Scratch the SurfaceSeeing throught the eyes of a LARPerby Danijela Bulimbasic

Organizing your own LARPby David Hirst

LARP Gearby Catalin Ardelean

Dumpster Diving: A sustainable solution to a capitalist nonsenseby Chlo Trieu

Dead Drops: How to be a spy for an afternoonby Johannes Otto Skjrbk

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SEEING THROUGH THE EYES OF A LARPERGetting to know Copenhagen, I found many different ways to experience the city.

When I first arrived, as a tourist, I looked at the city through camera lens, walk-ing around the centre, Nyhavn and other places listed in Places to see in Copenhagen-type of articles. Colorful buildings, modern design and won-derful landscapes filled up my photo galleries.

When I moved to Copenhagen, I start-ed to experience it through people. The locals and foreigners living here, the Danish culture mixing with other cultures, sometimes more successful, sometimes less. Ive learnt that a birth-day party cant go without the flags;

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Ive started to move around the city on my bicycle and switch to summer clothes as soon as the sun stays out for more than 2 hours and the temper-ature is above 10 degrees. Ok, I havent gotten to that last part just yet.

However, the city isnt just aesthetically pleasing arranged pile of concrete and metal and the people living here arent just what they look like and the way they speak. I wanted to look deeper, to scratch the surface. I wanted to look at the historical and invented past, the present the way it is or the way it could be and imagine the future...possible and impossible one. As I let my imag-ination play with what my eyes could see, an abandoned graffiti filled ware-house at the edge of the city became a shelter for a group of people trying to protect their last canister of water from ongoing raider attack. The Round Tower became a place where the wiz-arding guild was experimenting with the powers of aether, and I could al-most see Victorian inventor presenting

the latest discovery in the steam-pow-ered aeronautics in front of Rosenborg Castle. Yes, I started to look at the city through the eyes of a LARPer.

LARP was originally an acronym for Live Action Role Playing, but today it is often used in lower case and as a name in itself. It could be described as

interactive storytelling, where players take a role and act as a character with-in the set fictional world, as close or as far to the real one as they chose it to be. LARP could also be defined as inter-active theatre, without the audience or script.

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Special style of larp emerged in the Nordic countries in the past decades and became increasingly popular. A few things that make Nordic-style larp different and unique:

- Nordic larp is deeply immersive, with the goal to create convincing illusion of being in different world - living in the fallout shelter after the blast; being captured in the dungeon of medieval castle or on a spaceship travelling to another galaxy.

It is important to play a character very close to your own appearance, and feeling the characters feelings. Deeply immersed larpers would speak in their characters accent; walk the way their characters do, even dream in charac-ter.

- Nordic-style larp is collaborative. You do not play to win the game, but to cre-ate exciting stories together. It might mean that your character will fail in their objective, but that failure can be turned into deeply emotional and in-

teresting experience for you and other players.

- Nordic larp is more than entertain-ment - it can make artistic or politi-cal statement, and affect players in the long term - helping them to learn new skills, change the way they see the world and how they behave.

LARP has also changed me, in more

than one way. It has allowed me to be more creative, to open my mind to ex-citing new possibilities. It has helped me to see my surroundings and people from different points of view, and to be ready to explore the unknown. It has enabled me to travel without leaving home and experience what it would be like to live someone elses life. It has al-lowed me to scratch the surface, and to look beyond.

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If you would like to hear more about Nordic Larp, we recommend this bril-liant introduction by Johanna Koljonen. She is a writer, radio and TV host, critic, and a popular lecturer on larp and re-lated topics.Her groundbreaking larp criticism, in essays like Eye-Witness to the Illusion: The Impossibility of 360 Role-Playing and The Dragon Was the Least of it: Larp As Ephemera and Ruin are wide-ly quoted in the field.

From Nordic Larp Talks Stockholm 2010.

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ORGANISING YOUR OWN LARP

Urban spaces by definition are anywhere within the urban environment (a city/town). These spaces often have a defined purpose, although with a bit of imagination they can serve other purposes and with a bit of preparation too, they could serve as the ideal setting to your own Live Action Role-play event. A wooded area at the side of the park could, for example, be a vast forest, or an abandoned building be re-imagined as a post-apocalyptic ruin. Thus, with a bit of imagination and ideally someone to share them with you, the possibilities are endless.

Before you can do this though, you need to understand a bit about organising your own Live Action Roleplay, so today that is what I will attempt to explain. Please read on as i cover all the important aspects of organis-ing your own Role Playing event.

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The IdeaTo begin with, you need an idea. What interests you? What would you like to do? There are many different types of LARPs out there and you could even in-vent your own. They vary hugely from simple games set in a small room to huge battles in a forest. To begin with, you need to pick a theme. It could be Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic, Steampunk just to name a few. Once you have an idea you are ready to start planning.

