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The Experience

In Redemption, you play a character who has come to a religious convocation of a sect called the Followers of Christ’s Faith. You believe in the tenets espoused by the sect and either are a member or wish to be so. During the larp, you’ll wrestle with questions regarding the state of your soul with the help of your fellow Followers.

The Followers believe that to find salvation, one must sin. Otherwise, what is there for God to forgive in His infinite mercy? Your goal is to use these few days to find salvation through sin. You have to make sure you have sinned properly so that when you die, you can experience redemption in the face of God. You can also help other Followers sin, just as they are helping you.

This gathering of the Followers is unusual in the sense that there are people present from many sides of St Petersburg society. There are Romanovs and revolutionaries and their mutual antagonism is hard to forget. Yet perhaps that too can be wielded in the service of sin.

For many characters this is also an unusual chance to interact with people outside their normal social milieu. After all, bucking the existing social order is a sin so normally there’s little social contact between social classes even if they interact on a daily basis.

From the perspective of the characters, there are no big surprises in this larp on the broader level. Events progress as planned with no collective plot twists. The focus of the larp is on the individual experiences and these can of course twist and turn as much as larp chaos allows!

As you play the larp, you’ll have different opportunities to explore salvation through sin. Some of these occur in the rituals held through the larp and others are created by you and your fellow Followers. Fortunately, helping others sin is also a sin, so the Followers can work on their problems together. You will fulfill personal goals, reconcile values and resolve conflicts. You will wallow in moral filth and be reborn.

For some, this convocation is a joyous occasion. For others, a source of trepidation and worry. Still, you’re all united by your belief in redemption it’s necessity to be granted salvation.

Perhaps you’re a rake and a wastrel, a revolutionary or an aristocrat, an artist or an anarchist, the sect your way to reconcile your natural proclivities with your concern for your soul. Or maybe you’re innocent as the driven snow, deeply worried that this fact will keep you from entering the Kingdom of Heaven.

In both cases, you have to sin.

Members and Newcomers

You have a choice of two types of characters: Those who are joining the sect or those who already belong to it. This determines your journey through the larp but it’s also a practical issue. Characters who belong to the sect will have costumes provided by the larp.

The characters of the larp are based on real historical people but your goal is not to portray that person with stifling accuracy. Rather, they’re a template you can use to add verisimilitude to your experience at the larp.

In the early stages of the larp, the newcomers hold their earthly social positions. Dukes are treated as dukes and princesses as princesses. As the larp progresses, they’re inducted into the sect and roles change: They are now initiates, their former roles washed away.

Many of the characters already in the sect are members of the lower classes. Their roles in everyday life may be humble but once the newcomers have been inducted, they’re at the top. And in a cult where sin is something to aspire to it’s always okay to explore newfound power.

Ingredients

Here are some of the things you may encounter during the larp. In all situations, you may choose whether you wish to participate or not. However, you may still witness any of these things, although some are more likely than others.

Religious rituals

Degenerate partying

Scenes testing the values of your character

Nudity

Contemplation

Simulated sex acts

Suicide

Blasphemy

Prayer

Returning Players

We welcome returning players who already participated in the original two runs of Redemption! As you look through this page, you may notice that the design has changed somewhat as we’ve taken lessons from the original runs aboard and adjusted the experience accordingly.

The main shift is obvious from the timetable below: Instead of two nights, the larp now lasts three nights. The extra time was added to avoid the feeling of being rushed, to give us more workshop time and to be able to have an afterparty on Saturday night after the larp ends. This way, it’s possible for the participants to reflect on the experience together in a communal and informal manner.

The basic structure of the experience remains the same as before, as do details like the venue and the characters. The website has been updated with a few design solutions such as including the hand mechanic that were actually used in the original runs but not explained here.

We have also added a new ticket category with a lower price tag, the replacement player. The idea is that if you get a ticket of this type, you’re on standby if someone cancels their participation. If that happens, you take over their character. In the event that nobody cancels, you’re still guaranteed a spot at the larp with a character who’s connections are created at the workshop.

We originally designed the larp with replayability in mind, with different character types and emergent larp chaos providing for new experiences.

Timetable

Here’s a breakdown of the larp day to day:

Day 1 (Thursday)

During the first day, you’ll arrive at the venue, find your room, participate in the workshop and get ready for the larp. You’ll play for two hours as the newcomers arrive and a dinner is held in their honor. All characters are aware that they’re in a religious space but the hierarchies of the outside world are still in force. The Followers wait on their high-ranking visitors.

Use this time to establish the social hierarchy that will then be broken on day 2. The mood can be spiritual, celebratory, excited… All characters are looking forward to what will happen later, some with trepidation and others with anticipation. At the same time, you’re away from the eyes of society preparing to sin in the eyes of God so it’s understandable if things get a little out of control.

14:00 – You can arrive at the venue from this time onwards.

