Intercon N

Run at Intercon N

by Tyra Larsdatter Grasmo, Frida Sofie Jansen and Trine Lise Lindahl; published in "Larps from the factory" (2013)

It's your first real house party, no parents, where anything might happen. A game about being a teenager, about fitting in, and about social status and knowing your place in the hierarchy.

The gist of this larp is to give the players the opportunity to re-live both the good and bad feelings of their teen years, to see the situation from different perspectives and most of all: to remember when emotions and the small events of everyday teen life were the most important things in the whole wide world.

A deck of cards are used to indicate high school’s unspoken, but oh-so-public popularity rating. The Hearts are the popular girls led by their Queen. The cool guys are The Spades. The Clubs are the alternative people that are engaged in politics or culture. And lastly you have The Diamonds, the outsiders and nerds whom no one likes and who stick together because they have no one else.

The idea for this game came from one of the designers, a fifteen-year-old in the midst of the awkwardness and social intrigues that dominate the high school experience. Because the game designers grew up in three different decades, we feel we’ve found some of the essence of teenage life. We want participants to play the teens of today, but they are welcome to bring the emotions of their own youth — whenever that was — along with them.

Age 15+ without GM permission.

Warnings: this game deals with issues of queerness and about finding acceptance: several characters have leanings towards queerness, and several characters are homophobic. (And in one case, both). In addition, the game has social status and social pressure running through it, so lower-status characters may encounter some bullying. This game includes mechanics for kissing/making out which involve light touching of hands.