Летняя ларп-школа

Мы рады сообщить, что начался прием заявок на Летнюю ларп-школу 2016 (3-8 июля, Литва). Летняя ларп-школа - это интенсивное образовательное мероприятие по основам ларп-дизайна. Более 15 опытных экспертов из Скандинавии и Беларуси, около 50 участников со всех стран мира, шесть дней содержательных лекций, творческих воркшопов и, конечно же, ролевых игр, знакомство с международным ларп-сообществом - вот, что делает Летнюю ларп-школу уникальным событием, достойным внимания активных и творческих людей.

Если Вы хотите принять участие в Ларп-школе, или у вас есть друзья и знакомые, которые бы хотели стать участниками школы, сообщите им о том, что мы открыли прием заявок. Информация о Летней ларп-школе будет размещаться здесь - larpschool.org
Заявка на участие находится здесь.

Первый срок подачи заявок заканчивается 20 марта!




В данном разделе Вы найдете информацию  о Летней школе по написанию ларпов. Также здесь будут представлены материалы Летней школы.

Микшерный пульт ларпа (оригинал текста на английском http://larpschool.org/)

Летняя школа ролевых игр основывалась на подходе к  дизайну ролевых игр в рамках, которые мы решили назвать «микшерный пульт ларпа». Несмотря на то, что мы считаем этот подход к ларам новым, он все же основывается во многом на принципах и подходах сообщества ролевиков. И мы очень благодарны тем, кто помог нам разработать этот концепт, а именно лекторам международной летней ларп-школы.

Микшерный пульт ларпа - это рамка, которая поможет вам структурировать мысли по поводу ларп дизайна. Рассматривайте его скорее как педагогический инструмент, а не как очередную теорию по написанию ларпов. Мы надеемся, что участники летней школы, а также другие ролевики найдут этот подход полезным для структурирования своих мыслей в процессе создания ларпов, используя линий фейдеров.

Создавая ларп, вы учитываете множество параметров. Эти параметры наверняка будут оказывать влияние на ларп, который вы пишете. Основная идея микшерного пульта заключается в том, что авторы или организаторы игры похожи на технического директора, который контролирует свет и звук на концерте или представлении. И в его распоряжении находится целый ряд фейдеров (регуляторов), которые увеличивают или уменьшают количество света, меняют цвета, объем звука и т.д. И все эти фейдеры могут перемещаться вверх и вниз, управляя и находя необходимое количество света или звука, и это оказывает влияние на представление.

Точно также создатель игры может находить нужное положение для фейдеров на микшерном пульте ларпа, и это будет оказывать влияние на ларп, который они создают. Вы можете увеличивать уровень прозрачности, добавить немного метатехник, изменить ответственность за процесс создания своего персонажа или ввести абстрактные элементы, чтобы усилить атмосферу в игре. Все эти изменения положений фейдеров будут влиять на игру, которую вы создаете, и нахождение для них нужного положения поможет вам достичь вашего замысла создания игры.

Цель микшерного пульта ларпа заключается в том, чтобы задать рамку для структурирования своих мыслей относительно того, как изменения разных параметров смогут повлиять на ваш ларп, и какое положение фейдеров является самым оптимальным для того ларпа, который вы создаете. В микшерном пульте очень важно также осознать такую вещь, что даже если какие-то фейдеры будут вами не выставлены и останутся в положении «по умолчанию», они все равно будут влиять на вашу игру. Эти положения фейдеров «по умолчанию» отличаются в разных ролевых группах, сообществах, от страны к стране, зависят от традиций. И осознать, какие фейдеры в играх выставлены по умолчанию, является важной целью  рамки микшерского пульта.

Далее - описание каждого фейдера, текст на языке оригинала. Больше материалов с Ларп-школы на сайте http://larpschool.blogspot.com.by/p/resources.html

The faders

Of course, there are endless numbers of faders that could possibly have been adjusted on the Mixing Desk of Larp. We have no intention of covering all possible design choices, but have concentrated on some of the most important parameters that can be adjusted when making a larp. We hope and believe that other larpwriters will add their own faders and remove the ones they don’t find fruitful when using this framework.


