"Drinking and gambling were, I am sorry to say, our principal pastimes"
– W. M. Thackeray, The Luck of Barry Lyndon

Drinking, gambling, duelling, dancing, and countless romantic adventures – this was the life of the Rake. The 18th century public was both shocked and delighted by their exploits. And while their narratives usually ended with retribution for their transgressions, they sure had a good time until then.

In this larp, the players will follow the stories of several Rakes inspired by literary and historical characters. They will dance, duel and take part in the romantic fantasy. But they will also face immoral choices and an inevitable tragic ending.

“Drinking and gambling were, I am sorry to say, our principal pastimes”

– W. M. Thackeray, The Luck of Barry Lyndon

Everybody loves a bad boy. Rebels without a cause, sensitive anti-heroes, assholes with a heart of gold, they are everywhere in our pop culture. These bad boys go back a long way, at least to the 17th and 18th century, where they were known by different names – rogues, libertines, debauchées. Probably the most enduring archetype of that time was the Rake. Drinking, gambling, dancing, getting into fights and wilful adventures, and first and foremost seducing women – and then leaving them in order to pursue the next one – this is what the Rake did, their deeds both scandalising and enticing audiences.

In The Rake’s Progress, your players will take turns to play such rakish characters, acting out their scandalous rise and tragic fall. They will also in turn play the rake’s allies, enemies and victims. The Rake can only exist surrounded by a society he can rebel against, whose rules he can break.