Battle the Undead Hordes at MA's "Dystopia Rising"!

From Katherine Chartier via e-mail:

I run Dystopia Rising Mass, LLC and our game has 8 events this year. I was hoping to give you dates for your website!

Larp name: Dystopia Rising Massachusetts
Website: Mass.DystopiaRisingLARP.com
Location Camp Marshall: 92 McCormick Rd, Spencer, Massachusetts
Dates: (full weekend events):
April 26th-28th
May 17th-19th
May 31st- June 2nd
July 19th-21st
August 2nd - 4th
September 13th - 15th
October 4th - 6th
November 1st - 3rd

Cost: $20 for first game, $45 thereafter, free all weekend NPCs

Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/DystopiaRisingTheMass

From their web site:

Dystopia Rising is a role playing game that takes place in a post apocalyptic world, long after the fall of civilization to a worldwide zombie plague. This world, many generations after the Fall, takes place in a new dark age where the remains of lost cultures linger in a world without direction. No global governments survived, no armed police to serve and protect, no organized educational systems, and no guidance to pull the world out of the spiral it has fallen into. The world is a dark, dangerous place where humanity is as much of a threat to existence as the undead horde is.

There are, however, some glimmers of light in the darkness of this grim future. On occasion a person manages to hold onto their moral compass, and uses it to navigate in this hopeless world. Sometimes a small spark of humanity shows itself in the most irradiated of survivors trying to piece together the mysteries lost to he wastelands. You may fi nd a new purpose or establish a role in someone else’s life, and because of that you find it hard to simply go it alone.

Dystopia Rising is a game that is not centered on the undead. It is a game that is centered on what becomes of the human condition when forced into an environment where survival could very well be your only concern. Do you decide to become a ruthless warlord, an amoral sociopath, or a monster much uglier inside than any zombie is on the outside? Perhaps you take the high road as a nameless wanderer, find higher purpose in faith, or do everything you can to force civility into a chaotic world. No one can tell you what you will do once the bombs drop and the dead rise. No one will guide you but your own conscience.

The world died many generations ago, and it is your turn to build the new world from the ashes.

As stated above, new players get a discount their first event, and the next event this year is April 26th-28th. Everybody I've heard talk about this says it's a great game.

Dare You Venture into MA's "Witchwood"?

Witchwood is...

A new fantasy live-action roleplaying game starting Spring, 2013! We will be running at Camp Lincoln in Kingston, NH, approximately one hour north of Boston.

Those who dwell in the Witchwood are wracked by unending nightmares. These dreams incite rage, turning friend against friend and disrupting the cycle of life and death. This forest has long been kept from the world, but it now entreats even outsiders: come to the woods and seek a cure for this curse. There are dangers, certainly, but when will such an opportunity come again to see the wonders of the Witchwood? Read more about the World of Evren.

We are drawing on years of experience to continue the chronicles of the characters of the frontier and bring you fresh adventures. Deep immersion, cohesive world design and open gameplay set Witchwood apart. Read more about our values.

Continue your story or begin something new; either way, welcome to the Witchwood.

If you're interested in staffing, contact the Staff Director, Jon W.

If you'd like to play, the rulebook is up and character creation is now open!

Contact Logistics if you have any questions.

The people behind this are friends of mine -- they're awesome people, and they run good games!

Edited to add: Witchwood's first event is April 19-21 at Camp Lincoln in Kingston, NH.

What is Northeast LARP News?

We've got some new visitors around here: welcome!

This is Northeast LARP News, a site for LARP-related event announcements in the Northeast United States. (Which I define roughly and arbitrarily as anything within a day's surface travel of Boston.)

We're interested in new LARP campaigns and existing games doing special events, LARP conventions, LARP workshops, LARP book readings, and anything else happening in New England, New York, and the Mid-Atlantic states that might be of interest to LARPers.

If you're running something like this or just hearing about it yourself, please e-mail it to me at nelarpnews@gmail.com!


