SAFETY
Players are more important than the larp
This is a horror larp. Our aim is to create an atmosphere of ever-increasing fear and anxiety. It gets cold, it gets dark, it gets stressful, it hopefully gets scary. There are also some difficult themes, both in the core design and in the individual characters.
No matter what happens: The players are always more important than the game! We celebrate everyone who takes care of themselves and others and communicates their boundaries, and try to give you tools to do so. We want to create an atmosphere where you feel safe to test your boundaries – to be afraid, to cry, to confront difficult topics.
TOOLS
Safety-team
During the game, there will be a safety person on site who will also be in charge of the safety room. They are the preferred point of contact for emotional support. If you have any questions or requests regarding safety, flagging etc. before the game, you can of course contact any of us - and in emergencies we are of course also available.
Safety-room
There will be a heated safety room where everyone can find light, warmth, chocolate, someone to talk to or a hug.
Mechanics
We use the following calibration mechanics, which are explained and practised in the workshops:
- Safewords: “Offgame” (followed by a need or an announcement), “Cut” (stops the scene immediately)
- Tap-Out [explanation]
- OK-Checkin [Explanation](Thumbs up/down, even without being asked)
- Offgame sign: You can go offgame at any time and signal this by crossing your arms in front of your body in the shape of an X. This means you can always leave a scene - or join it later.
What we explicitly do NOT use is the "lookdown" mechanic! Anyone who shields their eyes with their hand is 100% IT and probably just doesn't want to see anything that they shouldn't see;)
LIMITS FOR INTENSE PLAY
The most important limit for interactions on this game is the baseline. Everything up to and including the baseline is opt-out. These things are allowed even without prior agreement, as long as you don't take anyone completely by surprise. Of course, you always have the option to decline such a play offer and use calibration mechanics to regulate the intensity or leave the scene.
We will also give you the opportunity to communicate to the other players in advance if something from this area is generally not okay for you. However, if almost all aspects of the baseline are clearly outside your comfort zone, this may not be the ideal larp for you.
Baseline
- Touching of arms, shoulders and back, hugs
- Grabbing someone tightly, gentle pulling, shaking or pushing
- Violence mechanic
- yelling
Anything that goes beyond the baseline is opt-in. You are welcome to play more intensely if you have agreed upon it in advance and are very careful with each other. Only an enthusiastic yes means yes!
Of course, you don't have to agree on every scene individually, but can also decide in advance that a certain form of interaction between you is also okay to be played as opt-out. But in general, it's better to calibrate too much than too little! You are always encouraged to briefly discuss off-game if you want to go in a direction you are not sure about.
Restricted
- Even after opting in, depictions of violence with full contact are only permitted as long as they do not pose a serious risk of injury. Slapping and hair pulling are okay, kicking with full force is not. Always remain within the framework of German laws and common sense.
- You can play on torture as long as it advances the story and character immersion of those involved and is not meant as hardcore play for it's own sake.
- Restraints are permitted if they can be released or cut with a quick gesture and someone always remains in sight and offers the restrained person interesting play.
Not permitted
- Sex is not part of this game. In particular, this also excludes sexualised violence - please do not indirectly allude to the latter indirectly (e.g. as part of your backstory).
- Discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, origin, body or other offgame characteristics is not part of this game. Any such action is considered offgame and will not be tolerated.
- Colonialism is not a theme of the game. The colony is on a planet where no intelligent life existed before the arrival of humans.
- Real religions are not the subject of this larp
DIFFICULT TOPICS
Difficult topics in the design
- Guilt
- Fear/Horror
- Suicide
- Psychological Violence
No player can avoid these themes, or they are so present that it would severely limit your play to do so.
Difficult topics in individual characters
When selecting a character, you will see the content warnings for the individual characters and can specify topics that you do not want to play under any circumstances.
Please note: We cannot guarantee one hundred per cent that you will never come across topics that you deselect by chance! However, it will always be possible to leave the scene or reject the play offer.
Dealing with psychological symptoms
For many characters, the boundary between reality and imagination, between perception and hallucination, can become blurred. These situations are a symbol for your themes, not an expression of a real mental illness! In this larp, characters hallucinate because of their guilt, not because of psychosis.
No character becomes violent only because of hallucinations, loss of reality or psychological problems. These can be a trigger or cause and bring hidden tendencies to the surface, but there is always an underlying willingness to hurt others.
On playing on suicide, see the corresponding section under "Design".
PHYSICAL SAFETY
There are several places in the location where you can injure yourself. These include ladders, walkways, old machines, crawl spaces and the like. Because these places are really cool and we trust you to be adults and take care of yourselves, we still allow play and offer scenes there. But it is never necessary to go to these places and you will be able to choose repair tasks so that you don't have to.
If you are in a room where it is possible to fall or otherwise seriously injure yourself, please be very careful when playing physically.
