Nordic Scene

One of the most rewarding things that can happen to a larp organizer is when your participants really believe in your project. Especially so when you’re organizing something in an unforgiving genre with a long track-record of failures and half-handed organizing, such as the Post-Apocalyptic genre. Most larps in this category, at least here in Sweden, tend to be rather cliché, with stereotypical worlds and visions, with esthetics pulled right from Mad Max and Tank Girl. Say post apocalyptic larp and people almost always think about teenagers with oversized guns, leather trenchcoats, gasmasks, spiked hair, mutants, canned foods and anarchy. It’s all very cool and movie-like, but not very creative. And when you serve clichés, it’s hard to get participants. Many PA-larps cave in and get cancelled because there is low interest among larpers for these kinds of larps.

Therefor, it’s very exciting to see the developments of our own post-apocalyptic larp Ingenmansland. During the initial planning we were pessimistic and hoped for 150 participants by May, with a theretical maximum of 220 participants. In the middle of february we had to close the door on new participants since we had allready filled our maximum of 220 participants (which grew to 240 participants counting organizers and functionaries). We have swedes, norwegians, danes and even germans coming the larp. We are now in the enviable position of having almost a hundred people who want to participate but can’t, unless we decide to open up new slots for participants (which in turn depends on our ability to provide living quarters, character coaching, props and logistics).

Why this sudden and overwhelming interest in the post apocalyptic larp genre? Without sounding cocky, I think it is because we’ve managed to get people to believe in our project in all its aspects: the fiction, the logistics of the larp, the competence of the organizers, the budget etc. And one other important factor: we’ve reached a “critical mass” of highly active, creative and skilled participants who help create our larp, both on the fictional and the logistical levels. We’re truly blessed with excellent participants.

We’ve believed in this from the start, and the recent developments prove it: people don’t want clichés. People want something different, something that, on the whole, feels realistic and believable while at the same time being escapist enough to warrant actually larping it. You don’t have to go full-out avant-garde neo-dramaturgic free-form high-level larp to attract larpers (odds are you won’t), but a simple rethink on genre-specific stereotypes might bring very rewarding results. If you believe in it, your participants will believe in it.

Original post.