-
Scratch the SurfaceSeeing throught the eyes of a LARPerby
Danijela Bulimbasic
Organizing your own LARPby David Hirst
LARP Gearby Catalin Ardelean
Dumpster Diving: A sustainable solution to a capitalist
nonsenseby Chlo Trieu
Dead Drops: How to be a spy for an afternoonby Johannes Otto
Skjrbk
1
-
SEEING THROUGH THE EYES OF A LARPERGetting to know Copenhagen, I
found many different ways to experience the city.
When I first arrived, as a tourist, I looked at the city through
camera lens, walk-ing around the centre, Nyhavn and other places
listed in Places to see in Copenhagen-type of articles. Colorful
buildings, modern design and won-derful landscapes filled up my
photo galleries.
When I moved to Copenhagen, I start-ed to experience it through
people. The locals and foreigners living here, the Danish culture
mixing with other cultures, sometimes more successful, sometimes
less. Ive learnt that a birth-day party cant go without the
flags;
2
-
Ive started to move around the city on my bicycle and switch to
summer clothes as soon as the sun stays out for more than 2 hours
and the temper-ature is above 10 degrees. Ok, I havent gotten to
that last part just yet.
However, the city isnt just aesthetically pleasing arranged pile
of concrete and metal and the people living here arent just what
they look like and the way they speak. I wanted to look deeper, to
scratch the surface. I wanted to look at the historical and
invented past, the present the way it is or the way it could be and
imagine the future...possible and impossible one. As I let my
imag-ination play with what my eyes could see, an abandoned
graffiti filled ware-house at the edge of the city became a shelter
for a group of people trying to protect their last canister of
water from ongoing raider attack. The Round Tower became a place
where the wiz-arding guild was experimenting with the powers of
aether, and I could al-most see Victorian inventor presenting
the latest discovery in the steam-pow-ered aeronautics in front
of Rosenborg Castle. Yes, I started to look at the city through the
eyes of a LARPer.
LARP was originally an acronym for Live Action Role Playing, but
today it is often used in lower case and as a name in itself. It
could be described as
interactive storytelling, where players take a role and act as a
character with-in the set fictional world, as close or as far to
the real one as they chose it to be. LARP could also be defined as
inter-active theatre, without the audience or script.
3
-
Special style of larp emerged in the Nordic countries in the
past decades and became increasingly popular. A few things that
make Nordic-style larp different and unique:
- Nordic larp is deeply immersive, with the goal to create
convincing illusion of being in different world - living in the
fallout shelter after the blast; being captured in the dungeon of
medieval castle or on a spaceship travelling to another galaxy.
It is important to play a character very close to your own
appearance, and feeling the characters feelings. Deeply immersed
larpers would speak in their characters accent; walk the way their
characters do, even dream in charac-ter.
- Nordic-style larp is collaborative. You do not play to win the
game, but to cre-ate exciting stories together. It might mean that
your character will fail in their objective, but that failure can
be turned into deeply emotional and in-
teresting experience for you and other players.
- Nordic larp is more than entertain-ment - it can make artistic
or politi-cal statement, and affect players in the long term -
helping them to learn new skills, change the way they see the world
and how they behave.
LARP has also changed me, in more
than one way. It has allowed me to be more creative, to open my
mind to ex-citing new possibilities. It has helped me to see my
surroundings and people from different points of view, and to be
ready to explore the unknown. It has enabled me to travel without
leaving home and experience what it would be like to live someone
elses life. It has al-lowed me to scratch the surface, and to look
beyond.
4
-
If you would like to hear more about Nordic Larp, we recommend
this bril-liant introduction by Johanna Koljonen. She is a writer,
radio and TV host, critic, and a popular lecturer on larp and
re-lated topics.Her groundbreaking larp criticism, in essays like
Eye-Witness to the Illusion: The Impossibility of 360 Role-Playing
and The Dragon Was the Least of it: Larp As Ephemera and Ruin are
wide-ly quoted in the field.
From Nordic Larp Talks Stockholm 2010.
