Against the Dying of the Light > Game Style

game style- how do we play?

Finding a phrase that exactly sums up our approach to this LARP is difficult. Players come to LARP from a hundred different directions and backgrounds. We hope that the discussion below will give you an idea of what we hope to create, but please do get in contact with any questions we have left unanswered!

Our LARP is systemless, low-combat, collaborative, and character-based.

The Mixing Desk of LARP is an excellent tool for communicating our vision for the game.

Mixing Desk

active game themes

This game features the following active themes. These are core features of the game and will be freely explored:

Death; so many people have died. Most of the human population in fact. All characters will have a long list of people who they have outlived.
Infection; the existential fear of contracting the zombie virus. All characters will have lost close family and friends to this horrendous disease. This infection has lead to the near-collapse of human society and is an ever-present fear and impacts every aspect of life.

Medical scarcity; medical expertise and supplies are few and far between in our setting. The Walkers may have raided medical supplies, and the Crofters may have some herbal remedies. Nobody has access to asthma inhalers, antibiotics, or synthetic insulin. Small wounds can quickly become dangerously infected, and medical conditions that we can currently treat are fatal.
Inequality and Unfairness; this is a theme for the Walkers. Their society is built upon rank and privilege, with resources being shared unequally. From food to warm clothing and materials to build shelter, the Walkers will have experienced hardship.
Food scarcity; a central feature of post-apocalyptic life. At worst there is the fear of starvation, and at best there is the sadness of missing caffeine and refined sugar (Crofters) or fresh vegetables and dairy produce (Walkers). All characters will have experienced this, and some may have lost family and friends to starvation.

PLEASE NOTE: our caterer will provide plentiful nutritious food, however characters will not have access to certain items like sweets and coffee. All accommodation on the site has cooking and food storage facilities that players can use to prepare off-game snacks and drinks to satisfy any cravings! Food scarcity is a theme for our characters to experience, not for our players.

background game themes

Disableism; for our game we have chosen to avoid the theme of 'leaving people behind' in the case of disability. Whilst this might seen inaccurate for the setting, we are doing this to protect our disabled players. Additionally we are very clear that it is not appropriate to be actively disablist against other characters in the game. Examples of inappropriate play:
- Commenting that someone with limited mobility "wouldn't last a day" outside of the Croft.
- Talking about how you had to abandon your friend because they twisted their ankle and couldn't run fast enough to jump into the car.

excluded game themes

Discrimination based on sexuality / gender / race / age / real-world religion; just as they are in real life, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, queerphobia, racism, ageism, anti-religious discrimination etc are totally unacceptable in-game actions. It is not appropriate to make a character with these traits.

HOWEVER, it is of course possible that players might want to explore certain aspects of sexuality, age, queerness in a post apocalyptic setting. What we are excluding is bigotry, not exploration. It is expected that players wanting to explore any themes along these lines will communicate closely with us in order to ensure the game is enjoyable for all players. We would expect a certain amount of appropriate lived experience. For example, a transgender player might want to explore what it would mean to be without hormone medication in this setting. But let us be absolutely clear: we are absolutely NOT going to insist that anyone who is transgender has to explore this- just like we won't be expecting all of our diabetic players to fall over into a coma half way through the event.

Please do get in touch with us if anything above does not make sense, we are always delighted to discuss these tricky issues.

Please also take a look at our general statement on accessibility & conduct

Accessibility & Conduct

pace of the game

This is not a fast-faced frantic LARP. There is no ticking bomb that must be diffused, and no hostages to rescue. This is not the type of LARP in which you grab moments of roleplay between waves of zombies.

This is a game that is firmly grounded in emotion. We want you to feel your feelings. We want you to write letters to loved ones and gaze longingly at crumpled photos of lost family. Knit some lumpy socks, whittle a spoon. Take time to argue, to make-up, to cry and to laugh. Discover secrets and agonise over them before confronting your found family over breakfast.

We accept that there is always a risk of boredom in an event with no 'action', but we are confident that the type of players who choose to play this game are capable of making game out of anything!

Systemless LARP

Many players will be most familiar with the style of LARP that involves creating your own character within a defined system, with points to spend on skills. These skills then define which part of the game you can engage with. This is often essential in the type of game involving puzzles or combat. This is not that sort of game!

This game is influenced by Nordic, UK Freeform, and European International LARPs. The emphasis is on experiencing the setting and interacting with your fellow players. We want to give you space to feel your emotions and evolve your connections to others. There will be secrets to uncover, arguments to be had, and decisions to be made.

low combat- violence is rare

The game takes place in an imagined future. The year is 2035- ten years after the outbreak of the rapidly spreading zombie virus. Most of the humans on the planet are dead. Those who remain are either crammed into one of the remaining official military-run Evac Camps, or attempting to make it on their own in the wilderness.

Our game has no planned combat, and our players need to get into a mindset where violence is the very last resort.

