Through my passion for Dungeons & Dragons I came across Empire LARP and since I’ve read through the details and watched some really engaging YouTube videos I’ve decided I’d love to come to an event next year!
In my preparation I’ve come across a series of questions and was hoping you lovely people would be able to help me out with some
Can a first time player have been in another nation before switching. For example: a character was previously in Highguard and then moved to Dawn because of a change in beliefs or virtues?
A follow-up to the above: would that character be encouraged to change their name or aesthetic upon changing?
When trying to engage with others, would an object of anachromatic nature (e.g. a tarot deck) be frowned upon or welcomed?
What’s your best advice for glasses wearers to keep thematic to the event?
What are the (preferred) protocols for a knight errant to join a band/earl/house?
If you’re planning to stay in a nearby hotel (recommendations very welcome!) how do late evening activities work and are taxis readily available into the early hours?
Do you have any unique advice for a first time LARPer?
Yes people can change nations any time they want in game with as much or little fuss as they’d like So absolutely you could have grown up in one nation and then moved to another.
Names possibly, Aesthetic definitely as that’s part of the Egregore’s magic which binds everyone together as being in that nation. The Nationality page describes it as “everyone who joins a nation feels a gentle but unrelenting desire to adopt the traditions, cultures and customs of the nation they have joined, and to abandon practices that conflict with them.” It’s basically an IC gloss on the nation look and feel briefs which exist because having a strong visual identity for each nation makes the game cooler.
Tarot decks exist in the Empire, some people have made Empire specific ones but something vaguely historical like the Rider Waite deck wouldn’t raise any eyebrows. If you wanted to do a Tarot reading you’d need to fit it in to how the world works, but I know a bunch of people have done that so I’d start a specific thread on that and ask them how .
Wear your glasses and make sure you bring a spare pare. Accessibility is more important than looks, I mean try not to use your neon green pair but you should be ok. People wear their normal glasses on the field all the time.
I shall let someone who knows Dawn a bit better answer this one.
Time Out (click for a explanation of that) is 1am each night, but there will be people roleplaying with each other after that. The last big official stuff that happens is Conclave and Senate which finish at 11pm on Fri and earlier on Sat, you can see an event schedule here. I’ve only ever commuted off site in a hire van so I’ll let others talk about the practicalities.
YES…let me go find some good stuff I’ve written before and let other people get a word in edgewise
Do ask whatever questions you’ve got and if they’re more specific, don’t be afraid to start a new thread or three when you’ve got them .
There is, to my knowledge, one nearby travelodge that is favoured by those larpers who would rather get off site and sleep under a roof, but everyone I know of who uses it brings their own transportation to the field. There are certainly taxi companies in the area but getting one on site late in the evening will probably be exactly as challenging as it seems like it would be. I’d recommend trying to find someone else making use of the hotel who can be persuaded to drive you in exchange for petrol money - there’s an Empire LRP travel arrangements group on Facebook that might be a good place to look.
Mark’s answered a lot, but to clarify and reinforce a few points:
Nation changes: Frequently. My current IC boss started in Varushka, spent much of his IC life in the League, and is now in Dawn. It’s a similar level of hassle to changing national citizenship in the real world (but if everyone spoke the same language); a certain amount of formality and ceremony, but common.
Glasses: I advise picking a set of glasses (if you have the option) which are fairly close fitting and low-profile. Something with plain, metallic or dark frames. A spare pair is a must. I have had one LARP event where I lost my glasses halfway through, would not reccomend…
Dawnish Houses: Hello, I’m the Dawnish mod…
Knight Errant is a great way to jump into Dawn, because it means you play someone expected to be going around, asking questions, introducing yourself, and getting offered quests. And everyone wants to recruit you.
What is usually done is to pop up at Empire with a Knight Errant costume* and visit the various Houses asking about them. This is easy, gamers LOVE talking about their characters and organisations.
You’d be wanting to join a House, led by an Earl, who would give you a Test of Mettle to complete. This would have you start as Yeofolk Moonandstars, be Sir MoonandStars of House X when on the Test, and finish as Lady (or Lord, or whatever) MoonandStars X when complete.
How this works in play is you’ll be wandering around, talk to various folks, chat to various Earls and see what sort of Houses take your fancy. You can then ask for a Test of Mettle to join that House, from the Earl. They will then set you a quest… (many examples available on request). As a Knight Errant, you aren’t expected to be automatically loyal to that House: you don’t need to camp with them, fight alongside them, or whatever. But most folk generally do, so you’ll see several Houses with their Nobles, their Yeofolk, and a couple of Knights Errant associated.
It’s possible to fail a Test, or give up on it, and perhaps beg for a different one from a different House. It’s possible to be offered a Test by an impressed Earl. It’s even theoretically possible for them to offer adoption on the spot, but that’d take something extreme…
[Did you just kill that hydra by yourself?
I did milord, what of it…
I want to you join my House!
Are you going to set me a Test of Mettle?
Well it was going to be slay some great monstrous beast single-handed, so I think we’ll assume you’ve passed…]
(a band is slightly different, depending on it’s purpose)
*This is a pretty simple costume requiring a yellow sun symbol on blue. Many patterns and hints on these are available, they can be elaborate or basic, and you may be able to purchase them from LARPers if you don’t want to make one yourself.
