Live Action Roleplaying

Gioco di ruolo e molteplicità d'esperienza
E' credenza comune tra i giocatori credere che vi sia una distinzione oggettiva tra il personaggio giocato e il giocatore stesso. Di fatto tale distinzione non esiste: la persona che gioca prova forti emozioni all'interno di quella realtà fittizia che si trova al di là dell'inquadramento metacomunicativo (Bateson, 1972), ossia una comunicazione implicita nella comunicazione stessa che definisce il quadro di gioco. Il gioco presuppone una nuova prospettiva inserita all'interno di una realtà immaginaria e l'immersione percettiva del giocatore in un contesto dove verrà esplorato un determinato oggetto vicino o lontano all'esperienza (Geertz 1998) quale potrebbe essere amore, odio, morte, violenza, misticismo, legame con Dio, famiglia; tali oggetti cambiano radicalmente il loro volto in base a quella determinata prospettiva che si decide di inquadrare, prospettiva che andrà a delimitare il terreno di esperienza. Caratteristica fondamentale della metacomunicazione nel gioco è la riflessività: ci permette di pensare alle dimensioni sociali e culturali del mondo in cui viviamo (Shultz – Lavenda, 2015), suggerendo in tal modo che la vita ordinaria possa essere intesa in più di una maniera. Il gioco può costituire un modo per speculare su ciò che può essere, su ciò che dovrebbe essere o ciò che è (Handelman, 1977). La realtà del gioco è stata osservata come un'attività non obbligata, cioè libera, giocosa, separata all'interno da limiti spazio-temporali ed è fittizia (Caillois 1958). La realtà del gioco è veramente così fittizia e separata dalla " realtà " così come viene definito? Cos'è reale? Suggerisco qui come strumento di osservazione il gioco di ruolo: «Il gruppo di giocatori si trova sempre calato in un contesto non soltanto narrativo, linguistico, ma anche geografico, paesaggistico, dunque visivo» (Ghilardi – Salerno, 2007). Qui i giocatori si trovano ad affrontare esperienze forti, delicate, lontane e vicine rispetto alla prospettiva adottata tramite il proprio personaggio. Ma davvero vi è una netta linea di demarcazione tra personaggio e giocatore? Delle volte la linea di demarcazione tra giocatore e personaggio viene dolcemente o prepotentemente affievolita da un fenomeno chiamato bleeding. Processo psico-fisico, presentato come un'esperienza vissuta dal giocatore quando i suoi pensieri e sentimenti sono influenzati da quelli del suo personaggio o vice versa. Con sempre maggior metaforico bleeding, il confine tra giocatore e personaggio diviene sempre più trasparente. La morte di un dato personaggio, col quale si ha giocato per un breve o lungo lasso di tempo, per il giocatore può significare una morte reale? Forse è proprio il gioco, o ancor meglio il gioco di ruolo, lo strumento che può permetterci di " accogliere a braccia aperte la molteplicità, inglobarla e cibarsene […] forzandone per così dire la portata, non lasciare che essa scivoli attorno a noi, ma ci penetri per trarne arricchimento, forza, vitalità, frequentare «quella scuola che è la società degli uomini» non già per nostra esibizione (mostrare sé, il nostro noi, ma gli altri), ma per conoscere gli altri, andando così a «caccia di conoscenza» antropologica, tutto ciò si traduce in una messa in discussione dell'identità, in una modificazione inevitabile delle «leggi della coscienza» in cui ci identifichiamo " (Remotti, 2016).

This paper investigates the evolution of larp safety in the NordicAmerican larp community in the last decade, tracing the correlation between safety rhetorics (opinions, arguments, and policies) and mechanics (explicit rules regulating player interactions). It appears that up to around 2010 there was a general acceptance of risk, with a significant share of responsibility for risk identification and harm prevention put on the player. This correlates with mechanics such as safety words, which expected players in distress to actively signal their discomfort. Safety measures expected from the organisers consisted mainly in providing safe off-game spaces, emotional support, and intervention whenever something harmful happened. Around 2014 the safety debate put a larger share of responsibility on players initiating potentially troubling interactions. This correlates with the ‘OK check’ mechanics which requires communication between the initiator and the target of such interactions. Aroun...