Shunning: In a world where violence is dangerous, simply removing people from the protection of your home or group is a serious punishment. In our game this will mean that they are evicted after time out, on the Sunday. This means that nobody's drama is cut short.

Zombies are drawn to loud noises: Nobody in their right mind would use a firearm to fight anyone. One shot and you'd draw all the zombies from miles around.

Wound infections kill: Medical care is amateur and antibiotics are non-existent. Even a small scrape is potentially life-threatening. Every character will have friends or family who have died as a result of minor wounds becoming infected.

Nobody is expendable: In the Croft there are no spare hands; in order for the group to survive, each member is required.

Rather them than you: The Walkers rely on each other for survival in the wilderness. You always need somebody to watch your back. And if the zombies get too close... well it's always good to have other people around who you can out-run.

character generation

Characters are designed cooperatively with players. We start by getting some basic information as part of our sign-up form. Then when places are allocated we will provide a character sketch, and ask for your feedback. There will be ample opportunity for us to ensure that you are playing the type of character that gives you the most fun.

Relationships are pre-defined as part of the character generation process. That doesn't mean that you can't find new friends and enemies during play, however we ask that you don't create additional connections before the start of the game.

Secrecy & Collaboration

All characters will enter the game with secrets. These secrets might relate to dark deeds in their past, or to plans they have for the future. It should be a main goal of all characters to have at least some of their hidden truths see the light of day. We're not suggesting that you all open up within the first hour, but the entire point of the event is to see how the characters change over the course of the game. This is achieved by allowing discovery and reaction, and fostering an overall style of play that values experience above any form of 'winning'.

Through collaboration we tell the most fulfilling story together. This means that many characters will not achieve their in-game goals. This 'play to lose' style might be new to many players. If you are someone who values achievement above emotions and realism, then this might not be the game for you. If you are able to find fun in the drama of defeat and despair, then this definitely is the game for you!

Another important concept is that we 'play to lift'. This means that all players are expected to engage and react to others in a way that enhances their experience of the game. It means that the responsibility for ensuring everyone has a good game rests on all of our shoulders collectively. In practice this might mean; if a player is playing your respected military commander then it is appropriate to respect their orders even if they do not have the most commanding voice. If a player is playing a villain they should be given the chance for a dramatic show-down and defeat, rather than simply murdered on their way to the toilet.

calibration

It is not our intention to have any pre-planned scenes in this game. However, we highly recommend using calibration as a tool to ensure that you and your fellow players get the most from your game.

Calibration prior to the game: This might be as simple as having a quick chat with your in-game nemesis before the event begins and deciding whether your rivalry is the kind that manifests in snide comments and dirty looks, or blows up into regular shouting matches.

Calibration during the game: It might mean finding out something shocking about one of your friends, and finding a quiet moment to check-in with them about whether they would be happy for you to announce the news at dinner in front of everyone.

* Calibration might be seen as creating spoilers. It is therefore perfectly valid for a player, when approached for this kind of chat, to state that they would rather everything happens organically. This is also a form of calibration! *

Calibration without breaking character: This is particularly essential during highly emotional or potentially violent scenes. Using a simple set of hand signals or words allows us to check-in on our fellow players and ensure that everyone is comfortable. We will go over these signals in the workshops on the Friday of the event.

THUMBS UP can be used as a question (is everything ok?) and also an answer (everything is ok). Any other response to a questioning thumbs up means that the scene needs to be adjusted or paused immediately.
GREEN / YELLOW / RED are excellent verbal signals that can be used to indicate comfort level in a scene. Green means that characters are fine with the escalating tension or emotion, yellow would mean that there needs to be a reduction in intensity, and red is used when a player needs the current discussion topic or physical action to be stopped immediately.
HANDS SHADING EYES (as if protecting your eyes from bright sun) is an excellent way to indicate that you need to leave a scene without it being remarked upon. Other characters should not react to you leaving, or re-entering, the scene. This may be used if a scene is becoming too intense and you are not directly involved, and so do not want to use the colour system. Or there might be an off-game reason; for example, if you really need to use the toilet during a scene where it would be the height of rudeness for your character to leave the table. You can slip away and return, and the other players should act as if you never left.
"I NEED TO GO CHECK THE PERIMETER" is a code phrase specific to this game. It is used when a character wishes to leave an area or conversation and not be followed. If it is used during a heated argument it could be interpreted as the character storming off. If it is used during a highly emotional conversation it might be that the player is overcome with emotion and needs some time to reflect. In any situation, the important thing is that the player does not want anyone to follow them as they move away. This must be respected.

* We are aware that several of these calibration mechanisms could be abused for in-game benefit. For example a player could use either the hands-shading-eyes motion, or the phrase "I need to go check the perimeter" as a way of avoiding in-game consequences for their actions. We are trusting our players to make sure that this does not happen, and if any player encounters this we hope that they inform one of the organisers and we can have a chat *