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Dealing with Death

A War of Our Own takes place in a very dangerous place. Death can happen. The characters are not guaranteed to be safe, especially if their actions warrant dangerous wounds or death.

It will be difficult to die accidentally in the first part of the game, but as the game escalates toward the end, characters may die more easily. Death can be taken on voluntarily – you can always choose a worse outcome for a fight – or inflicted as a consequence of your actions – such as picking fights with heavily armed soldiers. As the game goes on, death might be arbitrary and abrupt, much like with the lives of the people who are trying to empathize with.

But what happens when you die in A War of Our Own? There are other ways of participating in the game. But when you die, after a reasonable amount of time, your “body” should be taken out of the main play area to be buried. And then you can inform the staff as to what happened.

These methods are meant as a courtesy. Please keep that in mind as you are given the chance to use them.

Ghosting

The ghosting mechanic is meant to allow participants to keep experiencing the story after their characters have departed from it. Participants who are ghosting will be given a black cross or X on their forehead, to symbolize they are not there and are dead. If another participant mistakenly says they saw them, they are just a memory. If you catch sight of a ghosting character, feel free to act as if you just suddenly remembered them and move on, or dwell on their part of the story.

There is no actual supernatural element to the ghosting mechanic. There are no real ghosts there. It is simply a metaphor for the hole a death leaves behind.

Ghosting participants should take care not to interfere with the game. They are there to experience the world their characters left behind, and see where the game leads. They cannot speak or be interacted with.

Pick-Up Characters

Participants may be offered pick-up characters, or allowed to take on another persona through the game. There may be NPCs, or improvised characters you can be given by the staff. Staff will tap ghosting participants if there is need for an NPC, or may cooperatively construct a new character with them.

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The Jackalope Guide to LARPing Hard and Safe, Part 2: Negotiation and Care

To quote the eminent and incredibly talented LARP designer Johanna Koljonen –

“People are more important than LARPs.”

Let me repeat that –

“People are more important than LARPs.”

Everyone got that? Good. That means the person behind the character and the story is always more important than the story or the character itself. You need to remember that person – whether it is another participant, a staff member or yourself. Taking care of the person is always more important than the LARP.

Here are our guidelines for playing hard and safe, while remembering the person.

Warnings and Negotiating

If you feel you are going to go into a deep and possibly disturbing scene with another participant, it is always acceptable to break character, warn and negotiate. The signal for going out of character is to hold up two crossed fingers and say, “Out of character.”

How to quickly negotiate during an event

  1. The requesting participant raises two crossed fingers and say, “Out of character” and then a short reason why you are opening the subject. Examples include: “Physical contact”, “Disturbing material”, “Intimate contact”
  2. The responding participant said, “Out of character, what do you want to do?”
  3. The requesting participant explains what they’d like to do: “I would like to touch your face”, “I would like to stage-wrestle you to the ground”, “I am going to talk about my experiences at a massacre”
  4. The responding participant either responds with questions or other ideas.
  5. Negotiation concludes only when both sides say, “Agreed.” and lower their fingers.

Touching a player, rough housing or otherwise engaging in contact always requires negotiation, and should be part of the combat resolution process when we use resolution then action violence system, where the result of a violent conflict is determined and then played out.

Caring for yourself and others

Sanctuary Space

A sanctuary space will be available on site. The sanctuary space will have places to sit down, rest and recuperate, as well as snacks and water. If you are in need of a break or find yourself not able to handle the situation, bow out and visit the sanctuary space. If you need an escort or help finding it, approach a staff member or ask a fellow participant. If someone asks you for help, always try and give it.

Care for yourself

You are more important than the game. Remember to regularly assess yourself, your mental state and your physical well-being. Do not do stunts or other dangerous things that put you or others in danger. Your well-being is more important than the LARP.

Here is a good self-care checklist, if you start feeling out of sorts.

Self Care Checklist

  1. When was the last time I drank water, or something hydrating? Soda and coffee do not count.
  2. When was the last time I ate something?
  3. When was the last time I sat down and rested?
  4. Am I in physical pain? Do I need pain meds?
  5. (if applicable) When is the last time I had caffeine/a cigarette/etc.?

If you need any of these things, the sanctuary space or a staff member should be able to help you.

Care for your fellow players

If you see another participant who seems to be out of it, out of breath, not entirely present – use the check-in method to see if they need help. There is never a penalty or judgment for breaking character to find out if another participant needs help, or helping them to the sanctuary space or giving them physical care.

