This text was written in late 2012 and reflects my ideas about sound larp design at the time. Many things have changed on how i see larp design but this is still a good document to go through if you are a designer and make your own opinions on what I write below.
Relation Road Series
Is a series of larps exploring human relations with a special focus on status and close personal friendships or amorous relationships. The point of all this is to make more intense larps; larps that evolve you as a human being, larps that provokes your understanding of self, relations and the world; larps that matters.
This document should not be seen as a manifesto, even though it looks like one. It is meant as a personal design paradigm for me to explore larp design and make larps that matters to me. The bullets below is a start, there will probably be changes and new additions as I explore the form and method:

Form
  • These are all preliminary guidelines and meant to be broken if necessary:
    • The larps are for 4 or more players. Normally not more than 15.
    • The larps often run for two days, but could be longer or shorter if it is necessary.
    • The larps are often played pervasive but this is not set in stone.
    • Meta-techniques can be used if decided upon.
    • There are no limitations on theme, setting, meta-techniques or the like.
    • The larps must be easy to produce and easy to document.
    • The larps uses workshops to create characters and relations between characters.

 

Truths
This is the core design philosophy. All must be considered during the design phase, but bullets can be ignored if the larp benefits from it. Most are stolen or rewritten from Vi Åker Jeep. Thanks goes out to the fine Jeepers for being smarter than me. I hail their brilliance!! (jeepen.org)

Larp

  • You should always have a message, theme or premise. If you ask yourself: “What is this larp about?” and find yourself answering with long description of how you think it will be played — think again.
  • Everyday drama is more interesting than epic drama.
  • Setting does not make up for story.
  • Production and logistics are not an excuse for bad game- or interaction design.
  • Short intense larps are better than long mediocre ones.
  • The larp must be documented with photos and/or video and all residue from the game indexed and stored.
  • All the games should be written in a way that makes them easily re-playable by others and made available on-line.

Player

  • Players are acknowledged as co-creators.
  • Transparency is important to facilitate collaborative play — there should basically not be any secrets.
  • Players are asked to tell what they personally want to explore by playing the larp, so their co-players can help them achieve this.
  • Always make sure that the players know what they are playing, and where the story should be going.
  • Assume the players are mature enough to say no if their boundaries are crossed.
  • Assume the players can understand complex stories.
  • Assume the players are interested and motivated to do the best possible thing with the larp.

Interaction

  • Interaction is the single most important thing.
  • If playing pervasively, interaction with non players is encouraged as long as it is not destructive in any way. I.E.: do not harm, hurt or scare non-players, treat them with with the same respect as your fellow players.
  • Interaction based on status and/or personal relationships is so much more important than reaction based on setting. It is the personal story that matters, the setting is only a catalyst.
  • In all interaction, something relevant for the larp, or game play, should be at stake.

Setting/location

  • Setting and location must not be ignored.
  • The setting is a catalyst for role play.

The larps should be easy to produce, based around a simple strong concept and always have intense interaction as a goal. Player co-creation is equally important, since only through the players input, can the larp reach a higher level of intensity.

All text will be written in English and all players will after the game write a one page text honestly describing their personal journey as a player.