At the beginning of the larp, the Muses are dragged back after an unsuccessful escape attempt. An emergency ritual is completed with the intention to make sure that they will not try to escape again. This will cause quite a bit of distress, anger and tension before the first dinner.
In the days that follow, each of the Inspired and their own Muse will explore their relationships, individually, and as part of the group. Between some of the characters, tensions will run high. Some will try to convince each other that the escape attempt was the fault of others, and was a one-time occurance. Uncomfortable confrontations will be unavoidable, and the gourmet meals will highlight these, with seating arrangements that actively contribute to the drama. The larp is generally structured in a “frontloaded” manner which means that there is more planned content in the beginning to kick off the relations, experiences and the stories that the players will carry with only little planned content on day 2.
The Inspired will meet their old friends, lovers and colleagues. They will discover that their careers and their whole way of life is under threat, and they will try to stay in control. They will face ethical and practical choices, as well as the consequences of their actions.
The Muses will meet their siblings and resolve old and recent family issues, such as who gave away their escape plan to the Inspired. Some will try to find a way out of captivity, while others try to convince themselves and others that things are as they should be. In the end, the Muses will discover a way to freedom, and the almost unbearable cost that comes with it.
Examples of what you can do at the larp are:
Helicon is a larp about inspiration, power, complicated relationships, freedom, and dependency.
Characters will use and abuse power, and try to find a way to co-exist. They need to decide what they are willing to do to other people and creatures in order to achieve their goals, and what they are willing to sacrifice in order to get what they want.
The larp aims for high emotion, and includes a lot of social play and tension, as well as some ritualistic content.
The main themes in the game that can be considered sensitive subjects are violence, oppression, abandonment, gaslighting, controlling behavior, sexual violence, and mental health issues. You will always have the ability to opt out of scenes, and control the actions of your character, and there will be calibrations mechanics as part of the game to help steer interactions.
Journeys and Tales have a safety system with calibration mechanics in place to ensure players know what to expect at the larp, how to have calibrations with fellow players when a scene is taking place, and if necessary, how to leave the scene and be taken care of afterward.
For Helicon, the calibration system is based on the same setup used for the runs in Europe and is built around informed consent before the game, which includes: pre-game information with themes and ingredients, baselines for interaction, expectations for personal responsibility, and tap-out mechanics.
We’ve chosen this system as we believe it will allow for the most immersive and intense roleplay at this event and create a very unobtrusive system for calibration and interactions. You can read the full details in our Calibration Mechanics Document.
Baselines for Interaction.
Players should be comfortable with the following actions as a general part of the larp: shouting, pushing, general altercations, psychological manipulation, yelling and arguing, crying, hugging, general touching, romantic play.
The exceptions to this are that we expect everyone not to grab people from behind and also not grab the “beach body,” i.e., the area covered by a bikini.
We also strongly suggest you read the content information of the website found just above this section.
The complete system is written out in more detail in our Safety Document, but you can find the highlights below. We will do extensive workshops on the system before the larp starts.
Personal Resonsibility. We expect you to have self-knowledge of your own limits and be responsible for all actions that happen to you and your character. You are responsible for your boundaries and safety and communicating these clearly to other players and organizers.
Off-game Discussion. We expect everyone to calibrate their play through off-game discussions. These can happen during the workshops, off-game periods, before big scenes, or even from interactions outside this larp.
Slow Escalation. Slow escalation means clearly communicating your intentions in character and getting a clear, enthusiastic response before you proceed. Essentially we’re talking about dropping not-so-subtle hints about your intentions.
Tap Out. If you find yourself in a situation where you would like to de-escalate or leave a scene, you will tap your co-player’s arm or another convenient part of their body twice at which point you can end, change the scene or leave as required without any questions or repercussions. We encourage players to use tap-out as a part of the collaboration so all participants can have a fantastic and safe larp without feeling ashamed or embarrassed.