5
-
ORGANISING YOUR OWN LARP
Urban spaces by definition are anywhere within the urban
environment (a city/town). These spaces often have a defined
purpose, although with a bit of imagination they can serve other
purposes and with a bit of preparation too, they could serve as the
ideal setting to your own Live Action Role-play event. A wooded
area at the side of the park could, for example, be a vast forest,
or an abandoned building be re-imagined as a post-apocalyptic ruin.
Thus, with a bit of imagination and ideally someone to share them
with you, the possibilities are endless.
Before you can do this though, you need to understand a bit
about organising your own Live Action Roleplay, so today that is
what I will attempt to explain. Please read on as i cover all the
important aspects of organis-ing your own Role Playing event.
6
-
The IdeaTo begin with, you need an idea. What interests you?
What would you like to do? There are many different types of LARPs
out there and you could even in-vent your own. They vary hugely
from simple games set in a small room to huge battles in a forest.
To begin with, you need to pick a theme. It could be Fantasy,
Post-Apocalyptic, Steampunk just to name a few. Once you have an
idea you are ready to start planning.
A set of Rules (ruleset)This can vary dramatically from a ba-sic
code of conduct, which is popular in the Nordic countries, to a
complex set of rules the size of a small book. What-ever you choose
it needs to be some-thing people can follow and relate to. If you
make it too complex, people may be put off. So try to keep it
simple, clear and to the point. You do not want too many rules, but
a total lack of them will also cause problems.
LocationObviously, you need a location. The basic principle of a
live action role-play is that it is live! Therefore, you need to do
it in a specific place with other people. A location can be
basically an-ywhere. It can vary from your living
room to a purpose built village or an abandoned factory complex.
A good place to start is to look at your theme. What fits your
theme? If you are going for a fantasy LARP then a local park or
forest may be a good start. If you are going for a Post-Apocalyptic
scenario, then an abandoned building may suit your needs. (Although
remember to be careful, as these places can be danger-ous!)
7
-
t t zv
A background story/settingThis is based on your theme. It may be
complex and have a story built in or it may just be a setting. In
order to make your LARP more engaging and fun you need to create a
background story/set-ting, for people to connect to. Just like in a
movie or book there will be a cer-tain amount of background so
people can relate to the story. Imagine Lord of the Rings with no
background story whatsoever. No explanation of why an-yone was
doing what they were doing? It would not really work would it...
The same goes for LARPs, so try to come up with a good background
story or set-ting for your LARP, one that has mean-ing and makes it
easier for the players to engage in.
Character types and roles Following on from your story you also
need to decide what type of charac-
ters your LARP will have. Will you de-fine the type of
characters players can play or will you leave it up to the play-ers
to create characters? Some fanta-sy LARPs, for example, may define
the classes that people can play to make things more organised and
easier to define. A class could be ,for example, a
warrior, mage etc. just like in role play-ing computer games.
Decide if your LARPs story requires certain charac-ters or whether
the players can invent their own.
8
-
Non-Playing CharactersIn addition to your players and GM you
will often have NPCs, these non-play-ing characters can vary
dramatical-ly from providing basic support roles like extras in a
film to being an inte-gral part of the story. NPCs can also be
quite engaged in the story and al-
though they are not technically play-ers, the lines can
sometimes be quite blurred. In some games they will play a major
part in the game. NPCs are also important to ensure events play out
as you intended. Say for example you had a major fantasy LARP, set
in a village and raiders are going to attack the vil-lage. This may
well be the job of NPCs. NPCs will often also have background
stories, although unlike players these are less likely to evolve
and are usu-ally there to give the character mean-ing and explain
their existence. People playing NPCs may also switch roles
de-pending on where NPCs are required in the story.
Game MastersTo keep things running and organised it is usually a
good idea to have a game master. Someone who knows all the rules
and who will oversee the game. They will keep everything organised
and ensure things play out as they are intended. For example this
could be a series of events that should take place at a certain
times.
