Madrigal Needs NPCs in East Brookfield, MA!

Via Trey Reilly on the New England LARPers Facebook group:

Madrigal is actively recruiting NPCs for our upcoming event June 14-16. Come to fight, roleplay, and earn more sweet, sweet CP! It's Father's Day weekend - help make it great for all of the fabulous dads in our PC base!

Please note that we're at a different site for this event - do not go to the regular Madrigal site. You will be all alone, and so sad! Instead, head to YMCA Camp Frank A. Day in East Brookfield, MA (otherwise known as the MM site, or the Cottington site)

We have GREAT need for both fight-y and roleplay-y peoples, so if you'd like to join in the fun, please email madrigalnpc AT accelerantgames DOT com to register (and let us know what sorts of roles you prefer!), or if you have questions about NPCing. A basic guide to NPCing Madrigal may be found on our website (see below for the URL). Even if you can only come for a few hours, we'd still love to see you!

Further Details:

June 14-16
Location: YMCA Camp Frank A. Day in East Brookfield, MA
Genre: Heroic Fantasy
Website: http://www.larp.com/madrigal/
Mailing List: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Madrigal/

NPC CP Exchange Information: http://www.larp.com/madrigal/logistics.html#npccp

Thank you so much - hope to see you there!

Looks like you can earn CP for a number of other Accelerant LARPs in the area.

Wyrdcon Companion Book Wants Papers!

The call for papers is out for the 2013 Wyrdcon Companion book.

Wyrdcon is the "West Coast Intercon," which every year publishes a book of journalistic and scholarly essays about larping, larp-writing, transmedia, etc. The previous years' editions are available at that link.

Once again Aaron Vanek will be editing the journalistic section and Sarah Lynne Bowman the academic; last year's book contained an article by our own Nat Budin on the history of the New England theater-style LARP scene.

From the site:

The Wyrd Con Interactive Storytelling Convention invites papers for December 2013 publication. Like last year, the Wyrd Con Companion Book will feature two sections of articles: journalistic and academic. Articles on any form of Interactive Storytelling are welcome, including, but not limited to, the following: larp, transmedia, tabletop, alternate reality/pervasive games, virtual role-playing, etc.

We invite articles on all topics pertaining to Interactive Storytelling. The editors are especially interested in the following:

• Documentation of games or projects, past and present
• Historical perspectives on various subcultural groups, including campaigns, conventions, forums, and local “scenes” of all sorts, particularly those 10 years and older
• Historical perspectives on various theories and discourses
• Educational, business, and other “real world” applications for interactive storytelling
• Contextualizing various forms of storytelling and subcultures with relation to one another
• Theoretical ruminations
• Discussion of mainstream representations, including news media, films, reality television, and documentaries
• Current subculture discourses, debates, and tensions
• Practical advice columns
• Editorial pontifications on current topics

The abstract submission deadline is June 21, and the call for papers has the full timeline of deadlines, the style guideline, contact information for the editors, and so on. If you intend to submit, I highly recommend that you read it all.

The 2012 Companion Book was an interesting read -- I'm looking forward to the 2013 Book!

Lizzie Stark and Ethan Gilsdorf Reading at Bestsellers Cafe in Medford, MA!

Lizzie Stark (of Leaving Mundania fame) and Ethan Gilsdorf (author of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks) will be reading at Bestsellers Cafe in Medford, MA on Sunday, June 16 from 2-3:30p. From the event page:

Lizzie Stark is the author of "Leaving Mundania", which tells the story of adults who put on costumes, develop personas, and interact with other characters over the course of hours or days as part of a larp, or live action roleplaying game. A larp is a hybrid of games like Dungeons & Dragons, historical reenactment, fandom, and good old fashioned pretend; it’s well-organized make believe for grownups. This diverse subculture is just beginning to enter the mainstream imagination in America.

Ethan Gilsdorf is the author of "Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks". What could one man find if he embarked on a journey through fantasy world after fantasy world? In an enthralling blend of travelogue, pop culture analysis, and memoir, forty-year-old former D&D addict Ethan Gilsdorf crisscrosses America, the world, and other worlds—from Boston to New Zealand, and Planet Earth to the realm of Aggramar.

There's also a Facebook event page.

Boston Festival of Indie Games wants LARPs!

Via David Burbank on the Intercon X Facebook group:

Greetings, Intercon Folk!

This year I am filling the role of LARP Programming Manager for the Boston Festival of Indie Games. We have three slots to fill for Intercon style four-hour LARPs - and with the plethora of talent present in this group, I hope some of you will be interested in submitting your creations. This will be an opportunity to spread the love of LARP to a diverse audience, and hopefully grow the ranks of our discipline.

If you're interested please fill out the submission form below.

Many thanks in advance!

https://docs.google.com/a/be-epic.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dC1kMlRaVGhMLTdyTGh5dFl6aHQ2a1E6MQ#gid=0

It's not just LARPs, of course, but I think it's really cool that LARPs are being included.