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The Jackalope Guide to LARPing Hard and Safe, Part 1: Signals

You are going to be stepping into a live action role-playing event that delves into emotional material. Some of it may touch on traumatic events, or deal with uncomfortable subject matter. Some of it might be horrific and disturbing. We have an urge as humans to deal with this kind of fiction, to interact with the dark parts of our world, to come to terms with it. But as we play in a collaborative shared space, we need to be confident we are exploring safely in a way that helps everyone.

We want the freedom to play hard, to go after the shadows and rabid wild dogs of the human experience. And we gain that freedom by using tools that let everyone communicate where their limits are; to give permission and gain permission to go farther than we might otherwise.

At Jackalope, we use a short list of signals to communicate between participants, to make it so we can quickly calibrate the situation while keeping the action moving with a minimum of interruption.

#1: Check-In, Four Response Variation

“Are you okay?”   “Yes, I am okay.”

Chris is playing at a LARP, crying and sobbing on the ground as someone holds a knife over them. You find yourself wondering – is Chris just a really good actor, or is Chris actually scared out of their mind? You are a good person, so you want to make sure.

You could break into the scene and say, “Time out, Chris, are you all right?” But breaking the scene would mean interrupting play, which means you now have an obstacle between you and checking in on your fellow participant. So instead, we use the Check-In signal.

How to Use the Check-In Signal

  1. The concerned participant makes the OK sign to the participant where they can see it. Typically, in the middle of their torso.
  2. The participant being checked in on…
    • …responds with an OK sign of their own. Play proceeds uninterrupted
    • …responds with one of the alternate responses. Play adjusts or stops.
    • …responds with a thumbs-down or not at all. Play stops.

Participants can also give the alternate responses on their own without anyone checking in.

Alternate Responses

” I am not okay.”

A thumbs down means the participant is not okay with how this scene is proceeding. Play should stop immediately. If someone throws a thumbs down to you, you should ask them if they’d like to be taken to an OOC area or if they need anything.

“I’m not sure if I’m okay.”

The so-so sign should be treated like a thumbs down until you’ve spoken to the participant. Play pauses, and the participant is asked if they are all right and if there is something that needs to change, including the scene ending. With the participant’s consent, play can resume adjusted as they requested. With anything other than an enthusiastic and clear consent to proceed with specific changes, the scene stops.

“This is great! Turn it up a notch!”

The thumbs-up means that the participant loves how the scene is playing out and would be fine with going further with the emotional intensity. You aren’t obligated to do so, but it indicates they are willing to go further down this path. A thumbs-up does not interrupt play, and you should take it as an invitation to go further, not permission to go as far as you want without checking in any more if you think you should.

Consent and the Check-In

Getting an OK sign or a thumbs-up never means that a person has no limits. Just that you have not reached them yet. It also does not mean their limits will not change during a scene; or over the course of an event. It is still your duty to your fellow participant to check-in should you get the sense something is going wrong.

Credit: The check-in technique is attributed earliest to Aaron Vanek and Kirsten Hageleit as players at Melodramatic Mysteries in 2010. Similar gestures are in use elsewhere in the community, and seems to have developed simultaneously. The Jackalope four-response check-in was developed by Matthew Webb for A War of Our Own, to add more clarity and incorporate various methods together.

#2: Bow Out

“I have to leave this scene for out of character reasons.”

 

You are in the middle of a scene where characters are dealing with one of their parents dying. You recently lost a loved one, and you find yourself reacting. You want to leave, but do not want the other participants to think your character is leaving or deal with the consequences. But you have to leave because you cannot handle the content OOC. So you bow out.

How to Bow Out

  1. Put your hand on the back of your head
  2. Tilt your head slightly downward
  3. Quietly leave the scene

The bow-out is a clear signal that the participant is excusing themselves from the scene, not the character. When you see  a participant bow out, you should not comment or act on that information in character. If you are concerned for a participant, bow out yourself and check-in with them. Participants who bowed out of a scene can rejoin it if they wish.

If you are very central to a scene, it is better to use the thumbs down gesture from the Check-In to bring the scene to a halt.

Credit: Bow Out was originally developed by Matthew Webb and Riley Seaman for the science fiction LARP Planetfall. Other variants exist, including the “See No Evil” gesture created by Johanna Koljonen, which we do not use since it conflicts with the Block signal.

