I’m extremely happy to say that I’m producing Katrine Wind’s larp “Daemon” in the UK – again.
This time it’ll run the 11th to 13th of october 2024.
It leans heavily on Kant and Pullman, and the experience you get simply by playing as a human/daemon pair is just glorious. It’s a not-for-profit event – people who participate are pooling the expenses of running it.
The story and setting
The story and setting for the larp are described by Katrine here.
You do not need to have much knowledge of Pullman’s work to play; although we’d be delighted if the game inspired you to purchase his books. If you do, please consider using this Amazon Smile link to the Northern Lights, the first in the original trilogy, or La Belle Sauvage which starts the new one, as a charity I’ve worked with in the past gets a small donation if you do.
The experience
The larp is set at a symposium organised by an influential socialite, played by the game’s designer, Katrine Wind, and her daemon. The symposium is set after the war described in Pullman’s novels, and none of his characters will appear. Player characters are invited by Katrine’s character, and some have in-game events in which to participate. Specifically, a memorial for fallen heroes, a scientific presentation, and a political debate. None of these are compulsory in-character. Although you will be attending dinner and lunch, and the rest of the time is your own.
For some UK larpers, this will be a larp where nothing happens. There is no substantive NPC presence, apart from the in-game host. There are no NPC encounters. Players are simply experiencing life as a pair of human and daemon characters, roleplaying with others doing the same. Every character has a brief of two or three thousand words, with pre-written connections with other characters. There’s prompts for play (As a no-spoiler example “Have XXX-Daemon put YYY-Human in embarrassing or tense situations by means of their direct manners”) and questions to help develop your character before the event. (For example “What new desires are you considering following now that there is no Magisterium around to control your every move?“) This will be the sixth (I think?) run with these characters. They’ve been tested and tweaked each time.
One thing you do need to know. Human and daemons both feel intense pain on separation, and you must reflect this in your play. You may also choose to share physical stimuli – if one of you is struck, for example. This will be explored in our workshops, but as a rule of thumb – you are signing up to be within 2 or 3 metres of your partner all weekend, and will be sharing a room. That means that if one of you is using the toilet, the other is waiting outside.
If you wish to read more, to see if this larp is for you, Katrine helps you answer that question here.
The practicals
When is it?
The event runs from the 11th to 13th of october 2024. It starts with workshops, at midday on the Friday, with the larp starting “early evening”. Time goes out at 12:30am, and the event starts again at 11am on Saturday morning. The larp itself will end at 10:30pm on the Saturday, with (optional) debriefing after, and breakfast on the Sunday. We have the venue the night before the event, on the 10th, and if it is easier to arrive then, just let us know.
Where is it?
The Castle, County Durham It’s a fabulous place, and I fell in love with it.
How do I get there?
You’ll either be local, or….
- drive for what’ll seem like forever, there is plenty of car parking at the venue.
- get a train to Durham station which is a 24 minute cab ride away
- fly to Newcastle airport, which has three flights a day in from Schiphol, and get a 45 minute cab journey.
What catering is provided?
All tickets include in-game dinner on Friday and Saturday, and luncheon on Saturday, and breakfast on Saturday, and Sunday, which will be off-game.
The kitchen will be staffed during waking hours, and should you need anything, please do call in and ask. The staff will be in-character and at your service.
Food will be vegan-by-default. We won’t be doing a glorious banquet, although do also expect a magnificent cheeseboard. Once we’ve matched players to characters, we’ll ask for food preferences and communicate the menu. Last time’s was like this.
Where do I sleep?
Players will share a bed with a playing partner, or sleep in a single bed, in shared rooms – you’ll let us know what you want.
How’s it for accessibility?
The event does not involve heavy physical activity, or much in the way walking, and all of the roleplaying can be done seated. There are plenty of opportunities to rest, and food is available any time.
The site involves a house, and outside space. None of the few planned events during the game will happen on the upper floors of the house or in the garden. I have not checked level access over the entirety of the site – I would assume the outside space has steps.
Parts of the site are not physically accessible. There’s no lift access in the main building, and most players will sleep upstairs. There is one room on the ground floor which we will set up as a bedroom, if a pair of players require, or prefer, to sleep downstairs. That will be discussed after casting, and will not impact the character you are matched with. There is a downstairs toilet, but I would assume it is not chair-accessible.
The acceptable behaviour policy
Our acceptable behaviour policy is here. By signing up, you are agreeing to abide by it.
The sign-up
Places
There are 28 player places, 14 for human characters and 14 for their daemons. You book in pairs, with someone you feel comfortable being close to all event. You may signup at any time the form is open, which will be until the 11th January, 2024.
Once we have a list of of folk who want to come, we’ll circulate it, and if anyone has a red-line about attending the event with anyone on it, they’ll contact us and we’ll discuss options. That includes me as organiser – I’m on the hook for the site deposit, and I’ve never left a bad reputation behind me.