Communication style
Verbal vs. physical

What kind of communication style does your larp encourage? Is the natural way to interact in the game through talking, or through physical action and body language? Communication style can be adjusted through the characters, through workshops, through scenography design, or through communication with and among the players prior to the larp. A physical communication style might be more thrilling, letting the players immerse more through using all of their senses, but a more verbal game might be easier to involve new players in, as well as being more realistic in many settings.

Openness
Transparency vs secrecy

This fader indicates whether parts of the larp are kept secret from the participants. Some larps give the players only the same information that their characters have, while other larps disclose all information about (other) characters, pre-planned events in the larp etc. Some larps go even further in reaching transparency, by actively promoting sharing of information through workshops. More openness can increase the drama by letting the players collaborate more easily, but it can also ruin the surprises for many players. The degree of openness can also be adjusted during the larp, for example by using meta techniques.

Scenography
360° illusion vs. symbolism

How realistic surroundings do you need to play the larp? This fader can been split into two parts: The absence of non-fictional elements (or visual noise), and the presence of fictional elements. We have combined it into one fader. Some larps focus a lot on surroundings or scenography to support the vision of the larp, while other larps introduce few or no elements of scenography. At the same time, some larps strive to remove unwanted elements or visual noise, while others place no requirements on this. Thus, to be close to the extreme position of 360° illusion, you both have to have an accurate scenography and no visual noise. Symbolism, on the other hand, places the least requirements on scenography: Visual noise is OK and the scenography is not properly representing the larp world. The stricter the design prompts specific scenography, the harder it will be to find a venue to play the larp.

The blackbox tradition strives towards removing visual noise while introducing only minimal scenography. With limited scenography, the few items that are there usually attract more attention. The aggregate effect of the black box approach will lead to a fader position towards the middle.

Culture creation responsibility
Player vs. organizer

The players always have a say in interpreting the culture where the larp takes place. But how much freedom will the organizers leave the players in defining the culture? Some larps let the players create the culture from scratch through workshops. Others give the players a few clues, perhaps by basing the culture on already existing fictional or real cultures, by giving out texts to read or by basing it on previous  larps. Others again goes far in orchestrating the culture and leave to the players only the finer interpretation and calibration of the cultural understanding.

Character creation responsibility
Player vs. organizer

To which extent does the organizers leave it to the player to create their character? Some larps let the players create the characters from scratch, for example through a facilitated workshop. Others give the players a few clues, perhaps a few lines of text, a name, a prop or a picture, and let the players create from there. Others again give full descriptions of the character and leaves only the fine interpretation and calibration of relations to the player.

Game master style
Active vs. passive

Some organizers consider their job done when the larp has started; then, they leave everything in the hands of the players. Others influence the game in different ways as it goes along. Does your design prompt for an active or a passive game master? Game mastering might also be of different sorts: the discrete ones, like sending instructed players into the game, adjusting the lights or putting on different background music, or the extremely intrusive ones, like stopping the game and instructing the players to do a scene again differently.

Player motivation
Competitivity vs. collaborativity

What motivates the players in your game? Having something to win or a goal to obtain, be it individually or collectively, can be an easy way to motivate players, especially for beginners. This is the competitive approach. On the other hand, you often get more interesting stories and stronger player experiences when the players collaborate -- for example, by deliberately getting their characters into trouble, i.e. “playing to lose.”

Loyalty to world
Playability vs. plausibility

When a part of the larp (from the designers point of view) represents a phenomenon that exists outside the larp, we need to decide how accurately we want to represent this phenomenon. Such a phenomenon can be any part of the larp, for example real world or fictional settings (e.g. Nordic viking age or Battlestar Galactica), mechanisms (bullying in schools, conflict resolutions), social structures (gender roles, workplace hierarchies) or characters (real or fictional persons the players have a preconception about).

We sometimes represent these phenomenons inaccurately for artistic/poetic or practical reasons. In addition, larpwrights often have to consider the tradeoff between playability and plausibility, which is what this fader covers.

When making a historical game, for example, having a female factory owner might be highly implausible. However, it might be very playable – creating lots of interesting drama and intrigues for the players to use in the larp. In most games, you leave out the characters that have nothing to contribute to the drama, even though it would be plausible to have them there. Sometimes, you make unlikely twists to make the outcome of a story unpredictable. How true will you be to your setting? A plausible story might be a requirement for players to believe and immerse into the fiction. However, the players also need drama and often the least plausible setups create the most drama.

