Immersive Play Rules and Guide

The Wargrounds is a place of constant, desperate conflict, where sword clashes against axe and the fighting is endless. But not every battle is won with strength of arms alone, as its factions and warbands struggle not just for martial supremacy, but to claim and wield arcane artifacts and magical lore. Many are the Wargrounds secrets, its mysteries, its lost ruins and stellae, whispering forbidden knowledge and accursed truths to those with the cunning and keenness to learn them. While warriors wage a war on the battlefield scholars, explorers, clerics and other seekers of lore wage the quiet war of information and discovery.

Welcome to the Continent of Arebnak, within which lies the Wargrounds. This world, where our game takes place, is full of mystery, adventure and discoveries. 

While those on the battlefield fight valiantly, there is another battle taking place. A battle of knowledge, diplomacy and problem solving. 

It’s time to delve deep into character and discover a new way to LARP at Wargrounds Canberra!

Create opportunities for players less inclined towards battlesports to engage with the lore and roleplay aspects of Wargrounds Canberra and be a part of the setting and community.

Provide engaging puzzles, exciting stories, and clues to piece together in order to let players contribute to an ongoing plot.

Makes players feel like they are a vital part of the in-game world and how it changes

 (natives to the world, not tourists).

Broaden the appeal of Wargrounds Canberra and LARP as a whole to the local community by adding new ways to engage for different levels of ability.

1) Immersive Play is a separate game from the standard Wargrounds battlesport.

1. It does not follow the same core gameplay rules as the battlesport.

2. It does not interact with the battlesport directly on normal game days.

3. Weapons are not used for fighting, but may be used as props for role-play purposes.

4. Players participating in Immersive Play are to be In Character. See the Guide for Role-Play at LARP section of this document to help with character creation and interactions.

2) General Safety:

1. Players should always adhere to the Wargrounds Code of Conduct.

2. If another player is making you feel persistently uncomfortable (physically or mentally) or their behaviour is dangerous, walk away and seek out an admin. An incident report should also be filed.

3. Players should refer to the Code of Conduct - Gameplay Behaviour section for reporting processes.

3) Physical Safety

1. Touching other players is never a required part of play. Players are not to touch another player unless they have consent to do so.

2. Immersive Play is not battle focused; weapons are for role-play purposes only.

3. Players are not to enter the battlesport field while it is active.

4) Mental Safety

1. As this is a role-play activity, please be aware of bleed (see section 5. Bleed)

2. Players should NEVER use role-play as a way to bully, harass or intimidate another player. 

3. Players should NEVER use role-play to make unwanted advances on another player.

4. If you have to ask yourself if your character’s behaviour crosses the line, it probably does. 

5. Players should make an admin aware if there are any themes that present themselves in the story that they find uncomfortable. 

6. Wargrounds Canberra is a safe space for players to express themselves IC (in character) without the fear of OOC (Out of Character) ridicule. 

5) Bleed

Bleed is the term used for the flow of player to character and vice versa. It is not inherently negative or positive, but something that we should all be aware of when participating in role-play larp scenarios. 

1. Bleed-in is when real life emotions, relationships, beliefs, etc, start to impact on your character.

2. Bleed-out is when the aspects of your character start to seep into you as the player. 

3. Interpersonal Bleed is when player relationships affect how you interact with players characters, such as being kind to an OOC friend even if their character is the villain. 

4. Heightened emotional moments in a role-play scenario can often lead to a player drawing on their real emotions for a moment of catharsis. While this can be a positive thing, it is something to be mindful of in cases of negative emotions.

5. It is highly encouraged for players to reflect on gameplay at the end of each game.

6. For a more detailed look at Bleed, please read through this series of infographics from ‘No Larping Matter’:
   https://www.facebook.com/nolarpingmatter/posts/pfbid06aCrxHpcri31gufQhY8F82Qm37TyXV6voFNSNpi1YEkYdUxEADazXy6LnhA8g2GVl 

6) Immersive/Out of Character signals

1. If you are feeling uncomfortable with something within the role-play (and it is not dangerous) say ‘Holy Veil’ to signal to the other player that you would like to change the topic of the conversation without breaking character. 

2. If a player in character says ‘Holy Veil’ to you, respect them by changing the subject matter and move on. 

3. Crossing your arms over your chest in an X shape signals to another player that you would like to say something out of character, or if you need to go to an admin to ask a question. 

4. If you are in character and you see another player crossing their arms, and they are not addressing you, pretend you cannot see them.

7) Game play mechanics

1. Clues, puzzles and in-character research are all key parts of Immersive Play

2. Be respectful to all props and don’t use force. If something is meant to be moved or open, it will.

3. If you see a prop with a green dot sticker on it, you are able to pick it up and remove it from its location. 

4. Any prop without a green dot sticker must stay on the table or in the area that it was found.

5. NEVER take or touch another player’s property without permission.
   If a player wishes for an item they own to be ‘Lootable’ they can ask for a tag from an admin (do not make your own lootable tags).

