Krigshjärta (Campaign)
Krigshjärta (Heart of War) is a Swedish low fantasy larp campaign, which started in 2006. Today, Krigshjärta is one of Sweden's most active larp campaigns with about 6 larps per year. The larps circle around a war between the totalitarian fascist country Cordovien, and the capitalist organization Gillet (Swedish: the Guild) and about the nations caught in between.
| Krigshjärta | |
|---|---|
 Cordovian crossbow soldiers. Photo by: Lisa Tegelmark. | |
| English name | Heart of War |
| Genre | Low fantasy |
| Style | Rules light collaborative boffer |
| Founding location | Sweden |
| Website | krigshjarta |
The campaign aims high when it comes to equipment, esthetics and special effects, and players are usually expected to create a thought-through character with a suitable costume. In the war setting, many different stories can be played, and this is highly encouraged by the organizers. This makes Krigshjärta a larp suitable for many types of players and it becomes a meeting place for people interested in boffer, war strategy and action as well as emotional immersion, social realism and oppression themes. The cultures in the world of Krigshjärta are well-written and the cultural distinctions initiate interesting culture clashes, which makes it easy to create playable characters and scenarios.
Before 2011, the campaign consisted of four large larps (200-400 participants). Since 2011, the campaign evolved into being more participant governed, and this led to an amount of smaller larps popping up, as a complement to the larger ones.
Participatory culture
Characters and plots are mainly up to players to create, and organizers usually only provide thematic framework, setting and a list of character types they wish to see at the larp. This has led to a huge participatory culture in which players not only create well written groups and characters, but also contribute with poems, songs, special effects and a generousity in sharing equipment and knowledge.
The fiction
The larps take place in the world of Minea, with cultures reminding of the medieval Europe. Inspiration is also taken from the esthetics of steampunk, the World Wars I and II and the war in Vietnam.
Cultures:
- Cordovien: A totalitarian fascist island nation with a fanatic dedication to save the world from capitalism.
- Danna'Gil: A strange race (somewhat a mixture of steampunk elves and aliens), who fight on the Cordovian side, making high technology items and scientific experiments.
- Jorgala: The oppressed country between Gillet and Cordovien, clinging on to their religion and conservative traditions.
- Gillet: A capitalist organization (similar to the 14th century German dominated "Hansa"), consisting of different cultures who fight for their right to earn money and become rich.
- Skaegi: A people (similar to the Nordic "Vikings") the former lords of Jorgala, who were driven away by the Cordovians in the first act of the war and who now fight for Gillet.
There are also other minor cultures too small to mention here.