What is "The Rites of Spring"?

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Rites of Spring (RoS) is a live action roleplaying game (larp) based on works of English Folk Horror. Participants will take on the roles of characters on Spring Island and act out those characters’ actions in response to other characters and organiser arranged stimuli. It is collaborative, not competitive, and together all participants create the story of Spring Island and its inhabitants.

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Where and when will this happen?

The event will take place between Thursday 10th and Sunday 13th April 2025 on the beautiful Danish island of Livø. 

 

Who is it for?

You! We hope. As long as you are aged over 18, we will welcome you. If you have a long standing love of the genre and have watched all the genre appropriate films, or whether you don’t know what the genre is about at all, we think that you can join us and enjoy the game. The game will be in English, and we welcome all players who feel comfortable roleplaying with English as the  primary language.

 

What will the participants be doing?

Aside from taking on the roles of the villagers or the outsiders newly arrived on the island, we expect that players will be delving into the secrets of the island and its inhabitants; trying to further their characters’ agendas; participating in the politics of the community; preparing and participating in the Spring festival, and immersing themselves in the atmosphere of the game. Each character will have an association with an island "family" group and an island society, all with their own drives and agendas.

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What about characters?

Each character is written to have goals and aims that involve them in island activities, present them with secrets and give them contacts amongst their fellows. Island residents will have an established role in the community, a shared history with the island and its people, and a vested interest in the future of the island. Visitors are a mix of the curious, the adventurous and the lost; each drawn to Spring island for their own reasons, and with their own secrets. Every character will have an island "family" that they are resident with, and a society that includes other likeminded individuals.

 

What about gender roles?
We are very keen to ensure that there are no mandated gender roles, whilst leaving open the opportunity to play on traditional roles if all the players in question should wish to. We have an anti-discrimination policy that prohibits discrimination against any player based on gender presentation (amongst other things). We are committed to providing a space in which all gender presentations and non-binary folks feel welcome and to enable all players to have the game that they want.

 

What about accommodation?

All of the full price tickets will be accommodated indoors, in the many wonderful buildings on Livø. The accommodation will generally be bunks in small occupancy dormitories. Buildings generally have several shared bathrooms, communal areas and kitchens. Whilst we will endeavour to fit sleeping requirement requests to the facilities available, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to meet all requests. The subsidised tickets are exactly the same as the full priced ones. 

 

And food/drink?

Food and drink is being provided by the good people of Livø. They will ensure that everyone gets fed and that dietary requirements are met. We will also provide tea and coffee for all to ensure that everyone has access to hot drinks throughout the game. There will also be snacks available.

 

What kind of scary is this game going to be?

This is a tricky question to answer, as different people find different things scary. This is not a creature feature, nor do we expect wall to wall jump scares; the horror is a creeping kind of sinister and almost always wears a human face. We hope to generate atmosphere, rather than rely on jumps or gore.

 

What else do you have planned?

We intend to have an in-game festival, with island traditions. We will update this with more things as we confirm them.

 

Alcohol?

We have a tavern on the island which will be open during the game. They will serve several types of alcohol at reasonable prices. But, please, please, drink responsibly. We expect that there will be a lot of play after dark, and if you are drunk we will have to ask you to drop out of the game to sober up, and in extremis we will end your participation in the event.

 

How do we get to and from the island?

There is a ferry that runs early on the Thursday morning and returns on Sunday afternoon. Ferry tickets are included in your ticket price. Please ensure that you do not miss the ferry as we have no other way to get you to the island.

 

Coaches to the venue?

We will look into the feasibility of running a coach from an central location, probably Aarhus city which has excellent bus and train links to the rest of Denmark and an international airport. The location that we are sailing from is not extremely far from there, but coach logistics will require some thinking and consultation with those who purchase tickets. There will likely be an additional charge for any such coach. We'll share more information in due course.

 

Wednesday night?

We are unable to offer inclusive accommodation for the Wednesday night, but players are likely to need to be at the Ferry from Rønbjerg Havn on Thursday at around lunchtime. We will update the schedule as we have it.

 

Money, money, money?

Rites of Spring is being run financially to not lose money, rather than to make a profit. Our budget is high but tight, and we do not anticipate any money being left unspent. In the event that there is any additional money left over it will be used to buy the writers a drink or something.

 

In the event of a weather disaster?

So, there is a small, but existent, possibility that the weather is so horrid on our chosen weekend that the ferry can not sail. In this case we will have to cancel the event. We will insure for this eventuality, and hope to be able to offer full ticket price refunds. We will not be able to offer refunds for ancillary expenses like flights and transport for players, so are strongly encouraging people to take out their own travel insurance to cover these.

 

What happens if I miss the ferry?

Don’t. Please, please don’t. The ferry runs ONLY at the time we travel and will not run again until the event is over. We have no way to get you to the island aside from the ferry. There is the possibility to charter a boat, but we have no idea how much that would cost. We can’t offer refunds to people who miss the ferry.

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Will we need to participate in pre-play?

No, we do not anticipate that there will be pre-play expected of our participants. Characters will be crafted for each player and we will create connections for each of them, rather than leaving you to create them yourself. If you wish to create shared backstory with others, this will be allowed, but only within the context of your written connections. The game is rife with secrets and mysteries, and sharing these will damage the game for all. 

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What's all this about a previous game?

Originally the game was scheduled to run in April 2020 on the island of Lundy in the UK. Regrettably, this fell right at the start of the British leg of the Covid-19 pandemic. We were forced to cancel the game, and offer refunds as best we could, given our insurance had a pandemic exemption. It was a painful time, emotionally and financially for us all. After price rises and a less than helpful attitude to the cancellation, we made the decision to move away from Lundy for the game.

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Will there be multiple runs of the Rites of Spring?

Never say never. BUT all of the organisers of the larp are volunteers, giving time, money and effort to providing the game for you all, our beloved participants. Organising such an endeavour is a non-trivial commitment, and we are unlikely to commit to such a thing at this point. We may decide to run it again, if all goes well, but I wouldn't lay money on it.

 

More will be added to this FAQ as we get asked more questions and get more answers...

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