Larp Conference 11—13 January 2013 Wrocław, Poland
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
KOLAlarp conference 11—13 January 2013 Wrocław, Poland Editorial Jakub Tabisz KOLA LARP conference Translation Wrocław 2013 Malwina Otto Dorota Kalina Trojanowska Coordinator Design, typesetting Jakub Tabisz Annika Olejarz Organizers Kamil Bartczak, Ada Biela, Tomasz Jeznach, Krystian Munia, Annika Olejarz, Malwina Otto, Bartek Zioło Continuation — a beautiful word, which has become However, it doesn’t mean we don’t create our own, something more than just a dream. The second Po- original works. lish Larp Conference has been concluded, and appar- ently its third edition is to be held in January. With the conference becoming more visible on our larping map, these articles are gaining more read- Continuation encompasses both past and present. ers. It is easier for us to share our knowledge, and We have started to document larps, and some of us we are becoming more eager to do so. We learn from are rummaging through the form’s history to bring each other, and so we stumble upon new, even better back its already forgotten beginnings. It turns out ideas. that the history of live role-playing is much older and richer than it seemed. Others are boldly look- What is interesting, this publication will not be read ing ahead, always pushing the limits and designing exclusively by professionals, or even hardened larp- new experiments. New, daring social drama games ers. Just as it happened last year, our articles will be are being made. More techniques are used and more received by a broader audience, and possibly pro- senses are involved. The scenarios are becoming bet- mote our passion among them. Live gaming is be- ter, and they are published more often. coming a really serious business, and the number of larp projects and initiatives featured in media is In just a year, the Polish larp scene has developed in- growing. Many of these bring notable social, educa- credibly. This publication presents a fraction of this development, which includes really impressive edu- out of games — now it seems we have to grow into cational, artistic and even international projects. them.tional, Andor even larps financial are developing benefits. like We crazy, used drawingto grow inspiration from older genres like cinema or theatre, - - ple marketing. conference.What the reader It is amazingcan also findhow herelittle are we the know first about arti as well as from various non-artistic fields, for exam ourcles neighbours.written by a In foreign the future, author we specifically are sure to for invite the However, there is still much to be done. We need to authors to represent more countries — after all, Po- work hard to build a larping community in Poland, land is in the very centre of the larping world. The and to reach out to the people around us. Continu- Scandinavian forms and theories are coming from waste, in people learning on our mistakes and taking upation new gives challenges us confidence with us. in our efforts not going to gamethe north authors to inspire see the our future authors, and and commercial this influence suc- cessis clearly of the visible genre in still several closer of to the us, articles. in Germany. Many In field the Nonetheless, what is the most important for us now south the Czech approach is gaining in importance, is the present. Each of the seventeen articles col- lected in this publication is sure to become food for set-ups, with — for example — rich decorations and thought, and maybe to inspire and encourage the rentedalso on limos, our side are trulyof the admirable. border. TheIn Brno, client-specific Czech Re- reader to try something new. public, role-playing games are starting to compete Enjoy the read. with theatre as the evening entertainment of choice. Kuba Tabisz 4 KoLa 2013 6 12 16 20 And Quoth RPG, “Oh Some Points of the His- From Dragon Eggs DEMOcracy Project: Larp, Thou Ungrateful tory of Larp in Belarus to the Wings of Larp in Civic Child of Mine!” Yaraslau Kot Imagination Education Piotr Milewski Marcin Słowikowski Michał Mochocki, Łukasz Wrona 30 34 38 42 House of Dreams High_Rise: Larp, City Games are Larps Definitions in Use Jakub Tabisz Video Game, RPG Jakub Tabisz Dominik Dembinski S. Kłossowicz, M. Krzywoszyński 48 52 56 62 A Taste of Larp The Quickie Bad Games Flamingos and Mikołaj Wicher Agata Lubańska Kamil Bartczak Penguins Bartosz Zioło 66 72 78 82 Block-bust Your Larp! All the Sins of Larp Postulates for the 200+ Larp Copyrights Dominik Dembiński Campaigns Scenarios Jan Wosiura Agnieszka Rogowska Kamil Rauch 88 94 Live Role-play Games Glossary within the System of Jakub Tabisz Moral Development of Preschool Children Yaraslau Kot KoLa 2013 5 PIOTR MILEWSKI “Oh Larp, Thou Ungrateful Child And Quoth RPG, of Mine!” “And thus the RPG players abandoned their