Injustice, Drama, Guilt |
| Designers: Craig Edgar, Zsófia Emese Dobó, Chris Hartford and Glynn Hunt |
| Number of participants: 10-14 |
| Duration: 3 hours |
| The presenter feels that this larp IS suitable for young people aged 16+ |
About the larp
Burn the Witch is a Chamber LARP game that explores injustice, family drama, romance, church vs state and grief. The game was created as part of the February game kitchen.
The players are part of a tiny 17th century hamlet. After a series of ill-fated events, a powerful Witch-Hunter arrives, declaring that a witch is present and must be routed out, lest their devilish power corrupt the hearts and souls of all who dwell within the village. Fear and paranoia set in as the close-knit village begin to suspect each other and even members of their own family, secrets are revealed and hidden agendas carried out. Eventually the Hamlet must decide who amongst them is the witch and burn them at the stake.
Community roles are randomly allocated through card draws, such as the Witch Hunter, the village Priest who will battle for the villager’s souls and the village Elder who will try and maintain control in an ever more chaotic situation. Then the players will come together to create their own unique village. Just in time for the shadow of black magic to change it all forever.
Content Warnings: Simulated death by burning, arguments, accusations, injustice, religious extremism
Craig Edgar: Craig has been a larper for 20 years. He has played in gigantic fantasy field larps to small two person games and everything in between.
As a former professional actor (now full-time dad) and improviser Craig loves the intense, and real emotions that Scandinavian larp can bring out during a game.
Craig was part of the group that brought Avery Adler’s game Ribbon Drive to the stage as an improvised play. He would love to do the same with other games.
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 | Themes of conflict, but not enacted by players; e.g. quiet threats and vengeful stares |
| Communication style | Lots of speech |
| Movement style | Walking |
| Characters | Players create their own characters, in a workshop |
| Narrative control | Players have some influence over story, but there is basically a script or structure that they’re within |
| Transparency | There are predesigned secrets that players will have from each other |
| Representation | The fictional space looks very unlike the play space, but players will use their imaginations |
| Play culture | Players are individually trying to achieve goals, such that not all can succeed |
| Tone | Dramatic |
The Smoke 