6. No admin props are to leave the game with players, and should be returned to an NPC admin at end of game. 

7. Most clues that you will need will be in prop form, but the NPCs (Non-Player Characters) can give you information too.

8. If you get stuck at any point, don’t hesitate to ask an NPC for help.

9. Do not carry or hide a prop vital to the progress of the game outside of the play area.

What is Role-Play at LARP?

Role-Play or RP in LARP is very similar to improvised acting, except you are both the actor and audience at the same time! 

Taking on the classic improv ideal of ‘Yes, and…’ or, at the very least ‘No, but…’, is key for building a story with other players and creating fun and engaging scenarios and conversations between characters. 

It can be a bit tricky to dive in right away, but with time and more RP experience, you will feel more comfortable engaging in the story and seeing how your actions change the game world!

Character Creation

There are so many things to consider when you are making your LARP character! 

Wargrounds doesn’t have a set of pre-existing rules or character building statistics that limit the creation of your LARP character. So as long as you keep to the medieval fantasy aesthetic, you have so much freedom to create a unique character to explore the world with!

Some things to consider when creating your character:

Race: Are you a goblin? An elf? Or even a Mushroom! So many possibilities!
Geography: Where is your character from?
Profession: What does your character do for work?
Language: Is your character bilingual? Do they have a different set of characters that they write in?
Alignment: We’ve all seen the chart… Chaotic Good? Lawful Evil? Where does your character sit?
Religion: We don’t use real world religion for Immersive Play, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make one up for your character! Or a cult…
Interpersonal: How trusting is your character of others? How do they feel about the other factions or warbands?
Strengths: What does your character do well? Music? Cartography? Bubble blowing?
Weaknesses: No one is perfect; what is your character’s fault/s?
Wealth: Does your character come from a well off family, or have they had to earn every cent through hard labour?
Goals: Does your character have any personal goals? What will they do to achieve them?
Features: Is there something eternal that makes your character instantly recognisable?
Values: Is there something important or sacred to your character? Do they tell people about it, or keep it to themselves?

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it’s a good start for getting to know your character! You can even keep an IC journal to help keep track of your characters' thoughts on in-game events and interactions to strengthen the depth of your character.

Characters and How They Interact

During Immersive Play, you will have two main types of players: NPCs (Non Player Characters) and PCs (Player Characters). 

NPCs are there to help create an interactive space for players to immerse themselves in, have conversations with, complete tasks with, do quests for, and to assist the players if they are in need of help with anything during the game. 

PCs are you guys! You tell stories by interacting with the world, the NPCs and most importantly, each other! With three factions, and the warbands there in, there are so many opportunities to create interesting relationships with other characters. You can create alliances, make enemies, do diplomacy or trade, and form friendships within the game world. 

Interacting With The World

As Immersive Play will have tasks to do and puzzles to solve, there will be props and NPCs to interact with and things to learn! As you do all of these things, you will be In Character; the whole point of Immersive Play is to explore and shape this fantasy world together. 

Setting up a ‘camp’ is a great way to have a home base for your faction or warband to set their things on game days. You could have your own table, a banner, whatever you are able or willing to bring! This also gives other players a place that they can find you, or drop off some mail to! 

There will be a whole bunch of physical props that you will be playing with. These props have been lovingly made to help enrich the world of the game, so please show them respect. We want to be able to continue making cool props and enrich your LARPing experience for years to come, and building a stock of awesome props helps us to do that.

If you are ever unsure of what to do with a particular prop, or you are stuck on a puzzle, your faithful NPCs are there to help you out! Just as you are experiencing Immersive Play at Wargrounds for the first time, we as admins are too. We want you to have fun, and if you aren’t enjoying the difficulty level of the puzzle, we want to know so we can fix or review it. 

Recommended Gear

(This does not include standard kit or costume)

1. Belt with pouches or bag or basket. It’s much easier to carry around all the things you need and it keeps your hands free!

2. Immersive notebook and pen/pencil. Your life will be much easier if you can take notes and collect information all in one place! 

3. A box to put items in at your ‘camp’ during game days (faction or warband). We want to make sure that no props get lost, and you don’t want other factions taking them! (Only props with green dot stickers or ‘Lootable’ tags can be taken by other players)

Game End Reflection

Reflecting on IC gameplay is unfortunately not a common practice, but it is truly helpful, especially to mitigate bleed.

Once Immersive play has ended for the day, and you are returning to your OOC self, it is a great idea to sit and reflect on the events of the game. 

Before you start to reflect and debrief, it may be helpful to remove one key piece of your character’s kit to help transition back from IC to OCC.

Here are some questions to ask yourself, share in pairs or in a group:

1. Who made my experience enjoyable, and why? (IC and OOC)

2. What did you discover about your character today?

3. What was something your character did that you wouldn’t do?

4. What do you want to take away from today, and what do you want to leave behind?

5. What challenges did you face as a player and what challenges did your character face?

6. What was your favourite moment that you didn’t initiate?