dice, donned their blanket-mantles, and cov- ered their broomsticks with duct tape so that they gleamed like silver in the sunlight. And forth, into the outside world they went, headed for the woods, and having been at odds about who was to bring the pizza, they engaged in an epic duel. And thus, larps were born.” One of the most common myths about larping in Po- In such a world, one had to be much more daring to land concerns its presumed RPG origins. It can be debunked just as any other urban legend. Unfortu- editions of RPGs. Larp authors, if active at all, did nately, it is a task neither easy nor obvious, especially nottry andtend organise to go public a larp withthan theirto play works the first or searchPolish taking into consideration the scarce amount of doc- contact with others, but rather created games on umentation on the early Polish larping activity. Thus, a small scale only, for their friends and local fans of the easiest way is to follow the development of both this new form of entertainment. RPGs were quicker larps and RPGs during the period that was crucial for to gain in popularity. They were something new, un- their emergence. Before this is done, however, the usual, and there was no real competition. They did essential information on the cultural context should - be recalled. dreds of TV channels, the Internet or thousands of beautifullynot have to published, fight for colourfulpeople’s attentionboard games. with When hun Fin de siècle: revisited RPGs and larps appeared in Poland roughly at the broader awareness, RPGs were already well-known. same time, namely in the second half of the ‘80s. Itlarps is small finally wonder won their that theplace question, in the Polish “What fandom’s is larp?” When we go back to the ‘80s and ‘90s in Poland, it was usually answered with, “It’s like RPG, but out- is important to remember what kind of reality we doors and with costumes”. One cannot argue with refer to. There is a stark difference in civilisational the fact that larps (especially chamber larps and ac- development between the year 2012 and the end of tion games) and RPGs have many common features, the 20th century — and one of the most important and such a comparison is a fair description in many disparities concerns communication. At that time, universal access to the Internet, blogs, e-mails, in- the belief was born in the fandom’s common con- stant messengers, social networking sites, websites, sciousnessaspects. Thus, about this larps definition being but became the suckling popular, babes and mobiles, text messaging, digital cameras or video of RPGs. Which, of course, is not the case. cameras was something unheard of. For the Polish From the archives RPG fans, all these technological wonders were just With a little effort, it is very well possible to verify fandom, which gave birth to the first larpers and what and when was published or — in the case of Even a home computer was very different from what larps — organised in Poland. The conclusions should itthat is now— wonders, — even takenfor the straight simple fromfact that science no one fiction. had be obvious. To make the description of the period a printer. It was cheaper to buy books than to copy more than just a record of empty dates, it is supple- them. The only sources of information and contact mented with a subjective choice of important facts from that time, concerning both Poland and the the fanzines they published and the letters they ex- world. changed.with the fandom were the speculative fiction clubs, 6 KoLa 2013 AND QUOTH RPG 1982 Fantastyka is published, with Adam Hollanek as the - trepreneur,In October, thefounds first the issue Encore of the publishing monthly company.magazine Citadel of Blood and Star trader editor-in-chief. It is the first Polish periodical devoted entirely to speculative fiction. Jan Adamski, an en [I] find their way into the Americanmarket. They publisher, are the SPI very (Simulations first games Publication with RPG-based Inc.). elements published in Polish, and are mainly distributed by Ruch and Składnica Harcerska companies. Both games are published without the license of Poland. The country has been under martial law for two years now. World. The Falklands War starts. The Soviet Venera probes land on Venus. 1984 Encore publishes two more games that gain extreme popularity among the fandom. These are Gondor and War of the Ring[II]. A short gamebook entitled Władca Podziemi (Lord of the Underworld) is published in a weekly magazine Razem. Poland. Akademia Pana Kleksa (Mister Blot’s Academy) and Seksmisja (Sexmission) premiere. World. AlexeyThe films Pajitnov develops the game Tetris. Indira Gandhi is murdered by her Sikh bodyguards. The SummerThe priest Olympics Jerzy Popiełuszko in Los Angeles is murdered is boycotted by agents by fourteen of the PolishEastern communist Bloc countries.