PROGRAM

Knutepunkt  Norway 2017

Contents:
A few words from the program group	3
Thursday	6
Friday	9
Saturday	21
Sunday	31
Program Schedules	34

The amazing map of the area!

Transport
1 Bus 83 stop. Bus from Oslo or to Kolbotn
2 Bus 83 stop. Bus to Oslo or from Kolbotn
3 Bus 80E, 80, N19. Bus to/from Oslo. Night bus Fri/Sat
4 Bus 83N stop. Night bus to/from Oslo Fri/Sat
5 Rosenholm train station. Trains to/from Oslo
Shopping
6 Spar supermarket (Thu/Fri 08-22, Sat 09-21)
7 Kiwi supermarket (Thu/Fri 07-23, Sat 09-21)
8 Shell (24h)
Gym
9 Sportsenter1 Gym (Bring key from hotel reception)

There and back again
It all started here 20 years ago. It’s almost impossible to avoid looking back a bit. Through the years, Knutepunkt evolved to something that was way beyond the original organizers’ expectations. It has grown from a desire to seek out fellow Nordic larpers to becoming a vortex of international larping. And who knows what it will be in the future! Anniversaries, in their nature, force us to stop and reflect: The keynotes we try to force you to attend this year are themed as past, present, future, and many are community oriented.
As usual, assembling a program of 120 items – on your spare time – to a bunch of wannabe orcs and vampires is an undertaking of certain dimensions.  I need to brag about the people in the program committee for throwing themselves into this madness, committing, and then following through with patience and hard, hard work. It’s been great to work with you all. And just as important: I am so grateful to our program hosts for being enthusiastic, flexible, forgiving,  (...let’s say relatively ;) ) accessible, and straight through brilliant! We are so proud to present this cornucopia of craziness, wisdom and creativity: We hope you will indulge in it, and that you appreciate our efforts to make this program thrill and enthrall both the orc and the elf and even the vampire in you.
Humbly yours
Elin Nilsen
Head of program
Gaute’s recommandations
I like attending larps, large scale and small events alike. This KP has a lot to offer, and I am especially drawn to Homo ex Machina by Anna Volodina. The Idea of exploring boundaries between generations, and looking at the future in the light of the past fits the bill. I would love to play this larp.
I recommend checking out the workshop about suppression and domination techniques by Martin Lindelien. In most roles you will encounter the aspect of status, power, domination or supression in some form, and mastering certain techniques will add to the flavour of larping.
The Idea that specifics of larp design can help, or limit, the flow of play, and further our cognitive processing is fascinating. J Li’s talk Designing for the human brain will give insights in designing cognition-friendly games.
Gaute Våje
Marion’s recommandations
At larp conventions I’m always amazed to find people who do things that I am the only one doing in my area, or things that are new to me. I have heard about therapeutic role-playing, but I have never ever heard about it from Japan. That’s why I am excited about Björn-Ole Kamm and Katō Kōhei’s panel Educational and Therapeutic Role-Playing in Japan. As a music therapy student, I am happy to see the field of therapeutic role-play a part of a larp convention. Having worked with implementing dance in Norwegian larp I was very enthusiastic when I, at my first Knutepunkt, met up with people from the Swedish larp community who had done this already for many years. So I am very excited to see Anna-Karin Linder’s approach in Dancing drama: narrative design through dance. I am also looking forward to the debate about loyalty to character, led by Charles Bo Nielsen. I find the topic important both as a player and a larp designer. I think people are sometimes too loyal to characters that do not work out, and they don’t know how to change it. I hope discussing this subject will help us deal with the issue in a more constructive way.
Marion Bræstrup Løsnes
Anne-Marie’s recommandations
My recommendations all have to do with love, connections and joy in one way or another.
Meet new people: Whether you’re new to Knutepunkt or an oldie – with almost 400 people, there are always new acquaintances and friends to be made!
Love and larp: tips and tricks: Love doesn’t always get the attention it deserves when it comes to larp design. Perhaps because it’s such a big part of life and the stories that are all around us, that we think playing it comes naturally? Personally, I believe it has a place in most larps, especially if designers have a conscious approach to including it. “Make your larps full of love”!