A set of Rules (ruleset)This can vary dramatically from a ba-sic code of conduct, which is popular in the Nordic countries, to a complex set of rules the size of a small book. What-ever you choose it needs to be some-thing people can follow and relate to. If you make it too complex, people may be put off. So try to keep it simple, clear and to the point. You do not want too many rules, but a total lack of them will also cause problems.

LocationObviously, you need a location. The basic principle of a live action role-play is that it is live! Therefore, you need to do it in a specific place with other people. A location can be basically an-ywhere. It can vary from your living

room to a purpose built village or an abandoned factory complex. A good place to start is to look at your theme. What fits your theme? If you are going for a fantasy LARP then a local park or forest may be a good start. If you are going for a Post-Apocalyptic scenario, then an abandoned building may suit your needs. (Although remember to be careful, as these places can be danger-ous!)

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A background story/settingThis is based on your theme. It may be complex and have a story built in or it may just be a setting. In order to make your LARP more engaging and fun you need to create a background story/set-ting, for people to connect to. Just like in a movie or book there will be a cer-tain amount of background so people can relate to the story. Imagine Lord of the Rings with no background story whatsoever. No explanation of why an-yone was doing what they were doing? It would not really work would it... The same goes for LARPs, so try to come up with a good background story or set-ting for your LARP, one that has mean-ing and makes it easier for the players to engage in.

Character types and roles Following on from your story you also need to decide what type of charac-

ters your LARP will have. Will you de-fine the type of characters players can play or will you leave it up to the play-ers to create characters? Some fanta-sy LARPs, for example, may define the classes that people can play to make things more organised and easier to define. A class could be ,for example, a

warrior, mage etc. just like in role play-ing computer games. Decide if your LARPs story requires certain charac-ters or whether the players can invent their own.

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Non-Playing CharactersIn addition to your players and GM you will often have NPCs, these non-play-ing characters can vary dramatical-ly from providing basic support roles like extras in a film to being an inte-gral part of the story. NPCs can also be quite engaged in the story and al-

though they are not technically play-ers, the lines can sometimes be quite blurred. In some games they will play a major part in the game. NPCs are also important to ensure events play out as you intended. Say for example you had a major fantasy LARP, set in a village and raiders are going to attack the vil-lage. This may well be the job of NPCs. NPCs will often also have background

stories, although unlike players these are less likely to evolve and are usu-ally there to give the character mean-ing and explain their existence. People playing NPCs may also switch roles de-pending on where NPCs are required in the story.

Game MastersTo keep things running and organised it is usually a good idea to have a game master. Someone who knows all the rules and who will oversee the game. They will keep everything organised and ensure things play out as they are intended. For example this could be a series of events that should take place at a certain times.

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Format of your LARP By format I mean, will it be a one off LARP or a Campaign? A One off LARP means that it will only happen once ,and when the LARP is over its over. A Campaign LARP, on the other hand, will be part of a series of LARPs one af-ter the other. The idea of these type of LARPs is that players characters can continue from one to the other and evolve along the way. Similar to com-puter games where your decisions may affect the story campaign LARPs can play out the same way. They also give people an incentive to build a strong character with a great background sto-ry, as they will continue to grow the character from game to game.

Length of your LARPHow long is it going to run? For 10 min-utes or a week? LARPs vary in length depending on the theme and story and there is no set rules about how long it should be. Some of the biggest LARPs can run for days with people often camping in the LARP. Some of these

technically never stop, with people still in game even when they are sleeping. So when it comes to a time frame, that really depends on your story and how long it should run for.

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Equipment and in-game itemsObviously most LARPs require some props and equipment. This can vary dramatically in detail from been very basic to extremely complex. It all de-pends on the theme and the level of detail you are going for. More detail usually requires a lot more time and ef-fort and can be expensive for players, so in some cases its better to overlook things and to improvise. Often LARPs aim for a high level of detail as this en-hances the game experience, just as graphics often enhance the experience in a computer game. Although I know they are not everything, imagine if all the objects in a game were represent-ed with single coloured squares. Its not quite the same is it? The same is true of LARPing, the more realistic the costumes mean that in game terms the better the experience for the players.

Hopefully by following the points list-ed above you should have some good

ideas about how to organise your first LARP, so off you go and remember to have fun! That is after all what its all about!

Further reading:If you are stuck for ideas or need some inspiration here is a huge list of LARP ideas many of them are free too: http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/LARP_Scenarios.

