Nordic Larp Talks

Tag: activism

  • Larping Fascism to Understand the Allure of Toxic Communities – Katrine Wind

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    Some people today watch their peers drift into extremist forums, conspiracy theories, and other toxic communities. At the same time, many societies are shifting in a more authoritarian direction. If we dismiss the people drawn to these spaces as simply stupid or hateful, we fail to understand what is actually happening – and we lose our ability to respond to it.

    In this talk, Katrine Wind presents Epos Daimon, a Nordic larp for teenagers that allows participants to experience life as an esteemed member of an authoritarian system from the inside. By exploring how fascist and hate-based systems can feel meaningful rather than threatening, the larp creates a deeper understanding of their emotional appeal and why that appeal makes them so powerful.

    Katrine Wind is a Nordic larp designer, writer, and speaker known for Daemon as well as co-designing Spoils of War and Helicon. While based in Denmark, she has run her larps internationally across Europe and the US in collaboration with local producers.

    Her designs focus on strong social structures, highly playable characters and relations, as well as mechanics and pacing to support immediate emotional impact (naming the approach River Rafting Design). Katrine regularly writes and lectures on larp design, contributing to concepts such as Dyadic Play, River Rafting Design, Dinner Warfare, and Playing an Engaging Victim to the international larp community.

    Professionally, Katrine is a political scientist working with leadership, digitalization, and organizational structures.

  • Larps against Sexism – Julia Leśniewska

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    Sexism is currently a growing and pressing social issue, with concerns being shown in particular for young men. At the same time larps are being studied in the context of aiding interpersonal growth and relating, as well as their transformative potential. Julka Leśniewska will talk about her upcoming research into how larps that use sexism as their in-game world element can affect their player’s sexist views and attitudes.

    Julka Leśniewska is a Polish larper and designer, with professional experience in pedagogy, communication, and theatre. She designs short games and organises them for small local communities, has co-organised the 10th Portal Larp Conference in 2022 in Kraków, Poland, and most recently has established the Berlin International Larpers community. Currently Julka is finishing her MA in Transformative Game Design researching deliberation with Larpocracy, and beginning her PhD research in pedagogy on affecting sexist attitudes in young men through larping.

  • Joy – Larp and Resistance – Lizzie Stark

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    Larp has a role to play in times of crisis. US designer Lizzie Stark discusses how Six of Hounds, her design collab with Jason Morningstar, has responded to urgent world events.

    Lizzie Stark is the author of three non-fiction books. She got into larp after reporting for her first, Leaving Mundania. Her most recent book is Egg: A Dozen Ovatures, which explores the world’s largest cellular workhorse – from chickens to penguins, and art to crime. Lizzie is also an award-winning game designer. Over the years she’s collaborated on two pieces of playable theater, dozens of short larps, and on editing the collections #Feminism and Larps from the Factory. Her work has appeared at numerous festivals including IndieCade, Future of Storytelling, Stockholm Fringe Festival, and Fastaval. Design clients include the Peabody Essex Museum and the Kennedy Center. In 2020, she and collaborator Jason Morningstar became the first non-Danes in Fastaval’s history to win the coveted best scenario Otto for their comedy The Lesser Player’s Tale.

  • Community Building as a Coping Mechanism – Carnelian King

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    Sometimes we wonder, is larp escapism? Does it have to be? Carnelian speaks about his work with Monstrous Immersive in creating a community in Berlin specifically tailored to be a safer space for neurodivergent queers, and share thoughts about what he learned from this experience. He will discuss larp writing as a form of activism and tips to make a community stay cohesive.

    Carnelian is a trans nonbinary American living in Berlin for the last decade. He has worked as a professional dungeon master, freelance event designer creating custom larps for companies such as Wizards of the Coast, and has for the past 3 years has been organizing a LARP community in Berlin called Monstrous Immersive.