PLATFORMS FOR ONLINE LARP

This was our second fireside chat. We invited four speakers to talk with us about the pros and cons of using different platforms for online LARP, as well as share personal experiences about running games using some of these platforms.

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Our Speakers:

• Suko Toyofuko - covering video-based platforms (zoom, google meets, etc). Suyo (she/her) is the co-author of Ghosts. Through extensive trial-and-error, she figured out how to recreate the immersive and atmospheric experience of the in-person Ghosts LARP on the virtual Zoom platform. She has also converted an in-person RPG to the Roll20 platform and discovered several virtual LARP-friendly features of Roll20 during that process.

• Kat Jones - covering multi-channel platforms. Kat (she/they) is a queer Latina game designer and scholar. Kat's games explore identity and community, while offering playful social commentary. She and Julia B. Ellingboe have co-authored several scenarios together including #WeAreNecropolis which is played on Discord, and The Sleepover which was recently adapted for play in Second Life. #TheRealColdtown, a live action version of #WeAreNecropolis premiered at BlackBox Copenhagen in 2019. The Sleepover can be found in Honey & Hot Wax: An Anthology of Erotic Games.

• Susanne Vedjemo - covering spatial chat platforms (gather.town, topia, etc). Susanne (she/her) is a larp designer and larp producer based in Stockholm and New York, who has produced larps such as Frizon, Suffragett!, Grandma’s Tiara, So Mom I Made This Sex Tape, Aslan's Jyhad, and Athena's Chosen, among many others. She often runs larp design brainstorming meetups.

• Athena Peters - covering the topic of asynchronous remote larping (epistolary, post-based, etc). Athena Z Peters (she/her) has 20+ years as a professional creator and manager of both games and theatre. She got into LARP as a hobby about 10 years ago when she moved to New England and has since incorporated it into her professional career after co-founding Incantrix Productions LLC with Caroline Murphy in 2016. Incantrix seeks to create experiences that combine narrative storytelling with game elements. Our Boston-area events range from catered dinner experiences, to site-specific interactive modules, to pub crawls, to giant costumed parties. If it's intriguing, mysterious, and magical, we are in our wheelhouse. Participants may observe performances, get involved in the myriad of puzzles at each of our events, or fully-delve into stories that tie all the events together in a larger narrative world to unlock the mysteries it holds. All levels of participation are welcome and encouraged. Our most recent creation, Romancing Jan, came out of a desire to create analogue connection in a time of pandemic. Athena re-designed a ballroom matchmaking LARP into a letter writing experience supported by a monthly Periodical delivered via real world mail. The game is ongoing and is always accepting new readers and or players. www.romancingjan.com and is set in a colonialism free alternative history 1811.