by Paul Tucker, a GM affectionately known as ‘Evil Ref’. He was one of the first to introduce intelligent, semi-autonomous monsters to the battlefield, and consequently nearly killed an entire faction because they weren’t ready for it. It’s gone down as one of the most infamous yet well-loved moments of LARP history over here. If the scale works out, and given the level interest I think Ryan is pretty spot-on regarding numbers, 700 people a side per battle is going to be something to behold…

For those who were with the Grand Expedition, I imagine Rick Wynn talked your ears off at some length about it all :slight_smile: