MET "Immersion Secrets"

Last year, By Night Studios (the current publishers of Mind’s Eye Theatre) announced that they would be publishing a book of essays on immersion and consent techniques. They released a preview of it at their recent WoD: Berlin convention, and there’s a free preview of it up on DriveThruRPG:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/212480/Minds-Eye-Theatre-Vampire-The-Masquerade-Immersion-Secrets-Preview

The preview has three essays:

  • “OK Check-In Technique” (Maury Brown and Johanna Koljonen) - a quick guide to the OK check-in and why you might want to use it in a WoD game.
  • “Ritualizing the LARP Experience” (Sarah Lynne Bowman) - on bleed, the magic circle, de-roling, debriefs etc.
  • Strategies for Improving Communication Between Players and Game Staff (Jessica Karels) - about the WoD rumour mill and how to deal with it.

If you’re interested in any of these things, its worth downloading. The full version should be out later this month.

The full version of this has now been released:

In addition to the above, I also found these essays interesting:

  • “Creating an Ingredient List for your Game” (Danielle Lauzon) - about the importance of setting expectations for a larp, both about content (themes and play-style), and player behaviour (codes of conduct, alcohol policies etc). Its all obvious advice, and at the same time frequently overlooked.
  • “Care and Community in Competitive Play: Negotiation Tools for MET Chronicles” (Maria Cambone): Highlights areas where players should negotiate consent during play, and introduces a “tap out” technique (similar in practice to look-down) to allow players to bow out of a scene they no longer wish to participate in.
  • “Combating Harassment Proactively in LARP” (Renee Ritchie): A good quick guide to things both players and GMs can do to improve safety.