We started with a house.
We are fortunate. There are five of us, and our house has two floors, three bathrooms, a basement, a garage, and a few odd bits and bobs. We bought it during the pandemic; during a time in which we had paused our local games for safety purposes, and by the time we began to explore opening them again, we had lost our previous game site.
LARPs run in private residences have a history. They can be challenging to coordinate; they can be intimidating to attend; they can vary in production value.
Still.
# Zoning
The set design team planned our first floor layout with three in-character rooms (the living room, the library, the studio); we had one room for off-game conversations and personal affects (the kitchen). Our second floor is primarily bedrooms, so this was largely off-limits to players for RP, though there is a second floor bathroom that was accessed by players. We also have significant outdoor space available, including space for parking. Outdoor space in the summer goes largely unused due to high mosquito activity (and high temperatures).
I consider our house to be particularly good for open scenes (there aren't doors that can be closed off for "private meetings") and a little bit rough for flow of traffic from room to room. That being said, it's easy to give each room a distinct shape and feel from a set-design perspective, because each room is a distinct space that is separated from the others.
The kitchen features wide doorways that enter into the living room and the library respectively. We partially close off the library with a partition, which lets in some light but blocks line of site from inside the magic circle. This entrance ends up being the primary way that players enter and exit the play space. On the other side of the kitchen, the doorway between the kitchen and the living room is fully closed off to player travel with a black bedsheet. This blocks light from the kitchen and provides a plain backdrop at which players can take selfies of their costumes and cohorts. In the living room, where play goes on, the black sheet is further removed using furniture or other items to prevent players from traversing across that boundary. When our home is not in game-play, the sheet is pulled aside and the doorway is used normally.
We have a few other spaces downstairs that are also off limits to players. We have a small bar area that we do not allow players to enter. We have a pet room, where the cat litter is stored, which remains shut during play for obvious reasons; there is a small window at the bottom of the door where the cats can still go in when they want. Also off limits is the office, where two members of our household work from home. The office becomes a space where we can store other items that we don't want on the gameplay floor, and is largely unusable once players begin to arrive.
> [!info]- **Offices in the Studio**
> The studio is also the office of two of our household members, Shannon and Sarah. Each game requires us to do a complete breakdown of our computer set-up as well as any other projects or crafting that might be ongoing. At one time, we were running two games a month out of our house, meaning that for two weekends out of every month, our desks were completely broken down and stowed away. It also meant that that space was not available for us to relax in prior to running the game.
The set-design team plans an outline of the mood in each room and what the entire space is designed to invoke, which in chronicled games transitions over time as changes happen to the story based on player action and tension. Because we have access to the house during non-game hours, we experiment with moving furniture and getting a feel for the way it will affect the motion of players through a space. Because LARP set design is three-dimensional, we can impact the flow of fights and conversations by shaping the seating arrangements and the direction of travel in each room.
> [!info]- **Negative Design Space**
> Our home, like many, has furniture and technology that is not so easily moved out of sight. Before we started running games at our house, I bought two sets of black full-sized bedsheets. These became instrumental in what I have largely called "negative space." Unlike in a playhouse, your players have access to three-dimensions of space. So, we used those black sheets to cover up the TVs, the cube shelves full of crafting supplies, and the ironing board, upon which we stacked items from Shannon and Sarah's desks.
[[City of Providence Set Design Retrospective|Click here for more thoughts from Shannon about our philosophy of set design for the City of Providence game. ]]
# Timeline
On Friday Night (4 people, two hours):
- Carry up prop boxes
- Preliminary house tidying and cleaning
- Occasionally move furniture around
On Saturday (5 people, varied tasks, all day):
- 7:00 AM - Sarah wakes up, makes coffee, feeds animals, and has morning quiet time. Some small tasks are accomplished, such as placing tablecloths, moving furniture, tidying, or preliminary set up in the living room.
- 10:00 AM - Shannon is awake and has had coffee. Kiersten, the third member of the set team arrives to assist with setup. At least one room is finished, usually the living room. Full breakdown of personal spaces in the studio. Most cleaning tasks have been completed.
- 11:00 AM - Empty prop boxes are stowed in the shower. Printer and robot vacuum are pushed into the office for safe-keeping. All personal items are put away and final cleaning tasks are being done by Joseph and Jacob (dishes, trash).
- 12:00 Noon - A run is made for lunch, usually fast food. All finishing touches are applied to rooms. Set design team rests and then does costuming or other personal tasks. Cars are transitioned so that driveway is open for parking. Off-game items such as the first aid kit, pronoun pins, masks, and lost and found are set up in the kitchen.