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http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/LARP_Scenarioshttp://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/LARP_Scenarios

LARP GEARWhen it comes to Live Action Roleplay battle, nothing is better than having the proper gear to make the experi-ence even more thrilling and accurate. It all depends on the theme of the LARP and how you build your character. For a post-apocalyptic/fallout city theme, you can choose virtually any style of gear: warrior knight, assassin, mer-cenary, wasteland wanderer, doctor, mutant etc.

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The 3 main categories are: armor, weapons and miscellaneous/objects. You may choose how to create your character by opting to have elements from any and all of the three catego-ries and making it unique. The stand-ard in-game weaponry is made out of a soft type of boffer, foam or latex ma-terial, so in simulated battles no one is injured. Before any LARP event, it is very common to have your weapons and other gear checked by a designat-ed Herald, that approves or disap-proves the safety of the gear.

There is a whole range of weapons, ar-mor and other objects that you can at-tribute to your character. You can buy most of the gear or you can also create your own. You just have to think about what suits your character and the overall budget youre willing to spend on weapons and armor. Rather than limiting each class to only using certain gear, players are encouraged to use

what they think their character would use. For example, it would make no sense to say that a doctor cannot use a two-handed rifle, because Doctors dont use them. Instead, think about how your character got their training - are they self-taught? Did they study under a ballistics master? Did they learn in the military? Or did you pick it up in-character over the course of the game?

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You can choose the type of gear you can carry and it can be more utilitarian, meaning that it can actually function (fire bullets, arrows, laser or plasma) or it can be more decorative, focusing more how it looks and the story behind it. In the post-apocalyptic theme, you can carry firearms: guns, rifles, shot-guns, pistols and also melee weapons like machete, hammers, small daggers or swords, wrench and even something as simple as a lead pipe. Ammunition is very important if you implement func-tional firearms to you characters spe-cifics. You can go from foam nerf bul-lets (modified/adapted to the theme nerf guns) to actual airsoft ammo. It all depends on the rules of the larp and how dedicated and creative you are.

Armor is also important (as long as you envision your character need-ing it) and you can go wild with it. Going from something as simple as worn out leather jacket and old pair of jeans to kevlar metal plates with helmet, a full metal body suit, radiation suit, welding faceplates or a hockey mask.

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Post apocalyptic theme also brings unique features, objects and rules to the game. One such example would be special electronic devices, like the Pip-Boy, a watch-like contraption from a

computer game called Fallout, that would provide you with information on radiation levels, as well as function as a GPS. Radiation itself is yet another unique element in a post-apo setting, and that of course leads to even more specialised gear to protect against it, and medication to cure or simply withstand it.

The more complex the character, the gear and the surroundings, the more fun you will have in the game and will make the experience of a post-apocalyptic world or any other theme, more real and enjoyable.

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I found a lot of bags of peas when dumpster diving the other day, so tonight Im serving a pea soup for the soup kitchen. Martin Olle Josef Diedrichs is the coordi-nator and a volunteer at Folkets Hus in Co-penhagen and his thing is to create some pop up soup kitchen with what he finds in supermarkets garbage.

Food wasteEvery day, in supermarkets, withered salads, single bananas* and milk car-tons which are almost reaching their expiration date are thrown away be-cause customers would not buy them. Some other supermarkets are just bad at managing their stocks. In both cases, one mans loss is another mans gain. And Martin knows exactly where to go and what to take when dumpster div-ing.

DUMPSTER DIVINGA sustainable solution to a capitalist nonsense

*A single banana is a banana which was separated from its siblings by a customer who only wanted four bananas. Four. Not five. The single banana remains alone and often ends up in the trash even if the single banana tastes just as good as any banana. So do a good deed and bring this banana home next time.

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Re-distributionToday, hes taking me to Super-Brugsens containers. When we arrive, some employees are there, carrying boxes. Well wait until theyre done, he explains. Five minutes later were back. A couple is there already, check-ing a container and filling their bag with what they found. Do you want some mushrooms, they ask. Martin takes some and offers them some chi-li in return. You would be tempted to take the whole garbage bags when you see how much you can find for free. But Martin reminds me that it is important to leave some for the others.

Using our sensesI started with bread and vegetables. For me it was a fun thing to do and a way

to save money and reduce food waste. Today, Martin only spends 20 DKK per month on milk or garlic and dump-ster dives everything else he eats.

Vegetables, fruits, meat Meat ?!! You can find so much meat in the gar-bage and if the expiration date isnt two days passed then its fine. But is it really safe, I asked.

People dont use their senses anymore. They forgot how to smell or taste what they bought. They just look at the date on the package and throw it out if its too old.

