Novelists have NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month. So, let's do the same for larps. The “rules” are simple: write a larp, in a month. Any sort of larp, any number of characters. Just get it done by the end of November. Simple, right?
If you'd like to register to participate, and receive a reminder to start and a request for details at the end, fill out the form above. Its completely unnecessary, but will let me talk about how many participants there are this year.
What sort of larp? Whatever sort you want. Personally I write standard theatre-style / parlour larps, but if you want to write a horde game, a Nordic framework, American Freeform, or a live combat session, go ahead.
How big should I aim for? Speaking only about theatre-style, you can write a 20-player game in a month. One week for design, and one character per day on average is a pretty relaxed pace. You can go smaller, of course, but I wouldn't recommend going much bigger than that in that format. For other game styles, who knows?
What counts as "done"? Again this is going to depend on the style of game, but for a theatre-style / parlour larp, first draft of all player-facing materials (so character sheets and handouts) is a good target to aim for. Many larps never write down the GM stuff unless they're publishing it anyway.
What should I do when I've finished? Run the larp? Then publish your damn game. You can do this just by sharing it on Google-drive, or you can upload it to the NEIL Larp Library (note that this requires Creative Commons licensing). If you're feeling ambitious, you could even publish it somewhere like DriveThruRPG, but larp sales are pretty low there.
What if I don't finish? Then you finish it in December instead. Or January. Or whenever its ready. But at least try, OK?
What if my larp sucks? Then rewrite it afterwards. But get it done initially so you can do that.
I've never written a larp. How do I start? There's some helpful links on the Tuhituhi larpwriting workshop page. If you need examples, try looking at the rpg.net list of larp scenarios.
Can I track my progress? Not here, you can't. It's entirely on the honour system. But feel free to post about it on your favourite larp forum, talk about it on Facebook, or tweet it under #NaLaWriMo. Tell everyone what you're doing, and turn their enthusiasm into larps.
Any advice? Just Do The Thing. Its easier than it looks, and the hardest bit is persistence.
How did this happen? I'm sure lots of people have had the idea of a NaLaWriMo. I'm just a person who's made a crappy Google Site for it.
In 2018, NalaWriMo had participants from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Israel, and the USA. Participants worked on the following:
Property & Propriety, a 14-player regency theatreform of romance, politics, and land reform, inspired by Downton Abbey, Poldark, and the works of Jane Austen. It will premiere at Hydra 2019 in Wellington, NZ.
A hens and stag-party larp
The F.A.E. Trial - a mashup of retro sci-fi, fae mythology, and reality TV
A small starship / submarine game.
Fields of Asphodel, a 13 player game about decent people trying to free themselves from their destructive cycles.
This page is by Larp Wellington. I write and run theatre-style larps in Wellington, NZ, and I've written about ten of the things. My larps have ranged from 6 to 160 players (the latter as part of a team, of course), and have been run in New Zealand, the UK, the USA, South Africa, and Lithuania. I track my stuff on Larp Resume. If you'd like to support my larp writing, you can do so through Patreon.