Granland (Swedish: Granland or literally "Land of Pines") is a Swedish soldier larp campaign thats been ongoing since 2008. Granland is one of Swedens most active larp-campaigns at the moment, with about 3-4 games per year in average. The campaign has been described as a highly ambitious and well organized campaign with focus on realistic immersion, social realism, role-playing and character creation. The campaign also involves elements of war, which are used as a catalyst for creating and improving the mutual immersion. The main focus of the campaign is the cultural conflict between the progressive nationalist nation of Granland, and the traditional and deeply religious organisation known has Heliga Armén (Swedish: The Holy Army).
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.