The society we live in leads us to rethink education and communication languages,
especially in educational processes concerning children and adolescents. It seems
increasingly difficult to build meaningful educational experiences able to involve young
people in transformative processes and overcome the ingrained “nihilistic sense”.
The new digital paradigm and the evolving perceptions of corporeal forms bring some
crucial changes we need to explore. The social science teachings need, therefore, to be
renewed to better deal with knowledge and skills in an interactive environment,
promoting creativity, aesthetics, global and critical thinking and to promote relevant
societal change.
A possible educational method to tackle these realities can be given by the Educational
Live Action Role Play (hereafter “Edu-larp”). An Edu-larp is a live role-playing game in
which the narration is not only told but also played in first hand by the participants with
their body and their actions. Players interact each other by interpreting a character and
playing fictitious situations in a real space (“magic circle”). Despite the Edu-larp still being
a growth method, several studies are highlighting its specific benefits, which include:
identity exploration, communities building and cooperation, transversal skills, didactic
media, problem solving, empathy, and self-awareness.
The presented study builds on the findings of an experimental research on two migrationthemed Edu-larps: “Youth On The Run” which simulates the migratory journey of an asylum seeker family from Somalia to Italy for 24 hours; and “300, the battle of the tent cities” which simulates a 4-hour municipal meeting in which the participants have to
decide the placement of 300 refugees arriving in their city.
It aims to enquire whether both games have significant effects on the participants’
empathy and ethnic prejudices. The research was conducted on 82 subjects who partook
an Edu-larp, using an open-question survey, psychometric scales and Implicit
Association Test (IAT). The test was iterated three times: one week before, one week
after and three months after the game.
This paper will present the research design, the first reflections on the relationship
between a “game for social change”, and possible Edu-larp paths in future of education.

BUCHTÍK, Martin. (2014), Larp as an Alternative Medium: A Sociological Perspective, in: Pavlíckova, T., Reifová, I.C. (2014), Media, Power and Empowerment – Central and Eastern European Communication and Media Conference CEECOM Prague 2012. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 978-1-4438-6396-4

The aim of the paper is to introduce larp (short for live action roleplay) as an alternative form of medium. I argue that larping has grown into a quite specific medium with a unique combination of characteristics; however, it is still on the borders of game, improvised drama, artistic happening and experience education. I show how participants are encouraged to escape reality, explore it, how they are exposed to it or even how they could change it. Finally, I focus on the possibilities and limitations of larping as a participatory medium. I conclude that larp should not be a widespread medium, although it is very effective in affecting its selected audience.

Gli edu-larp (Educational Live Action Role-Playing) sono giochi di ruolo educativi in cui i partecipanti vestono i ruoli di personaggi, interpretando fisicamente le narrazioni su diverse tematiche. Questo volume – scritto da studenti, insegnanti, professori e professoresse universitarie, associazioni ludiche e culturali, educatori ed educatrici – è rivolto a chiunque creda che il gioco sia forma di comunicazione, generatore di comunità e metafora dell’educazione.

For those discussion #InteractionPatterns, especially  in the context of #RPG, here is a refresher on my adaptations of the Avedon 1974 Interaction patterns as applied to typical uses of all 4 formats of role-playing games: #TRPG, #LARP, #CRPG, #SABM (Solo Adventure Books & Modules).  These diagrams represent the typical interaction patterns found in the most common default uses of these recreational activities.

Video with voice over to this presentation available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WsTnYmRRFM  This is a shorter summary of the 2 hour presentation. This was created for The 2016 Living Games Conference http://www.livinggamesconference.com/role-playing-and-simulation-in-education-conference-hub/
http://www.rpgresearch.com
Research studies on the educational and therapeutic aspects of participation in role-playing games.

This paper investigates the psychology of bleed-out, in which in-character dynamics spill over into out-of-character thoughts and feelings (Montola, 2011). We pair emerging neuroscience theory and research with classic models of emotion and motivation to examine the causes and consequences of this important larp phenomenon. Regarding positive bleed, hormones associated with trust and love may promote social bonding between players through shared in-character experiences (Kosfeld et al. 2005). Negative interpersonal dynamics could also develop, however, during antagonistic character interaction via “neural alarm bells” -- increased activation in brain areas associated with social rejection (Eisenberger, Leiberman, and Williams 2003). Such neural activity could in turn set off defensive aggression or social withdrawal (Twenge et al. 2001), behaviors that could bleed over into out-of-game interactions. The impact of these and other neuropsychological reactions on players’ behavior may be determined by the degree to which the line between self and character becomes blurred during play. According to Lankoski and Järvelä (2012), however, such blurring is a baked-in feature of human embodied cognition. Therefore, we propose that compartmentalizing “in-character” reactions requires immense self-regulatory control – a limited resource which is known to be depleted through many activities common to larp, e.g., effortful decision making and self-presentation (Vohs, Baumeister, and Ciarocco 2005; Vohs et al. 2014). Connecting self-regulatory resource models with bleed in this way is especially important since negative
bleed-out can be a source of conflict in player communities (Bowman 2013). As such, we offer proactive solutions for those players or designers who wish to tailor a particular larp experience in order to avoid
bleed-out, building on pre-existing best practices: informed consent, safe-spaces, and debriefing (Burns 2014; Atwater 2016; Brown 2016; Bowman, Brown, Atwater, and Rowland 2017).

