Running a Larp Practical Considersations
It’s time to get practical. It’s fun to build worlds, and awesome to design a larp. Now though its time to get practical and consider more mundane and important things. Such as what will people eat? Where will they sleep? what happens if there is an injury…
So lets have a think… We need to have answers for:
- What is the site like?
- What will accommodations be?
- How will first aid be handled?
- How will the players and crew be fed?
- Arranging Costume and Props
- How are you going to document the event?
- Arranging Ticket Sales
All come to mind as practical aspects that we must have answers for. Topping that list though is:
Transparency Matters when running a LARP
LARPs are a juggernaut of creativity and organisation. But lets never forget that larps are player powered. Players come from all backgrounds. They encompass all levels of income, and have a wide range of physical and psychological needs. That’s a lot.
They key to helping your players have the best event possible and making your larp a success is to be open with them. Tell them everything. Make it easy to find the details. Present in written formats, but also consider to do a video outlining all the details your players need. Communicate everything someone may need to know and you’ll have correctly prepared players. All ready for what you are going to throw at them. If players don’t understand everything they could come under equipped. Which is never fun.
Never forget that this matters a lot. To new players of the larp and to players new to larp. Never assume that someone just knows and understands things
The Site
The site you book needs to support your larp from a story perspective. Your players are going to ask other questions. Can you answer questions about
- Accessability
- Car Parking
- Public Transport
- Accomodation
- Toilet and Washing Facilities
- Camping Facilities
- Local shops and facilities On a larger site think about providing a map. Show the distances between things. You will be thanked.
What Will Accomodation be like?
Its part of site information but important enough to consider on its own. Here we consider where the players and the crew sleep. For example if there are beds what are the beds like? Are they bunk beds and how are they apportioned? That matters as upper level bunks are not accessable to all players On the subject of beds what are the rooms like?
- How much storage space?
- How many to a room?
- Are the rooms mixed accomodation?
If camping is the thing then be able to answer questions like…
- How far will camping gear need to be carried?
- Is it possible to drive cars onto the camp site to unload?
- Are there trolleys to help carry camp gear?
- Is the ground hard or soft? (what kind of pegs will be needed)
Will you be seperating the accomodation for crew and players? Its not always necessary but for some events it can help.
Also is accomodation in character or out of character. If it’s in character then it might a be good idea to have some set dressing ideas ready for your players.
How are People being fed
This one is simple. Is it self catering, or is food provided as part of the event? If food provision is by a vendor then how are meal tickets organised? Is there a prebooking for meals or is it buy as you go? Rememember the imporatance of dietary needs, if the options are anything other than self catering remember to publish menus in advance and to take details on special dietary requirements.
First Aid and Safety
Make sure that you first aiders can be clearly identified and there is a method of calling for one. Should the worst happen you want to avoid people just not knowing who can provide first aid.
Also have someone responsible for site safety and that they are also clearly identifed. If something crops up mid-event its important that people know who to report the issue to
Props and Costumes
All costumes matter. Those that the crew wear and those that the players wear. The same is true for props. So to get this right its a good idea to let everyone know what works best in your larp. Consider referencing TV and films, or putting together a mood board that represents costume goals for the larp. For your crew let them know what you can supply and what they’ll need to provide for themselves. That way there are no unpleasent surprises. If possible have someone who can address costume queries. Its also wise to have a plan for getting all the crew costumes to the larp site as well. With props, keep a catalogue of all your props, where they are stored and who has access to them. On the run up to the event check that it will be possible to get all needed props to the site.
Documenting the larp
These days it feels as if it’s photos and videos that make the world go around. Having a record of how everything looked is a great idea. Its also very hard to do this if crewing or playing an event. The good news for your is that there are a growing number of larp photographers who can help you. Put feelers out on social media or contact larpbook.
There’s more to documenting a larp than pictures. Make sure that as an organiser you take some time out during the game to write down key events. Don’t rely on remembering these post game. So plan to get out a notebook a few times a day to make notes. These could be invaluable for future events. Invite members of the event team to do the same. Comparing notes will give you multiple viewpoints.
Arranging Ticket Sales
Selling tickets is essential. There are also lots of ways to do this. Here though is what you need to know
- Who has bought a ticket, how much they paid and how to get in touch with them again.
- Who has reserved a ticket, and have they paid or not
On the day of the larp you need to be able to check
- Check that an attendee has a ticket
- Check in those who have paid
- Taken the details of anyone who has paid on entry
It’s very important to know how many people are on site and to also have their contact details
Now that we have an idea of what you need your 2 basic sales methods are online or essentially in person
Online and Easy ticket sales
Use a ticket service. There are a number of these such as
Use Paypal – take a look at PayPal Buttons
Take a look at Venmo
Roll your own solution by using an ecommerce system (such as WooCommerce on WordPress) and linking it up to a payment processor such as Paypal or Stripe
In Person Ticket Sales
Easy enough. Take cash and take the persons details But do have an option to take card or Apple /Google payments as many people pretty much do not carry cash. There are plenty of card options but here’s one to be getting on with. SumUp
Beware the Fees
I’ve mentioned quite a few places to take online payments or read cards. I do have a bias towards the cashless experience. It would be wrong though if I did not mention one big thing. All of the services mentioned charge a fee for handling your transactions. These fees vary service to service. So please to stop yourself from getting a nasty surprise by taking these costs into account. So yes sell tickets online, yes let people use cards but also work out how much it will cost. Make sure you are ok with that.
Do you want to know more
This is the fifth in a series of articles. Take a look at the index – where it all started.