The Boston Festival of Indie Games, incidentally, is happening on Saturday, September 14, 2013, from 10a to 10p at MIT's Stratton Student Center (84 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA). Registration is now open, and there's a Kickstarter up to help fund it. (The $25 backer reward is a pack of New England-made indie games -- video and tabletop -- which looks really cool.)

As the web site says:

The Boston Festival of Indie Games celebrates independent game development on New England and neighboring regions. Our goal is creating an inclusive environment for everybody who enjoys and appreciates games in whatever shape or form. The festival seeks to support and showcase the efforts of independent game developers in a free public event, encouraging attendees to participate and play games in different formats: video games, location-based games, tabletop games and live role-playing, amongst others. The games featured are innovative and refreshing, demonstrating both the budding and the established talent of game makers in the American northeast.
Produced under the non-profit auspices of Be Epic, a Boston-area live action games production group, the Boston Festival of Indie Games fosters a community of academic and independent developers creating games for the people.

The $85 backer reward is a "Collector's Edition Tabletop Bundle", which includes an indie RPG called "Our Last Best Hope"... It's an impressively diverse-looking event!

Nordic Larp in "Limbo" in New Jersey

Via Lizzie Stark:

Performance researcher Emma Waldron, media studies expert Aaron Trammell, and I are running the Nordic larp Limbo by Tor Kjetil Edland in Highland Park, NJ on Saturday June 8, 2013 from 2:45 to 8pm.

The game is about what happens after death, is mechanics light, contemplative, and perfect for anyone wanting to get a little flavor of Nordic larp. We emphatically welcome new larpers!

You can read more about the game — and sign up! — over on Emma Waldron’s site.

If you got your first taste of Nordic larp at Intercon and are itching for more, here's a place to find it.

"The Quest" on ABC casting event in NYC

The Quest, a reality TV show recruiting LARPers which we blogged about earlier, has announced a casting date in NYC. From the flier:

THE QUEST

Wednesday May 29th

7-9pm

Times Scare NYC

669 8th Ave
New York, NY 10036

From an Executive Producer of the award winning THE LORD OF THE RINGS Trilogy and the Emmy award winning creators of THE AMAZING RACE comes an epic and groundbreaking new competition show for a major network, the likes of which have never been seen on television!

MEET WITH THE CASTING DIRECTOR in person at our event for your chance to be on our show!

If you are planning on coming, please RSVP by emailing paulgordoncasting@gmail.com

Please make the subject: RSVP NY
Send us your Name, Age, Phone #, Current Location, a current photo, and tell us about your hobby/fascination (i.e. LARP, Game of Thrones, CosPlay, etc), and what makes you perfect for a show like this!

@provilestvcast
@paulgordoncasting

Facebook.com/ProfilesTelevision

Facebook.com/QuestShow

The Hollywood Reporter reports that the show has been picked up by ABC:

The new reality series, which has yet to receive a premiere date, pits 12 contestants against one another in a competition set in a fictional place called Everrealm. The live-action role-playing takes place in what the network describes as "a land of magic and malevolence, where mythical creatures lurk in the woods, agents of darkness stir in the shadows and mystical beings infiltrate the keep."

The Second New England Larp Coference (NELCO) Announced!

The NELCO site has been up for a little while, but it's still very much forming:

August 9-11, 2013
Chelmsford Radisson

The New England Larp Conference is a multi-tradition event focused on the craft of LARP. It will be a weekend of LARP discussions, panels, workshops, and build-your-own-games.

As opposed to gaming convention, the Conference will not be a weekend of playing and running games, but will instead be discussion and workshop based.

If you've attended the Intercon Pre-con, that is the inspiration for this event.

Have questions? Contact Dave.

Volunteer
Want to help out? Suggest a panel or workshop! Have some skill that you want to teach, or want someone to teach? We want to know! You can suggest an event by emailing us.

Please include:
Your contact information
Your panel or workshop idea
If you are interested in running the panel/talk/workshop, or if you want us to find someone to run it

If you're interested in running the event:
How long it should be (1-2 hours for panels, 4 or more for workshops, or whatever you think you need)
If you have any special requirements (Sewing machines, projector, etc)

Build Your Own Game
Over the course of the weekend, starting Saturday morning, we'll be running a Build Your Own Game workshop. Whether you've never written a game, or are an experienced author, it's a great time, and a great way to learn new techniques. Jeff Diewald has volunteered to coordinate this project, so feel free to contact him with any questions you may have about it. The game will run on Sunday, so we're looking for people interested in writing or playing the game. If we have enough people interested, we'll split into multiple teams, so please let us know ahead of time by signing up for the "Build Your Own Game Author" flavor of attendee

Registration is $20 for the weekend. More details here.

The BYOG is a great way to get started if you've never written a LARP before. Last year's BYOG, "The Barbecue", was well-reviewed and went on to run at Intercon this year.