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dadeennbsv

#therealColdtown

Front page for #therealColdtown

RPG system: Blackbox LARP
Participants: 8-10 players

By

✏️Julia Bond Ellingboe
✏️Kat Jones

Description

Players: Set in a world where vampires exist openly, but are quarantined in cities called "Coldtowns", this larp focuses on a group of teenagers and their vampire companion travelling to a Coldtown and documenting their journey on social media. Simultaneously, a group of humans and vampires in the same Coldtown experience the juxtaposition of their actual day to day lives and the images they present on social media. What happens when the two groups meet and must face the discrepancies between ideal and reality? Based on the novel The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black.

Audience: The audience will be asked to interact with the "social media" aspects of the scenario with comments, responses and questions. The may also be asked to take a role in some individual scenes and help establish the backstory for the scenario.

Based on the novel Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black, this scenario tells the story of a group of teenagers driving to a Coldtown, a quarantine city where vampires and humans dwell. A couple of the teens are reluctant to go, but have been infected by vampires and must turn themselves in and submit to quarantine. A couple of them are excited, lured in by the fun and festive image that social media coming out of the Coldtown paints. They’re looking forward to a world of vampires, drama, glamorous parties, and adventure. In the car with them is a vampire who is jaded and cynical about Coldtowns.

This scenario will also tell the story of a group of individuals actually living in a Coldtown. Some are human, some are vampires, many of them are the social media stars that the other group is watching. Their story is about the actual conditions within the Coldtown and the version they present on social media. While some people have the wealth and resources to protect themselves within the Coldtown, for many others existence is much less pleasant as they face limited resources, non-existent infrastructure, and threats of violence from vampires or other humans.

The scenario will be structured as a prologue and two acts. The prologue will function as both an introduction to the world and a workshop to allow players to practice the mechanics for simulating social media that will be used during the game. The first act will focus on the road trip to the Coldtown, juxtaposed with scenes from the characters within the Coldtown. The second act will begin with the teenagers arriving in Coldtown and meeting the other characters. Within the acts there will be individual scenes that take place in real time as well as social media posts made by the characters. (No cameras or real social media will be used during the game.)

One of the themes of this game will be social media and the depiction of reality. Scenes will be a mix of “real time” interactions and simulations of the videos and posts made by the characters on social media. The scenario, through the metaphor of the Coldtown, is also meant to be a commentary on white flight, ghettoization, and gentrification of urban spaces.

#therealColdtown is meant to accommodate an interactive audience. Audience members will watch the actions of the player characters but also act as the general social media audience. The audience will not play established characters during the game but may be asked to respond to "social media" posts during the game with monologues or questions and will participate in the opening workshops to practice these interactions. Players interested in role-playing either the road-trippers or Coldtown residents should sign up to play Player Characters.

No prior knowledge of the source material is necessary to enjoy this game.

Played at

Blackbox Cph VIII (2019)
Intercon S: Smoke and Mirrors (2019)


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