Spotlight: Dragonbane LARP
Author: Nathan Hook

Dragonbane is a unique one off event running in Sweden at the end of July this year.  It will include hundreds of players, up to a limit of 550, already including many from diverse countries, including the US, UK, Russia, Israel, and many of the European countries.  For 145 Euros, the event represents extremely good value with all the food and drink provided.  It has benefited from the support of various universities, governments and companies.  The booking deadline is the end of April 2006.

Dragonbane is a low-fantasy event set around a collectivist village whose industry to based around the production of magical scrolls and reveres a Red Dragon as it’s living God.  The majority of the players will be inhabitants of this village, living in the purpose built longhouses.  Others will play Dragontamers, brave adventurers come to ‘liberate’ the village from this dragon or witches, immoral magic users with their own agenda, who are in period camps on the outskirts of the village.  The game starts after a battle in which all sides failed to achieve their aims, and now struggle to make sense of a world where the social order has been shattered.  Players create their own characters in discussion with a ‘character coach’ that helps weave the different player characters together to create interesting social dynamics.

Human vs. human combat is resolved by safe foam weapons made to the European standard which are supplied by the event organizers and used in game with a simple ‘health level’ system.  Combat against the robotic dragon is carried with siege weapons and oversized metal weapons.  The game is likely to feature little combat, with more focus on social interactions and attempts against all the odds to find positive solutions.

Dragonbane will be a player-led event with no Non Player Characters (NPCs) present save the dragon itself.  There is no preset and expected conclusion, with fate being in the hands of the player characters to shape.  In this LARP style, the focus is on characterization, personalities and relationships rather than the game elements.  The number of cultures present is kept low to encourage everyone to be an individual in their own right rather than a generic character.

Dragonbane has extremely high standards of immersion.  Cooking, sleeping and so forth are all done in character for real.  The village and lake are real. The creation of the paper and dyes for the scrolls is real, and there will be a working blacksmith’s forge on site.  The magic will be made real by use of special effects and stage magic tricks.  The dragon is actually a huge robot built on top of a forestry machine, able to move, talk, react, and breathe real fire.  Costume patterns are supplied to allow players to create appropriate costumes, many inspired by an Eastern / Tibetan look.  For some players this level of immersion is challenging.  However we believe it will create a deep and vivid experience that will maintain the illusion for the whole week of game time.