Storytelling through music: Marion inspires a joy of music in others, even those who think “But I can’t sing!” or “This is too scary, I don’t know anything about music.” Perhaps especially those people. Music is a part of every culture in the known history of the world – learn how to enhance your world building through music, and pass on that musical joy to your participants and co-players. So come share the love of music, make your characters love each other, and make connections and love each other at Knutepunkt
Anne Marie Stamnestrø
Elin’s recommandations
I am really excited about RETROSPECT, a series of talks that each give insight into the design career of a specific designer. Four very interesting profiles are on the program this KP, and I hope to see the format in the future too. I also don’t want to miss Counter education kingdom, where Áron Birtalan and Klára Cserne presents the wild concept of the Bánk tradition, larp summer camps run regularly in Hungary, through communist oppression and political shifts since 1938. 1938, people! Lastly, since I am getting old and nostalgic I suddenly like vampires again, for some reason, and I’m very much looking forward to Juhana Pettersson and Bjarke Pedersen talk about them (and larp design) in New vampire larp.
Elin Nlsen
Magnar’s recommandations
In conversation between art and larp: In the beginning of January we reached out to the facebook group Art in a larp context as there was almost no program items related to art submitted. And boy did the artist crowd deliver. This three part series, talk – panel – workshop, is going to be awesome. I think some of the most interesting perspectives on larp as a practice come from the outside, and the things that have happened in the past years after more and more artists involved themselves have supported the whole of the larp scene.
Participatory sound design, theory and workshop. I had the pleasure of attending Anni’s workshop at the Larpwriter Summer School last year, and it was super fascinating. Design is an interdisciplinary practice, and the more things you know can be designed, the more free you are as a designer.
Basics of quantitative larp evalution. I’ll admit it. I cheated and made sure this talk was at a time I could go myself. Part of making larps better is figuring out what you should learn from your experience, and a methodological approach is king. Also, Markus is a great lecturer.
Magnar Grønvik Müller

Thursday February 23
Opening ceremony
Thu 17:00–18:00, Follosalen
Be there!
Keynotes
Thu 18:00–19:00, Follosalen
Remembering the past and where we came from, living in the now and looking into the future, we try to untangle the knots. Have we learned? Will we learn? What have we learned, and where will it bring us? Today's theme is PAST, and two great speakers will share their perspectives.
Physical action: some practical tools
Jamie Harper
Thu 19:15–21:00, Drøbak
In almost every single larp, communication and narrative are developed primarily through physical action and, in recent years, non-verbal larps have become increasingly prevalent. So, if we're larping with our bodies, what tools can we use to use our bodies more fully? This workshop will attempt to offer a couple of answers. Using some very simple methods from actor training, including Laban Working Actions and Psychological Gesture, I will offer some tools that designers/facilitators can use to help players get closer to the emotional and imaginative life of their character/role through physical action.
High on larp
Mila Ould Yahoui, Mo Holkar, Sarah Lynne Bowman, Harrison Greene
Thu 19:15–20:00, Fram/Maud
The use of alcohol at larp events is a controversial subject. Some participants firmly believe that alcohol enhances their experience by increasing the party mood, reducing social anxiety and inhibition, whereas others have experienced negative repercussions, such as harassment, mood swings, and hangovers. This workshop is open to people from all perspectives of the issue. Sharing data from an unofficial survey piloted in January that garnered over 1000 responses, we will discuss some of the pros and cons of drinking at larp events. We will also offer suggestions for people who wish to stay sober and organizers who wish to run sober events.
Meet new people
Miriam Lundqvist, Petter Karlsson
Thu 19:15–20:00, Hvervenbukta
A structured session for old farts and newcomers alike, where the participants get to know to new people with the help of exercises and small playful games. Opt-in and opt out-friendly.
