It can't rain everyday, indeed!

RPG system: LARP
Participants: 9-22 players

By

The Smoke (2026), Theatre Deli, 107 Leadenhall Street, EC3A 4AF London, United Kingdom

Nikolai Kniazev

Description

Loveday 1458: It can’t rain every day, indeed

This is a game about intrigue conducted under strict etiquette. Expect dancing, battles, grand rhetoric—and betrayal.
The mad English king Henry VI has summoned every noble to London, hoping to reconcile them amid a civil war. At the royal reception players may speak only on a few approved subjects— the weather, food, animals, and estate management. There will also be moments for open combat and unrestrained conversation. And, of course, there will be simple dances during which anything may be said. In this whirlwind of society events you’ll weave and shatter plots, build alliances, beat back the French—or beg them for aid.

The king, lost in madness, has not appeared in public for a long time, and his decrees contradict one another: one day he heeds Richard of York and makes him regent; the next he hands power to the Earl of Somerset and overturns it all again. Richard, ill-suited to subtle intrigue, raised an army and routed the Lancastrians, killing Somerset; not everyone liked that style of discussion, but the civil war can no longer be stopped. The Lancastrians are bent on revenge, the Yorkists demand that Richard be named regent over the deranged king. Admirals Warwick and Exeter beg for help against piracy, each accusing the other. Calais pleads for support against France, and the lords of the Western and Welsh Marches argue over who will gain Cornwall.

In a world where every courtier has friends and relatives on both sides, observing proper manners at court is more important than ever.

Key points
• Etiquette, dances, intrigue, wars
• Costumes are optional, but encouraged
• Not a historical reenactment: a code of etiquette did exist, but it was somewhat different. We’ll also dance the waltz, which appeared much later.
• Simplified chess model: knowing how the pieces move is helpful but mastery isn’t required; real-world skill confers no decisive advantage.

Played at