A (Belated) 2016 Year in Review
As the new officers take on their roles and I shift out of being Creative Director I’d like to take a moment to recognize our accomplishments over the past year.
We ran a lot of larps in 2016. We ran 8 larps, more than 1 every other month, with more larps in a year than we’ve ever done since our founding. There were 21 different people (35 players in total) at these different events. Larp themes ran the gamut from resistance and betrayal to love and frivolity.
In 2016 a new larp organization was named in homage to us, North Carolina’s Larp Shack. We still aren’t making as much money as the other Larp House, since we are all-volunteer and our events are free and open to the public.
I’ve personally been very pleased with our ability to be a vehicle for playtests, new games, and under-appreciated gems by lesser known designers.
I also want to take a moment to shout out to Molly Forsythe. Fully 80% of my job was copy pasting emails that they wrote, so all that organizational work up front is paying off! The fact that I couldn’t just copy paste this email is probably why it took so long to send out!
In the year ahead I look forward to another year of locally-grown fun. I’m excited to take part in the diverse, enjoyable, and inspiring larps of 2017!
Sincerely,
Tom Fendt
Documentation for Strange Gravity
Documentation for Strange Gravity by Jay Treat, a sci-fi larp about about one starship and the vibrant personalities on board.
Organized by Jon Cole for Larp House.
Photos by Kelley Vanda, Jon Cole, and Emily M.
Played in Saint Paul in March 2017 for 7 players.
Larp House Recommends: Just A Little Lovin’ – USA 2017
Just A Little Lovin’ – USA 2017
Nordic Larp in the United States
Just a Little Lovin’ is a live action roleplaying event about the gay scene in New York from 1982 through 1984, as the HIV/AIDS epidemic erupted.
Just A Little Lovin’ is a critically-acclaimed Nordic larp, coming to the USA for the first time on August 7th to August 12th 2017. The 6-day larp will be held near Minneapolis, Minnesota. Registration for the larp is open now through March 21st.
Documentation for Walk Among the Dead
Documentation for Walk Among the Dead by Johannes Oppermann, a horror larp about a grief support group that ventures into the land of the dead.
Organized by Jon Cole for Larp House.
Photos by Jon Cole and Heather Silsbee.
Played in Saint Paul in January 2017 for 6 players.
Larp House Presents: Strange Gravity
Daring spacefarers hurtling through the infinite void at speeds that defy understanding in the search for something more…
Star Trek meets Firefly, with narrative authority related to your character’s role on the ship.
WHAT:A freeform larp for 5-8 players
Written by Jay Treat
Organized by Jon Cole
WHEN:7:00 pm — 11:00 pm on Saturday, March 4th
Larp House Presents: Walk Among the Dead
Seekers of the departed, welcome. We have come together
because each of us has one we have lost. We have formed this secret
grief support group, rejected the 5 stages, and now seek to reach beyond
the veil and contact those lost to us.
This
mask is our key to the shadowlands. We can give each other strength for
the way and solace when we return, but whoever goes must go alone. Going
in, we have only so much breath to pay the ghosts for answers. Each of
us searches for resolution, we may be fortunate to find it, escape with
only our life, or become lost ourselves.
WHAT:A freeform larp for 5-6 players
Written by Johannes Oppermann
Organized by Jon Cole
WHEN:7:00 pm — 11:00 pm on Saturday, January 14th
Documentation for Contrapposto
Documentation for Contrapposto by Andrew Larimer, a short larp about an art heist played in an actual museum.
Organized by Jon Cole for Larp House.
Played in the Minneapolis of Art in November 2016 for 3 players.
Larp House Presents: Contrapposto
Players take on the roles of a team of amateur thieves hired to obtain a work of art. All players work together to identify which piece of art they’re after and plan how to steal it while balancing the team’s humorous assortment of skills & hangups.
In about an hour and a half, the team will case the joint, plan their caper & try to convince each other that this will work. And if the group can tolerate each other long enough to complete their scheme, it just might!
Contrapposto is part improv comedy and part exercise in teamwork, with a healthy respect for art & museums thrown in. Don’t worry: no actual laws will be broken while playing! It is a fun way to visit an art museum with a group of new friends.
WHAT:A freeform larp for 2-5 players. Written by Andrew Larimer and organized by Jon Cole
Documentation for College of Neraidology & Crow Funeral
Documentation for College of Neraidology, a larp by ivan nevill about graduate students presenting their findings on local fairy activity, and Crow Funeral, a larp by Tim Hutchings
about opinionated crows discussing the cause of death of one of their number. You can click the title of each to find the rules text (College of Neraidology is part of the 200 Word RPG anthology).
Organized by Tom Fendt with 6 people on a gorgeous October day in St. Paul, MN.
We also have a video of Jon Cole Quintinius Lope’s dissertation on one of the local fairy inhabitants: sneeple (snake people). Check it out!