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Informing peopleWhat was supposed to help the cus-tomers is now producing a ridiculous amount of food waste. Thats why Mar-tin does his pop up dumpster dived soup kitchen, to inform people about this sustainable way to find food and get people to do it too. And the reac-tions are most of the time really pos-itive. I even gave a tour to someone who wanted to know about his local dumpster diving places, relates Mar-tin. Capitalist

nonsenseAbout the legal aspect, it seems to be some sort of a grey zone. If you step across a fence or break a container lock, then youre violating the law. But if the containers are accessible and open it means that the supermarkets give up their property right on the merchan-dise, explains Martin. However, gro-cery stores employees are often asked to get rid of dumpster divers, even if

theyre not doing any harm. Martins logical conclusion to this nonsense is that supermarkets owners dont want people to get food for free. Even if 40 % of the food that is produced in the world never gets eaten**.

**Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story 2014 - Documentary

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1. Dont try to get into a confrontationIf you get caught by the supermarket employees, just leave. Dont try to dis-cuss about it because first, it is not their fault and their decision. And sec-ond, they will end up putting a lock on the containers and no one will be able to dumpster dive there.

2. Use forumsThere are many forums or Facebook groups sharing info about the best plac-es to dumpster dive. Find the one in your city and join. I also use this newsletter from Fdevarestyrelsen (Food Comity), who makes tests on different products and decides if they can be sold or not. For example, once, supermarkets had to get rid of peanut butter jars from a specific brand because it contained one nut that was not specified on the ingredients tag. It was edible, except if you have allergies, but thanks to this newsletter I knew I could take them.

3. Use your sensesLook at the product, touch it, smell it and see for yourself if its good or not. Do not rely on the expiration date. For example, you can drink milk after its expiration date if it hasnt been open. Same goes for a lots of products like yogurt, cheese

3 tips about dumpster divingby Martin Olle Josef Diedrichs

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Dead Drops: How to be a spy for an afternoon

If you have ever seen a USB drive stick-ing out of a wall, you may well have stumbled on a Dead Drop. An interna-tion art project borrowing tricks from the world of espionage.

In October 2010, New York-based Ger-man artist Aram Bartholl planted the first five devices in what has become an anonymous, global, offline, peer-to-peer file sharing network. Anyone can connect to the USB drives, and leave any file they want. Text, music or video files.

From those first five, the idea expand-ed. There are now dead drops on every continent in the world save Antarctica. From Wellington, New Zealand in the south to Vard, Norway in the north.

Of course, when you plug your laptop or phone into a publicly available USB

Dead Drops: How to be a spy for an afternoon

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flash drive, there are risks. Anyone can access these drives, and on the Dead Drops site, Aram Bartholl acknowl-edges this: In general everybody is responsible for the security of their computers and systems. Is the Inter-net a safe place?!? Malicious code for USB flash drives is a problem in gener-al. They could (and will) be misused for malicious software. Be aware of that! Secure your system! Boot a virtual ma-chine! Or ask your friend to go first ;-).

Security professionals acknowledge that if someone has physical access to a machine, there is little they can do. Here, we are willingly, potentially, copying infected files to our system. Using Dead Drops can turn into an en-tirely different experience than what the user hopes for. Why, then, are they used at all? Why are they spread all around the world?

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Privacy and Espionage

The term Dead Drop comes from the early days of espionage. When information needed to be exchanged without a face to face meeting, spies and informants had to get creative. Behind or underneath loose bricks, or other inconspicuous, small, failing parts of the city, you could easily stash documents that could then be picked up later.Now, while Dead Drop users might not be putting on trenchcoats and dark sunglasses when they venture into the city to find the files left for them on the USB drives by other users, they still get the thrill of the hunt. Of being a part of something only a relatively small sub-set of people know of. And lastly, as we experienced when we went hunting, users get to know their city better, too.

There are troubles with anonymous data-sharing, of course. On some Dead

Drops, recipes for poison, making a bomb, or how to make crystal meth have been found. In the same way as the internet can be, Dead Drops can be used as a replacement for under-ground knowledge storages.

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Scratch the Surfacee-zine by Creative ChaosMay 2015

Created for:KEA - MMD A2014 - Module 5:Urban Expressions Creative Chaos are: Catalin Ardelean Danijela BulimbasicDavid Hirst Nadia Antoniou Thao Do

Researching our main theme, LARP, we came across quite a few awesome photos that we included with our arti-cles. We wish we owned copyright to them, but we dont.

We did manage to get in touch with some of the amazingly creative people in the LARP world, who allowed us to use their materials, so we would like to offer special thanks to Nuclear Snail Studios and Johannes Axner of NordicLarp.org.

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http://www.nuclear-snail.com/http://nordiclarp.org/

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