Aesthetic larping
Jeppe Bergmann Hamming, Maria Bergmann Hamming
Thu 19:15–20:00, Hvitsten
We want to move larp and larp-design beyond the idioms of narrativism, immersion, gamism and “playing to lose”. We propose an alternative way to view the experience of larping, both as a designer and participant, what we call aesthetic larping. In this talk we will argue that larp’s unique position as an art form is to be found in its ability to create a special form of aesthetic and authentic experiences, and present our basic framework for this way of larping.
In memory of Elge Larsson
The community
Thu 19:15–20:00, Ingierstrand
Elge Larsson was a beloved member of the community. A larper, a scholar, a friend. He was the personal link between the alternative art scene of the 60's and contemporary participatory art. He passed away in 2016. Come pay your respects.
Don't cross the streams
Jim Thompson, Drew Hart-Shea, Emmylou Laird
Thu 19:15–20:00, Ljansbruket
Long established larp organisers very much from the UK tradition of larp, are beginning to explore their own practice as game makers and organisers in an academic and reflective sense. Having recently organised and run a hard Sci Fi larp (CONTACT) they attempted to blend some of their experiences and ideas from UK larp with ideas and concepts from Nordic larp. The event was successful and inspired them to do more. The talk, and possible discussion, will be about aspirations and experiences of mixing approaches, lessons learnt and approaches to design.
Dancing with kimonos
Mikaela Lindh
Thu 19:15–20:00, Son
How to put on a kimono for beginners.
Thinking on your feet
Ane Marie Anderson, Jørn Slemdal
Thu 20:15–22:00, Gjøa
A workshop where we test out techniques to improvise at larps and be able to bring surprising elements into our play. It will be experimental, playful and participatory.
Knutepunkt 101
Kristoffer Thurøe
Thu 20:15–21:00, Hvervenbukta
Is bleed the same as falling in love? Can American larps be Nordic? And what exactly makes a meta technique so meta? The Knutepunkt 101 gives a quick tour de force through the fundamental topics, terms and traditions of the Knutepunkt scene. The talk is aimed at first timers, but everyone is welcome.
Physical, intuitive workshop
Nina Runa Essendrop
Thu 20:15–22:00, Hvitsten
This workshop will present tools and thoughts on how to use physical and intuitive influences to help participants understand how to play your larp.
Culture by design
Eirik Fatland
Thu 20:15–21:00, Ingierstrand
A lecture on human cultures, larp subcultures, and the design of fictive cultures for larps. The form is essayistic and meandering, mixing personal recollection with social science perspectives, larp design theory, examples of larp design, and a discussion on the ethics of cultural appropriation.
Over the next hill
Shoshana Kessock
Thu 20:15–00:00, Ljansbruket
A totalitarian regime has taken the government of your country. You and your people are forced to flee your home. The road ahead is dangerous, but you've stopped for one night on a cold and lonely mountain. Sing the songs of your past and remember the days gone by in this short freeform larp about the spaces between one life and the next.
How not to internationalize your larp
Frans Björkstam, Andreas Markehed
Thu 21:15–23:00, Fram/Maud
A short, tongue in cheek presentation on how we, despite our best intentions, have failed to internationalize our larp event, Project Lazarus. This is followed by a discussion wherein participants are encouraged to share experiences on larping abroad, exchanging ideas on how to make larps more internationally accessible for participants, and what organizers need to bear in mind.
Mixing desk 101
Martin Nielsen
Thu 21:15–22:00, Hvervenbukta
Do you want to improve your larp design vocabulary and get a framework for discussing larp design at the same time?The Mixing Desk was created for The Larpwriter Summer School in an attempt to condense 20 years of Nordic larp theory into a tool everyone can easily understand. The purpose: To give people a common vocabulary to discuss larp design. In this talk, we will quickly go through the Mixing Desk concept, as well as 11 different aspects of larp design and explore two opposing design ideals for each of these 11 aspects.
Retrospect: Flour, Palestine and Techno Vampire
Juhana Pettersson
Thu 21:15–22:00, Ingierstrand
One designer talks about all the designs they have done or been involved in since they started designing. In 45 minutes they will go through everything from their earliest try outs to their latest projects. Three of these lectures have been held at the Interactive art larp course at Swedish SADA.