OVERVIEW This document attempts to summarize with a brief list the pros and cons of each role-playing game (RPG) format. The hope is that this differentiation between formats will improve the quality of future research studies and program planning for those professionals in various disciplines using these recreational activities as intervention modalities. UPDATED OVERVIEW This is still and ongoing work in progress, continuing to be updated as the body of new research and evidence-in-practice data grows. This document has been intermittently updated based on the research and evidence-in-practice available from public and private third-parties, as well as the evolution of the Hawkes-Robinson Role-Playing Game (RPG) Model and the Four Major RPG Formats initially outlined in 1983 and 2004.

Магистерская работа (2014 г.), основанная на анализе собранной базы данных, о фреймировании российской ролевой игры живого действия, о триггерах переключения фреймов, о вариантах оформления этого переключения и о преодолении "поломок" целевого (внутриигрового) фрейма.

Faisant le pari que la connivence étroite entretenue entre jeu de rôle grandeur nature et engagement politique dans les pays nordiques n’est pas accidentelle, l’argumentaire de ce mémoire vise à aborder la question suivante : quels sont les éléments ludiques, structurels ou communautaires associés au jeu de rôle grandeur nature qui favorisent le développement ou le maintien d’une conscience politique chez ses pratiquantes ?
Le propos s'appuie principalement sur une ethnographie de six mois menée auprès de pratiquantes de jeu de rôle grandeur nature en Finlande.

Реферат к кандидатскому экзамену по антропологии (2016) для обоснования темы диссертации. Рассматриваются подходы к игре Й. Хёйзинги и Р. Кайуа, а также ролевая игра по отношению к таким феноменам, как ритуал, театр и взаимодействие лицом к лицу.

A brief background summary of research information about the effects of role-playing gaming upon participants, including their use as an intervention modality to achieve therapeutic and educational goals for various populations, including: Autism spectrum (ASD/PDD), at-risk youth, brain injury (stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI), etc.), the Deaf community, ADHD, depression, and social phobias.
While the focus is primarily on tabletop & live-action RPGs, all formats of role-playing gaming are discussed, including Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) books, offline and online computer-based RPG, live-action role-playing (LARP), and tabletop RPG.
Briefly provide historical information and examples of each game format in a typical recreation setting, then proceeds with the existing research using RPG for various educational and therapeutic interventions from other disciplines (psychiatry, psychology, education, sociology, cognitive, behavioral, etc.), then illustrates how TR methodologies are ideal for optimizing these activities as an intervention modality for many populations in group and individual settings to achieve client therapeutic & educational goals.
This paper focuses on a more hands-on practical application of RPGs for education and therapy, rather than a more abstract theoretical discussion, though these theories are referenced for the reader to read elsewhere in more depth.

The live action role-playing community as a
subculture within the United States represents an
aspect of repression within the greater society, just as
most subcultures in some way do. Due to the unique
qualities of the activities in which participants within
this subculture engage, indeed because of the very
fabric of the subculture itself, it becomes imperative
to examine issues of psychological repression and
engagement of repressed materials. Within live
action role-playing, players both consciously and
unconsciously engage in and enact archetypal
roles in a liminal and communal setting. Because of
the “safe space” that is often created during these
forms of play—sometimes referred to as the “magic
circle”—participants often find themselves free to
explore psychic materials that would be considered
part of the shadow. Shadow is a Jungian concept of the
repressed, the unknown, or unrecognizable within
a consciousness. Just as players may delve into their
individual shadows within the frame that archetypal
enactment provides them, so too does the subculture
as a whole have its own group shadow that can be
enacted. In a manner that is somewhat unique to this
subculture, group shadow is engaged directly when
groups of players play games that evoke shadow
issues through their structure.
This paper is an examination of shadow within
larp. There are many models and methods through
which to interpret this concept. However, because of
how relevant and heavily related Jungian concepts
of archetype and other depth psychological
perspectives are to the issue at hand, and because
of the sheer lack of previous academic exploration of
this topic through this lens, they will be the primary
models through which the issue is viewed. In the
case of the individual, I will explore the relationship
between shadow work in larp and individuation.
From there, I will move on to a wider perspective
of the group shadow and its engagement. I will
investigate the possible consequences of group
shadow enactment, as the individuation process is not
possible for group consciousnesses.
Shadow enactment has the potential for
both positive and negative effects on players and
the community as a whole. Providing a structure
with which to identify, categorize, and understand
shadow can contribute to the overall awareness of
the psychological processes that occur within and
because of larp. This awareness can help players,
larpwrights, and organizers to make informed
decisions as to how they write, run, and play larps.

Contemporary Paganism is often described by its followers as a revival or reconstruction of the religions of pre-Christian Europe, which is sometimes referred to as "The Old Way". Most followers of the Neo-Pagan movement state revitalisation of the Old Faith is not only a matter of individual choice of religion that is strongly rooted in tradition, but also a new form of spirituality that can change the World. This book presents various ways of conceptualizing Paganism in contemporary Europe and offers some possible answers to the question: where the Old Ways will lead us in the future?