Advice for New Players:
Erm, general advice we have by the bucketload, here and on the facebook pages…
@Geoffrey_Willoughby this is very thorough and extremely helpful! The Knight Errant query was for my partner in cri–glory(!) who will be at the event with me. I will forward this on to them as I think it’ll be very helpful indeed!
Speaking about myself specifically, I like the idea of being a healer or magic-user of some description but doubt (although please correct me if I’m wrong! ) that the Knight Errant would be the path to follow for that. Could you give me some guidelines of the sort of advancement path someone of that profession might follow in Dawn?
(Crumbs, I’ve been given a rose… single red one… what does this mean… [flicks through flower codes]…oh really? okay…)
Very Dawnish, thank you
Healer or Magic-user, advancement in Dawn…
Firstly, there is no reason those skill sets cannot follow the path of the knight-errant and attain nobility: Dawnish Tests of Mettle are not all martial. A troubadour may have a test to compose or rediscover a legendary song, a magic user may have knowledge to seek or enchantments to raise or even a martial deed to accomplish with magic! About the only archetype in Dawn unlikely to ever be a knight errant is the Seneschal (because money and trade is though of as inglorious).
I played a knight-errant physick, a combat medic, for the first couple of years of the game. His Test was “to save two-score of Dawn from the verge of death on the field of battle”. He spent many a battle and quest ducking through the combatants, patching gaping wounds, administering potions and bandages, and noting the gasped names of those he’d saved. He didn’t make it to forty different Dawnish saved before he fell himself, but it was a glorious attempt.
Other paths a healer or magic user (and they aren’t mutually exclusive) could take would be as trusted physick or apothecary to a House, as war-witch or weaver of enchantments.
One friend of mine plays Morian Carsenere, a ritual mage leading the grand Summer coven of Dawn. Though not a noble for most of the time in play, he gathered and organised the dozens of Summer ritualists needed to cast enchantments that (to be honest, were deemed impossible to organise when the game started) summoned armies of Faerie allies to fight alongside us. Several times per event, each event… Much respect, name known at the highest levels…
Healer can be combat medic or surgeon or apothecary or magical healer (or any combination thereof). Magic user can be battlemage war-witch, or more of a supporting role in battle, or a non-combat mage, or a ritualist of one or more of the six Realms, or again, some combination. Depending on your definition of magic, also the troubadour-priests of Dawn, granting the blessing and prayers of the Virtues on the devoted followers of the Way (“priestly magics”)
Did you have any more specific direction?
For an overview of Dawn, I was invited on the podcast by some friends below. Episode 64 covers Dawn, but they go through all the nations and various sorts of game (the “military game”, the “healers game”, and so on) in other episodes.
First of all, thank you for all of this information, it’s interesting to see there are so many divergent paths in Dawn (but I get the impression there would be many in all nations ).
I suppose my goal, or my character’s goal , is to find glory… through the healing of others.
Don’t get me wrong, as a bystander the immense and powerful glory that comes with battle is awe-inspiring, but I would like to bring a softer, cooler shade of that awe.
When reading through the Dawn aesthetic I saw a lot of references to Pre-raphaelite art and the ladies portrayed in that artwork have a sort of preternatural glow, an evanescence that I’d like to achieve.
So I suppose my ultimate goal is to be a character with renoun and position through the aid of others. I’d also like to be well-known and well-liked and to have enough clout to elevate others over time.
I hope all of this makes sense!
Additionally, thank you for the podcast link! I will definitely give that a listen!
Just from personal experience, I’m a knight errant, and E3 was my first event. I was a healer through most of my first ever skirmish and I was worried about whether or not this would be a Glorious enough path…
It was exceptionally Glorious, and got me a lot of attention from noble houses. Healers are knightly, I assure you.
The Pre-Raphaelite look does turn up in Dawn quite a bit, but I’m afraid I can’t give much advice as to how to attain that one
There is an Imperial Hospital (founded and organised during play in the first year of the game), which has representatives from all nations, and stands by the Sentinel Gate to offer succour and healing to all who make it back…
You could aim some ambitions in that direction, seeking prestige and importance through patching folk back together. Or try to establish yourself as The Dawnish Healer within the nation, the go-to person for healing…? Still, these are things that can be decided later, if interested.
If you choose to avoid the battlefield in-character, I hope you’d have a go joining us monstering Even if you want to stick to non-combat healing, the epic battlefield is something to be experienced, and playing a screaming orc witch-doctor (or whatever is called for) could be an interesting change of pace.
@LadyPomegranate thank you for responding! I’m glad to hear it was a Glorious path! As I’m intending to also heal others I hope to aid you on the battlefield!
@Geoffrey_Willoughby thank you once again for all your support! (now you have a pair of roses, is that more favourable I wonder? ) I hope that being a healer for a group within the nation of Dawn is achievable for me!
I was nervous about entering battle, but between you and Lady Pomegranate I think I will have the courage to try!
Out of interest, regarding the monstering, would a newbie be offered the materials/equipment to do so? If I’m trying to look pretty and am then asked to be an Orc I’m not sure how I’d achieve that
This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you!
Honestly, I’ve been trying to find Empire-related content on YouTube (I’m an audio-learner so I find it hard to retain information I’ve just read) and this was great!
So absolutely you could have grown up in one nation and then moved to another.
and further advice is always very welcome!
) that the Knight Errant would be the path to follow for that. Could you give me some guidelines of the sort of advancement path someone of that profession might follow in Dawn?
) I hope that being a healer for a group within the nation of Dawn is achievable for me!