Using known universes or creating your own?
Charles Bo Nielsen, Sonja Schwarzenberger
Thu 22:15–23:00, Ingierstrand
Star Wars? Harry Potter? Vampires and Cylons. Should we create our own universe or use known franchises? Panel: Eirik Fatland, Mia Häggström, Anna Karin Linder, Martin Ericsson (video documentation by Natascha Lerche)
KPTV2017
Thu 23:00–00:00, Follosalen
Come and watch the jokes of the year!
Friday February 24
Acting for larpers
Jannick Raunow
Fri 10:15–11:00, Fram/Maud
The title says it all. We will work with the exercises you all (don’t) know (yet) and (will) love (after this workshop). Jannick is a professional actor who has taught these techniques to actors and larpers alike for years. Expect physicality and sweating. Anyone able and willing is invited (not obligatory) to bring a prepared performance or bit: It may be a scene, a text, a song, a dance or any kind of short solo performative treat. Feel free to coordinate on beforehand at jannick@raunow.dk or +4529722786. However, the only strict requirement is an open mind and a playful spirit.
Larp as part of a learning process
Magnar Grønvik Müller
Fri 10:15–11:00, Gjøa
How do different parts of learning theory relate to edu-larp design? Magnar argues that what happens before and after the larp is just as, if not more important than what happens during the larp. This is a slightly updated lecture from The Larpwriter Summer School 2016.
How to treat your volunteers
Siri Sandquist
Fri 10:15–11:00, Hvervenbukta
How to treat you volunteers (and make sure they don't burn down your village). How do you keep you helper happy, what is “pepp” and why is it the most valuable currency in a larp community? Based on vast experience of both being a helper and an organizer at larps Siri will tell about all her mistakes so you don’t need to make them yourself. Warning: might be funny.
COLOR (Morning ritual)
Áron Birtalan
Fri 10:15–11:00, Ingierstrand
COLOR is a guided movement ritual made for developing abstract characters based on sensing our body, the environment and each-other. Throughout the session we’ll be setting these characters into motion throughout space – exploring, moving, interacting with all that comes at us. COLOR is something between improvised dance, a larp and a guided ritual.  It is an exercise to start the day with – open for all, with or without hangover.
Keynotes
Fri 11:15–12:00, Follosalen
Remembering the past and where we came from, living in the now and looking into the future, we try to untangle the knots. Have we learned? Will we learn? What have we learned, and where will it bring us?  Today's theme is PRESENT, and two great speakers will share their perspectives.
Multimodality for dummies
Ingrid Galadriel Aune Nilsen
Fri 12:15–13:00, Drøbak
I recently completed a practical-theoretical research project on design of communication and design in meaning making. This project led me to the theories of multimodality. In my project I made use of multimodal analysis. I later reversed the analysis and turned multimodality in to a design tool. In this talk I will explain key concepts in Multimodality. What is Mode? And how can theories and knowledge of multimodality aid Larp designers in matters such as generating engagement through efficient communicative strategies and the design of space?
Educational and Therapeutic Role-Playing in Japan
Björn-Ole Kamm, Katō Kōhei
Fri 12:15–13:00, Fram/Maud
This panel seeks to introduce the history and current state of table-talk role-playing (TRPG) and larp in Japan through showcasing two research projects in the fields of education and therapy. Katō Kōhei will talk about his work with small groups of children who were diagnosed with High Function Autism Spectrum Disorder and the effectiveness of TRPGs in supporting their communication abilities. Björn-Ole Kamm follows with a presentation on social withdrawal and larp as a tool to deliver research findings in an educational or awareness-raising context.
Translating larps
Iva Vávrová
Fri 12:15–13:00, Gjøa
This talk outlines the basics of larp translation to larpwrights interested in getting their games translated. How to estimate the work that needs to be done, how to translate well for your target audience and basic practical pointers for the actual translation. Iva Vávrová is a professional interpreter with quite a wide scope of experience both from commercial projects and from larp translation. She has translated several big Czech larps – for example Legion and Hell on Wheels – and her larp translation experience is something that could benefit larps internationally.
