Interview: Marcel
For the first time in the history of the DS Times we have the privilege to interview somebody from outside DS. Since a topic a few months ago about larp, we thought it would be fun to give you a little more information about it. After some digging we found Marcel Kohler, game master of a larp organization called Aragnes, who was willing to speak with us, and lift the curtain that hangs on the world of larp up a bit.
Q: Marcel, first of all I thank you for your time. The reason we invited you for this interview is to show our members a small part of the world that is called larp. first of all could you describe us a bit about what larp is?
A: Larp is short for live action role play. It looks a bit like improvisation theatre where everybody plays a specific role. Most larp events have a Middle Ages setting or somewhere before or after that, but there are also larp events that are set in the future. With most larps there is also a bit of fantasy added to the Middle Ages, for example elves and dwarfs.
Q: Can we kind of compare it with the books of Dungeons and Dragons, but then set in a real life format?
A: Yes you can, although I have to say that all larps are very different, so not all larps are like that. but that is all in the hands of the people who organize it.
Q: Is this hobby a big thing in the Netherlands? Compared to other European countries like Germany for example.
A: No, it is relatively small; Germany and Great Britain have a huge number of larpers, and so do the Scandinavian countries. They are much more professional than the larps in Holland. In Germany for example there are 2 larps with around 3000 people, and in Great Britain there is one with 4000.In Holland, the biggest is around 500 people. I think that is because the Dutch don't work together in the larp scene.
Q: In what way do you think that?
A: well, I know, partly from my experience as an organizer of a larp event that it is hard to get people to work together. They don't want to share their places where they have an event. Because they are afraid there will be too much larp groups on that place. The number of good larp places in Holland is low. That is maybe because there are too much larp groups in Holland, or not enough larpers.
Q: how did you come into this world?
A: A friend of my played on the vortex, which is the biggest larp group in Holland. And you needed somebody of 18+to guide you if you were under 16, I was 14 at that time. My friend had somebody to guide him, but he didn't want 2 people to guide so therefore I couldn't come with him but; then came shadowrifts.
Q: And you thought you’d give that a try? And the age limits were different?
A: Yes, it was 14+, and you didn't need a guide. So that was my first experience (There I played a Scotsman) and after that I was hooked. I first bought a sword, which broke down in a few weeks, a couple of days before the event .And then I quickly bought a mace, made some leather pants, a shirt and a cape and then iIwas ready for my first adventure.
Q: and then you are on the event, it is “time in” as it is called and then what happens?
A: Well, at first you think, what the hell am I doing here? But then you go and look if you find other people, chat a little and then find out there is some sort of problem somewhere. Then, as the character you play, you try to solve the problem. So all the characters help to solve the problem or problems in their own way. And the characters get help from so called NPCs, non playing characters. Those NPCs also play a vital role in the story that supports the problem. And at the end of most larps, there is a big battle where the problem is finally solved.
Q: As in so far for the talking, let's start poking each other?
A: Well, a lot of the immature larpers don't even take the time to talk but start bashing right away. usually the NPCs start the fight and the characters try to kill them all. There isn't always a good reason, or at least not at the time of the battle. It is most of the time just the conclusion that comes from the problem or a last desperate try from a big monster or somebody with great power who sends his followers to kill the characters.
Q: What made you at one point decide to be different in a way to make your own larp?
A: Another friend of mine, who has joined me a couple of times on a larp event started to organize some small meetings with larp friends from our village, and that was a lot of fun. He then wanted to make it a bit bigger and so he asked me, because I had the most experience of the group of friends, and together with another friend we started to organize a play test. It was free, but we asked everybody to give us a bit of money so we could make clothes and other necessary things. It was held in a public park, so there were a lot of other people around, but it was very fun and we decided to make it bigger. We got in contact with the larp group Cauldron. They provided us with a lot of things on our first real event. Things like clothes, food , a place to play where there where no hikers like in the public park, and we learned a lot from it. We did another event under the flag of cauldron but after that we decided that it was time to start for our own. We didn't have total freedom under the cauldron flag and we wanted to change that. At some point Cauldron decided that a couple of friends of ours were not allowed to come, so we really wanted to do everything on our own. So now we have total freedom and after a slow start and slowly growing our larp 'fan base' we are ready to make great larp events. From day one my goal was to make larps the way I think they should be; and that means that having a good time, both in the game but also before and after, was my main priority.
Q: The event that you are a game master of, is called Aragnes (www.aragnes.nl). Can you briefly describe this fantasy world everything happens in?
A: Well, it is set in Medieval times, where a king has trouble running his country, and where all the people with a lot of money rule the country. the problems are becoming too big, so he was glad to find new land in the west. he wants to colonize it and start a new kingdom there. He sends out scouts and they return with good news, saying it is a very good place to live, with many resources, such as wood, stone, iron, water and food. The king then sends out a big party to build a small camp on the new land and to further investigate the land. they soon found out it is not so safe as it first looked, but luckily they get some help from people that have been living there for much longer. As a character in the new land, you are one of the settlers in the camp, trying to expand it, increasing the king’s power. Hopefully to start a new kingdom.
As a character you can either be somebody who really wants to help the king reach his goal, be somebody who wants to help out but also wants to make a lot of money or power or you are somebody who really wants to do his own thing and doesn't want to help the king (those are usually people who are hiding in the ship to the new land because they are not allowed to go).
Q: Let’say I’m very interested in trying to start in the world of larp. What is the best way for me to get in it?
A: You could start out as an NPC, where the organization has weapons and clothes so you can try it, but it won't cost you a lot of money. Playing as an NPC is usually cheaper than as a character. On Aragnes NPCs get a lot of different roles to play, and they can also choose most of their roles themselves, which is pretty rare in the world of larp. Usually as an NPC you get a role and you have to play it, whether you like it or not. But that is not the way it is with us. And we plan to do 2 events each year, one before the summer and one after. The next event will be in March, April or May, depending on the location (we haven’t decided yet). We are also on the Mid Winter Fair in the Archeon, a fair with some larp groups as well as a lot of merchants where you can by larp stuff.
Q: So we can just hop by when you’re at the Midwinter fair? And were is the stand of Aragnes then?
A: It's the little farm next to the little hunebed . It has a really tiny door, if you walk form the entrance trough the street from the Middle Ages then it is the first farm on your left hand.
With this I want to close this interview, I want to thank you for your time and effort.