9
-
Format of your LARP By format I mean, will it be a one off LARP
or a Campaign? A One off LARP means that it will only happen once
,and when the LARP is over its over. A Campaign LARP, on the other
hand, will be part of a series of LARPs one af-ter the other. The
idea of these type of LARPs is that players characters can continue
from one to the other and evolve along the way. Similar to
com-puter games where your decisions may affect the story campaign
LARPs can play out the same way. They also give people an incentive
to build a strong character with a great background sto-ry, as they
will continue to grow the character from game to game.
Length of your LARPHow long is it going to run? For 10 min-utes
or a week? LARPs vary in length depending on the theme and story
and there is no set rules about how long it should be. Some of the
biggest LARPs can run for days with people often camping in the
LARP. Some of these
technically never stop, with people still in game even when they
are sleeping. So when it comes to a time frame, that really depends
on your story and how long it should run for.
10
-
Equipment and in-game itemsObviously most LARPs require some
props and equipment. This can vary dramatically in detail from been
very basic to extremely complex. It all de-pends on the theme and
the level of detail you are going for. More detail usually requires
a lot more time and ef-fort and can be expensive for players, so in
some cases its better to overlook things and to improvise. Often
LARPs aim for a high level of detail as this en-hances the game
experience, just as graphics often enhance the experience in a
computer game. Although I know they are not everything, imagine if
all the objects in a game were represent-ed with single coloured
squares. Its not quite the same is it? The same is true of LARPing,
the more realistic the costumes mean that in game terms the better
the experience for the players.
Hopefully by following the points list-ed above you should have
some good
ideas about how to organise your first LARP, so off you go and
remember to have fun! That is after all what its all about!
Further reading:If you are stuck for ideas or need some
inspiration here is a huge list of LARP ideas many of them are free
too: http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/LARP_Scenarios.
11
http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/LARP_Scenarioshttp://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/LARP_Scenarios
-
LARP GEARWhen it comes to Live Action Roleplay battle, nothing
is better than having the proper gear to make the experi-ence even
more thrilling and accurate. It all depends on the theme of the
LARP and how you build your character. For a
post-apocalyptic/fallout city theme, you can choose virtually any
style of gear: warrior knight, assassin, mer-cenary, wasteland
wanderer, doctor, mutant etc.
12
-
The 3 main categories are: armor, weapons and
miscellaneous/objects. You may choose how to create your character
by opting to have elements from any and all of the three
catego-ries and making it unique. The stand-ard in-game weaponry is
made out of a soft type of boffer, foam or latex ma-terial, so in
simulated battles no one is injured. Before any LARP event, it is
very common to have your weapons and other gear checked by a
designat-ed Herald, that approves or disap-proves the safety of the
gear.
There is a whole range of weapons, ar-mor and other objects that
you can at-tribute to your character. You can buy most of the gear
or you can also create your own. You just have to think about what
suits your character and the overall budget youre willing to spend
on weapons and armor. Rather than limiting each class to only using
certain gear, players are encouraged to use
what they think their character would use. For example, it would
make no sense to say that a doctor cannot use a two-handed rifle,
because Doctors dont use them. Instead, think about how your
character got their training - are they self-taught? Did they study
under a ballistics master? Did they learn in the military? Or did
you pick it up in-character over the course of the game?
Categories13
-
You can choose the type of gear you can carry and it can be more
utilitarian, meaning that it can actually function (fire bullets,
arrows, laser or plasma) or it can be more decorative, focusing
more how it looks and the story behind it. In the post-apocalyptic
theme, you can carry firearms: guns, rifles, shot-guns, pistols and
also melee weapons like machete, hammers, small daggers or swords,
wrench and even something as simple as a lead pipe. Ammunition is
very important if you implement func-tional firearms to you
characters spe-cifics. You can go from foam nerf bul-lets
(modified/adapted to the theme nerf guns) to actual airsoft ammo.
It all depends on the rules of the larp and how dedicated and
creative you are.
Armor is also important (as long as you envision your character
need-ing it) and you can go wild with it. Going from something as
simple as worn out leather jacket and old pair of jeans to kevlar
metal plates with helmet, a full metal body suit, radiation suit,
welding faceplates or a hockey mask.
