During the early days of the COVID pandemic, you struggled to function and continue your life. You were terrified, helpless, and forced to confront your mortality and all of the desires that you had never achieved. But then you found him. You don’t remember exactly how you found Gabriel’s Fellowship… but that doesn’t matter. Within his study group, you found an eclectic group of individuals from all over the United States, all of whom were like you and suffering from a desire that was impossible to achieve.
Over the next year, you studied and learned alongside your fellow devotees, even as some in the group drifted away, disappearing from the group and your memory. You learned esoteric history, and how Sedael, judicious and generous, had influenced the lives of the world around you. There were lessons on rituals, self-awareness, and desire, all of which you devoured as if the knowledge was as essential to you as air. These lessons have been powerful and terrible, and they’ve brought you close to the other participants, some of whom you are closer to than your own flesh and blood.
But now it’s September 2021. Your studies have ended, and it’s time to use what you’ve learned. You’re gathering at Gabriel’s retreat, ready to perform the ritual to summon Sedael that can only happen every five years and to finally meet one another in person for the first time instead of over a computer screen. Your heart is filled with tension and excitement; Gabriel has promised that while Sedael’s demands may be steep, your unattainable dream is merely hours away… if you are worthy and willing to pay the price.
Each character in the game will be living somewhere in the United States when the game takes place and will come from a variety of professional and personal backgrounds. In general, no specific ages will be given for the characters on the sheet, but characters will range from 28 to 50 years old.
Participants are welcome to request specific character aspects at the time of sign up (I would like my character to not work in the medical field, I would like to play a parent) though we cannot guarantee that we will be able to accommodate all requests. Additionally, the sign up form will ask people to identify character triggers that they would not feel comfortable exploring in the larp, such as: abuse by a family member, illegal drug use, infidelity, institutionalization, and murder.
None of the characters are truly good nor truly bad; however, their opinion of themselves may be radically different than the opinions of those around them. Each character has a unique set of traits, both good and bad, that shape them and their actions, such as generosity, creativity, adaptability, courage, narcissism, envy, anger, and selfishness. However, all of the characters in Seraph share one abiding trait: desperation.
All characters will be written the second person (you) form and will be written ungendered to allow for more flexibility for the players and in casting. The sheets are expected to be 3-6 pages long.
The larp is centered around the connections between the participants, especially in their closer pairs and groups, but also as a whole. Friday, the arrival to the retreat will kick off with some in-character exercises to get to know each other better and establish trust. After dinner, the first summoning of the Angel will take place, and based on what happens there, it is likely that secrets will be revealed and demand will be presented. It is unlikely that a powerful supernatural being will be willing to grant powerful wishes without getting anything in return, and how the participants respond to that will drive a lot of the play over the coming days.
The groups will have to face their history, secret, lies, and desires and determine if the price that is being asked is one they can and will pay. And if their closest connections are not willing, perhaps there are other people at the retreat they can be aligned with. The larp will end with a confrontation where decisions have to be made. About what their heart's true desire really is, whether they are willing to pay the price being asked, or if what they have worked so hard for was actually just in vain.
The activities we expect to make up the larp are:
A detailed schedule will be released closer to the event, and below should be considered tentative, and subject to modifications. This larp will run continiously from game start Friday to game end Saturday, with a "quiet period" from midnight to 8 am where minimal activities will happen. Your private rooms will always be off-game and it's possible to rest there.
Saturday morning game will resume with brekafast, and we will likely play until 9-11 pm Saturday night depending on how the story progress. Once the game is complete Saturday evening, we will gather in the bar for an afterparty.