Dragonbane
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Dragonbane is a large international live action roleplaying game (LARP) project. The game itself took place from July 27th to August 4th, 2006 in Älvdalen in Sweden, close to the border of Norway. There were over 350 players from several different countries. While there was little media coverage in other countries, it received the attention of Scandinavian newspapers. [1]
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[edit] The game
The game events take place in the fictional village of Cinderhill. The game setting is based on the world of Valenor, from Mike Pohjola's novel Myrskyn aika (Age of the Storm). The setting mixes influences from the late Iron Age and the Middle Ages. The game aims for total immersion and there is no off-game area.
[edit] Organisation and arrangements
Dragonbane is an unusually large LARP project with a budget approaching 1 million euros. Most of the budget is covered by the dozens of corporate sponsors, including several major corporations, such as Hewlett-Packard.
An entire village was built for the game, as was a large electromechanical puppet dragon (with realistic skin and flame-thrower breath).
[edit] Outcome
The Dragonbane project was one of the most ambitious projects in the history of LARP, and some critics expected it would never run. The originally advertised event in Estonia was postponed and moved to Sweden. Less than half of the 1000 player spaces were filled. But still the project went ahead, and after several preliminary events (to help build the site and establish characters) the 5-day game was run.
Several last-minute technical problems restricted the mobility and articulation of the dragon. Some of the camping areas (outside the village) were reported as inadequately provisioned.
Reviews in the UK were mixed, dwelling both on the high standards of immersive environment, and on the technical and organisational flaws. [2]
The game was billed as a single event, and as yet no plans have been announced for similar scale LARPs.