14
-
Post apocalyptic theme also brings unique features, objects and
rules to the game. One such example would be special electronic
devices, like the Pip-Boy, a watch-like contraption from a
computer game called Fallout, that would provide you with
information on radiation levels, as well as function as a GPS.
Radiation itself is yet another unique element in a post-apo
setting, and that of course leads to even more specialised gear to
protect against it, and medication to cure or simply withstand
it.
The more complex the character, the gear and the surroundings,
the more fun you will have in the game and will make the experience
of a post-apocalyptic world or any other theme, more real and
enjoyable.
15
-
I found a lot of bags of peas when dumpster diving the other
day, so tonight Im serving a pea soup for the soup kitchen. Martin
Olle Josef Diedrichs is the coordi-nator and a volunteer at Folkets
Hus in Co-penhagen and his thing is to create some pop up soup
kitchen with what he finds in supermarkets garbage.
Food wasteEvery day, in supermarkets, withered salads, single
bananas* and milk car-tons which are almost reaching their
expiration date are thrown away be-cause customers would not buy
them. Some other supermarkets are just bad at managing their
stocks. In both cases, one mans loss is another mans gain. And
Martin knows exactly where to go and what to take when dumpster
div-ing.
DUMPSTER DIVINGA sustainable solution to a capitalist
nonsense
*A single banana is a banana which was separated from its
siblings by a customer who only wanted four bananas. Four. Not
five. The single banana remains alone and often ends up in the
trash even if the single banana tastes just as good as any banana.
So do a good deed and bring this banana home next time.
16
-
Re-distributionToday, hes taking me to Super-Brugsens
containers. When we arrive, some employees are there, carrying
boxes. Well wait until theyre done, he explains. Five minutes later
were back. A couple is there already, check-ing a container and
filling their bag with what they found. Do you want some mushrooms,
they ask. Martin takes some and offers them some chi-li in return.
You would be tempted to take the whole garbage bags when you see
how much you can find for free. But Martin reminds me that it is
important to leave some for the others.
Using our sensesI started with bread and vegetables. For me it
was a fun thing to do and a way
to save money and reduce food waste. Today, Martin only spends
20 DKK per month on milk or garlic and dump-ster dives everything
else he eats.
Vegetables, fruits, meat Meat ?!! You can find so much meat in
the gar-bage and if the expiration date isnt two days passed then
its fine. But is it really safe, I asked.
People dont use their senses anymore. They forgot how to smell
or taste what they bought. They just look at the date on the
package and throw it out if its too old.
17
-
Informing peopleWhat was supposed to help the cus-tomers is now
producing a ridiculous amount of food waste. Thats why Mar-tin does
his pop up dumpster dived soup kitchen, to inform people about this
sustainable way to find food and get people to do it too. And the
reac-tions are most of the time really pos-itive. I even gave a
tour to someone who wanted to know about his local dumpster diving
places, relates Mar-tin. Capitalist
nonsenseAbout the legal aspect, it seems to be some sort of a
grey zone. If you step across a fence or break a container lock,
then youre violating the law. But if the containers are accessible
and open it means that the supermarkets give up their property
right on the merchan-dise, explains Martin. However, gro-cery
stores employees are often asked to get rid of dumpster divers,
even if
theyre not doing any harm. Martins logical conclusion to this
nonsense is that supermarkets owners dont want people to get food
for free. Even if 40 % of the food that is produced in the world
never gets eaten**.
**Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story 2014 - Documentary
18
-
1. Dont try to get into a confrontationIf you get caught by the
supermarket employees, just leave. Dont try to dis-cuss about it
because first, it is not their fault and their decision. And
sec-ond, they will end up putting a lock on the containers and no
one will be able to dumpster dive there.
2. Use forumsThere are many forums or Facebook groups sharing
info about the best plac-es to dumpster dive. Find the one in your
city and join. I also use this newsletter from Fdevarestyrelsen
(Food Comity), who makes tests on different products and decides if
they can be sold or not. For example, once, supermarkets had to get
rid of peanut butter jars from a specific brand because it
contained one nut that was not specified on the ingredients tag. It
was edible, except if you have allergies, but thanks to this
newsletter I knew I could take them.
