About the LARP

Here you can find the design information for the larp. If you have any questions, please ask.

About Lockdown

“Lockdown” is a larp set inside a brutal prison in the near future and taking place in a real decommissioned prison facility. Players take on the roles of prisoners, each belonging to a particular gang or faction within the prison walls. Will you seize the rare opportunities to gain an inch of control over your life? Will you get drawn into politics and gang wars that make up life behind bars? When the riot comes will you fight or will you hide?

The game will be mostly sandbox in nature, although there will be plot items on the character sheets for players to use, and a small handful of scripted events to introduce plot into the story. The main focus during the game will be on the interpersonal drama between the prisoners and the various gangs they belong to. Pre-written relationships and plot items will help you with this.

Content Warnings

Prison life, prison violence, gangs, bullying and intimidation. Fascism, authoritarianism, political oppression. Death penalty, torture, murder, assault, crime of almost all flavours.

Note: Sexual violence, sexual assault and sexual harassment of any kind will NOT be part of the game. Neither will sexism, racism, homophobia or other kinds of discrimination and bigotry based on real life characteristics.

What to expect:

A 360-degree prison look and feel – it’s a real prison, and players will be supplied with uniforms etc.
A mixture of characters in prison for different reasons. Everyone has been convicted of a crime – some of a standard criminal nature, some of a political nature. A few prisoners are even on death row. Of course, whether you are actually guilty of the crimes for which you have been convicted is a different matter entirely.
Surviving in prison and finding a way to make your mark.
Different gangs and factions, each with their own themes and play experience. Each faction will have a de facto leader of sorts. Leadership may change during the game, depending on player actions.
Competition between groups and between individuals, and the interactions, feuds and alliances between different gangs and factions.
Dealing with other people in close confinement, whether they be friends, enemies, other gangs or the guards.
Experiencing the consequences of your actions, whether they are the crimes that you were jailed for, or the things you do in the prison.
Finding ways to gain elements of control over your life – Rioting, taking hostages, smuggling contraband… Opportunities will present themselves, but will you take advantage of them?
Raging against an unfair despotic regime.
Building up tensions until everything explodes into a riot.
Status levels between characters – those at the top of the pile lording it over those beneath them…
… But also expect movement between those status levels during the game – both up and down!
Emotionally tough play, but also opportunities for humour and hope.
Play on bullying and harassment (but not of a sexual nature or based on real life characteristics such as race, gender, sexuality, disability etc.).
A mixture of organiser-led, character sheet-led and player-led plot and play.
A pre-written character with relations, an assigned faction, and plot hooks.
A barter economy based on player-supplied minor contraband (such as chocolate and cigarettes) and organiser-supplied major contraband (such as drugs, phones and weapons).
Calibrate often between players to ensure you are giving each other the play experience you all want.
Volunteers will play the guards. They are cruel and ruthless and will hinder your schemes… unless there is a riot, of course.

What not to expect:

Escaping from prison. Escape is impossible and everyone knows it. Instead, this is about making the most of life behind bars.
Being able to carry out all your goals successfully. Indeed, failing may be more fun.
Any play regarding gender. The prison is intended to be a melting pot of people of all gender identities (including trans). All characters will be written without gender, and can be given whatever pronouns the player chooses. This is intended to be a safe game for people of all gender identities.
Discrimination, bullying and harassment based on real life stuff such as race, gender, sexuality etc. In-universe fictional alternatives will be provided.
Nudity - everyone should always be wearing top and bottoms, regardless of gender.

A sociological study of mass-incarceration. In real life, there are many complex and interconnecting reasons for people ending up in prison, including systematic racism, poverty, mental health and many more. This game will not be examining these issues. In the game, the reasons for people being in prison will be very simple – you were convicted (rightly, wrongly or politically) of a crime by the regime and sentenced to jail (and in a few cases to death).
(But why not look at these issues?
1) I’m not in any way a sociologist and am not equipped with the knowledge and expertise needed to do the subject justice.
2) Bringing in the real life issues would detract from the core fantasy of the game – namely being badasses in prison).

Play Style:

“Play to lose” – Make terrible decisions and enjoy the consequences of them!
“Play to lift” – Enhance other people’s play by reacting to them appropriately, treating them like the badass their character is (or the weakling in the case of some).
Don’t set out to ‘win’ – think about giving play to others. Calibrate often between players to ensure you are giving each other the play experience you all want.
Expect characters to be rude and aggressive, but remember it’s just part of the game and nothing personal.
This game is not intended to be fully transparent – characters will have some pre-written secrets from each other, and it is intended for these to come out naturally in play. However, you are welcome to set up scenes for each other to maximise the impact of when they do. The secrets are intended to give play to both you and other people, so share them, don’t hoard them!
During the game, you have freedom to do what you want with your character and to develop their story however you choose (within the limits of the setting and safety rules). If you get stuck during the game, please come and talk to us as we can offer suggestions and take actions to help you out.
To Be Confirmed: We may be able to offer blackbox play – we have some lovely space available for it, and are considering how best to use it. More information on what we are able to do with this feature will come later.