Photo credit: Fair Escape, a LARPing blog. Used with permission.

Make the Journey to MA's "Elysium"!

From Jonathan Swenson via e-mail:

I run a game called Elysium LARP. We are a Medieval Fantasy game that is completely Free to Play. However if anyone decides to donate 50% of their donation goes to Andrew's Helpful Hands, a local nonprofit that pays mortgage payments for families who have a child going through the bone marrow transplant process.

We are a fairly small group right now with about 20 total members and about 10 very active members and we are looking to expand!

Our New Player Day is coming up on Saturday May 11th 2013.

If anyone is interested here are some links:

Email: info@elysiumlarp.com
Website: www.elysiumlarp.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ElysiumLarp

Emphasis mine. I've never heard of a free-to-play, donation-supported boffer LARP before, let alone one raising money for charity. That's super-neat.

Immerse Yourself in Sidereus!

From Kristina Roland-DeFelice via e-mail:

Sidereus is a live action dark fantasy game of monumental proportions, Sidereus fuses a motion picture quality aesthetic with an exciting and engaging atmosphere where all levels of play are welcome. Sidereus is the name of the world in which this Live Action Role-Playing game takes place, a world of fantasy in which the forces of evil have all but conquered the planet. As a person trying to survive in such perilous times, it is your task to choose which side you will be on. The dark fantasy of Sidereus is a combination of high fantasy and survival horror, pitting the players and their allies against dark forces and terrifying monsters.

In the world of Sidereus, you can play a mighty warrior, a cunning assassin, a loyal paladin, or a master of the arcane arts. The Sidereus game system allows you complete freedom in creating your character, so that the only limit on the type of character you can play is your own imagination.

Our fifth season opener is this weekend [March 22-24. -ed.], and it's being held at Camp Denison in Georgetown, MA. Attendance is free for all new players! You can check out the event on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/events/110214712493611/

After this weekend, our next event is April 19-21, also at Camp Denison (https://www.facebook.com/events/392261110881373/). Admission prices, info about cabin reservations, and the meal plan is all listed, as well as a quick plot synopsis for the weekend.

Season Five is the season of big news for Sidereus! We'll be attending Anime Boston this year in the dealer's room, with two booths and free giveaways! Come visit the Sidereus booth girls (all players, of course), and meet our featured artist! In July we'll be launching a chapter in Upstate New York, a big step in the right direction. We're also proud to announce our sponsorship with Ateliers Nemesis, makers of quality custom latex weaponry. In fact, some of our giveaways at Anime Boston will be gift certificates to Nemesis, as well as to a company called Fantasy Armor.

To find out more about Sidereus, you can visit these links:

Sidereus Wiki
Sidereus Forums
Sidereus Facebook (be sure to check out our event albums!)
Sidereus Homepage (you can find a copy of the rulebook here, as well as our online store)

I appreciate very much you taking the time to check us out!

Emphasis mine. Looks like they put a super-impressive amount of work into this game, and now's a great time to join up!

Edited to add: You may see some posts on the Facebook pages about reserving cabins and beds or such. Kristina assures me that new players will be provided places to sleep -- the reservations are for existing players.

Also I misspelled 'Sidereus' in the original title of this post. It is 'Sidereus', not 'Siderius'. My apologies. Teach me to proofread better next time.

An "Age of Iron" Dawns This April in MA!

From Garett Kopczynski via e-mail:

I am writing to let you know that there is a new LARP called "Age of Iron" that is starting up with a first event at Camp Dennison in Georgetown, MA on April 27th-28th. The LARP is very different from most of the "boffer" types and takes a lot of inspiration from European style games. The setting is a low-fantasy one and has more in common with something like Game of Thrones; politics, betrayal and conflict are all focuses (though there is still plenty of mystery, horror and action to go around). We are hoping to get some folks interested in coming out for the first game and giving something new a try. The first event is $40 and food/lodging are part of that price.

