designlarpelements of

Eirik Fatland - Knutpunkt 2014

Why U No Larpdesign?

A Knutebook Larp Design Reader*• “Building Dramatics” by Susanne Gräslund

• Everything by Eirik Fatland

• Everything by Troels Barkholt-Sprangsbo

• Selected Works by J. Tuomas Harviainen

• All the larp reports

• ...

• Everything Else* based on a flawed memory of a napkin I might have dreamt about

1. What do larp designers design?

2. What must be designed?

3. What can be designed?

Why U So Teohrehticl?

1. What do larp designers design?

The object, and limit, of larp design:

What do players want?“Create a story, with others.”“Overcome my own limits.”“Enough plots”“Learn about myself”

“This character was unplayable”“My larp sucked because of bad design.”

What do players want?“Create a story, with others.”“Overcome my own limits.”“Enough plots”“Learn about myself”

“This character was unplayable”“My larp sucked because of bad design.”

“I did X because it was totally true to my character”

Image: Puppeli @ DeviantArt, CC-BY-SA 3.0 2014

Image: Puppeli @ DeviantArt, CC-BY-SA 3.0 2014

fight flee

Image: Puppeli @ DeviantArt, CC-BY-SA 3.0 2014

fight

flee

Image: Puppeli @ DeviantArt, CC-BY-SA 3.0 2014

hugtoast

boastgrunt

fightflee

affordances:Perceivable possibilities for action

Source: James J. Gibson / Don Norman

(1) An actor’s part in a play, film, etc.:

ROLE

Source: Oxford English Dictionary

(1) An actor’s part in a play, film, etc.

(2) The function assumed or part played by a person or thing in a particular situation.

ROLE

Source: Oxford English Dictionary

(1) An actor’s part in a play, film, etc.

(2) The function assumed or part played by a person or thing in a particular situation.

ROLE

(3) The affordances that are socially available to a given person in a given context.

Source: Oxford English Dictionary + my own ass

source: Johanna Koljonens brain

2. What must be designed?

ALIBI TO PLAY

Photo: CC-AT-NC-ND 2014 DeviantArt user RainSmile

LANGUAGE TO INTERACT

3. What can be designed?

rail-roading: bad

manipulation: good

So, how do you manipulate players into improvising the experience you want them to have?

Instructions / scheduling: You tell them what to do

Theme: You tell them what it is about, and then let them figure out how to do it

Interaction Code: You give players a reference (genre, situation etc.) for how to behave

External Conflict: You pit them against each other

Internal Conflict: You make it interesting to figure out what to do

Challenge: You tell them to want X, and then make it difficult to get X.

Controlling the external world: You use your GM power over the rest of the universe to nudge the players into behaving.

So, how do you manipulate players into improvising the experience you want them to have?(cont’d)

Framing: You slice up the time and space of the larp.

Mechanics / Techniques: You tell them to, in certain situations, do stuff that affects the player and character differently.

Hierarchy: You give some characters plenty of power over others, and set up some rules that make the interaction of power and non-power interesting

Status: You make characters high-status/low-status (dominant/submissive) and then complicate it.

Fictional values: You ask them to pretend to have values and beliefs that lead to certain behaviours. This may in turn create themes and conflicts.

Rituals: You tell them that their characters, in certain situations, behave in certain ways.

Puzzles: You hide clues around the game, ask players to compete in finding them, and make something awesome happen when they do.

CASE

MELLAN HIMMEL OCH HAV

CASE

KYBERGENESIS

CASE

KAPO

Marcellos Kjeller 2010 foto: Li Xin

Compound& Holistic

designlarpelements of

Eirik Fatland - Knutpunkt 2014

larpwright.efatland.com