#3: Block

“Please don’t make me deal with this.”

Jessica is using a switchblade prop weapon in the LARP. Playing a hardened criminal, she is using it to gesture and emphasize points during a conversation.  Greg does not like knives and it is disturbing him out of character. He’d like to continue the scene but would Jessica to stop playing with it during the conversation. He decides to put a block on the knife.

How to Block

  1. Requesting participant should gesture with an open hand toward the element you wish to block. If necessary, say one or two words to clarify – e.g. “Knife”, “Fire”, “Cigarette smoke”
  2. Requesting participant puts the same hand to block their eyes briefly.
  3. Responding participant removes or reasonably minimizes the participant’s contact with the item in question.

The Limits on Blocking

Blocking is there to make minor adjustments to a scene for everyone’s comfort. Sometimes blocking is very straight forward. In the above example, Jessica puts the knife in her pocket and does not take it out for the rest of the scene. Some things are not so simple.

If someone is playing a border guard with a rifle, they cannot be expected to discard it when the rules require they hold it. But they can not point it or brandish it towards the participant who asked for a block. It is beholden on the asking participant not to make it difficult to honor their request.

Sometimes you cannot block broader scene elements and need to bow out from the scene. A club with loud music or a military truck with a large gun on it cannot really be blocked.

Credit: Block was developed by Matthew Webb for the A War of Our Own event.

On inappropriate use of signals

It can be tempting to abuse the power to leave scenes, avoid consequences or push others to adjust their play. If you feel that someone else is doing this, it is never your job to confront them about it. Contact the event staff and voice your concerns, and they will be deal with the situation.

If you feel the use of signals allowed someone to intentionally or unintentionally avoid the consequences of their actions in a way that detracts from the event, bring this up with the staff. If necessary, a narrated outcome will be put in place, if the staff feels it is necessary for the event.

Verbal Signals

There are short set of verbal signals we use in events, which are meant to bring all participants in ear shot in line. They are most useful to ensure physical safety where time is of the essence, or everyone in earshot should change their behavior now.

“Caution.”

You see Jim walking backwards while talking during a scene. He steps out onto the grass, right towards a fire ant mound. While you may or may not like Jim’s character, Jim is a fellow participant and you look out for him. You say, “Caution – fire ants behind you.” Jim hears this and adjusts his path, then the scene resumes.

When you say “Caution” followed by a description of what you are cautioning them about, it should be taken as an OOC signal that is quickly acted upon and play resumes normally. This is a way of quickly letting someone know they could hurt themselves or others.

“HOLD!” & “GAME ON!”

Sam is climbing up a ladder quickly in a scene with a lot of people running. She loses her grip on the ladder and falls down onto the ground where people are running around. A staff member shouts “HOLD!”, and everyone within earshot stops what they are doing, stands still and shouts “HOLD!” as well. The staff member moves over to make sure Sam is all right. It turns out the only thing bruised is her ego. The staff member calls, “3 – 2 – 1, GAME ON.” Everyone resumes doing what they were doing.

Whenever anyone shouts “HOLD!”, you stop where you are, break character and repeat the shout. Follow the instructions of staff or if they aren’t there to help immediately with the situation, do what you can to help your fellow participants.

“9-1-1!”

While heating up lunch, Nathaniel knocks the propane burner he was using off the table by accident. It lands in a pile of papers, lighting them on fire. Nathaniel shouts, “9-1-1! Fire! 9-1-1 Fire!” Everyone within ear shot breaks character, repeats the shout and goes to help if they can.

This is the most serious call, and the one most rarely used. Shouting “9-1-1!” indicates there is a real emergency that requires attention. The reason we do not use calls like “Medic!” or “Emergency!” is that these might be interpreted as in-character. The 9-1-1 Call is clear in meaning (to us Americans, it is the emergency services number) while being distinct.

Credit: 9-1-1 was developed as the emergency call by Riley Seaman for the LARP Planetfall.

Illustrations by Rooklight Illustrations.

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Players: How to prepare for the upcoming event

We are 12 days from the event, and we are about to launch the character selection and creation on our Larpweaver tool. So, here’s our advice for the coming two weeks.

