Once upon a time, there was an event called "Twilight Theatre", the pitch of which was "The fae are real, they're waking up, and their magic is based on performance." The dream of Helly and Rob, it ran for a couple of events in a pub theatre in Camden and I had the bucket-list role... Continue Reading →
Immersive, interactive, in-character: larp edges into mainstream entertainment
The Peckforten Papers is a collection of writing about UK larp published by the Wychwood Press. You can buy it on Lulu should you wish, or get the pdf here.I wrote a bit for it in a stream-of-conscious sort of way, and it's down here so I don't lose it... I am sat where it... Continue Reading →
Meet at the tavern.
It's a very familiar fantasy trope. There's an isolated tavern in an isolated village and you're there to adventure. I think the first time I stepped in the door of somewhere like this, it was December 1979, the tavern was in a keep on the borderlands, and the point was we are all off to... Continue Reading →
Rule 7: a confession.
I've been trying to evidence this one, to no real success. You'll just have to trust me, unless anything shows up. Facebook, 31st October 2020 Edited to add: Something I've no reason to doubt has shown up - see above - the rest of this is as originally written.I'm the one who coined "Rule 7:... Continue Reading →
Food at LARP
I've been meaning to write a post on food at larp for some time. By food at larp, I mean not the mass catering element. There's others that know so much more of that than I do. I mean stitching feeding into the body of a larp, so that it's as much a part of... Continue Reading →
Is LARP art?
It's a medium. Like telly, or cinema, or books, or fag packets. What you do with it is up to you.There.Settled.
Armour cleaning 101: guest post by Tim Baker
Just one of those Facebook posts which might be useful one day. Nb: before you start, this advice is geared towards a 'practical' clean with a focus on long-term protection and maintenance of the armour. If you want another specific finish you might take a different approach and I would tweak the advice.Tim Baker, Facebook... Continue Reading →
All For Anvil
Somewhat oddly, given it's at least larp-ish, I didn't mention this year's first project here. It was my son Bill's idea - an adventure book called "All For Anvil". designed to teach folk about the Empire game rules and world. To my great joy, and Bill's delight, it got successfully funded on Kickstarter. All For... Continue Reading →
Midwinter
Just back from Midwinter larp, a genuinely gorgeous bit of genius.Get this for a pitch. You're an elf in Santa's toy workshop. You're working shifts to get the toys made on time. Deadline - well, there's one. 24th or bust. The pressure is on. Then, there's official toy-making process. Designed off-game to be as dysfunctional... Continue Reading →
A template plot document, and some other thoughts
Chris Whitehead asked for a template plot document the other day, and I thought to myself: “I must have one of those somewhere?” Before I quite knew it, I was adding notes to the raw list, and now it’s more a “how-to” than just a template. I realised after starting that, I’d touched on the... Continue Reading →
Some autobiographical musings on Strange LRP – guest post by Jamie Hall, 1/5
I was really pleased with the catering I helped out with at Strange LRP, and my goodness there was some lovely play going on beyond the kitchen door. Jamie Hall was one of the writers, and when he wanted some space to put his story of later events; well, here's episode 1 of 5. A... Continue Reading →