consisting of competent officers, educated scientists, hard-working crewmen, hopeful settlers and brave soldiers, sets off onto an unexplored island in Northern Canada. In the name of the British Empire and by order of the Admiralty, they are hoping to claim, charter and settle those wild lands.
We are telling the story of a group of British explorers, sailors and settlers who get lost on an expedition, encounter unexplainable things in an unknown land, run out of supplies and in the end
Make no mistake: we are playing on the bad side of history here. The game will not be an off-game glorification of these themes but allow us to explore them in a safe space and enable us to reflect critically. The story will not have a happy end.
Participants will come from different parts of the world and bring different cultures to our game. To ensure everyone’s emotional and physical safety, we will use a few basic sentiments as the foundation for our play together.
While this larp builds on a strong foundation for organizer-written plot, we expect players to take initiative to enhance their own game, both before and during the event. We can assist you but you are just as much part of making this experience as we are. We need you to be responsible for your own well-being and fun and actively speak up, seek help and put in the effort to make this experience good for yourself.
The stories we wish to tell are driven by narrative first, by logic second. This order is very important to us as we prefer a story to be beautifully told rather than for it to make 100% sense. That’s why we would like our participants to let their in-game decisions be driven by the questions “What creates the most play?” if they are in doubt.
The stage of this larp is a shared one and as such needs a certain empathetic recognition of where your own bit of stage ends and that of another begins. We want our players to play each other up, highlight each others’ characters’ strong suits and thus be able to trust in each other to respect everyone’s bit of stage.
That way, we can tell the story together, rather than have it be a one-person-show.
We won’t be releasing a gap-less world-building in which the workings and structures of this world are 100% set and explained - we would much rather leave room here and there for you to fill. That means that we expect all participants to accept each others’ ideas and conform to a certain amount of “bullshitting” when gaps are being filled. Get used to saying “Yes, and…” and weaving your own thoughts into an idea that someone else presents you with during the game.
Naming discovered thing | Raising flags | Walking through the forest exploring and gathering resources | Witnessing or being involved in violent conflicts | Cannibalism | Playing on punishments e.g. chores, physical harm, up to execution | Cleaning things | Building things | Making music | Following bad plans | Kissing your lover in secret | Exploring sexuality in a suppressed environment | Holding a Sunday service | Experiencing visions, spirits or delirium | Getting addicted to substances | Playing football | Celebrating | Encountering horror elements | etc.
we will not be depicting any racially-marginalised groups ourselves as these are not our stories to tell. We will, however, be informed by members of affected cultures.
If you are worried about less-common triggers that you have, please do not hesitate to ask us about it. We are also open to questions about if/how those triggers can be avoided but we cannot promise it’s possible. Most of the situations will be designed in an opt-out way rather than an opt-in experience.
Note: We do not expect ableism to be a major theme or point of oppression but with playing on mental and physical illnesses, it is something that may come up occasionally. We leave it up to the players how much you want to engage with this.
We will workshop all game mechanics onsite - here we merely try to give you an overview of which we will be using. If you do not fully understand, don’t worry, we will explain them in detail at the workshops. There, we will demonstrate the different movements and let you try them out as well.
During a physical conflict, it is always the victim of an attack who decides on the outcome of it. If someone is shot, it is up to them if the shot is fatal or just injured them or even if it misses entirely. You choose if and when your character dies.
However, a weapon is still dangerous and intimidating to your character. If someone pulls a gun on you, be sure to play it up. Treat weapons in-game like you would in real life. Even a knife can be deadly if you are not careful.
If your character dies, play out the scene to you heart’s content and then come straight to the organiser room, where you will receive a little epilogue and be informed on what happens next for you.
A reminder: Suicide is not an option in this game. Your characters want to survive. they want to go back home. Giving up is not going to happen. (Self-sacrifice is another story, of course.)