This paper discusses the prevalence of exposure
to trauma, the discourse about trigger warnings, and
the embodied nature of larps. The goal of this paper
is to inform players, designers, and critics about the
nature of psychological triggers, how they arise and
function in a larp, and what makes them an important
issue for larping communities. Larps can contain
triggering content; a trigger reaction is a powerful
response that affects individuals, communities, and
the games they play. Lastly, this article considers
steps that can help prepare and care for those who
experience a triggering reaction at a game event.

A study of live action role plays as transmediations of a global franchise universe, this work analyses two cases: College of Wizardry (world of Harry Potter) and Witcher School (world of The Witcher), using Mark Wolf's (2012) framework of eight infrastructures: space, time, character, nature, culture, language, mythology and philosophy. The case studies lead to questions and predictions about franchise larps in general. For example, characters, culture, mythology, and philosophy are most useful as vehicles for direct imitation / adaptation of elements from the franchise media (books, films or video games) to larps; philosophy is most likely to be subject to ideology-based modifications; whereas space and nature will be heavily influenced by the physical features of the game site. The text ends with a look at possible relationships between larp creators and the copyrighted multimedia entertainment industry.

El LARP es una actividad que procede por una parte de los juegos de rol clásicos, y por otra, de las artes escénicas. Se basa en la interpretación de un personaje de manera improvisada en contacto con otros personajes, es por eso que suele decirse que el LARP es teatro alternativo o interactivo. Además, no existe un público a la manera habitual, sino que el público participa en el propio evento, y todos y cada uno de los participantes son público al mismo tiempo. Los personajes
forman parte de una historia que va formándose entre todos los participantes, y que nunca puede predecirse como acabará, ya que es decisión de los propios participantes.
Debemos tener en cuenta que alrededor de esta actividad y a raíz de que la comunidad que la practica ha reaccionado de una manera concreta, nos hace pensar que nos encontramos frente a una subcultura, con su propio lenguaje y su propia manera de entender lo que les rodea a través de esta actividad. Actualmente, en toda Europa y, en concreto, en el territorio español se está desarrollando esta actividad cultural y de ocio y, cada vez más gente participa en ella. Más allá de ser únicamente una actividad de ocio, el LARP puede considerarse como creación y producción artística.
Abstract: The LARP is an activity that comes from some of the classic role-playing games, and from the performing arts. It is based on the playing of a character in an improvised way in contact with other characters, that is why they say that the LARP is alternative or interactive theater. In addition, there is no public as usual, but that the public participates in the LARP itself, and each and every one of the participants are public at the same time. The characters are part of a story that is formed among all participants, and you can never predict how it will end, as it is up to the participants themselves
We should note that this activity and the community has reacted in a certain way, it makes us think that we are facing a subculture, with its own language and its own way of understanding the world around them, through this activity. Nowadays, across Europe and in particular in the Spanish
territory it's developing this cultural and leisure activities, and more people participate in it everyday. Beyond being just a leisure activity, the LARP may be considered artistic creation and production.

Popular Abstract -The paper presents theoretical foundations of the author's approach to the design of edu-larps.. It is deliberately steering away from cross-disciplinary teaching, artistic education or soft skills training in order to advocate larps tailored to single school subjects, focused on integration and consolidation of curricular knowledge. Putting larp in the context of applied drama, or Drama in Education, the text argues that well-designed edu-larp is likely to be accepted by the average teacher, not just by dedicated and trained drama educators. The concept of print-and-play "larp for dummies" downplays the importance of preparation, acting and immersion, while emphasising the game-like structure of goals and conflicts: gameplay set to work alongside role-play. Therefore, the ideas and tools borrowed from video games and board games design can be useful in the creation of edu-role plays, breeding a form which might be called 'gamified drama'. The recommended function for edu-larps is final revision of a large textbook unit, an idea discussed on the example of high-school history classes. The suggested model for classrom larp is a negotiation game between conflicted but cooperating factions, divided into three stages: a) preparation of all factions separately; b) informal meeting of all factions shortly before the official talks; c) official negotiation session which is supposed to bring forward all major (textbook-based!) issues for public debate. The paper ends with a section on troubleshooting, i.e. an overview of risk factors frequently pointed in the discussion of game-based learning, with ideas of how to eliminate or minimise the risks through careful design. Referenced sources come from the fields of edularp, edu-drama, game-based learning, and general educational theory.

