Mechanics to enhance and calibrate play
How we play
An overview of mechanics used to enhance and calibrate your larp experience
How play unfolds
Curse Delusion Mechanics
Once the characters start to unwrap the Mummy, the mask of good society will begin to slip away. Enticed by the exotic stories and the mummy, the characters will begin to feel as if under an unnatural allure – lowering their own resistance to commit transgressions in order to get what they desire. The truth is: there is no curse. There will be no supernatural reason behind the characters’ behaviour in the game, but rather a purely psychological one. The collectively committed transgression combined with exoticised ideas about the Mummy’s curse, will lead to a collective psychosis, which we call the Curse Delusion. This Curse Delusion will spread among the guests like an infection, spiralling in intensity.
Mechanic: Scarab tokens
To mark the growing severity of the Curse Delusion on your character over the course of the game, you will receive Curse Delusion markers during the game - represented by a scarab token. With each scarab marker you carry, your character feels the unnatural allure of the Mummy more, as both their fascination with its undead body and its effect on their psyche grow stronger.
🪲 You become highly self-confident: Your character feels stronger, more powerful and charismatic. They will act bolder and more confident, and more willing to break social and religious taboos.
🪲🪲 You become reckless and transgress to get what you want:
The grasp of the Curse Delusion becomes a compulsion, your character seemingly losing control. They will follow their desires and urges, even if it might be harmful for themselves or others.
At this stage, the delusion becomes contagious: when your character has had an intense norm-breaking interaction with another character, they pass the curse on – and experience some relief for a short time. However, you will always keep one scarab token for yourself.
🪲🪲🪲 Become irresistible and radiate Unnatural Allure of the Mummy:
The delusion takes full control of your character for a scene. Your character will feel like they are being possessed by the supernatural spirit of the Mummy. The other characters present in the scene – sharing the same collective delusion, no matter how many scarab tokens they are carrying – will find it nearly impossible to resist their sway as they feel the need to please and obey them.
When fitting, you signal your three-scarab-status by loudly proclaiming “Heed my words, mortals!” and stretching out your arms towards other players. Your character will then be the centre of play for the group of the present characters for a scene. As soon as the scene ends, the delusion infestation spreads – distribute all the scarab tokens you have to players involved in the scene.
Take a scarab, leave a scarab: At any point during play, if you want to modulate your playing experience, you can decide to either leave scarab tokens on the Mummy when you don’t feel like escalating yet, or take a spare scarab from there when you feel you want to intensify the Curse Delusion for yourself.
Canopic jar phases
The larp is structured along 4 key phases, linked to Canopic Jars. At four defined points over the course of the larp, all characters will gather to open them one at a time. Each opening marks the beginning of a new phase of the larp. These phases are opportunities to focus on different aspects of your characters and use them as inspiration to guide your play. The character description includes suggestions for each of these phases.
Phase 1 – Passion (Stomach): Have your character engage in activities they enjoy or are fascinated by – even if it goes against some social norms or notions of common decency.
Phase 2 – Ambition (Lungs): Have your character seize every opportunity to get what they want or achieve their goal – even if it is at the expense of someone else.
Phase 3 – Vice (Liver): Have your character give in to their base desires and even actively seek out ways to excessively indulge in their vice – without regard for their own and others’ well-being.
Phase 4 – Crucible (Intestines): Bring your character to the breaking point: Pursue every passion, escalate every conflict, indulge every desire to tear down their personality’s very foundations. And finally take them to the crossroads: Will they be consumed or get a chance to change their ways?
Consent and Calibration
We are exploring some emotional, personal and difficult topics during this larp. Yet, we do follow the Golden Rule: players are more important than larps; player consent always trumps character consequence! You are in control of your experience. It is your responsibility and duty to state your boundaries and honor others’. Therefore, we need to be open and honest with each other and ourselves about what is okay and what goes too far.
You can always remove yourself from any scene. Other players can try to help you and check in – but you are in the end responsible for (and always in control of) the game you play and won't play here. You are doing your best play when you communicate your needs clearly and listen to your own needs.
To do this in a safe way, we will use a variety of consent and calibration mechanics and signals. We will go through these in the Workshop and you can read up on them and all safety topics in more detail in the design document.
Design Document (coming soon)
Portraying intimacy
A good baseline comfort level for portraying intimacy is that fellow players are allowed to hug you, lightly touch your arms, back, head and face, to use a “stage kissing”-technique (kissing your own thumb placed on the other person's lips). You should also be comfortable to witness nudity and other players portraying realistic but simulated sexual acts. However, the larp supports levels of consent both below and above this baseline via calibration mechanics.
While playing sexual and erotic scenes, escalate slowly to make ample time for yourself and others to be mindful of your boundaries and communicate them using the consent mechanics. And if you feel at any point unsure if you want to participate in such a scene, you are free to remove yourself at any time.
People with all genders, sexualities and bodies are welcome at this larp. Negative comments about players’ bodies (others’ or our own) have no room at this larp.
This means:
- Real sex is not permitted
- Body shaming is not permitted
- For sexual scenes, always wear at least your underwear (full nudity may occur in other kinds of scenes, but never when playing out sex).
- Escalate slowly and use calibration mechanics
- Relevant mechanics and techniques will be demonstrated at the workshop: Calibration mechanics, “stage kissing”, theatre-style portrayal of sex
Portraying violence
A good baseline comfort level for portraying violence is that fellow players are allowed to attack your character verbally, lightly hold you by the shoulders or by your shirt collar, to use “stage slapping/ punching”-techniques (slapping your own hand to produce a slapping sound/ pretending to punch someone without making contact and letting the other person act out the impact) and to witness other players portraying realistic but simulated violent acts. However, the larp supports levels of consent both below and above this baseline via calibration mechanics. In any case, avoid injuries and physical pain for you and your coplayers in the scene (or damage to the property).
This means:
- The outcome of a conflict scene is based on dramatic value, not on your out-of-character physical prowess
- You are in control of your own character’s death
- Don’t use weapons you brought for fighting scenes
- Never play on sexual violence without prior calibration of all players involved. This includes not playing on sexual violence in open/public spaces where others might unwillingly see you
- Relevant mechanics and techniques will be demonstrated at the workshop: Calibration mechanics, “stage slapping”, off-game calibration of conflict outcome, etc
Discrimination and oppression
This larp works with discriminating themes that can be difficult or emotionally demanding: colonialism/nationalism/implicit racism; sexism; misogyny; queerphobia, etc. We want to work with them consciously and cautiously. These themes are relevant to all characters to some degree and are included to enhance play – norms to be challenged, broken or find solace/power in aligning with them. We invite you to portray the Empire's impossible ideal and restrictive societal expectations so all characters can experience the pressure.
We ask you to treat discriminating and sensitive topics just like scenes of violence or intimacy. This means, you should make use of our consent and calibration mechanics when playing with these themes. This way, you and your co-players have a chance to get and stay aware of boundaries and act accordingly. We will address these topics out-of-character in a briefing during the workshops and after the larp in a debrief.
When playing on the Colonialist perspective and related themes at Unnatural Allures, players will use nationalism – never explicit racism or slurs – to express othering or difference when talking about the Colonies and the oppressed people.