Suggestions for a LARP for Festival?

Hi all!

I’m currently trying to figure out what LARPs to run at Festival of the LARPs 2019, which typically hosts short (1 to 4 hour) one shot theater LARPs. I’m hoping to find something with a relatively easy prep in terms of printing and such.

I’ve been looking over a list of available LARPs from NZ, and I think Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow, Spellbound, Argonautica, and The Demon Gate sound intriguing and possibly like good fits. I’m not sure how to contact the author of Spellbound (Donna Giltrap), does anyone know? And does anyone have any thoughts on how difficult these LARPs are to prep and run? Or recommendations for other LARPs?

Thanks!

I’ve sent you a message with my contact details

@Lady_Prema, @Anna_K, @Catherine - advice on your games?

For others, I really enjoyed @musicforwolvesAngels in the Fog, and I know its been written up for others to run. I also loved @Anna_K’s House of Wild Cards (a comedy about Trump), and @RobotPie’s Justice and Nemesis (a serious Roman drama), but I don’t know if they’re available for sharing.

Hello! I’m happy to answer any questions you have about Argonautica, either here or via email ( silver.owl squigglyat gmail ) Argonautica is a two-room larp (or a one room larp if you have access to a corridor or something), and can be run either with actual props or item cards (which are included in the available pdf). It’s relatively easy to run.

House of Wild Cards really needs another editing pass before it’s fit to be seen by other people so it’s not ready yet.

Of my own games, I can also recommend It Ain’t Easy Being Gilled. It isn’t officially published but all the GMing material is written, I just haven’t made it pretty yet. It’s a very easy game to run, and quite funny (I’m reliable informed by others).

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Happy to share The Queen’s Justice. It’s a tense larp about revolution. Keep meaning to put it on DriveThru.

http://chimera.larpnz.nz/raw/2012/larp_the_queens_justice.html

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Justice and Nemesis needs some editing, but depending on when you need it, I might be able to get it done!

Note: Justice and Nemesis has a gladiatorial combat mechanic.

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I loved It Ain’t Easy Being Gilled. You should publish it :slight_smile:

Wow, thank you all for the suggestions and comments!

Bids are due in three days, but I’m always happy to hear about LARPs that get made available after that for future events (next one after Festival is Summer LARPing).

The Queen’s Justice sounds intriguing, and I think the setting would appeal to a lot of people, though it looks a bit too large - I suspect Festival is going to be smaller this year.

Multiple rooms wouldn’t be an issue though, Festival has tons of space.

@IdiotSavant, I will publish it this year. Promise.

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Verily, I bind you to your oath.

Ten years, and I still have that little bit of @Ryan_Paddy’s game with me.

Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow, it almost ready to be run by others (as in GM notes typed up) but I doubt I could get it done in three days, and there are a few requirements (outside space, Larp safe bow and arrows and a target are the minimum). Definitely hoping to get I published this year though :slight_smile:

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Cool! I will keep an eye out for it. (Someone offered to run it for me sometime – I have a huge soft spot in my heart for Robin Hood, I went through a stage as a kid totally obsessed.)

I also THOROUGHLY recommend The Face of Oblivion https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/144589/The-Face-of-Oblivion I’ve run it based on the published material and it works great. And also played it and I’m still a little scarred.

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I’ll second Face of Oblivion. Its very easy to set up (needs a room, a couple of tables in the middle of it, and optional coffee pot), and its fun and emotionally engaging in play. I did a review of it on rpg.net a few years back: https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/16/16321.phtml

The Queen’s Justice can be played with fewer players, I think the minimum viable was around 16, but it will play better with 20. It has a casting order to make it clearer who can be left out. Happy to send it through and you can read and decide.

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So it looks like Festival could still use a few more LARPs, and I’m thinking maybe Argonautica or Face of Oblivion. (The line “At this stage I should note that this is the most kiwi larp I’ve seen” in the review is a huge huge selling point to me!)

Quick question – the review mentions props – is it very important to have physical props for this? Are they hard to acquire/make? Or would printed index cards do in a pinch?

They’re all documents you can run off on a printer: some important IC documents and an informational wall chart, plus a few other things for flavour (a “keep calm and carry cookies” poster, crew patches, an ad for a class visit with Thumper the Kakapo). Some of it is best done in colour or large format, but you can run it all off with half an hour in a copy shop.

The flavour stuff is useful to have in-game because it provides a direct reference point for “stuff the characters care about”.

Excellent, thank you!

Out of curiosity, I noticed some of these LARPs include instructions about leading the players in cheers before or after the LARP.

Is this just like… everyone yelling “hooray” in unison?

Yes, that’s right. Or if it’s a weepy game, give people an opportunity for a group hug at the end. I think Face of Oblivion also encourages players to take a moment outside the game space and walk into it in character. That kind of thing helps people with transitions.

Steph

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