The location is dark, and many places will be unlit or only lit with emergency lighting - you will often have to rely on flashlights. Serious injury hazards (sharp posts, places where you can fall off, tripping hazards etc.) will be cordoned off and/or clearly marked with lights. But it is your responsibility to watch where you are going and avoid running into walls, railings or old equipment.
It will never be necessary to run - the monster is so slow that you can escape it at walking pace, and hiding is the more interesting play anyway. You'll probably run anyway. That's okay. But please stick to corridors and rooms with a clear view. You are not allowed to run on stairs or flee hastily down ladders or through crawl spaces!
If players want to cover their eyes or wear a blindfold, for safety reasons they may only move at a walking pace if one person remains sighted and keeps an eye on everyone else. Otherwise, the ownly way of moving forward permitted ist to VERY carefully and slowly feel your way. Running, fighting, climbing etc. are generally only permitted with open eyes!
ANTI-HARASSMENT
We do not tolerate any form of harassment or assault and reserve the right to remove participants who behave inappropriately towards others from the event and exclude them from future events. There will be a flagging round before the casting. During the game, you can contact the safety person or another team member at any time. All of us will treat such situations confidentially.
MISCELLANEOUS
ALCOHOL AND SMOKING
Real alcohol is prohibited before and during the game. At the offgame party after the game you can drink your own alcohol, but please do not get drunk. Smoking is only permitted outside (and therefore offgame). All other drugs are of course not allowed.
PHOTOS
There will be no photographer in the game, but we may offer a character shoot before or after the game. There will be an ingame Polaroid camera that you can take your own photos with and play with them directly. But the light will be poor and it is not guaranteed that everyone will be photographed.
No photo (this also applies to the Polaroids) may be shared or published outside the circle of players without the explicit consent of all persons depicted, the photographer and the organizers! If you do not want to be photographed under any circumstances, you can announce this before the start of the game.
HEALTH
We expect all participants to be vaccinated as well as possible necessary for the current situation and personal circumstances. Anyone who feels ill or shows symptoms of a cold should please stay at home.
DEALING WITH THE LOCATION
Please handle the location with care! If you are not sure whether you are allowed to play with an object or pull a lever, don't - or ask a team member.
As we are playing in an old, cold building that is susceptible to mould, food and drinks are only allowed in a controlled environment. Food may only be consumed in the room where we serve it; drinks may only be taken along if they are in tightly sealable bottles/thermos jugs. Anyone who spills liquid must inform a crew member immediately.
Artificial blood or other liquids that can leave permanent stains are not permitted.
Fire is not permitted - we use LED candles.
ACCESSIBILITY
You can always contact us with questions or needs that are not addressed here. We are open for feedback and aware that at some points, we might accidentally exclude people by mere thoughtlessness or lack of knowledge – in such cases, we are happy to try and find a way to make attendance possible after all!
Physical
The location is not wheelchair accessible. The minimum fitness level is to cross several floors by stairs and regularly walk through many long corridors.
Comments about the body, physical fitness or disabilities are prohibited (unless the player concerned explicitly and without being asked wishes to make this part of the game).
However: This is not a game in which the physical constitution can be completely ignored. Moving around the ship and performing physical activities are part of the larp, and there will be situations where physical limits can affect play - if you can't hide under the table, you won't be able to escape from the monster as easily; if you can't see the monster, you'll react differently. We will work with you to find the best way to work around restrictions or integrate them into play in a cool way.
Comfort
The play area is cold (approx. 8 degrees Celsius)! The ingame hangout space and safety room are heated to approx. 15 degrees. Thick layers and warm underwear are highly recommended. There is a toilet and a sink.
The offgame area is bright, heated and much cosier. Sleeping, parts of the workshops, the afterparty etc. take place here. However, the level of comfort there is also rather low. Accommodation will be on camping beds in a large room (smaller rooms are possible in individual cases). If necessary for medical reasons, accommodation in a simple bed with a mattress is possible. You will need your own bedding/sleeping bag; if you don't feel like sleeping on a camping bed, you can also bring your own mattress. There are large communal washrooms and several hot showers (individual cabins in the communal bathroom).
We can place a power socket at your bed.
Food
The catering will be vegan/vegetarian, nutritious and basic. We will try to cater for intolerances, but if we can't, we will let you know in good time.
You can of course bring your own food/snacks/etc. with you. We will store this for you in the fridge in the offgame area if required. However, we have limited space for this and will of course prioritise medically necessary items and food for those with allergies!
Sensory
The larp works with light and sound effects. There will be no daylight and the artificial light will be dim, there will be effect lighting and flickering lights, and ship sounds and some music will be played. There will be opportunities to withdraw to the offgame room in case of sensory overload.
And, we can't repeat it often enough: it's cold.