  • This week, you will be getting an invite to join Larpweaver, our LARP management and creation tool. There, you will complete questionnaires and go through steps to select your groups. If you want to play with particular people, you will be given the chance to coordinate and make choices before finalizing them.
  • Pay attention to our Facebook group, the email you bought your ticket under or this blog for further news, and use those platforms to coordinate with other players once you have received your characters.
  • Costuming aims for the look and feel of late 20th century Eastern European civilians in a war zone. That means modern day clothing, simple color schemes, maybe limited military surplus. While it is relatively warm in Texas, it is expected to be sunny during the day and in the 60s, but dip into the low 40s at night – and we will be playing until 9 to 10pm. So dress in layers.
  • Water will be provided on site, but please bring your own food for lunch and dinner. Leaving the site and returning will not be allowed once the main game begins.
  • If you have not already looked at our setting materials, take a look and read up on the setting.

We are a little later with this than we had hoped – short version, the holidays were brutal – but we are coming in and trying to provide everyone with what they need as soon as possible. Thanks, and we look forward to seeing everyone on the 3rd!

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A War of Our Own is getting some awesome attention, and we thank you all for it

It’s only been four days since A War of Our Own announced, but the reaction to it has been amazing. We are being contacted for interviews, important questions have been raised and we’ve gotten support from every corner.

We were nervous launching A War of Our Own because of its serious and controversial nature. But the overwhelmingly positive response has been a huge boost to the team.

We’re Getting Good Coverage from Good People


Several geek blogs have approached us over articles. We’ve given interviews and input on both of them, but just today, an interview with our organizer Matthew Webb has been published in Josh Heath’s Keep on the Heathlands. He asked some great questions about the game, what we see as our goals, and why we made some of our design choices.

For those of you who don’t know, Josh Heath has been a long-time proponents of using role-playing games to create positive change and foster education in the world.

Click here to read the interview

 

Sam Swicegood gave us a shout-out on his blog as well, Elsewhere Nightly. Sam Swicegood is a geek journalist as well as an RPG author. Check out his blog for other articles on LARP and tabletop news, geek culture and LARPing. He’s also got an upcoming project coming out next year, the science fiction RPG Cold Start.

The original developers of This War of Mine are excited, too

One of the joys of this last few days is not only 11-Bit Studios, but the team behind This War of Mine – not to mention countless others.

What’s next?

We are working on bringing on more team members, setting up the final details before ticket sales next month.

But most of all, we’re a Texan production – and our creative lead Steve Metze is currently deployed with the Texas National Guard dealing with the ongoing situation of Hurricane Harvey. You can watch him doing his work here.

Please wish him and all our friends in Houston the best – and consider donating to the Red Cross or donating blood if you are in the Texas area.

Keep up to date

For more updates, sign up for our mailing list below, follow us on Twitter or join our Facebook group.

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A War of Our Own is a LARP about a different side of war

A new LARP studio in Texas is recreating the struggles of wartime civilians for charity, with the support of the game studio behind This War of Mine.

Jackalope Live Action Studios has secured the sponsorship of 11-Bit Studios in creating a live action experience based on their award-winning video game This War of Mine for the benefit of the charity War Child. Titled A War of Our Own, the live action experience will explore struggles of civilians living in the fictional war-torn country of Calbia. Proceeds from the event will be donated to War Child, a charity that works with the care and education of children whose lives have been torn apart by war and conflict.

Temple Airsoft is also donating materials, vehicles and time to the event – a veteran owned and run business whose help makes it possible to run this event.

Released in 2014, This War of Mine was set in a fictionalized version of war-torn Sarajevo during the Bosnian War. This new LARP event seeks to recreate the same feel and message, to build empathy and understanding of the strife suffered by millions in the world in conflict zones. Now, 11-Bit Studios has agreed to support and sponsor the live action event inspired by it, even donating free copies of the original game for those who buy tickets.

“The tagline of This War of Mine is ‘in war, not everyone is a soldier’,” says Matthew Webb, one of the organizers, “We want to keep to that message. We want to highlight the often-invisible people outside of the battles, who never hold a gun, who have to try and survive or escape in these terrible conditions. We can’t really show you what it is like to deal with that uncertainty, but we can put the struggles of refugees and survivors in context. That’s what we want, and we want to do it in a respectful and educated way.”

The production is taking its subject seriously. The writing and creative team for A War of Our Own includes several veterans, including its lead consultant, Steve Metze, who is a veteran of both the Iraq and Bosnian conflicts.

The first run of A War of Our Own will be on February 3rd, 2018, in Temple, Texas, near Austin, Texas and Waco, Texas. For updates, subscribe to their mailing list below, or join their Facebook group.

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