Nathan Hook (2015): "Pan". in Charles Bo Nielsen & Claus Raasted (eds) The Nordic larp Yearbook 2014, ed. Charles Bo Nielsen and Claus Raasted.. Knudepunkt 2015. Rollespilsakademiet. complex or innovative scene structure is often considered a meta-technique in its own right. Consider also whether to have discrete scene breaks (which is more common) between scenes or a more organic structure where scenes flow into each other with more fluid notions of time. Consider whether to design in "mini-scenes," such as monologue opportunities or reflections between the main scenes. Consider the expected length of each scene, and so estimate the total expected playtime of the scenario.

In diesem Essay fasse ich zusammen, welche Passage-Riten bei dem Übergang von Ernst zu Spiel im Live Action Role Play (LARP) vorgenommen werden, und zwar sowohl bei dem erstmaligen Betreten des Spielplatzes und dem Finden der eigenen Position des einzelnen Spielers darauf, als auch bei dem Eröffnen und Herstellen des Spielplatzes in der konkreten Spielsituation durch die Spielgruppe.
Hierzu beschreibe ich die sinnlich-ästhetischen Prozesse des Erlebens, das Herstellen von Narrativen in Form von Storytelling und dem Plot und die soziale Interaktion zwischen den Spielern, die vom ersten Kontakt zum Feld an bis zum konkreten Spiel und darüber hinaus in der Herausbildung eines Charakters das LARP konfiguriert.
Worauf ich insbesondere Bezug nehmen werde, ist die Frage nach dem Realen in der Gegenüberstellung der Kategorien „Ernst“ und „Spiel“, oder im LARP-Genre Outtime und Intime. Ich werde herausarbeiten, wie IT als das andere Reale begriffen und im Spiel sinnlich-ästhetisch erlebbar wird. Abschließend eröffne ich einen Diskussionsraum, in dem ich Hypothesen darlege, welche Konsequenzen sich aus den Beobachtungen zum Simulations-Spiel für soziales Handeln und insbesondere Herrschaftsansprüche und Machtgefüge ergeben.

Politics have always gone hand in hand with larp. Whether games portray politics, or internal politics have defined the deep structures of larps, there have always been games that have discussed and been shaped by political thoughts and realities. Larp Politics contains articles discussing theories, instances, and the implementation of interfaces between politics and games. Larp Politics was published as one of the two conference books for Solmukohta 2016. Print volume: 500 copies. E-version available for free download. ISBN: 978-952-93-6826-6 (print) / ISBN 978-952-93-6827-3 (PDF). 183 pages. Editors: Kaisa Kangas, Mika Loponen, and Jukka Särkijärvi

Vorobyeva O. Crossgender Roleplaying in Russian Larps // The Wyrd Con Companion Book 2015. Ed. Sarah Lynne Bowman. Los Angeles, CA: Wyrd Con, 2015.
The article examines gender issues in Russian larp community and specifically the phenomenon of crossplay - female participants portraying male characters and vice versa. A brief comparison with Nordic gender attitudes is provided.

La sociologie des jeux est en général assez peu développée. Ses références majeures sont anciennes (J. Huizinga dans les années 1930 ; R. Caillois dans les années 1950) et des thématiques émergentes comme les games studies ne permettent pas de les renouveler en profondeur. Dans cette contribution, un jeu encore peu connu, le jeu de rôles grandeur nature (GN) est pris comme exemple afin de proposer un renouvellement des perspectives théoriques à trois niveaux : celui des études ludiques en sciences sociales ; celui de concepts sociologiques comme la construction sociale de la réalité et à la notion de cadre (P. Berger et Th. Luckmann ; G. Bateson et E. Goffman) ; celui d’un dialogue interdisciplinaire avec la narratologie, autour du couple jeu/fiction (J-M. Schaeffer).

Mots clés : jeu, jeu de roles, construction sociale de la réalité, cadres

Recreating one of the most important, but less known, historical events in modern history: the revolution of 1905. A Nordic larper's perspective on a high-end Russian political game. Larps can let us understand history and politics, seeing and feeling it from within. Make a larp big and complex enough, and you have an experiment. What would happen if… n Erik Pihl Larp-poem 1905 Rewriting Russian History The painting 17th

Recreating one of the most important, but less known, historical events in modern history: the revolution of 1905. A Nordic larper's perspective on a high-end Russian political game. Larps can let us understand history and politics, seeing and feeling it from within. Make a larp big and complex enough, and you have an experiment. What would happen if… n Erik Pihl Larp-poem 1905 Rewriting Russian History The painting 17th

Mar 9, 2022 - Online lecture in the Transformative Play Initiative Event Series

Description:
The transformative potential of live action role-playing allows players to develop holistically (on a physical, mental, emotional, creative, and social level), even when participating in games just for fun. Are the processes and elements at play different, however, when personal development happens informally in a recreational larp, as to when a larp is formally designed for psychotherapeutic purposes? What makes larp a valid and effective methodological tool in the hands of a mental health professional? In this lecture we will attempt to answer these questions by exploring characters and stories in larp as psychotherapeutic material, identifying the connections between larp and some of its most adjacent psychotherapeutic methodologies, and finally discussing how psychotherapy techniques can be used to design and use larps as tools in psychotherapy.

