1. designlarp
elements of
Eirik Fatland - Knutpunkt 2014

2. Why U No Larpdesign?

3. A Knutebook Larp Design Reader*
• “Building Dramatics”by Susanne Gräslund
• Everything by Eirik Fatland
• Everything by Troels Barkholt-Sprangsbo
• Selected Works by J. Tuomas Harviainen
• All the larp reports
• ...
• Everything Else
* based on a flawed memory of a napkin I might have dreamt about

5. 1. What do larp designers design?
2. What must be designed?
3. What can be designed?

6. Why U So
Teohrehticl?

7. 1. What do larp designers design?

8. The object, and limit, of larp design:

9. What do players want?
“Create a story, with others.”
“Overcome my own limits.”
“Enough plots”
“Learn about myself”
“This character was unplayable”
“My larp sucked because of bad design.”

10. What do players want?
“Create a story, with others.”
“Overcome my own limits.”
“Enough plots”
“Learn about myself”
“This character was unplayable”
“My larp sucked because of bad design.”
“I did X because it was totally true to my character”

15. Image: Puppeli @ DeviantArt, CC-BY-SA 3.0 2014

16. Image: Puppeli @ DeviantArt, CC-BY-SA 3.0 2014
fightflee

17. Image: Puppeli @ DeviantArt, CC-BY-SA 3.0 2014
fight
flee

18. Image: Puppeli @ DeviantArt, CC-BY-SA 3.0 2014
hug
toast
boast
grunt
fight
flee

19. affordances:
Perceivable possibilities for action
Source: James J. Gibson / Don Norman

20. (1) An actor’s part in a play, film, etc.:
ROLE
Source: Oxford English Dictionary

21. (1) An actor’s part in a play, film, etc.
(2) The function assumed or part played by a
person or thing in a particular situation.
ROLE
Source: Oxford English Dictionary

22. (1) An actor’s part in a play, film, etc.
(2) The function assumed or part played by a
person or thing in a particular situation.
ROLE
(3) The affordances that are socially available
to a given person in a given context.
Source: Oxford English Dictionary + my own ass

24. source: Johanna Koljonens brain

25. 2. What must be designed?

26. ALIBI TO PLAY
Photo: CC-AT-NC-ND 2014 DeviantArt user RainSmile

27. LANGUAGE TO INTERACT

28. 3. What can be designed?

29. rail-roading: bad

30. manipulation: good

31. So, how do you manipulate players into improvising the experience you want them
to have?
Instructions / scheduling: You tell them what to do
Theme: You tell them what it is about, and then let them figure out how to do it
Interaction Code: You give players a reference (genre, situation etc.) for how to behave
External Conflict:You pit them against each other
Internal Conflict: You make it interesting to figure out what to do
Challenge: You tell them to want X, and then make it difficult to get X.
Controlling the external world: You use your GM power over the rest of the universe to nudge the players
into behaving.

32. So, how do you manipulate players into improvising the experience you want them
to have?
(cont’d)
Framing: You slice up the time and space of the larp.
Mechanics / Techniques: You tell them to, in certain situations, do stuff that affects the player and character
differently.
Hierarchy: You give some characters plenty of power over others, and set up some rules that make the
interaction of power and non-power interesting
Status: You make characters high-status/low-status (dominant/submissive) and then complicate it.
Fictional values: You ask them to pretend to have values and beliefs that lead to certain behaviours.This may
in turn create themes and conflicts.
Rituals: You tell them that their characters, in certain situations, behave in certain ways.
Puzzles:You hide clues around the game, ask players to compete in finding them, and make something awesome
happen when they do.

38. CASE
MELLAN HIMMEL OCH HAV

39. CASE
KYBERGENESIS

40. CASE
KAPO

41. Marcellos Kjeller 2010 foto: Li Xin

42. Compound
& Holistic

43. designlarp
elements of
Eirik Fatland - Knutpunkt 2014
larpwright.efatland.com