Designing for inclusivity
Maury Brown
Fri 12:15–13:00, Hvervenbukta
To create games that are representative and inclusive of a variety of intersectional identities, designers need to pay attention to how setting, roles, genders, races, and classes are portrayed. Gaming archetypes may be shortcuts to help players understand how to play, but they may also replicate subconscious societal norms that reinforce stereotypes and prejudices. The talk includes in-game design for inclusivity, which discusses character writing and world-building for the representation of identities, and off-game design for inclusivity, which includes community norms and player conduct expectations to create play spaces that feel safer for players of color, and people of all genders and sexualities.
Once Upon a Nordic Larp… Lightning Talks from the book!
Martine Svanevik, Grethe Sofie Strand, Linn Carin Andreassen, Simon Brind
Fri 12:15–13:00, Hvitsten
Not had time to read the Knutebook yet, but still want to know what the hot topics are? We have TWO sessions of lightning talks that will give you the highlights directly from our writers! A lightning talk is a flash of inspiration in five minutes; a hint of an idea; a pitch from one of the writers which introduces their article or their topic. It is like a twenty course tasting menu of contemporary nordic larp. There may be time for a few questions after each talk, if not you’ll know who to talk to later!
The player-organizer contract
Lizzie Stark, Tor Kjetil Edland
Fri 12:15–13:00, Ingierstrand
A larp is a social agreement among players and organizers. And yet, many aspects of this agreement are ill-defined, leading to unhappy players and fatigued organizers who must weather internet rage storms. Drawing from their combined decades of organizing experience, Tor Kjetil and Lizzie will talk about the places of uncertainty within this social agreement, including when it's OK to refuse a player service, to what extent organizers must provide an environment that is a safe haven from oppressive structures prevalent in society, strategies for helping players care for one another, and other hot-button topics.
Exploring smell
Karete Jacobsen Meland, Ane Marie Anderson, Jorg Rødsjø, Katrine Øverlie Svela
Fri 12:15–13:00, Ljansbruket
Curious about the power of smell? Tap into the hidden potential of smell in larp design! We will show you why we think smell is awesome and exciting to explore, and tell you about the preliminary results from doing a short smellcasting-and-larp at the Norwegian larp festival Spillerom. Open for everyone interested
Adaptation to larp
Anna Westerling
Fri 12:15–13:00, Son
How can you adapt existing works of art  into the format of a larp? Works like books, plays or music? Are there different strategies for different media, and what have been done so far? What happens when the beautiful predefined story meets the freedom, interaction and participation of larp? I will discuss works such as Inside Hamlet, A Nice Evening with the Family, College of Wizardry, MacBeth, Love stories by ABBA and the upcoming Jane Austen larp Fortune & Felicity.
Food as a narrative tool
Rosalind Göthberg, Siri Sandquist
Fri 13:15–14:00, Drøbak
This is a talk about how you can use food, and the cooking staff during a larp event to enhance the experience for the participants. Based on the speakers’ own experiences as volunteers and organizers you will get to hear some tips and tricks of how you best flavour your participants immersion with food and meaningful npc characters still connected to the cooking and practicalities of the larp. You will also come away with a hand list of the most important dos and don'ts as an organizer when it comes to how to best handle your larp kitchen.
The other life project: Talk
Peter Munthe-Kaas Nina Runa Essendrop
Fri 13:15–14:00, Fram/Maud
We will talk about the development of the project and the iterations we have been through. Then we will introduce the participants to the project we are doing next september where 10-15 people will be living in the dome of visions in Århus, performing the other life project 24/7. After that we will host a walk-in larp, where everyone interested can enter The Other Life project.
How to hold a workshop
Miriam Lundquist
Fri 13:15–16:00, Gjøa
In this workshop we will focus on the role of the workshop leader. We will try out different styles, work on how to read and adjust to your participants and discuss our experiences. I will share my mistakes and favorite tricks from ten years of professional experience of running larp workshops. It will be playful and experimental. It will not focus on teaching workshop exercises.