Bleed-in
Differentiation vs. close to home

Do you use elements from the players’ real lives in the game (close to home), or do you deliberately try to create or distance (differentiation) between the character and player? Using the players’ own experiences or background might be a very effective way to create a strong emotional experience. However, the player will to a lesser degree experience the world through the eyes of someone else, an experience many players seek. Rather, the bleed-in design replicates and amplifies the players own emotions.

Designing for bleed-in makes the game less larp and more reality. It can divert focus from the story in the larp to the emotions the players bring with them into the game. Design for bleed-in requires knowledge of the players background. An example of practical application can be a workshop technique where you tell a co-player about a difficult relation you have in the real world, and then create a similar relation for your character.

Representation of theme
Simulation vs. abstraction

When a part of the larp relates to a phenomenon that exists outside the larp, we need to decide how we want to represent this phenomenon. For outsiders, it can sometimes be hard to discuss a larp’s position on this fader. Often, the larp creators will not be explicit about which themes the larp relates to, rather leaving this for poetic interpretation by the players.

The fader Representation of theme indicates in which way your larp deals with phenomenons that exist outside the larp. Are they simulated as accurately as possible or does the larp relate to them in a more abstract way?

For example, if you are making a larp where one of the themes is that you want to give the players the experience of being inmates in a prison camp, one way of doing this might be trying to simulate an actual prison camp as much as possible. Another approach could by using abstract or surreal elements including lights and sounds to recreate the feeling of being in a prison camp.

Game mechanics
Intrusive vs. discreet

Is the larp conducted only by players acting out their characters, or are game mechanics added for the sake of making the play more interesting? Game mechanics can for example be used to inspire the players, give them information during the run of the larp, open up possibilities by making it possible to carry out actions by symbols that the players otherwise would not do.

Some larpers prefer a minimum of game mechanics in order to make the illusion more intact. Others think game mechanics are necessary to create more interesting play.

The amount and frequency of game mechanics influence this fader, but also to which extent they are esthetically adapted to the larp, and whether the mechanic can suspense play for many or all participants, or if it only applies for those who opt-in themselves.

Pressure on players
Hardcore vs. pretense

Is the larp designed in a way that makes it likely that the characters will experience situations that, if played out, may violate the players comfort zones? If so, to which extent are they actually played out, and to which extent are the situations replaced by game mechanics?

This fader covers both the level of pressure in the design, and whether or not that pressure is relieved using game mechanics instead of acting out the characters behaviour in certain situations. The way the game mechanic is carried out also affects this fader.

Common examples of themes that may challenge the players’ comfort zone (and thereby increase the pressure) are: Hunger, violence, sleep deprivation, shelter deprivation, sex, drinking, and drugs. If you want to include these elements in your game, how do you do it?

Do you put the pressure on the players as well as the characters by using real alcohol, real food deprivation, and waking people at night? Or do you shelter the players from the pressure of the characters by using replacements like fake alcohol or telling the players to pretend to be hungry or sleep deprived? And if you use replacements, what pressure do the replacement imply? If you want to replace the phenomenon of waterboarding, there will be more pressure on the players if the replacement is getting sprayed with cold water than if it’s going off-game and getting told that your character was tortured.

Pressure on the players due to lack of replacements for actions that challenge the comfort zone may increase the intensity of the larp, but it may also lead to the players to steering their characters away from doing things that they would otherwise do. Also, pressure may undermine the players ability to role-play and enjoy other aspects of the larp.

The cost of complexity and the restrictions of the faders

Getting to know about all of this, you might be eager to try out it all, manipulating and adjusting all the faders to your heart’s content. We will advise against this – it might not even be possible. If you push all the faders on a sound equalizer all the way to the top, the only thing that happens is that the sound quality gets worse. The same thing might happen when you over-adjust the faders of the Mixing Desk of Larp. 

When all the faders are adjusted, you might dilute the effect of the most important parts of your larp. Think about when to adjust a fader, and when to leave in a more neutral position.Also, fader adjustment might place restrictions on other fader choices. 

Making a larp with only player created characters might force you to use minimalist scenography, simply because you have no idea what characters the players will create. Pushing the metatechniques-fader all the way to intrusive might make it impossible to have a goal of 360-degree illusion, since the metatechniques will breach the illusion, and so forth.Now that you have gotten to know the Mixing Desk of Larp, we hope you’ll start twisting. Good luck!

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