Here are the links for our information. We are hoping to reach a critical mass before our first event and have all the mechanisms in place:

Forums: http://aoilarp.net/
Website: http://ageofironlarp.wordpress.com/home/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AgeOfIronLarp

If anyone has any questions please contact me at keenelarp@gmail.com

There's a lot of good information on the site. It sounds gritty and fun.

New Chronicle Coming! (White Wolf LARPs)

From Drew Van Zandt by e-mail:

I'm the coordinator for a whole pile of LARPs that run in the Boston area every month. In April, we start to cook up the new chronicle (the universe resets with a few tweaks, and everyone makes new characters). Here's what we're definitely running, and a few that are under consideration. These games are run nationwide with a large local presence and regular conventions at the regional and national levels.

1) Vampire: The Masquerade. White Wolf Old World of Darkness (non-boffer, theater style). There are mechanics for everything, but the local group tends not to pull them out too often, straight RP most of the time. We have about 30 regular players and another twenty or so who visit from other cities occasionally or are intermittent attendees.
2) The Accord (White Wolf New World of Darkness Combined venue) is an experimental new venue where you can play any of the White Wolf supernaturals (Mages, Werewolves, Geist, Vampires, Prometheans, Hunters, Mummies, etc.) - a bit Lovecraftian in theme, Something Bad has started tearing holes in reality to come through and take this world from us, so we've all had to band together to form the Accord and try to fight back. Player versus environment. We're not entirely sure what The Thing is, so there's a solid mystery element as well. This one has generated a LOT of excitement, and I'm worried/hopeful that we'll break 60 players. We have a game site that can handle it and a solid team of storytellers.
3) Vampire: The Requiem. White Wolf New World of Darkness (non-boffer, theater style). We have about 20 regular players and another dozen or so who visit from other cities occasionally or are intermittent attendees.
4) Garou (White Wolf OWOD Werewolf). I am too tired to write a blurb for this, but we're starting the game up in April or May as well.

[...]
Games currently run on the 3rd Saturday every month, and when the new chronicles start in May (April for historical events etc.) we'll most likely be shifting to two games on the second Saturday and two games on the third Saturday.

Their website is http://shatteredantiquities.com/. Contact nhma.dc@gmail.com if you're interested in getting involved!

More Festival Sign-Ups Later Today!

(The clock says it's Monday, I guess that means it's Monday.)

Get your last sign-ups for Brandeis's Festival of the Larps in today at 7 PM!

Festival Sign-Ups (Second Round) in 2 Hours!

What the subject says.  Get those games while they're hot!

Intercon is Over! Now What?

Intercon is a huge social event, but it only happens once a year. However, the conversations around the con don't have to stop once we've all gone home.

In particular, the interconlarp community on LiveJournal and the Intercon X group on Facebook are places to hang out the rest of the year and talk about the con and larps in general.

Right now they're both collecting "role calls", where people post what games they were involved with in which roles, so you can connect with the people you played games with. (And how many people do you know primarily as "Idris the Invincible" or "Boxovna Cornchecks"?)

Also, if you've posted a review of the con and/or the games you played anywhere public -- your LJ, your blog, G+, wherever -- please let me know, either in the comments here or at nelarpnews@gmail.com. I'd like to do a round-up post here in a week or two.

Festival Sign-Ups Open Tomorrow!

The first round of sign-ups for the Brandeis Festival of the Larps open tomorrow, Monday, March 4th, at 7p EST! (Meaning, you can sign up for up to one game tomorrow, up to two games on Thursday, March 7th, at 7p, and as many games as you want after Monday, March 11th, at 7p.)

Make sure you've registered at the site beforehand so you can be right on the button at 7p!

The schedule is up and has a lot of great games on it -- both some favorites from the past few years, like "The Prince Comes of Age", and the premiered-just-this-morning, award-winning "AGENT Bobo of the Resistance" from Alleged Entertainment. It looks like a great time!

Hi Intercon!

Con was great! I'm exhausted. How 'bout you?

If you first heard about this blog at Intercon, can you give a shout here?