It was a great October here in Virginia. I had many adventures and watch even more movies, some gems, so not so much, but I did say I wanted to get this Horror LARPing idea out there to the public so we as horror fans can have are own world. Since, most of the haunts are laid to rest for another year let us delve into this adventure.
I want to tell you so much and show you pictures and videos that could peak that interest but I am not an artist and I just haven’t had time to do so, because of work and what not but on my down time I have written some scenarios for this idea of a Horror LARP. Oddly enough it takes longer than I thought and hell I am just starting out so I need help too. So if you have thoughts or ideas for me, I am truly willing to listen. Just message me and I will get back to you as soon as I can. But as for now I will show you how I structured these designs as a layout so when I present these scenarios you can follow along.
I. Scenario
A. The Story–This is where I will explain the story that you will complete however you choose. It is to allow you to jump-start your imagination and begin your creation.
B. Mission–This is how we will no the scenario is completed. I will detail what your mission is and how to accomplish it to be winners, losers, or dead (Losers because the creatures got you)
II. The Set-Up– This is where I will explain in details what my design for the scenario should be, including Actors/Actresses, Set Design, and how the mission should flow.
A. How to capture the atmosphere (Cold, Dark, Bright, Loud, Quiet, etc.)
B. Design and Background
a. Background of Characters–I discuss here what the characters mental state is, where they come from and what they want in order to help the Actors/Actresses who portray them will be able to create the character.
b. Decor of the Set–This focuses primarily on set design. Lighting, colors, noises, etc. on the set. The scenarios I may create may have multiple areas that must be design differently to create the illusion of a warped reality that I have created in the scenario such as laboratories, bedrooms, dungeons, houses, and whatever else I can come up with and portray in my scenarios to make it feel real.
c. Actors/Actresses–My description of the character will relay this information so one can design costumes for each actor/actress in the LARP that has been created. These can be modified for protection or rules and laws if needed and moral conduct of your adventure because I understand you are going to create rules and regulations based off of what you can obtain for the LARP.
1. How Many Actors/Actresses are needed for the creation?
2. What should the gender or most identifiable belief should the person be? (Male, female, trans, it does not matter because horror movies do not discriminate against anyone. Some of the best endings involve twists like that [Sleepaway Camp])
3. Age Range–Depending on what my scenario is you can have any age you want but do not be stupid about this because if you do create a scenario where some violence happens in front of a young child I am not going to protect you neither will any waiver. DO NOT BE STUPID HERE!!!!!
4. Look of the actors/actresses–Self-explanatory this will be costume design for all intended purposes.
III. Finally, the Game–I wasn’t sure how to describe this because depending on your participants, actor/actresses, and set-design will create your story from this skeleton outline. All I can give you here is after the story is over and length of the story what you do is up too you.
A. Time
a. Part one will focus on time limit of play. This will only be an estimate because the game will surely change based on your participants and your modifications for the game. Some can be finished quickly others could take a long time. This will give you a limit so that you will not get bored and can declare success or failure depending on how far the participants made it.
b. Rental–In this is also based off of the prior focus of time because to create some of these LARPs you may have to rent areas for a day or two depending on what you want to do and how long it will take to set-up. I have never done these before so I cannot give a good estimate for this part of the time. But as I do these LARPs maybe I can be more accurate.
B. Difficulty–This will be a difficulty setting for the LARP depending on how I create the scenario what I think would be easy or not easy and is based not off of only general gore factor but also logic, meaning an adult may be able to solve the problem but a child would have no idea due to lack of experience.
a. Kids–ages 5 and up but parental guidance is suggested and the scenario can be fun for everyone.
b. Young Adults–ages 12 and up. Little more scarier with some gore or violence a lot more difficult puzzles and a parent is not needed but if they want to do it too have at it.
c. Adults– ages 18 and up. Violent, cussing, physically active, physically grabbed or dragged, some nudity may be seen. Difficult puzzles to solve. Let us be mature about this too. Do not attack the actors/actresses because you cannot handle it and want to show off. You signed the waiver and the police will be called.
d. Extreme Adults–ages 21 and up. This is the most difficult out of them all. Better chance at failing than winning. It will have more violence, more physical touching and cursing. Scenes on movies that may show torture and nudity. However, it will still be safe and you can quit at anytime if it is too much. Now I probably won’t have to many of these scenarios because people are crazy and will not get that it is for entertainment. Police will be called if you want to act a fool however, understand what may go on in this experience so if you do have some form of PTSD we are not trying to trigger that and you should know what you can handle and as I said prior to this you (Including the people who are running it) quit anytime and the owners will not deny your wishes. (GOT THAT OWNERS. DO NOT BE AN ASSHOLE).
C. Area Difficulty–Scenarios I create will sometimes have multiple areas each one with their own puzzles and/or, Actors/Actresses who are hunting you down to stop the mission from being completed and if caught by them you lose (but you can become part of the scenario if the host chooses to allow you too. Which is my suggestion so you will not be let down by failing the mission in a quick time). This section will break down each areas difficulty so the host/hostess can fit the difficulty into the scenario to impact the LARP. (This is only for scenarios with multiple areas some may not have that within the story line).
a. Easy–Simple puzzles not to scary creatures kids can usually solve on their own will usually be found in Kid HLARPing scenarios although some will be found in the more advance scenarios.
b. Medium–harder puzzles with more chilling creatures if creatures are used and requires a little more thought processing than easy found in Young Adult to Extreme adult scenarios.
c. Hard–High likelihood of failure due to ferocity of creatures if creatures are present or even if you did not complete a task that an object is needed and now you can not recover it to accomplish missions. Requires thought and teamwork to complete as well as difficult decisions (Possibly Sacrifice one for the whole). These will be found in Adult to Extreme Adult Scenarios.
D. The End and Discussion–This part is made for the ending of each scenario and how to make them better.
a. Mission Complete–Three ways a scenario can be completed sometimes two ways depending on the scenario. What happened afterwards? The Ending.
1. Mission Accomplished–Solved the puzzles, accomplished the task, success, and you survived.
2. Mission Failed–What happened because you failed to complete task in time and you have lost?
3. You all died–The creatures got every one of you and you died therefore you did not complete the mission and none of you survived.
b. After the game is over I want all host/hostesses to debrief the participants. This will help improve the game for the future, engage the participants in discussion of the game and experiences. How much they enjoyed or hated the game and their willingness to participate in future Horror LARPs (HLARPs). You could also possibly show videos of each experience, slide shows of reactions, anything really here you want just do not send them away because it is over it is supposed to be fun and an experience for the person so PARTY!!!
Okay. I know that, that was a long read and I apologize but it was needed so when I do start posting my scenarios up here you know what you are getting yourself into here. I hope this will be a fun thing that many horror lovers can enjoy and will try to do. Believe me it is a lot of work but the end is what matters. I also hope you understand that this is for fun. Just like going to a haunted house. When I said dead or not survived up there I was talking about in the game so DON’T BE CRAZY, and say I am talking about murdering people because one of you trolls out there will because that is the nature of the beast. I mean die in the fake scenario. I want host to know as well that if someone does get captured right a way or die still let them have fun. Dress them up in a costume or do make up and have them help in scaring the other participants throughout the game by misdirection or whatever else you can think of in those brilliant minds out their in the world. And overall understand that THIS IS FOR FUN SO MAKE IT FUN.
P.S. Please contact me about anything information you can provide. Especially if you have done something like this because I would love to hear the experiences you have come across while HLARPing. Or if you want me to give you more ideas I may not have included in my scenarios, even twists.
scarefirsttalklater 