Then we’ll look at the kind of scenes you want, and the play styles that appeal, and will fit the player who wants to play human to the pre-written (and play tested) characters – with the intent that if you don’t get a place, it’s because we didn’t have the right character for you.
Once we’ve fit the human, there’s a choice of three daemon animals. The relationship the human character has with themselves, and others, will be different depending on which daemon the daemon player chooses.
Some of the humans are predetermined as a certain gender but especially for daemons, you can decide completely for yourself which gender you prefer to portray.
Should we get more interest than there are places, we’ll start by matching five pairs of folk who want to come to their best match of character, if there’s any which suit. Then we’ll pick five pairs at random, and match them to their best match of character, if there’s any which suit. Then we’ll match any remaining pairs of characters to whoever fits them best out of whoever remains. We’ll treat folk on subsidised and full contributions precisely the same. When we run out of subsidised places, we’ll remove everyone who has asked for a subsidised place from the list. That probably means pairs where both players have asked for subsidised contributions are likely to be disappointed.
Prices
The event is being run to recover costs, and not for profit. There are two cost contributions:
- £350 per person for full contribution
- £75 per person for subsidised contribution
Players in a pair do not need to contribute the same amount. There will be no questions as to why you want to contribute a subsidised amount; you just need to say you want to. We have budget for four subsidised places.
Payment
Payment will be by PayPal, friends and family, or bank transfer. Up to you.
For a full contribution – £350 paid 11th of March 2024, or in installments with £150 11th of March 2024 and £200 11th of June 2024.
For a subsidised contribution – £75 paid 11th of March 2024, or in installments with £25 11th of March 2024 and £50 11th of March 2024.
Contributing full, subsidised, or by installments will make no difference to the character we match you with.
Please tell me where to sign-up, I’ve read enough…
The sign-up form is here.
Some more things that might help decide if you want to come…
What’s the costume style of the larp?
We’re following this, from the designer’s website.
“The larp is set in a “vintage steampunk” era. That means that both human and Daemon will be dressed in costumes from an ahistorical past that fits the description “vintage steampunk”
This can entail fashion from the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century. Feel free to mix and match any clothes, styles, and accessories from these decades for your outfit. This is all about creating the right look and feel that suits your character, rather than recreating any particular era. Think for instance dark academia, light academia, or history bounding.
As far as the steampunk part of the larp is concerned, this applies mainly to the sciences, tech, and gadgets.”
How are you doing daemons?
Again, from the designer’s website.
“The Daemon player will additionally wear make-up and costume parts so it’s clear what animal they are representing, but no full animal-makeup or costume is relevant or wanted in this larp. Body language and representation are the most important. The representation can be done with prostheses, make-up, wigs, costume parts like fur, feathers, tails and the like. Avoid any full suits or masks.”
In addition, at this UK run, we’d ask daemon players to avoid make-up on their hands.The building is old, beautiful and special, and we will leave no trace of the event behind us.
Will there be drinking at the larp?
Yes, and a small amount of alcohol will be provided at meals. There is no bar on site.
What about COVID?
We ask everybody to have an NHS COVID pass. If you cannot do this, please let us know as soon as possible – in particular, if you got vaccinated outside of England, please drop us a line about equivalent systems in your country.
Please take an LFT, before you start your journey to the event if you have any symptoms that could be COVID, and do not come if you test positive. I will have a short list of people who can attend at no notice so the game will – I hope – not be affected.
Feel free to wear a mask during the event, although we are not currently insisting on masks for anyone.
This policy may – of course – have to change if the circumstances of the pandemic change things before the event.
What if I cancel?
If you cancel at any time after accepting your place, we will do our best to get you a full or partial refund. We may be able to re-sell your place to somebody on the waiting list, or we may have budget left over. These refunds may be paid after the event, and we do not guarantee any refund whatever the circumstances.
What if the organisers cancel?
In the event of a cancellation by us, all players will get back a share of any of the unspent budget, proportional to their ticket price.
What if the event makes any money?
We’re running the event to break even, and any surplus after refunds will go to Feed The People, a local grass-roots organisation that feeds those who need it. The budget and spend will be open after the event.
What about insurance?
We’ll be covered by LRP Alliance’s insurance. The policy is liability insurance only – it providers insurance if the organises are liable for a claim when running an event. If you as an attendee need accident or travel insurance then you will need to arrange that separately.
Is there any age limit?
Yes, the game is 18+
Not specifically because anything 18+ is anticipated, and a couple of characters could be young, but romance is an – opt-in – theme, and some characters depend on it. There is a “fade-to-black”‘ mechanic to cover any sort of actual sexual activity.
(one of my larp highpoints being having a proposal of marriage turned down over dinner during the run of this I played…)
LARP experience 