The Transformative Play Initiative is part of the Games & Society Lab at the Department of Game Design, Uppsala University Campus Gotland. The Initiative explores the use of analog role-playing games as vehicles for lasting personal and social change.

Moderated by Kjell Hedgard Hugaas.

Graphic design and editing by Liliia Chorna. Music by Elias Faltin. Captions by Kjell Hedgard Hugaas.

Abstract
Pervasive games defy Johan Huizinga's classic definition of play as being something outside ordinary life with their own proper boundaries of time and space according to fixed rules and an orderly manner. Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman develop Huizinga's concept of the magic circle and discuss its function as a boundary between the real world and the game world. However, pervasive games seem to form a distinct category of games or types of play that breach both the spatial and the temporal confines of the magic circle. Pervasive games are of particular interest for the way in which they make use of the natural or the built environment as a play-space in a distinct and sometimes alarming overlap with the real world. This chapter offers some definitions and examples of some popular pervasive games, briefly tracing the evolution of treasure hunts, assassination games, live-action role-play and alternate reality games, all of which more-or-less confound the notion of the magic circle. 

Keywords
Alternate Reality Games, ARGs, Assassination Games, Games, LARPs, Letterboxing, Live Action Role-Play, Magic Circle, Pervasive Games, Playful Public Performance, Reality Games, Role Playing Games, RPGs, Smart Street Sports, Treasure Hunt, Urban Adventure Games.

**PLEASE NOTE: This presentation was published in the Journal of Men's Studies and can be found above as "Discussions of Fantasy Characters and Demonstrations of a Defensive Hybridity in Gamer Masculinity"**


This paper situates the discussions concerning the Dungeons & Dragons race the drow in contemporary masculinity theory, in an effort to explain the paradoxical rationale. Current research does not deeply investigate the nature of “gamer masculinity”, specifically how non-patriarchal elements allow men to perceive themselves as having more freedom to engage in otherwise polarizing circumstances.  I discuss in this paper how gamer masculinity reinforces a belief of epistemic privilege among White men that allows for hegemonic responses to discussions that involve structural racism which they do not recognize (Fricker 1999).

In short, I theorize that gamer masculinity is what Tristan Bridges and CJ Pascoe refers to as a hybrid masculinity, complicit in its support of hegemonic models but appropriating elements of subordinated populations to allow individuals to feel like an “outsider” or “stranger” in traditional masculinity settings (Bridges and Pascoe 2014; Simmel 1950).  Because these men view themselves as more liberal, open minded, and cosmopolitan than the hegemonic model they have encountered in their lives (and railed against), they form a masculine ideal they internalize as more inclusive in social performance but leans heavily on patriarchal privilege and patriarchal dividend (Connell 2005).  Therefore, while employing antiracist and sexual-minority friendly sentiment, they will be quick to refer to individuals as “snowflakes” or “reading too much into” circumstances (McIntosh 2020).  In gaming spaces, men will employ an intellectualized form of digital hooliganism centering tradition and their significant visible access to gaming as rationale to the veracity of their claims.  Given their hybrid masculinity and internalized tradition of being “open to everyone”, they more readily dismiss any claims of racism, sexism, or homophobia as they see those as characteristics of more hegemonic examples of masculinity- embodied by those who once harassed them in their pasts.  But gamer masculinity isn't intersectional so they don't see (or recognize) elements of structural racism in drow-as-presented because "there wasnt a big stink about it years ago", which completely ignores the sidelining of non-white and non-male players (Christensen and Jensen 2014; Hopkins and Noble 2009).

This thesis asks what strategies and structures of larp-led, agentive, participatory performance encourage participants to reflect on their affective embeddedness within evolving differential structures of becoming as represented within the performance space. It argues that the embodied responses of participants in such performances constitute an encounter with self that dives into the pre-conscious impact of affect, producing a kind of self-presence that reflects on the dynamic and porous nature of that self within systems of relation. It develops a "reflective affective" model of performance-making and analysis in order to foreground the embodied knowledge(s) generated by such co-creative practices. The first two chapters outline the research processes leading to the reflective affective model and provide a theoretical underpinning for the performance development discussed in the following case studies. The performance projects developed as part of this thesis are intended to provide transformative experiences that ripple beyond the boundaries of the performance space and to encourage awareness of those ripples in its participants as they develop a generosity towards difference. Three chapters each explore case studies of participatory performances developed as part of this thesis that demonstrate the process of performancecreation and of analysis that is intrinsic to the iterative methodologies. The Prison and New Voices in Art, outlined and analysed here, represent two theoretical and methodological "explosions" in the development of the reflective affective model. The third, Two Truths, deeply explores the process of performance-creation within the contexts of gaming and theatre audiences by building a production from devised workshops to performances at gaming conventions to performances in a regional theatre festival. In doing so, this thesis develops transdisciplinary models of performance development and analysis, incorporating performance-asresearch, performance philosophy and game design methodologies within a performance studies framework. It argues that in the context of increasingly agentive performance production such frameworks are necessary in order to utilise fully the empowering potential of such performances. In its reflective affective model this thesis seeks to offer both scholars and practitioners a radically alternative approach to participation design that provides a means to conceptualise and intervene in a deeply embodied form of knowing rooted in pre-conscious, shared affective experience.

