Meta-technique

A meta-technique is a loose term encapsulating various rules and narrative tools/practices which are carried out by players rather than characters but still part of the improvisational flow, such as the black box, the monologue, and shadows. The term started gaining in popularity and use in 2007, during the preparatory work with En stilla middag med familjen, and in talks and workshops the following year at Solmukohta 2008.

The exact definition of meta-techniques is still hotly debated, the usage varies in scope and clarity across the board. In the broadest usage of the word it covers nearly any game mechanic in a Nordic Larp, while another usage put meta-techniques as a direct opposite to game mechanics. One clearer defintion of meta-techniques states:

Communication in the game - between the players and not the characters or additional story that doesn’t fit in to the game time and space continuum

The defining meta- part comes from the way in which the techniques willfully breaks the flow of the direct immersion to provide information directly to players, without going through their characters. What constitutes a break in immersion is one of the more central disputed areas.

Three level model

One usage divides game mechanics into three levels: Replacement rules, abstractions and meta-techniques.

Replacement rules are when a concept in the fiction is replaced with or simulated by something else. I.e. a boffer sword replaces a real sword. Sex is simulated by neck-massage. The player and the character experiences the same thing differently.

Abstractions are when the metatechnique itself is immanent in the fictional world. I.e. In this world latex is deadly and boffers kill or there is no sex, but Ars Amandi fulfills the same functions. In this, the experience of the character and the player are the same.

Meta-techniques in this definition are not experienced by the characters, only between players. It is an event taking place completely outside the continuity of play.

Intrusive versus discrete meta-techniques

The off-game character of metatechniques means that they can easily interrupt play. Some are very easy to hide or can be used away from other players, some are performed by one or more players during the game and some require the entire game to stop while they are implemented.

The same technique can even be used across the whole spectrum, to use the monologue technique as an example: A discrete use would be for the players involved to go to the meta-room for their monologue, if performed using the "ping the glass" method during play it will only disrupt the flow of the game locally, while having everyone listen to the same monologue will most certainly pause the flow of the game.

Purpose of meta-techniques

The reasons for using meta-techniques is most often to provide players with information they would not be able to gather while playing their characters. This could for example be information provided by other players about their characters, directions from a gamemaster or additional story outside the game's time and space. The ultimate goal of the this is commonly to increase the emotional energy of play and increase the dramatic potential.

Meta-techniques used to increase the drama of a larp are sometime called Dramachanics.