Faith, Mortality, Religion |
| Designers: Laurie Innes |
| Number of participants: 10-12 |
| Duration: 4 hours |
| The presenter feels that this larp IS suitable for young people aged 16+ |
About the larp
This Larp explores faith and religion. Faith as a personal contemplative action, Religion as a communal system that draws upon personal faith.
You are a rural agricultural community spread over a landscape of rolling hills and valleys. A travelling preacher has come to host a special service at a remote chapel. As the preacher walks to chapel, they call at the homesteads and farms, gathering the congregation of characters. Walking together to chapel is a time for gossip, for deep theological discussion, introverted contemplation, and wonder at the beauty of creation.
Each of the characters will face a deeply introspective change or questioning of their personal faith. These private contemplations will spill out into the public sphere. After walking home together from the chapel, will you have reconciled your personal beliefs with those of your community?
This larp involves actual urban walking, so players will need to be comfortable with moderate exercise. You will also be larping in public spaces so will need to be comfortable with this. This larp is written by an Atheist, but with a deep love and respect for faith and religion.
Content Warnings: The players go on a pre-designed walk around the area local to the festival, so players should be comfortable with this. If players have accessibility issues then the GM is happy to discuss solutions.
The game will definitely touch on issues of death and mortality, though players generate their own characters and narrative, so they have a level of control over how much this directly effects their play. The players work together to construct a religion, and there will probably be taboos that arise as part of this process, but GMs and players will work together to create a safe play space.
Laurie Innes: Laurie Innes has been larping for the last 5 years. His first larp “Rum, Sodomy, and the Noose” debuted at The Smoke 2020.
Parameters
| Physical contact | Light contact; touching hands or forearms |
| Romance and intimacy | Romantic themes but no player contact; e.g. discussion of romance, illicit glances |
| Conflict and violence | Not relevant for this larp |
| Communication style | Lots of speech |
| Movement style | Two walks, taking about 40 mins each form the acts of this larp. |
| Characters | Players create their own characters, in a workshop |
| Narrative control | The shape and direction of the story is entirely, or almost entirely, determined by player choice |
| Transparency | Transparent design, but players can create secrets during play and keep them from each other / reveal them when wished |
| Representation | The fictional space looks very unlike the play space, but players will use their imaginations |
| Play culture | The concept of rivalry or cooperation between players doesn’t really apply |
| Tone | Intense |
The Smoke 