> [!info]- **Truck Wine**
> After we had been doing this for a while, a liminal space opened up in the afternoon, in between set design and final places, which we lovingly called "Truck Wine." During this time, it was customary to sit outside, drink a glass of champagne, and take a moment to be human before returning to game design work.
- 4:30 PM - First players arrive, STs and Officials and those who rode in their cars. Floor lighting is put in place and plugged in.
- 6:00 PM - Player arrivals begin. Candles and other set lighting are turned on by set design.
> [!info]- **How Flexible is Arrival Time?**
> There was a period of time where players began to push their arrival time earlier into the day. We had groups of as many as 15 arriving around 4:30 or 5:00 PM. This required STs to focus on entertainment and social time and forced the set design team to complete any last minute changes with an audience. We learned that we needed to enforce the arrival time of 6:00 PM in order for everyone to be fully prepared to run a game. This kept our household sane and also helped us more easily establish the magic circle and maintain energy for the entirety of gameplay.
>
> Some players traveled from long distances, so we identified several nearby places where players could land if they arrived early, including a local coffee shop, two local restaurants, and a local park and library.
- 7:00 PM (usually): Open announcements and LARP
- 11:00 PM (usually): Game ends and nods are exchanged for good scenes; players de-role, collect their belongings, and head out, starting with those parked closest to the road. Final players encouraged to leave before midnight.
> [!info]- **Ophelia (Pets)**
> We have a spicy cat. Her name is Ophelia. For the entirety of gameplay, she was isolated in a bedroom. This was for her safety and sanity as well as for player safety; however, she does not like to be locked away, so we encouraged our players to avoid lingering at the end of a game session.
>
> We have two additional cats (Moose, Vin) and a dog (Shanda). Moose and Vin are inclined to tuck themselves away when guests are around. Shanda is in her golden years and is allowed to roam freely in the game space. She sometimes asks for snacks but mostly she sleeps during the game session.
On Sunday:
- Full strike of all set items
- Collection of forgotten player personal effects
- Return of normal room layouts and items returned from out of sight storage.
- Carry prop boxes back to storage
When you are running a game out of a private home, to which you have full access, you have a lot of wiggle room in terms of when you begin to do setup and how long you have until you complete breakdown. This can be really nice from an organizer perspective, solely because there is less of a time crunch; however, it can also lead to bleeding boundaries on when spaces are returned to personal use. This is a line that I got better at enforcing as time went on; with an eye on fluctuating energy levels and non-game commitments. The magic circle of LARP is one that is harder to enter when it's a space that you also live in. I found that the best way to distinguish between a space that was our home and a space where we LARP is to radically change the landscape within each room, and to be quick to return that layout once the game has ended.
## Coordination, Logistics, Odds & Ends
> [!info]- **Coordinating Player Questions**
> Leading up to game and on the day of game, this fell to two people - myself, as the person who coordinates and handles most of the logistics, and Jacob as the lead ST of the City of Providence game and a very visible figure to most players. We worked well together to manage player expectations about site. We had questions about carrying weapons both real (preferably not) and boffer (answer varied), setting up speakers to play music or sound effects (at a very low volume, no gun or explosion sound effects allowed), ordering food (yes), and making alterations to set design (not unless this was requested ahead of game day).
> [!info]- **Parking**
> It took a few tries, but our players were very skilled at arranging their cars into lines in order to keep part of the driveway clear for traveling. At the end of the game, players who parked closest to the road were given preference on the bathrooms to change and prepare to travel home. Often times, around 11:30 PM or so, there would still be a small group of people who would sit on our porch to continue to swap stories and hang out, however, we were able to close up shop at that time. If any player for any reason felt that they were not able to drive home, we were able to accommodate that need on an ad-hoc basis. This was rare but did happen from time to time. Players could also leave their vehicles in our driveway overnight and return for them at a later date.
> [!info]- **21+**
> Players over 21 were allowed to BYOB; players were asked to drink responsibly.
> [!info]- **Lost & Found**
> On Sunday morning, I would gather up the forgotten bits and take photos, sending those to the discord server for players to claim. Any item that went unclaimed for three consecutive games was donated.
> [!info]- **Food**
> I provided small snacks for players as well as a selection of personal products in the downstairs bathroom which players could access at any time for their needs. After some time, players took on the role of donating chips and snacks; we always had items in our cabinets for emergencies as well. Players were encouraged to eat or grab dinner on the way to game.
> [!info]- **Hazard & Safety**
> Joseph, Jacob, Shannon, and I all became certified in CPR and First Aid. We provide a first aid kit for players to access at their leisure, as well as a short safety brief prior to each game about possible hazards, which included a fire pit, a shower full of empty prop boxes, and uneven outdoor footing in dim lighting.