3. Use your sensesLook at the product, touch it, smell it and
see for yourself if its good or not. Do not rely on the expiration
date. For example, you can drink milk after its expiration date if
it hasnt been open. Same goes for a lots of products like yogurt,
cheese
3 tips about dumpster divingby Martin Olle Josef Diedrichs
19
-
20
Dead Drops: How to be a spy for an afternoon
-
If you have ever seen a USB drive stick-ing out of a wall, you
may well have stumbled on a Dead Drop. An interna-tion art project
borrowing tricks from the world of espionage.
In October 2010, New York-based Ger-man artist Aram Bartholl
planted the first five devices in what has become an anonymous,
global, offline, peer-to-peer file sharing network. Anyone can
connect to the USB drives, and leave any file they want. Text,
music or video files.
From those first five, the idea expand-ed. There are now dead
drops on every continent in the world save Antarctica. From
Wellington, New Zealand in the south to Vard, Norway in the
north.
Of course, when you plug your laptop or phone into a publicly
available USB
Dead Drops: How to be a spy for an afternoon
21
-
flash drive, there are risks. Anyone can access these drives,
and on the Dead Drops site, Aram Bartholl acknowl-edges this: In
general everybody is responsible for the security of their
computers and systems. Is the Inter-net a safe place?!? Malicious
code for USB flash drives is a problem in gener-al. They could (and
will) be misused for malicious software. Be aware of that! Secure
your system! Boot a virtual ma-chine! Or ask your friend to go
first ;-).
Security professionals acknowledge that if someone has physical
access to a machine, there is little they can do. Here, we are
willingly, potentially, copying infected files to our system. Using
Dead Drops can turn into an en-tirely different experience than
what the user hopes for. Why, then, are they used at all? Why are
they spread all around the world?
22
-
Privacy and Espionage
The term Dead Drop comes from the early days of espionage. When
information needed to be exchanged without a face to face meeting,
spies and informants had to get creative. Behind or underneath
loose bricks, or other inconspicuous, small, failing parts of the
city, you could easily stash documents that could then be picked up
later.Now, while Dead Drop users might not be putting on
trenchcoats and dark sunglasses when they venture into the city to
find the files left for them on the USB drives by other users, they
still get the thrill of the hunt. Of being a part of something only
a relatively small sub-set of people know of. And lastly, as we
experienced when we went hunting, users get to know their city
better, too.
There are troubles with anonymous data-sharing, of course. On
some Dead
Drops, recipes for poison, making a bomb, or how to make crystal
meth have been found. In the same way as the internet can be, Dead
Drops can be used as a replacement for under-ground knowledge
storages.
23
-
Scratch the Surfacee-zine by Creative ChaosMay 2015
Created for:KEA - MMD A2014 - Module 5:Urban Expressions
Creative Chaos are: Catalin Ardelean Danijela BulimbasicDavid Hirst
Nadia Antoniou Thao Do
Researching our main theme, LARP, we came across quite a few
awesome photos that we included with our arti-cles. We wish we
owned copyright to them, but we dont.
We did manage to get in touch with some of the amazingly
creative people in the LARP world, who allowed us to use their
materials, so we would like to offer special thanks to Nuclear
Snail Studios and Johannes Axner of NordicLarp.org.
24
http://www.nuclear-snail.com/http://nordiclarp.org/
Button 19: Go up: Button 18: Button 21: Button 22: Button 31:
Button 32: Button 33: Button 34: Button 35: Button 36: Button 23:
Button 24: Button 73: Button 74: Button 37: Button 38: Button 39:
Button 40: Button 41: Button 42: Button 43: Button 44: Button 45:
Button 46: Button 25: Button 26: Button 47: Button 48: Button 49:
Button 50: Button 51: Button 52: Button 27: Button 28: Button 53:
Button 54: Button 55: Button 56: Button 57: Button 58: Button 59:
Button 60: Button 61: Button 62: Button 29: Button 30: Button 63:
Button 64: Button 65: Button 66: Button 69: Button 70: