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A [[Image:Oslo Winterlarp Origins09 KrutvassCabin.jpg|thumb|right| Winterlarps in forestcabins had a strong impact on Nordic larps]] The Oslo '''Norwegian WinterlarpWinter Larp''' tradition was a concept genre or series of quasihistoric semi-historic larps played in the Oslo area between 1992 and 2002. These larps that would involve reliving the daily life of a certain historic period as central aspect of the frame of the larp. The [[plotline]] was often partly mythological marking them as a transitional genrè between the fantasy of the [[Oslo Summer Larp tradition]] and the realism of larps such as [[1942]] and [[Europa]]. A tendency towards [[persistent play]] and [[High-resolution larp | high-resolution]] role-playing mark these larps as important precursors to the Nordic style, as do their aspirations towards a [[360º]] illusion and an emphasis on cultural simulation and intra-personal relationships at the expense of [[boffer]] fights and epic stories.  A typical "vinterlaiv", as it was called in Norwegian, would have between 50 and 100 participants, and be played for four consecutive days during the winter months. Between 1992 and 2002, a vinterlaiv was held almost yearly, usually set to a different historical epoch and organized by an entirely different team than the previous year.

Early concepts, techniques , and perceptions of [[playingstyle]]s in [[Norway]] is are deeply rooted from in the everyday situations that arise when from playing non-stop for days in a forest, living in cabins heated with firewood, and making and taking food together as a large family, tribe, clan or [[ætt]]. The winterlarps moved the action away from running in the woods with rubber swords into classic home and family situations, including negotiating between groups about marriages, resources or religion. Girls were often more clever and conspicuous than the young male participants in improvising and driving the interaction between the characters in such situations. These larps were a crucial factor for the relative gender-balance of participants in Oslo; they helped recruit a majority of the first female organisers of Norway. The traditions among both organisers and participants of the Winterlarps in Oslo provided the foundations for [[iconic larp]]s such as the 2nd World War larp [[1942]], and the westernlarps [[Wanted]] and [[Once upon a time]].  [[1942]] and [[Once upon a time]] are included in the [[Nordic Larp (book)]]. ==Playing style==[[Image:Enighet02 viking94.png|thumb|right| Daily life was depicted, friendship and marriage central themes. From Winterlarp 2002 and 1994.]]As [[360]] degree larps, the winterlarps avoided [[off-game]] time by including every facet of character life -- including time spent sleeping -- within the game, requiring players to provide seemingly period underwear, nightcaps and the like for a real [[in-character]] experience. [[Non-diegetic]] items not belonging to a character's environment were banned from the location. This included removing watches, flashlights, cameras, walk-mans and, after some years, beepers and cellphones. Participants stayed [[in character]] while sleeping, eating, and visiting toilets. This made almost every location an active part of the game. Occasionally, players making dinner or doing dishes might make the kitchen temporarily or permanently into a [[off-game]] area, but apart from the kitchen and the organisers' own sleeping quarters, the ideal was that all the time and space available would be a part of the larp. Since the cabins were relatively crowded with people, the idea that any indoor location was not part of the [[diegesis]] was viewed as limiting to the game. It might not have been a conscious choice of the organisers, but the relatively young playergroup would get so agitated anyway, that it was difficult to ban participants from sneaking around other sleeping players, or from kidnapping people when they went to the traditional outdoor toilets in the dark. On the contrary, the designers of the games promoted these kind of activities, urging participants to play with the borders of the [[diegesis]] by the design of secret cults of kidnappers, and by secret ritual brotherhoods that would demand that characters wake up at night to perform secret activities, hidden from each other.  Organizers tested the limits of participants' expectations and their commitment to the [[diegesis]] and [[360]] illusion, for example, by breaking a glass window as a part of the start of the game. [[In-game]], a couple of mercenaries shattered a window and crawled into the kitchen (deemed by a few players by habit to be an [[off-game]] space). What really happened was that the participants playing the mercenaries' characters were told to crawl through the open window into the kitchen of the forest cabin in question. On the inside of the window, inside the kitchen, an organizer waited in the dark with an old window frame. When the mercenaries starting climbing into the window, the organizer banged the old window frame into the floor so the glass broke all over the place, and the racket woke up all the other players. Before anyone noticed, the organizer blended into the many people waking up and start the game and check what was going on inside the kitchen. * [http://www.maion.com/media/b2c56340-3668-11df-9d3e-19590d98061b-outdoor-toilets See the building in this photo to imagine a typical outdoor toilet and gaming location nighttime at these larps] ==Plotlines==[[Image:Oslo Winterlarps_Plotlines02.jpg|thumb|right| The Faeryfolk could be Pictish Tribes from the Scottish highlands]]In the early years, mythological and religious elements provided 30-50% of the plot elements available for the characters to explore. Characters included normal people of the appropriate historic age, with beliefs and superstitions that came to life through different technology and techniques employed in use by the organizers. Special character groups used special makeup or costumes to enhance the belief of something supernatural, but in the end, they were most often based on secular explanations. The mysterious Elf in the forest was in the end the mentally retarded child of the parents, that they tried to hide away. The Faeryfolk would be Pictish Tribes from the Scottish highlands interfering with the (main body of players playing) Celtic community. The difference between [[summerlarps]] and [[winterlarps]] would be that the vast majority of players would not have access to any magical or supernatural powers. There might be characters like druid or a Norse volve present, but the supernatural would be in the hands of the organisers in forms of sound effects, pyrotechnics like smokemachines, and especially in the form of staged visits of supernatural creatures dressed up and instructed by the organisers. Over the years the pyrotechnics got less important and the relationship webs between the players took focus.The overall plot lines moved from organizer-driven, to organizer-facilitated, to player-driven and even player-initiated plots.

*[[Scheduling]]*[[Story Arcs]]*[[Recurring scenes]] (also known as [[daily routines]])*[[Ceremonies]]*[[Meetings]]*[[Rituals]]*[[Hierarchies]]*[[Groupplay]]*[[Groupconflicts]]*[[Prewritten characters]]*[[NPC]]s - (Non Player Characters)*[[Relationshipwebs]]*[[Retrospective storylines]] (Ibsen style, dark secrets from the past is reveiled in the present.) *[[Secrecy]]*[[Staging]]*[[Flying Start]]*[[Branching incentivewebs]] (also at this point in time called "plots" in the [[Oslo]]scene.)*[[Dreamrooms]] (Early variant of a [[Black Box]] or [[Meta-room]])*[[Dreaming]] (Early variant of a [[Meta-technique]])*[[Boffer|Bofferweapons]]*[[Pyrotechnics]]*[[Non-Diegetic Sound]]*[[Players Companion Booklet]]*[[Local Community Description]]*[[SL]]*[[FX]]*[[IL]]([[Personally CharacterDesigner]])*[[360]] ==Preparations==[[Image:Oslo Winterlarps Preparations03.jpg|thumb|right|The evening before larpstart people would practice folksongs relevant for the larp. Skalds would memorize legends. Priests would practice ceremonies and their Latin.]]Participants were divided into family groups of 10-20 people. Normally the size of the group would match a selected house which would be the base location for this groups play. Participant factions would meet regularly up to 6 months prior to the game, to decide on common clothing, plan for food, special customs or other appropriate exercises. In one game the group playing samipeople memorized some 100 words of Sami and used grammar intended to be totally incomprehensible to the rest of the participants. Skis that would give a period impression were prepared. Old tools were brought to the game. Axes for cutting trees and making firewood. Shovels for digging in the snow. The evening before the start of the larp, participants would decorate their living quarters, get into costumes, make food and be only partly playing their characters. They might do last minute practice of names of related characters. Individually people would be testing the way of talking [[in-character]], and often practice common songs related to the [[diegesis]] or the overall [[genrè]] of the larp. More importantly, participants discussed routines such as when to wake up, dishwashing, fetching water, maintaining the fire, and cooking and established time and responsibility for common meals and other practical matters. An organizer would oversee this and balance it with the [[Scheduling]] and the [[Storyarc]] of the larp.

==Description ==The reason for these historic larps to be held in wintertime was to be able provide another form of larps that was suited to do in Changing the off-season period of climate and the winter holidays. In contrast physical environment from tents and grass, to their predecessors, the early [[summerlarps]] snow and cabins needed to be rented in order to be able to handle the cold weather. The summerlarps use of tents or pineshelters were viewed as inadequate due to affected the temperature content and the snow. Cabins where rented through active larpers that had connection with the organisations pace of norwegian Scouts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scouting)these games.

==On-site preparations==The evening before These are holidays where the start family spends a lot of the larp participants would decorate their living quarterstime outdoor during daytime, get into costumes, make food and be only partly gather around a long table to share common meals evening time. Singing and playing their characters. They might do last minute practice cardgames is often also a part of names of related charactersthis holiday. Individually people would The winterlarps can be testing viewed as the way larpers of talking [[in-character]], and often practice common songs related to the [[diegesis]] or the the overall [[genrè]] of the Oslos mimicking these traditions into their larp. More importantly participants would discuss routines like when to wake up, dishwashing, fetching water, maintaining the fire, foodmaking and establish time and reponsibility for common meals and other practical matterstradition.

==Playing style==Being * [[360 degrees]] larps these concepts avoided [[off-game]] time by for example making it a part of the game to also be [[in character]] when in your underwear (requiring people to provide seemingly period underwear, nightcaps and the like), when you were sleeping, when you went to the toilet. This made almost every location an active part of the game. People were at least trying to be [[in characer]] when in the toilets, in their sleeping quarters and so forth. Since the cabins would be relativily crowded with people it was viewed as limiting to the game that any indoor location should not be a part of the [[diegesis]]. It might not have been a conscious choice of the organisers, but players would get so involved in the game anyway, that it was at this moment in time difficult to upheld a rule of not allowing participants to sneak around other people sleeping, or kidnap people when they went to the traditional outdoor toilets in the dark. <i>(See the building in this photo to imagine a typical gaming location nighttime at these larps: http://wwwen.maionwikipedia.comorg/mediawiki/b2c56340-3668-11df-9d3e-19590d98061b-outdoor-toilets)</i>Easter_customs#Nordic_countries Wikipedia article on Nordic Easter Traditions]

* A Winterlarp usually had a typical element of a [[flying start]]. Participants would go to bed [[out of character]] with the instructions that the larp will start when they wake up. Often the organisers would stage a scene early morning when everybody were asleep that would wake people up and kickstart the [[story]]. This would allow the [[characters]] a reason to feel alarmed, and also allowing the players excuses within the [[diegeticdiegesis]] excuses for their character to be confused or insecure about how to react believable [[in character]] for the first hours of the larp.

==OriginList of Larps==In litterature and film * 1992 - [[Vingulmork 1196]] - Set to the era of King Sverre who defied the term relates to pope* 1993 - [[Kelterlaiven]] ([[The larp of the concept Celts]]) - Settlement of celts and vikings in medias resnorth of the British Isles haunted by mythological creatures of those cultures myths.In medias res or medias in res * 1994 - [[Vikinglaiven]] (into [[The larp of the middle of thingsvikings]]) is a Latin phrase denoting - Set to the literary and artistic narrative technique wherein era of the relation ancestor of a story begins either at the mid-point or at the conclusionancient kings of Norway, rather than at Halfdan Svarte (Halfdan the beginning Black).* 1995 - [[Pestlaiven]] (cf. ab ovo, ab initio[[The larp of the black death]]), establishing setting, character, - Based on old Norwegian folktraditions and conflict via flashback or expository conversations relating the pertinent pastfaeries. * 1996 - [[Bronsealderlaiven]] ([[The main advantage larp of in medias res is the bronzeage]]) - Matriarchical bronzeage society where the male clanleader needs to be sacrificed through a series of rituals* 1997 - [[Et vintereventyr]] - ([[A winters fairytale]]) - First pan-Nordic Larp ever, organised parallell to open the story with dramatic action rather than exposition which sets up first [[Knutepunkt]].* 1998 - no traditional Winterlarp this year, instead [[1944]] was organised as the characters and situation. Because first 2nd Wordwar larp (many similarities in playing style)* 1999 - no Winterlarp this year (it is was a feature year of many other experiments during wintertime, the old crowd went to the style in which a story is structured and is independent 1920ies investigational crimestory larp named [[Dark Hill Mansion]])* 2000 - [[Fremmede Drømmer]] ([[Alien Dreams]]) - Based on old Norse myths of the story's contentbook Edda.* 2002 - [[Enigheten]] - (Historic game Wintertime, it can be employed but set to the time of industrialisation in any narrative genre, epic poetry, novels, plays, or filmNorway) (http://folk.uio.no/mraaum/laiv/enighet-008.jpg)<br><br><i>Source (==Documentation==* [http://enwww.wikipedialaivgalleriet.orgno/gallery2/v/laiver/ravn/wikiravn94/In_medias_res)<album02/i>vinter_1994_drekka_mer.jpg.html Photo gallery]

Obviously so is also TV-report made by the case with larps.Youthdepartment of the National Broadcasting of Norway (NRK) in 1992 from the first Oslo Winterlarp {{#ev:youtube|_siS2M_h95g}}

Slideshow of photos from The Black Death larp in 1995 - {{#ev:youtube|nv4OP1I5QnE}}[[Category:GamesLarps]]