Lecture for the Transformative Play Initiative.

This lecture by Elektra Diakolambrianou discusses the ways in which role-playing is used in transformative, therapeutic, and psychotherapeutic applications. She briefly discusses many types of role-taking, narrative, and play activities already transpiring within established psychotherapeutic modalities. Additionally, she highlights how geek culture and superheroes are currently used as a means to connect with clients. Then, Diakolambrianou explores the ways in which board games, video games, tabletop role-playing games, and larps can be used in psychotherapeutic settings, discussing the conditions that are necessary to establish such settings safety and ethically.

The Transformative Play Initiative is part of the Games & Society Lab at the Department of Game Design, Uppsala University Campus Gotland. The Initiative explores the use of analog role-playing games as vehicles for lasting personal and social change.

Editing by Liliia Chorna. Music by Elias Faltin. Captions by Kjell Hedgard Hugaas.

Aggregate LARP rules might be thought of as a type of code that runs on humans. Code can be thought of as a linguistic form that is both declarative and imperative; it is both truth and command (Buswell 2009). In aggregate LARP, elements of the game’s diegesis are rendered codic, or playable, allowing players a degree of autonomy from game staff. Through the methodologies of Critical Code Studies (Marino 2006)—the reading of code (code as text) and the annotation of code (code as manuscript)—the interpretation of LARP rules as "code that runs on humans" takes form, allowing us to read game encounters as programs, players and staff as programmers, rulebooks as programming languages, and rule structures as platforms. In LARP code, an RDBMS-style relational model lends the code depth and specificity. Aggregate LARP rules descend from tabletop RPGs, which emerged in tandem with the workplace proliferation of DBMS in the 1970s. With LARP code and computer code, the social practice of standardization plays a role in shaping the code. With both types of code we also see the emergence of proprietary code. Social apparatuses (Althusser 1970) ensure that LARP code maintains its integrity as truth-command. The repeated reinforcement of social apparatuses lead players to experience a process of rules reification, leading the LARP code to eventually take on a type of psychological reality. This phenomenon may have a neurological origin. The study of LARP code provides a framework to approach “real world” reified power structures such as “gender,” “race,” and “capital.”

This paper investigates the evolution of larp safety in the Nordic-American larp community in the last decade, tracing the correlation between safety rhetorics (opinions, arguments, and policies) and mechanics (explicit rules regulating player interactions). It appears that up to around 2010 there was a general acceptance of risk, with a significant share of responsibility for risk identification and harm prevention put on the player. This correlates with mechanics such as safety words, which expected players in distress to actively signal their discomfort. Safety measures expected from the organisers consisted mainly in providing safe off-game spaces, emotional support, and intervention whenever something harmful happened. Around 2014 the safety debate put a larger share of responsibility on players initiating
potentially troubling interactions. This correlates with the ‘OK check’
mechanics which requires communication between the initiator and the
target of such interactions. Around 2016 the safety debate moved to the
position in which it requires organisers and participants to do their best
to prevent harm from ever happening. This finds its expression in the rapidly expanding toolkit of mechanics of consent and calibration, which clearly put responsibility for overstepping someone’s boundaries on the one who oversteps. To simplify, the first approach obliged players and organisers to taking care of those who signalled they needed it. The second approach required caution and care in testing someone’s boundaries. The last one states that boundaries are to be carefully identified and respected – not tested.

This paper extends theoretical work on small group dynamics in live action role-play (larp; Leonard and Arango 2013), honing in on three challenges larps face that are anticipated by our unique integration of roleplay studies with small groups research. These challenges are: relative group embeddedness, which can cause splintering and unfavorable social
comparison when a larp is situated in a dense network of other larp groups; bleed of relationship dynamics such that in-character conflicts can foster intragroup tension (Bowman 2013), especially under conditions of zero-sum competition; and principled conflicts in which players disagree on core values, ideas, and goals of the larp itself (Wheelan 1994). We analyzed 17,371 survey responses to explore the role of embeddedness, socially competitive play, and regional play-style “fit” in explaining larp satisfaction. We discuss implications of these hypothesis-driven analyses, both for their scholarly and practical value.

