§ 03 — THE EXPERIENCE
Is this game for you?
Before you sign up, know what you’re signing up for.
// A GAME ABOUT
People who can no longer touch. Being reduced to a label. Finding humanity in a system that has forgotten yours.
§ 03.1 — CORE ELEMENTS
How it plays
01
A Military Training Camp
A large part of this game is spent with military education in classes with both be with your squad and your type. Here you will learn how to control your powers, how to work together, and what life on the other side of the institute might look like for you. And of course, the wards are looking out for who might be the most suitable for the top positions.
02
High Immersion
Alters is a game styled towards high immersion in the story. Almost everything around you is part of the fiction. The meta-techniques that powers the Alters are designed to be as discrete as possible. There will be no off-game breaks unless you choose to take them yourself. The only exception is the Wardens, who will receive some offgame instructions.
03
Friendship and Connection
In a place where closeness is prohibited, it is paramount to seek connection where you can. In your spare time off-duty, everyone seeks a sense of normalcy alien to the situation.
Sneak a bottle in to share in your room, gossip about the inhabitants, start your own clubs, and get caught in the messy web of human relations in pressed circumstances.
04
"Epic" Slice of Life
Alters portrays the “new” normal for the characters, as they have settled into their everyday life at the institute. You perform drills, go to classes, chat with friends… but then extraordinary things happen. Breaks from the monotony, unplanned events and problems no one at the center had foreseen or expected.
§ 03.2 – PHYSICALITY AND EXCERCISE
What role does physicality play?
A part of this game will be participating in physical activities. This can be anything from fight training and morning runs, to playing football in the sports hall in your spare time. Enduring together makes people closer, and we want to embrace that.
Alters takes place at a military institution. While few characters become soldiers, all are expected to meet a baseline physical standard as agents of the state. To make this real, the larp includes exercise as a design element – your character will train and play sports during the game, letting you both connect with the body and the feelings of physical exertion.
Physical baseline for Alters:
The goal isn’t to exhaust you, only to raise your heart rate and get you sweating a little. The hardest things you’ll be asked to do are:
- 15 squats
- 5 sit-ups
- 5 assisted push-ups
- 500m run at 8–10 km/h
If you can do these with short breaks between, you’re fit to play.
Gameplay impact:
Your actual performance won’t affect how your character performs. A meta technique lets you communicate how your character did – that’s the only thing being evaluated. A slow runner can play the fastest character; the buffest player can play the most unfit Alter. You can also tap out of any exercise using our meta techniques.
Questions about physicality? Write us at altersorganizers@gmail.com
Scoring and Report Cards:
Characters are judged on class performance, tracked on an in-game scoreboard, but not by your real performance alone. After each class, every Alter fills out a Report Card with two scores: one for how your character says they did (potentially untruthful), and one off-game score for how they actually did. This technique relies on player trust. Used honestly, it creates better play for everyone regardless of off-game fitness.
§ 03.3 — DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
A room for trying new things
These are the main ideas we wanted to play with when making Alters:
Economic accessibility – We wanted to create a game that everyone can afford to play. This particularly aims at a younger and less economically gifted player base.
Using physicality – Inspired from our own time in military service, we wanted to bring the feeling of physical exhileration into our Larp. However, we don’t want your off-game skill set to determine how well you can play this game, and therefore have meta techniques to counter that.
Benevolent oppression – An important part of Alters is that the Wards truly wish you the best, and are your biggest supporters. But they are ultimately limited by the system they partake in, and end up oppressing the Alters nonetheless. This is the root of the dynamic we want to create, and we call it “Benevolent oppression”. Participating in a system of harm with the best of intentions.
A new take on mutant stories – Although mutant games focused on torture and violent oppression has a special place in our hearts, we aim to do something different. Through benevolent oppression, we want there to be no torture scenes from the wards. We don’t want the system to hate the Alters or want them dead, but rather a system that does not understand them or their needs.
§ 03.4 — CALIBRATION
Is this for you?
// THIS GAME IS FOR YOU IF
- You want a prewritten character with relations
- You want to explore being physical in a Larp
- You want to play a story of instrumentalization, humanity and benevolent oppression
- You can commit to being present and in-character for a weekend of high immersion play
- You want to play on feelings of powerlessness and seeking control
// THIS GAME IS NOT FOR YOU IF
- You want a superhero power fantasy
- You expect to "win" by outsmarting or breaking the system of the Institute
- You want to play a "feel good" Larp
- You have difficulty with themes of confinement, control, or loss of autonomy
- You want a game of heavy physical oppression, intense antagonism and misery Larping
- You want a teenage drama game of exaggerated stereotypes