Sanctuary: The Aftermath (Afterlarp Report)

Introduction

Sanctuary was a theatre style live roleplaying event written for up to 66 people, held at the annual KapCon roleplaying convention in Wellington in January 2008, written by myself, Naomi Guyer and Sean Broadley. It had a low fantasy setting inspired somewhat by A Song for Arbonne and The Princess Bride, and was billed to potential participants as a festival held at a religious sanctuary. Also, we said, there might be a certain amount of romantic comedy. This was the largest theatre-style larp I’ve ever helped to organise and I feel it is worthwhile sharing some of the insights I gained as co-organiser.

( Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics )

( Technology Is Your Friend )

( Psyching Out The Players )

( My Personal Thoughts )

Conclusion

I had a great time organising this larp. My co-organisers brought a lot to the table and I think that we complemented each other’s strengths and weaknesses, which is always a useful thing. I learned a lot, just as much from what didn’t go as well as I would have liked as the things that were great. My general comments to future larp-writes are: don’t be afraid to run romantic and emotionally heavy plotlines; do highlight to players what kind of experience they’ll have; and do what you can to get people comfortable with each other in and out of character before the larp begins. And do what you can to psyche your players out with genuine surprises in the game.

 

Best of luck.

Stephanie

( Appendix )