Curse the Darkness

“It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”

- proverb attributed to, among others, Eleanor Roosevelt and Confucius

tl;dr: An adventuring party is trapped by a cave-in and must make hard choices

Good for players who: love deeply emotional LARPs, enjoy intense conflicts, want a short LARP

Bad for players who: need a lot of structure, are scared of the dark

Run Time: up to 1 hour; often runs shorter

Players: 4

Suggested player experience level: Intermediate to expert 

Curse the Darkness is a one-hour LARP for four people trapped in a very confined space with only each other, their guilt, their unresolved arguments, and their desperate hopes. Four itinerant problem-solvers in a medieval low fantasy setting awoke from their sleep to their ward stones exploding and now find themselves walled into a small corner of the cavern with roughly enough air to last an hour, if that. There are two ways they might escape, both risky. They must decide how to escape and what their relationships with each other will look like after they do.

Content warnings include crushing guilt, lack of self-worth, mild suicidal ideation, violence, and potential references to torture and/or sexual assault from backstory being discussed in game. Light physical contact between players is expected. The average amount of reading is seven pages.

This game does not require a facilitator but may benefit from one to assign characters and adjudicate any disputes that arise. If there is no facilitator, all players should read the Facilitating Information document. The provided documents assume that the players have their own preferred tools for calibrating physical contact, intensity, and off-game communication.

Running Requirements

A small, dark space. The smaller and darker, the better. This LARP has been run in places such as an attic, a basement, and a hotel bathroom. 

A speaker to play the soundtrack. A phone speaker is okay. 

A prop or boffer knife. 

A candle that can be lit and a means to light it; an LED candle is recommended.