Setting and Theme
Liberty is a LARP about identity and autonomy. It takes place in an unspecified near future, in Liberty, an 1800s town at the heart of a western-styled theme park of the same name.
The setting is inspired in part by the TV show Westworld, mainly for the questions it asks about whether the choices we make are really choices, or just a reflection of our environment and background. You can expect to encounter the same situations, events and conversations several times over the course of the larp, as play is divided into multiple repeating loops, with changes in circumstances or conditions creating changes in play.
There will be no nudity, sexual activity, graphic violence or significant play on themes of abuse or discrimination. While themes of violence and sexuality will be present in the narrative, they are not central to the experience, and exist to highlight the core aspects of the game.
Play Experience
In Liberty, all the players will play Hosts, who are each assigned a Role in the park. The Hosts will play out those roles through a series of loops, constrained to a certain degree in how they respond and act based on how the Hosts are programmed.
The game takes place over a series of 9 loops, typically 2 ½ hours long. The core loop will be about the Hosts and their interactions with each other, and Guests or outside events will occur as disruptive elements that will be present in some loops. Between each loop, Hosts will receive an update that may alter any and all aspects of their Role.
Meal breaks and overnight will be off-game.
Is this LARP a good match for me?
Liberty revolves around questions of identity and autonomy. It will involve looping play with varying constraints on what actions and responses are available, and players can expect to play multiple iterations of the same scenes and interactions. If absolute control over your character’s story is important to your enjoyment of a larp, this will probably not be a good fit for you. Likewise, if you are hoping for a longer style of play, where you immerse into a character and play out a continuously evolving story over the course of a weekend, this game will not support that well.
Due to the looping design and ‘themepark’ structure of the game, do not expect a central plot that can be followed or solved. There will be stories and plots that the Roles engage in, but how those events resolve (or even if they resolve) will vary from one loop to the next, depending on outside events.
Transparency
Liberty’s core design is for very low transparency. Not only are other Hosts and Roles opaque to you as a player, aspects of the Host you are playing may be hidden from you at the start of the game, and Roles may change in both small and large ways between loops, and these changes are not telegraphed ahead.
When we send out the player survey/sign up, it will include an opportunity to indicate preferences about transparency and what degree of change you are comfortable with, and if necessary we can provide a rough overview of the arc of play the Role assigned to your Host will move through, but by and large, the details will remain obscured until you encounter them.
Liberty LARP 