Outpost Elysium: Shadows
A small interlude larp for the Outpost Elysium campaign.
By signing up, you confirm that you have read and accepted the Code of Conduct as well as the larp rules and policies.
It’s been 8 months since the outpost failed to pay the Hyenas their tribute. As a result, the raider group’s patrols have withdrawn. The roads outside Elysium are now unsafe.
Most of the people in the outpost have gone. Some migrate with the seasons, many have gone to other, better outposts for safety, and some have died. The winter population of Elysium is small, consisting of citizens and of newly arrived refugees.
Uncertainty hangs heavy. The outposters try to keep daily life going, but food is beginning to run low and spare parts are becoming hard to come by. Most of the effort now goes into keeping the outpost functioning, both practically and socially.
The larp is about these days of waiting, worry, and everyday struggle.
Events leading up to this larp
- The raider group called Hyenas has left the area, leaving Elysium without protection.
- Some people were killed or chased away in the first few wild mutant or skirmish attacks, but Elysium is too small and insignificant to attract large groups of raiders, who prefer to stay on the roads.
- Since then, many caravans have been attacked near Elysium. As a result, medicine, spare parts, ammo, and food are now running critically low.
- Refugees from nearby farms and hunting groups have arrived. Some seem trustworthy, others not.
- There is an ongoing attempt of starting a council for the future of Elysium. It’s not easy getting it up and running. During winter, they are few people, and they are lacking weapons and organization to keep the outpost safe.
Is this larp for me?
These are the themes and the content we want to explore for this larp. You can of course opt out and not engage in a scene with these themes or any other, but you must accept and expect to see other people engaging in them. These themes also describe the kind of vibe we are after for this interlude larp.
- Deteriorating mental health
- Illness and death, loss of loved ones
- Betrayal and distrust
- Survival in harsh conditions
- Boredom
- Limited food
- Lack of resources
- Difficult choices
- Low intensity anxiety and stress
- Threats of the unknown
- Small-scale political power struggles
This interlude larp in the Outpost Elysium campaign is a bit different than the main larp. If you are unfamiliar with the OE campaign, you will find a summary of the last two years here. We welcome questions on email, in the Facebook group and the Discordserver.
Players will portray a group of characters who are spending a cold and dark winter at Outpost Elysium. The outpost is suffering from lack of caravan traffic and most people are gone for the winter, or for good. Others have traveled to other outposts. Those who remain fight a daily struggle and must secure food and water, as well as handle a severe lack of medicine and spare parts. The mood is low, but not without hope.
OE: Shadows might be a challenging larp for some. Themes and scenes can be mature and sombre. It will be cold and dark and you will probably be hungry. For this interlude larp, we will not have any entertainment businesses in the outpost.
There will be scarcity of food and resources and very few comforts. No comfortable beds, limited heating indoors, limited electricity, no running water and no meals that are prepared and served by the organizers.
This is not a larp for everyone. The organizers will not adapt the larp to those who feel it is not a match for them.
Requirements
As a player, you should expect more rigorous vetting of characters, where we will accept or disapprove concepts more strictly. Because this is a smaller larp, we want to ensure all characters are on the same page of the same book, and fit together thematically. Many of the regular characters and businesses in Outpost Elysium will not fit this particular larp, but may return for the next main larp in August.
If you have an existing OE character that doesn’t fit this particular larp, you are still welcome to sign up with another character, and you are not required to carry this character over to future OE larps.
The events of this larp may affect the themes of the main larp in August. The organisers aim to continually improve and develop the story of Outpost Elysium, to make it feel like a living, breathing world that continuously changes.
FAQ
When does the larp start and end?
Players may arrive on Thursday to build if they choose. We will provide some basic tools and materials that may help you create the kind of space that is suitable for the setting.
The larp starts Friday morning when you wake up, and building continues then if needed. If you can’t arrive on Thursday, you arrive ingame on Friday at your leirsure. We end the larp on Saturday evening with an after party. Sunday morning is for cleanup. Everyone helps out. You will bring all your garbage with you, or burn it on Saturday night. You will leave nothing at Bockaby.
What do you mean with food scarcity?
For the purpose of the larp’s theme, we want to create a feeling of critical lack of food. This means that we want players to plan their ingame food accordingly, and we challenge you to intentionally take this element into your play. No lavish meals and nothing you can’t cook over a bonfire or a simple gas burner. Consider that fresh foods would be scarce, and that canned foods are more relevant. People should argue about food, and value whatever little they have.
You, the player, do not have to go hungry, but we certainly want you to play on it. Make your food, play on it being little and maybe even bad, but sorely needed. Later, you may sneak away offgame and eat some protein bars or extra food if you want.
We will provide drinking water, toilet facilities and firewood.
Under no circumstance do we want to see food store bags, snacks or soda in the ingame area.
How will we sleep?
Players will sleep in the buildings of the play area, or may choose to sleep off site in whatever way they want. We encourage you to sleep in tighter spaces to conserve heat, and to carefully plan your sleeping gear to keep yourself as comfortable as possible.
The organisers will not provide any tents or other sleeping arrangements.
We will not allow any vehicles in the ingame area during playtime at this larp. If you want to sleep in your car, you must park it well outside the area.
What type of character fits this larp?
For OE: Shadows, the hard knuckled survivor type would fit well. As would characters who deeply care about Elysium and are motivated to stay through the winter. Characters in crisis, who have come to Elysium as refugees may also fit in. Your character does not have to be a hero or extraordinary, they can be a regular person in every way. Highly anti-social characters will probably have a hard time fitting in. No robots at this larp, unless they are a non-functioning piece of scenography. You have no spare parts, remember?
What sort of characters are not a good fit for this larp?
Comical or cutey patootey characters are a poor match for this larp. The setting invites misery and feelings of hopelessness, and someone who is unphased by the situation would not add to the atmosphere, but rather take away from it.
Will there be organiser led plots and events?
We are currently not planning any larger events or plotlines, but we may offer some simple plot hooks.
What about the mutant discrimination theme from OE 2025
Mutant discrimination, which was the main larp theme in 2025, still exists, but much less prevalent. 8 months is not enough for it to vanish entirely, but in winter there are other, more pressing matters. Mutants are tolerated, as long as they do nothing to harm Elysium or other people living there.
There are no mineral samples in Elysium at this larp, and we do not want any characters to have them either.
So…this is a larp where we can’t have fun?
If that’s your takeaway from reading this page, this is probably not the larp for you. Characters who are in distress and suffer from hunger, uncertainty and who are lackluster might still have fun. They will probably try to have some sort of amusement simply to stay sane. But instead of a night club or a swanky bar, they’d be drinking moonshine out of a paper bag. Instead of a fun-filled casino, they would roll dirty dice on the floor in a low key effort to play games or gamble. Instead of dancing the night away, they might sing songs and huddle up to stay warm and keep their spirits up. They are miserable, but they’re still human.
This isn’t the larp for grand showmanship and late night beats. It’s not the larp for fancy meals or comedy shows. It’s not a larp for cute and innocent characters. The characters at this larp are ordinary people who are in a bad place. They suffer under the wait and the lack of resources, but their survival has toughened them…hardened them. They make do with what they have – and that is good enough. We want the players to embrace the vision of a Type 2 experience (Type 2 is when the character is having a bad time, but the player is having fun).