That Danish larp school you've heard about
Morten Kjærgaard Tellefsen, Frederikke B. Høyer
Fri 13:15–14:00, Hvervenbukta
Østerskov is a Danish larp school that was started in 2006. Much has happened since and we are happy to bring you the latest report from what we have been up to. Among other things we will mention our latest teaching initiatives, our study trip to the College of Wizardry, and how we work together with local game conventions and larp associations.
Body language for larp: tools from theatre
Jamie MacDonald
Fri 13:15–16:00, Hvitsten
This is a workshop in moving and thinking about moving, and how to project a character/society through body language. There will be exercises and techniques borrowed from physical theatre, commedia dell'arte, and other training methods. No acting/dance experience required; just a willingness to fail like a champ and challenge yourself, whatever level you're at. Clothes you can move in, please.
Dare to ask, dare to tell
Tyra Larsdatter Grasmo, Margrete Raaum
Fri 13:15–15:00, Ingierstrand
The last few years several grave incidents involving sexual harassment and abuse have been uncovered in the larp scene. Larping as a hobby has unique challenges when it comes to age differences, power structures and strong emotions. How can we, being aware of these issues, make our community safe for all our participants? In this workshop we will work towards a common statement that the community can hopefully agree on, that can help us in creating a safe and healthy community.
The virtual restoration project
Sarah Jury, Una Hamilton Helle, Francis Patrick Brady
Fri 13:15–17:00, Ljansbruket
A larp about the importance of culture and the fallibility of history writing within virtual realms. This larp takes the form of a collective postmortem of a destroyed historical site. The site is now only inhabited by avatars who are attempting to reconstruct it virtually. Disembodied signs, symbols and architectural forms, detached from their original context, abound at the site – it is up to the avatars to redefine and rebuild their already slipping collective memory.
Knutepunkt open space
Fredrik Hossmann
Fri 13:15–16:00, Son
A space for your proposed talks/discussions/workshops. Place your suggestion on the wall. If enough people sign up, you get a room. Use your feet if where you are does not seem like the right place. Whoever comes is the right people. Whatever happens is the only thing that could've. When it starts is the right time. When it's over, it's over. (Additional rooms: Norge, Kontoret, Uranienborg, N24)
Execution of transformative experiences in larp
Andrew Lacanienta
Fri 14:15–15:00, Drøbak
Experiences are difficult to define because they are different for everyone.  One person might participate in a larp and have a transformative experience while another might experience no personal change or transformation at all.  Although both larp participants would say they had an experience, theperson who experienced a transformation of their way of thinking might say they were changed in a more meaningful way.  This presentation discusses the potential of transformative experiences and how co-creation and principles of experience staging might facilitate a larp experience that results in a paradigm change of participants’ views, life perceptions, and behaviors.
The other life project: Larp
Peter Munthe-Kaas Nina Runa Essendrop
Fri 14:15–18:00, Fram/Maud
A walk-in larp, where everyone interested can enter. The Other Life Project is based on the premise that identities as well as the so called “reality” around us are changeable. Our claim is that we through exploration and play can provide the participants with an extraordinary opportunity to play with and create new realities. (To know more, catch the talk that precedes the larp!)
Dealing with antisocial behavior and implementing social policy
Morten Kjærgaard Tellefsen, Frederikke B. Høyer
Fri 14:15–15:00, Hvervenbukta
We organize a number of activities every year at The Østerskov School of Larp including “The Flatland Saga” (a larp campaign), “The Østerskov Academy” (a roleplaying convention) and others. We will share with you how we have implemented social policies to deal with anti-social behavior and promote equal rights. Afterwards we hope to debate the topic.
