In Mind’s Eye Theatre (MET), immersion is a term used to describe how real an event feels to a participant or how connected players feel to their experiences during an event. As a concept, immersion is an immeasurable sense of experience that players and game designers use to describe how much suspension of disbelief is required to connect to or invest oneself in an environment and one’s own character. If a participant needs to use a higher degree of suspension of disbelief in order to be invested in the setting and scenario, then there is a reduced sense of immersion level in the experience.
Immersion can be influenced by a number of variables introduced by setting materials, the story being created with the participants, the event space, player-to-player interactions, and the overall mindset that a participant brings into the experience. A player who isn’t looking for an immersive experience is one of the most difficult people in the world for Storytellers to entertain. When it comes to creating an immersive experience, game designers should provide environments and techniques that silently encourage immersion without figuratively screaming “you should be in character” at participants.
Immersive Event Design Before an event begins, Storytellers who strive to use all possible tools to encourage players to have an enjoyable experience should first consider the steps they are taking to encourage a higher quality of immersion. Creating an immersive space not only helps with the suspension of disbelief, but also helps foster an experience that participants will be more likely to remember and wish to have again. There are several immersive event design techniques that an event host can use while preparing for an event that will not only create positive play spaces, but will also give players unspoken direction and tools to further develop a quality immersive experience.
These steps include site synergy, event disclosure, event space design, and intentional scene setting techniques. Site Synergy Site synergy is finding a location that has design, flow, and visual aspects that all enforce and enhance the game experience you are trying to produce. You will need to consider both basic and story-related aspects of site synergy as you develop your event. Consider how your story and site play off of one another. Basic aspects of site synergy include:
• Finding a place that offers privacy or a non-engaged audience that will work with your event,
• Finding a location that is affordable, and
• Finding a location available during times you want. These qualities will ensure your game location has the presence or separation it needs for dramatic role-play without unwanted engagement, will ensure you find a site that fits within your budget, and allows for use during periods of time when your customer base is available to easily participate. While a more social and political MET: Vampire The Masquerade game could take place in a private back room of a bar downtown, the same could not be said for your multiple-hundred-person MET: Werewolf The Apocalypse game. With more participants, more noise, phrases, and actions occur, and non-participants may find them unacceptable. The fewer participants you have during an event, the higher the price point of your event rises (or the more restrictive your search becomes, based on finances). However, achieving site synergy requires further consideration beyond the basics. The location you choose can either enhance or break the immersion of your game depending simply on how well the nature of the story matches the environment. Hotel rooms require massive investment in decoration to not look like hotel rooms; if you are participating in a Mind’s Eye Theatre game that takes place in someone’s home, it is going to be very difficult to make that environment feel like anything other than a game taking place in someone’s home. While budget often directly affects your site selection, as an event planner, you need to be flexible with your vision. If the only site you can find is a location that requires a vast investment in set design, props, and imagination so it fits the LARP you are running, you are creating an uphill battle for yourself. If you cannot find a location that visually matches the design, focus, and nature of the narrative of the story you are looking to tell, then you should consider adapting the story and setting of your event to match your location’s strengths and weaknesses. Instead of telling the players sitting in a rental hall that they are in a megaSilently Encouraging Immersion Pucci technological hub that can’t realistically be represented, adapt the story to make it match the space. If the site that you find for your Vampire: The Masquerade game happens to be in the basement of a local church, then you may be better off writing a story that revolves around corruption of faith instead of trying to force an incompatable site to match your story idea. If the site you find is a few hundred acres of woodland, your Werewolf: The Apocalypse game may probably be better suited focusing on the ritual, spirit, and community aspects of Werewolf, instead of focusing on the fight against the Wyrm. Setting Player Expectations Once you have a story and a site that work together to build immersion, the next step is to make sure your potential event participants are clearly informed about the focus, content, and intent of the game you are hosting. Telling your players which source materials you are using is not enough information to earn your players’ investment. If you want your players to be immersed in your game, then as the game’s host, you need to make sure that the advertising matches the event. Explain in detail how you will frame your game’s maturity levels, themes, and content, beyond simply saying that your game is a Vampire game, a Werewolf game, or any other type of game. As a Mind’s Eye Theatre Storyteller, if you are hosting a game that focuses on the occult, emotional conflict, combat, political intrigue, or darker content, then it is your responsibility to provide your players with enough information to make an informed decision about their participation. This process of pre-event disclosure not only ensures your players can make decisions regarding their comfort levels, but it also ensures you will have players that actively want to participate in the style of game you are hosting. A player who knows what an event’s content will be and wants to be a part of the experience as described is more likely to be invested in that event. It’s only logical that a player who wants to be a part of the shared story will contribute more to the game than someone who is actively attempting to push the story focus in a different direction. Suggested Reading: Disclosure Techniques There are several disclosure techniques that may assist you in reaching your goals. Consider reading The Mixing Desk of LARPi and investigating innehållsförteckningii: the creation of an ingredient list (much like a cooking ingredient list) for your intended LARP’s experience. Also see “Creating an Ingredient List for your Game” on page 14, which further describes the incredibly vital process of event content transparency. Space Allocation Now that you have a story and site that complement each other, and you have spent some time determining and expressing your intended content, it is now time to consider your event space design. Reviewing the location where your event will take place allows you to not only figure out what decorations and scene-setting items you might need, but it will also help you allocate event space to match your game’s needs. If the mechanical design of your game requires out-of-game space for story elements that take place “off-site,” then you should designate play space as a dedicated narration area that is physically removed from the primary play space. If the theme and story of your event would benefit from a space for players to roleplay “off-camera” scenes, such as downtime actions or prelude interactions that the players decide their immortal characters would have had decades ago—then consider setting a designated Black Boxiii space specifically for these needs. lengthy, you may need a space from which to manage and direct volunteers and staff. Consider assigning a portion of the game space for logistics. Focusing on the division between in-character space and out-of-character space helps players’ immersion. Without a designated area to handle out-of-character or Storyteller narration needs, your participants will eventually drop character in your assigned play space and damage the immersion of all the participants around them. To help prevent character-dropping in the active play space, provide a space for your participants to use for out-ofcharacter needs, such as taking personal phone calls, reviewing rulebooks, or taking breaks. Ensure that this area is sufficiently removed from the primary play space, so as to avoid having the out-of-character needs of your players interrupt or conflict with the roleplaying in the primary play space. Lead by Example Be sure that you teach your participants to use these inand out-of-character spaces by not only instruction but also by example. Make sure that any staff members keep their out-of-character interactions and narrated scenes in the appropriate play spaces, away from the primary i. The Mixing Desk of Larp created for The Larpwriter Summer School 2012. Many contributors come from Fantasiforbundet, Education center POST and LajvVerkstaden. For the 2013 Knutepunkt books, the article The Mixing Desk of Larp was written by Martin Nielsen and Martin Eckhoff Andresen. ii. Innehållsförteckning was designed and developed by Karin Edman. iii. The origins of the Black Box technique are uncertain. It is believed to have first been introduced as a technique in Nordic larp at Swedish, En stilla middag med familjen in 2007, where it was used as a meta room. roleplaying space. Your Werewolf: The Apocalypse game could be decorated with a movie director’s budget and with resources harvested from actual movie sets, but once your staff and players drop character within your play space, your event’s immersion suffers. Any players walking through the space who are completely immersed in their characters’ viewpoints and mindsets will have their illusion shattered when they see one of your staff members sitting with six other players at a table in the center of your play space participating in an “off-site” scene. Set Decorations and Props Finally, you should make decisions about scene-setting. When choosing decorations and props, keep reoccurring themes and consistency in mind when making design decisions. Color Palettes Choose a color palette of four to five colors and keep as many of your recurring props within that color scheme as possible. Reoccurring color palettes allow your players to either consciously or subconsciously associate your defined color scheme with an experience or story. If you have enough preparation time, research the color palettes used for movies or cartoons that share similar themes with your story. Your players may not consciously notice that the candles in a vampire’s haven are a deep blue, the fabrics are an orange-red like sunset, the tablecloths are an offwhite that is similar to sand, and the golden fabric hanging over the mirrors is metallic and similar to the same shade as treasure. However, when a Lasombra NPC enters the room from the darkest portion of shadows, a story will have been told without saying a word. The environment, despite using modern props, will feel like a pirate’s den. Real-World Inspiration In addition to setting and following color palettes for your props, also consider decorative and architectural inspiration that matches the history and themes of your event. If your game focuses heavily on politics, you can draw inspiration from time periods and regions known for historic politics in order to wordlessly encourage the players to match the experience. For example, using visual cues inspired by ancient Greece may help inspire philosophical or political debates, or “high-minded” interaction, while using military surplus items and wartime paraphernalia will silently encourage militaristic and conflict-related themes. When striving to build tension and encourage your players to immerse themselves in the spirit of combat and wartime, you could provide World War II reproduction table maps in the area where your werewolf characters make tactical decisions. To foster a spirit of freedom and rebellion into a scene, your local werewolf pack could leave their biker rockers, helmets, and crushed beer cans (the older the better) sitting around. These objects, while not directly related to the story, will encourage thoughts of rebellion and freedom, similar to the life of a 1970s biker. Regardless of your theme, thoughtfully choosing decorations as part of your scene-setting efforts will enhance your participants’ immersion. These techniques are not the only practices that can assist you in wordlessly building player immersion. Assisting players in in the creation of diametrically opposed characters will also enhance immersion, as will using rituals and techniques to assist players in transitioning to their characters’ headspaces. The points discussed above can be considered well before eager players arrive to take the lion’s share of a Storyteller’s time. From one game designer to another, I hope you choose to make active decisions in your set designs and, above all else, continue to create shared stories. Biography Michael Pucci is the Chief Creative Officer for both Eschaton Media INC and the Imagine Nation Collective. Michael first started running LARPs as a hobby in 1995 and since then has gone on to create several LARPs and interactive experiences, some of which include the Dystopia Rising LARP Network, Chronos Universal LARP System, Devil Days, Sleepy Hollow: School of the Arcane, Utopia Descending, A Series of Hauntings, and American Excess. Michael has worked on projects such as the 4-Horsemen of the Apocalypse ARG, I AM ZOMBIE by Make Believe Games, Writers Blocks, and Project: Paradigm, and he is accredited as a contributor or resource on several other projects.
Originally published in Mind’s Eye Theatre: Immersion Secrets by By Night Studios. Presented here under Resources for chronicles and live play.