What is Nordic LARP (And Why It's Not For Me)?

While live action games have understandably been on hiatus for a while now thanks to the pestilence blanketing the land, as vaccinations grow more common many old games are starting back up again. Not only that, but a lot of fresh groups are sprouting, now that they've had time to plan, recruit, and gauge interest for their player base. And though I have been missing LARP something fierce, there is a growing trend that has kept me home as surely as the plague has.

Nordic LARP.

No, not THAT kind of Nordic LARP!

Before we continue, I am very aware that this is the preferred style of game for a lot of folks out there. I'm not knocking anyone who likes it, or who wants to try it. If it's the kind of thing you really enjoy, then god speed and get weird with it! And if you finish this, and you decide you'd like to see me talk about LARP some more, consider checking out my older posts 5 Tips To Get The Most Out of Your Next LARP, as well as 5 (Specific) Costuming Tips For Your Next LARP!

And, as always, for folks who want to get all my newest releases sent straight to their inboxes, don't forget to subscribe to my weekly newsletter!

First Things First, What is Nordic LARP?

While it sounds like a regional designation, Nordic LARP is actually referencing a style of play that first became really prominent in Scandinavian countries. According to LARPing.org, Nordic LARP is defined by a focus on cooperation between players to create and develop story, atmosphere, and drama. Additionally, these games tend to be extremely rules light, with only a few pages of rules at most that are specifically designed to fade into the background so as not to break immersion.

In some games this focus on the players and player experiences goes so far as to exclude outside plot almost entirely, with few or no monsters, NPCs, and other staples of the sorts of games often found in America, the UK, and other nations with active LARP scenes. Often times there's even a total lack of mechanical alteration or advancement to the player characters; no one gains experience points, goes up in level, acquires new powers or skills, etc. All character development is in a story sense, rather than in a more mechanical one.

Problem #1: I Don't Trust My Countrymen

There are probably a lot of folks who read the previous section and started getting excited. Especially the sorts of players who are more interested in the social aspects of a game, the improvised acting, and the pageantry of a LARP than they are in the crunchier game aspects of things. No disrespect intended here either, because folks who can go for half a dozen games without pulling out their character sheets, and who can remain firmly in-character without needing to even reference their skills or attributes are still valuable players who add a lot to the games they're in.

I sense a "however" coming...

However, there are two things about this setup that leave me very cold. One of them is very personal, and the other is more based on the experience I've had as an American LARPer. We'll start with the second one first.

The reason Nordic LARP received its name is that the cooperative, community-oriented nature of the countries where it first got popular means the population is already experienced with this sort of group-oriented activity. There is a genuine buy-in, and a desire to allow everyone to help move the story along. Now I don't know if it's because I've only LARPed in America (largely with other Americans), or because most of my games have been various spheres of the World of Darkness, but the idea of players setting aside their own egos, their own glory, and getting their own way to do what is right for the game at-large is enough to make me laugh until bitter tears roll down my cheeks.

Now, this doesn't apply to everyone I've LARPed with. Hell, it doesn't apply to most of them. But in every LARP I've ever attended there's always a few players who would act in bad faith. People who would always try to circumvent standards, the stated desires of other players, or even the established parameters of the game to get their way. Sometimes there were a lot more of these players than I was comfortable with. I've never attended a game where there were none of them.

Ideally you would just play games that excluded those kinds of players, or which adopted a policy that bad behavior would be punished with expulsion from the game. That sound you hear in the distance is all the other folks who've played in the same games I have, and who've experienced just how hard it is to remove broken stairs from a LARP, laughing uproariously. It's not impossible by any stretch of the imagination, but it falls into the same category of telling me that a bunch of American players are suddenly going to work cooperatively toward making the best story they can.

I don't disagree that it's possible. My experience, however, tells me that it is highly unlikely to happen without a lot of coaching, teaching, and hard work.

Problem #2: "Good Story" Isn't As Objective As Rules

This is the personal reason, huh?

Trust issues aside, I will fully admit that this sort of game is entirely possible to create and run. The fact that these games are popping up all over is proof that people who want it will work to make it happen, stumbling blocks or no. However, if we're judging where a story goes based on whose ideas are most palatable to the group, that is not a fair or unbiased metric. And I say this knowing that I have a very unfair advantage in this scenario; telling stories and crafting narratives is literally my job, and has been for going on a decade now.

Additionally, the idea that someone can essentially get their way in a game by being creative rubs me the wrong way (even if it's putting the ball squarely in my court a lot of the time). I don't want my character to succeed or fail based on how well I spun an idea, or how I suggested a plot twist. I want the result to be decided based on the numbers. If my vampire manages to dodge through a hail of gunfire completely unharmed, tear off someone's head, and then rip out an adversary's heart, I want it to be because I pulled the cards, made the chops, etc. to pull that off by the rules and numbers rather than because I convinced other folks that's how it should go down. Or if an ST, or even other players, want to see my character lose in a fight, get brought down by poison, or even just fail an arm-wrestling match, I want it to be because the mechanics of the game say that's what happened rather than because the story-writing committee agreed that's what they wanted to see.

Don't misunderstand me, I love (and demand) story from my games. I enjoy the drama, and the high stakes, and the emotional moments as much as anyone. However, I also believe that the best way to keep a game fair is with objective rules that can resolve conflict without bias, allowing the dice/cards/chops/etc. to decide how something goes when actions come into conflict with one another.

That is an extremely personal take, and I'm well aware it won't be for everyone. However, this is an issue that's kept coming across my dashboard recently, so I wanted to articulate my thoughts on it. Again, this is in no way meant to diminish other people's likes and tastes, merely to unpack some of my own thoughts in the hopes that other folks can examine my perspective when thinking about this topic.

Speaking of Storytelling... I Do Have New Books Out!

I couldn't find a way to work this into the above section without it sounding like bragging, but it's been a busy damn summer, so I wanted to remind my regular readers that in addition to fresh gaming content like Gods of Sundara and 100 (Mostly) Harmless Goblin Fruits and Oddments to Find in The Hedge, I've also had two novels drop this year!

It's back!

Old Soldiers dropped on the first of July, and this dystopian thriller follows a squad of defunct super soldiers as they try to unravel a conspiracy in the subterranean city of New Liberty... before said conspiracy puts them in the ground alongside all their other brothers and sisters who fell during the Hyperion Conflict.

Or perhaps cat noir?

My other recent release was Painted Cats, the second novel in my cat noir series. Leo has another case when an old flame of his comes around, asking him to help her nose around for a friend of hers. Mischief has gone missing, and her kitten Trouble is worried sick about his mama. Leo isn't sure what he'll find, but as usual when he puts his nose into something he finds that's when the claws have to come out.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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