14:45 – Bus arrives at the venue, players check in and settle in their assigned rooms and beds.

16:00 – Workshop starts. You are not expected to be in costume at this time.

19:30 – Players get in costume.

20:30 – Everyone gathers for one last workshop exercise.

21:00 – The larp starts immediately after the exercise.

Dinner is served during the in-game period.

23:00 – In-game ends. You can calibrate with other players as needed and then go to sleep.

Day 2 (Friday)

The second day starts with eating breakfast off-game, then gathering together to go in-game. Play starts with a scene where all characters are present. The newcomers are inducted into the Followers. This takes the shape of a ritual that may already test the resolve of some characters: Disrespecting the Czar is a grave sin.

During the induction, the hierarchy topples. The newcomers are all mere novices, supplicants hoping for guidance from more experienced members of the Followers, whatever form that takes.

As the day proceeds, you will do your best to sin and help others sin, both on your own initiative and through collective rituals and practises. The heavy lifting involved in running the rituals will be done by organizer characters but the Elders will also play a significant role.

Although you will participate in rituals that highlight different facets of sin and help you on your road, you should also take the initiative to consider what sin means for your character and explore it through scenes you and other players create.

The most ecstatic forms of sin, collectively and individually, peak at the end of day two.

9:00 – 10:00 – Breakfast.

11:00 – 12:00 – Workshop.

12:00 – In-game starts.

Lunch and dinner will be served in-game.

23:00 – in-game ends.

Day 3 (Saturday)

This day starts with an off-game breakfast and a chance to calibrate with your fellow players to make sure that your larp is working as intended.

For the characters, the third day is their last at the convocation. As the day begins, the characters have to ask themselves: Have I sinned enough? If not, now’s the last chance. The day moves from the more contemplative sinning during the day to increasingly involved actions as the characters seek to ensure their redemption through sin.

In the late afternoon, the larp moves into its final phase. Each character has to ponder the state of their soul and whether they’re ready for some of the more final sins.

If the character feels they still need to sin more, they must live. This is the choice we assume to be made by the majority of characters, since it’s hard to know if you have indeed sinned enough.

If the character feels that they have sinned enough, they can choose the one final sin: Suicide. Since deciding you’ve sinned enough requires a certain presumption, we assume this to be a minority choice.

Those dying in the collective ritual may take solace in the fact that you also provide the opportunity for other Followers to commit the sin of murder.

As this ritual concludes, the larp ends. You will have a bit of time to hug other players and otherwise decompress. Then the debrief starts, followed by the afterparty.

9:00 – 10:00 – Breakfast.

11:00 – 11:45 – Calibrating together.

12:00 – In-game starts.

Lunch and dinner will be served in-game.

20:00 – In-game ends.

20:30 – Debrief.

22:00 – Afterparty.

Day 4 (Sunday)

The last day is completely off-game. You’ll have time to pack your things, say goodbye to fellow players and participate in one last debrief exercise.

9:00 – 10:00 – Breakfast.

11:00 – Final debrief exercise.

12:00 – Bus leaves for Helsinki.

Actions

Here are some of the basic actions in Redemption:

Confess your sins (and virtues). Seek out someone, another character, and confess to the sins you have just perpetrated. You can also confess to your virtues, the qualities that remain undefiled and pure, and thus need to be worked on next.

Sin in ways big and small. Perhaps sinning means speaking ill of someone, or coming up with a complex orgiastic scene involving Satan-worship and fucking those you hate the most.

Flirt. You’re in a retreat in the middle of nowhere to sin and be redeemed. Surely that means you can engage in a bit of flirting!

Satisfy your curiosity. What’s up with these socialists/Romanovs anyway? You’re all here to sin together so it stands to reason you should get to know each other too. Why not start with a few blunt questions?

Stare into Eternity. You’re a spiritual person experiencing one of the most religiously significant events of your life. It’s entirely possible to be possessed by holy ecstasy and rend your clothes in mad inspiration.

Satisfy petty impulses. You’re here to sin for your soul but who’s going to know if you sin for pettier reasons instead? Now is the time to bring out your character’s hidden desires, when satisfying them is all in the service of your soul.

Pray. Maybe you just need to speak with God.

Here are ten more specific actions you can take at the larp:

1. Debate the merits of various kinds of sin when it comes to your chances of redemption.

2. Tear off your clothes and writhe in holy ecstasy.

3. Lay out your vision for the next thousand years of Czarist rule and explain why the revolution is impossible.

4. Explore the sins of lust and hate by having sex with your worst enemy.

5. Lose yourself in collective worship.

6. Compete with others over who can sin the most.

7. Help others attain salvation by involving them in novel types of sin.

8. Argue that it’s not enough to sin, that you must enjoy it for it to truly count.

9. Cry tears of joy as you debase your most sacred principles.

10. Throw yourself to the floor and kiss the hem of the robe of a prophet.