This paper explores the relationship between nature and culture during a series of scaffolded live action role-playing (larp) activities designed as part of a science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) summer program for indigenous youth. As a linked construct, nature and culture implicitly ground much of human activity, figuring centrally in core ontological and epistemological frameworks (Bang, Warren, Rosebery, and Medin 2012) and human cognition and development (Medin & Atran 2004). After forefronting cultural stories as the launch of activities, scaffolded larp practices were used as one series of activities of a multiple site, multiple year design-based research study. The STEAM programming was designed to explore the complex connections of indigenous culture, knowledge systems, philosophies, and relational epistemologies with perspective taking (Galinsky, Ku, & Wang 2005). Larp was used to add embodiment of non-role-players through degrees of immersive practices. This paper focuses on the larp finale of the 5 activity larp series at the Seattle site. Preliminary analysis of the video recordings, both handheld and point of view, demonstrated that children took up multiple perspectives of the complex systems of local plants and animals. The participants role-played those relationships with nuance and understanding of how those plants and animals interact and relate. Those interactions also characterized the three layers of role-play that were taken in steps when physical representations of the non-human characters were lacking as a part of the design (Fine, 1983; Bjork and Holopainen 2003).

An avant-garde approach to the concept of Faerie as a place and people.
This essay explores the very definition and understanding of the Fae and the realm of Faerie, starting with their historical folklore ties primarily descending from Western Europe and Ireland.

The history of larp in Japan does not reach further back than the late 2000s, and its practice only started to awake broader interest in 2012 through the abridged and commented Japanese translation of DragonSys by Nico Stahlberg and Sugiura Nobutaka.
As young as fantasy and sci-fi larp is in Japan, it faces a number of material constraints, one of which is the actual or perceived limited accessibility of space – Japan’s largest larp group meets in a community center instead of in the woods, on camping grounds or in a castle.  Also limited is the availability of larp paraphernalia common in Europe, fore and foremost boffer weapons, but also medieval clothes.
Japan’s larpers do have access to an extraordinary source for equipment, though: 100-Yen-Shops (hyaku-en-kinitsu-ten, hyakkin for short*). These shops offer a broad variety of products, ranging from kitchen utensils and stationary, clothes and toiletries, to food and drinks – most goods sold for 100 yen (approx. 0.80€) with a reasonable to good quality. Amongst these products larpers may also find a plethora of “stuff” befitting their trade: metal pendants, medieval looking jewelry, steampunky watches, apothecary’s glass containers, masks, candles, incenses and more. Taking its cue from Japan’s first “how-to-larp” publication (LARP no susume, “LARP for you,” Hinasaki 2013), this paper discusses the development and current state of larp in Japan: How did “European-style” fantasy larp come to Japan? How was this practice adapted to local circumstances? How is it related to sibling practices, such as cosplay (masquerading) and pen & paper role-playing? How “big” is larp in Japan? The paper analyzes the ways of appropriation including the discursive and material constraints practitioners are entangled with.
However, it also contrasts these subjective or actually faced limitations with possibilities. The paper shows the differences small (and big) items bought for only 100 yen can make in the practice network called live-action roleplay. Conceptualizing larp as a network of heterogeneous human and non-human elements, the practice in Japan is hardly defined by a somewhat special “Japaneseness” but produced through the tracing of connections between these various elements. “Japanese-style” fantasy larp combines the “global” elements of larping with “local” materials so that the practice is (continuously) reassembled.

Presentation to January 2016 Pacific Northwest American Therapeutic Recreation on "The Therapeutic and
Educational Uses of Role-Playing Games (RPG) as Intervention Modalities for Individuals and Groups from the
Therapeutic Recreation Perspective". Academia.edu won't allow me to upload the full presentation file due to file size constraints. See full length version at http://www.rpgresearch.com This version is a shorter printable summary of the presentation.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the nature of small group dynamics in live action roleplay (larp) communities. We examine which features of larps and larpers intensify three challenges anticipated by past integration of roleplay studies with small groups research (Leonard and Arango 2013). These challenges are: intragroup tension due to zero-sum competition (Bowman 2013); relative group embeddedness, when a larp is situated in a dense network of other larp groups; and principled conflicts in which players disagree on core values, ideas, and goals of the larp itself (Wheelan 1994).

The society we live in leads us to rethink education and communication languages, especially in educational processes concerning children and adolescents. It seems increasingly difficult to build meaningful educational experiences able to involve young people in transformative processes and overcome the ingrained "nihilistic sense”. The new digital paradigm and the evolving perceptions of corporeal forms bring some crucial changes we need to explore. The social science teachings need, therefore, to be renewed to better deal with knowledge and skills in an interactive environment, promoting creativity, aesthetics, global and critical thinking and to promote relevant societal change. A possible educational method to tackle these realities can be given by the Educational Live Action Role Play (hereafter "Edu-larp"). An Edu-larp is a live role-playing game in which the narration is not only told but also played in first hand by the participants with their body and their a...