The Assembly

• Discussion
• Empathy
• Listening

RPG system: LARP
Participants: 5-12 players

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Scenario [English]

(0.6 MB)

Description

The Assembly is a larp about community members engaging in democratic deliberation about issues related to tensions between bodily autonomy and public safety. People from diverse backgrounds and political perspectives have been invited to take part in an Assembly to share their thoughts and feelings about legalizing the psychoactive substance psilocybin. At the end of the scenario, the community members will collectively construct guidelines that will be considered at the next parliamentary session.

The larp takes place in a fictional socially democratic country similar to Sweden. The Assembly focuses on articulating a position on an issue and listening deeply to the positions of others. The emphasis is on building common understanding rather than increasing dramatic intensity. While the characters will discuss the legalization of drugs, the goal is to practice necessary skills for a functioning democracy.

This scenario is part of the Horizon Europe research project Larpocracy, which studies the potential impacts of larp on democratic values and skills. Players will be asked to complete questionnaires and interviews, but may opt-out and still participate in the scenario.)

About the authors
Sarah Lynne Bowman (Game Design) and PerOla Öberg (Political Science) are part of a team of researchers at Uppsala University studying the potential impacts of larp on democratic education and skill building. They have designed The Assembly for the Larpocracy project in collaboration with Josephine Rydberg from Stockholm University of the Arts and Kjell Hedgard Hugaas from LARPifiers.

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