I have been to so many larps that tried to make a scene in the middle of the night, when the characters are suddenly awoken and something cool happens. Perhaps being dragged from their beds and kidnapped. Perhaps they will all share a vivid nightmare. Perhaps they will be visited by a ghost.
Yet, all attempts to suddenly awaken players for a cool night scene tends to turn anticlimactic. Why?
People woken in the middle of the night tend to be:
- Sluggish
- Really hard to wake
- Confused (“Is it an out of character emergency? Why is everyone shouting?” )
- Bursting and needing to go to the bathroom
- Bad tempered
- Very not in character
- Not wearing their contact lenses and blind as bats
- Out of costume and not in character makeup (“Why is the evil wizard in a Winnie the Pooh t-shirt?”)
- Just wanting to get back to sleep
- In need of interrupted sleep for medical reasons
Generally, being woken in the middle of the night just doesn’t make a great larping. It is also inaccessible for anyone sleeping out of character or away from the location.
Yet, there is so much potential in those kinds of scenes. Who wouldn’t love to be dragged from their bed by a monster, or woken by a ghost’s gentle touch?
Ready to drag you from your bed. På Gott och Ont (Of Good and Evil) photoshoot 2019. Photo by Emmet Nordström
One Solution
One way to do night scenes without the drawbacks of actually waking the players is by doing “set time” night scenes. The horror larp campaign På Gott of Ont (Of Good and Evil) generally employs a lot of those scenes as they are such a staple in the horror genre, that being dragged from your bed by unspeakable terrors is simply a must.
When you do set time night scenes, give the players a bedtime, by which time all characters should be in their beds resting, and then inform them that 15-20 minutes after lights out something is going to happen.
That’s it. But to go into some more detail.
Instructions
Preparation for Bedtime
- At a designated time, let’s say around 10:00 PM, players have been instructed to retire to their beds, lights out and be “asleep”.
- Before bedtime, players go through their characters’ night times routines like they were getting ready for bed. Brushing their hair and changing into comfy pajamas and whatnot.
- Out of character aspects of going to bed, like taking sleeping medication that make you drowsy, or taking out contact lenses can wait until after the night scene so that everyone can have the best possible experience.
The Night Scene
- At 15-30 minutes after light out, let’s say at 10:20 PM, the night scene unfolds.
- Players only know that something will happen soon after they have gone to bed, not what’s going to happen, keeping them in suspense. Perhaps they will be awoken by an unearthly scream, perhaps by armed soldiers, who knows?
- In-character, the scene may occur much later during the night, but out of character having the scene a short after bedtime means that you have the feeling of being in bed for a while, but without too much tedious waiting. Who wants to wait until 3 in the morning?
- If you are going to drag players outside it is nice to give them a hint to perhaps keep their shoes close by or something similar.
Pros and Cons with This Approach
Pros
- Players get to experience the thrill of being jolted awake by a scream or ensnared in a vivid nightmare, without real disruptions to their actual sleep. (Or at least jolted awake from relaxing in darkness or a light slumber.)
- After the scene concludes, players can silently finish their out of character bedtime routines, like taking out their contact lenses, taking their meds and returning to bed.
- Night owls who like playing late into the night can also do so. It is easy to say that some character awoke after the dream scene, or couldn’t go back to bed right away after being faced by the monster. So night owls can keep playing into the wee hours, catering to different player preferences.
- Players sleeping out of character or off location are given a place to lie down for the bedtime scene, even if it is just “curl up on the couch with a blanket” or “lie down on this air mattress for a short while in the sleeping quarters”. Providing some short term place to sit or lie down to rest is generally doable.
- If someone wants to opt out for any reason, it is really easy. Just be somewhere else at that time.
Cons
- Setting a bedtime for the players is awkward. No matter what time you chose it will probably be too early for some players and too late for others. Early birds and night owls can never agree.
- The evening can feel rushed when all players suddenly realize they need to head to bed at the same time, and it usually takes longer than planned. That 10:00 PM bedtime means that people won’t actually be in their beds lights out until 10:10 PM.
- Some of the chaos of a night scene, like people tripping over each other and stepping on each other’s stuff in the dark is still the same. Be strategic about night lights. Electric tea lights placed around the room are generally great.
Armed. På Gott och Ont (Of Good and Evil) photoshoot 2018. Photo by Emmet Nordström
Other Solutions?
So far I have not seen any other solutions for night scenes than doing a set time night scene, or to really try to wake people up. I suppose you could do it as a black box scene too during the day, but then you miss out on even more of the night experience. Yet I am curious about other solutions. Please get in touch and tell me if you know of any.
Conclusion
We all want cool night scenes but waking people up in the middle of the night sucks. One way to get around it is to give people a time when their character should be in their beds and that something will happen soon after bedtime.
Cover photo: Asleep. Photo taken during play. På Gott och Ont – Thorns (2016) Photo by Linn Vikman.