If you want to make clear that a certain statement refers to you as a player or an off-game need without interrupting a scene, you can add “Really, Really” to your sentence. For example, if the watch is catching you out at night and starting to question you but you simply needed to relief yourself, you could say: “I really, really need to go to the toilet.” Or if we are closing off a section of the play area, one of our NPC might tell you: “You really, really can not go in there right now.” In that case, you know that it is not an invitation to find out an exciting in-game secret and not worth sneaking into.
“Really, really” can also be used for quick calibration or asking for consent. Asking “You really, really want me to punch you, huh?” or “Is it really, really okay if I kiss you.” are good ways to make sure everyone is comfortable without interrupting the moment.
If a scene becomes too much or harmful for whatever reason, do not hesitate to yell out “Cut” to stop the game immediately. Once that gets said, stop playing, orientate yourself and take a step back. Cut does not need to be explained. No one has to give a reason for why they are uncomfortable. Before continuing the game make sure that any threat has been removed and everyone is okay. Discuss with your co-players off-game how/if you wish to continue the scene that was occurring. If somebody chooses to leave, that is their decision and should be respected. We know it can be tempting to pursue someone immediately to check that they’re okay, but we ask that you give the person some space before checking in.
Alternatively, if you are physically close to your playing partner, you can use Tap Out to de-escalate. It’s a double-tap on the shoulder or arm of your opponent, to which they will physically step away from you and you will de-escalate it from thereon.
To step out of game for any reason, you can cross your fingers and hold them up. Depending on context, you may hold your fingers up subtly, but visible, to someone who you need to discuss out of character boundaries with or it may be held above your head to indicate you are not in character and you should be ignored. This mechanic can be used to silently leave a scene or to quickly communicate off-game about something. It should not however be used to stand around and watch a scene or to get out of in-game trouble, unless you are off-game uncomfortable with the consequences.
In order to portray intimacy or sex, we are using a mechanic of symbolising it. This is the baseline. If you want to add more physical aspects to it and everyone involves consents, you are free to do so. Do leave your clothes on in public spaces, though.
To show non-sexual intimacy between your characters such as kissing/making-out, two players stand facing each other with their hands raised in front of their heads, palms touching. You can look into each other’s eyes and breathe together. If you feel comfortable, you could also but your foreheads together or similar.
Should the character’s want to take the next step, go find a private (but not too private) spot. The sex mechanic works similar, but instead of facing each other one person will be in front, holding their hands backwards next to their head while the other stands behind them and places their palms on them. This way you can portray certain power dynamics in the relationship too. The person standing in the back is the more dominant part (or simply the top).
Since we are not playing on sexual violence, it is important that both characters - and of course both players - consent to the intimacy before using these mechanics.
If at any point during the game, you are not entirely sure if a co-player is okay, you can use this mechanic to check in. When making eye contact, form the okay sign with your hand to check in with them. They can respond in different way:
A single thumbs up means they are totally fine and all is good.
A leveled hand means they are not quite sure. This should be treated as a thumbs down.
A thumbs down means something is going on that makes them uncomfortable.
This could be physical or emotional and doesn’t necessarily have to do anything with the game. If you get this response, look after them. See if they need to talk or lie down. Take them to the off-game room if necessary. Also accept if they do not want to be helped.
We will be using brown robes for the crew to portray supernatural effects. The robed figures are not to be played on except for the effects they create: Whispers & other sounds, floating objects, etc. The shadowy figures are therefore not actually there, what they do is something you perceive though.
Likewise there might be cases where the crew has to set up something or just bring stuff from storage to another place. For those tasks we will also use brown robes to signal that those people are not here. They are not part of the game, just ignore us and let us work since we most likely are in the process of setting up something pretty awesome for you. Or simply taking a break. ;)
During the game, all participants will be wearing name tags. These are not strictly part of the in-game perception but are there for off-game reasons - a lot of us suck at names and name tags are very easy and for some of us a very vital fix for that problem.
Since most of the nametags have titles or names that are gendered, we will not use pronoun buttons during the game. They will be available during the off-game times though for player pronouns.