Crisis management: bleed, harassment, trauma
Sarah Lynne Bowman, Lizzie Stark, Eirik Fatland, Harrison Greene
Fri 15:15–17:00, Drøbak
While many community leaders work hard to keep spaces safe and inclusive, problems do occur within communities. Using role-playing scenarios, this workshop offers participants the opportunity to practice handling bleed, harassment, and trauma if these situations arise in their convention or larp communities. Content advisory: Some scenarios contain sensitive situations such as coping with sexual harassment, though participation is opt-in/opt-out. This workshop was originally developed by Samara Hayley Steele, John Stavropoulos, Sarah Lynne Bowman, and Sara Hart for the Living Games Conference 2016.
Stop thinking start larping
Michael Such
Fri 15:15–18:00, Hvervenbukta
Stop thinking – worrying, planning, self-hating and start larping – playing, listening, connecting. If you find yourself overthinking scenes and feeling anxious or disconnected then this is a workshop for you. We will work through a variety of techniques from improvised theatre to launch you out of your head and into the moment. It will help you have more pleasurable, spontaneous larp experiences and feel more connected to yourself and other players. Fun, freeing and no knowledge needed, just a willingness to play and move your body.
Managing conflict in your larp community
Shoshana Kessock
Fri 15:15–17:00, Ingierstrand
This brainstorming session will include a roundtable discussion on how to tackle conflict among players and organizers out of character. How do you deal with problem players? Manipulative staff members? The dreaded catastrophic break-ups that create full on civil war? We'll bring our heads together to talk about the best ways to engage with community management from both the perspective of players and organizers.
Larp in youth work
Toni Toivonen
Fri 16:15–17:00, Gjøa
Youth work, especially in Scandinavian countries, concentrates on enabling and facilitating young people in social and civic activity, offers non-formal and experiential learning possibilities, and introduces social empowerment via different hobbies and activities, among other things. Larp possesses considerable potential in youth work – sharing key elements with other experiential learning methods, such as adventure education and drama education. Implemented in youth work, though, it can differ quite a bit from school-oriented edu-larping. Here we share some insights, experiences and research concerning non-formal educational use of larp in youth work.
Principles of female erotic dancing and posing in larp (for women)
Anna-Antonia Berger
Fri 16:15–18:00, Hvitsten
In the workshop we will deal with classic  female erotic posing, dancing and principles of performance composition. We treat techniques that are easy but effective so that you will be able to employ them even if you have no experience in this area yet. We will have a look onto different genres to give you an idea of the variety of the field and discuss what has to be regarded when using these techniques in a larp. Wear clothes that allow you to move. There is an alternative run for men and other non-females.
Dancing drama: narrative design through dance
Anna-Karin Linder
Fri 16:15–18:00, Son
A hands on walkthrough of how dancing was used in designing and playing the larp Brudpris, and tips and ideas for how designers can use dance as an enhancer of dramatic play in their games.
Upcoming larps
Gaute Våje
Fri 17:15–18:00, Drøbak
Curious about larping in a different country? No plans for summer, and looking for a larp? Come hear organizers talk about their future projects.
Historical reenactment – dressing up 'n gett'n drunk
Ingrid Galadriel Aune Nilsen
Fri 17:15–18:00, Gjøa
LARP is so stupid. Reenactment is so much cooler. I am the Queen of the North. Join me as I state some facts about reenactment, reenactors, LARP and larpers.It´s gonna get personal.
Retrospect: Larp-influenced live art and theatre
Jamie MacDonald
Fri 17:15–18:00, Ingierstrand
One designer talks about all the designs they have done or been involved in since they started designing. In 45 minutes they will go through everything from their earliest try outs to their latest projects. Three of these lectures have been held at the Interactive art larp course at Swedish SADA.
Basics of quantitative larp evaluation
Markus Montola
Fri 17:15–18:00, Ljansbruket
During the recent years, I've conducted quantitative evaluations of half a dozen larps. In this discussion, I'll share the essentials on how to easily make a survey form, discuss some of my more and less valuable survey items, and even share some interesting findings from the larps.
Larp design approached as experience design
Johanna Koljonen
Fri 18:15–20:00, Drøbak
Sometimes flawlessly designed larps fail; sometimes weak larps succeed. This is because the larp experience consists of much more than your core design. In this talk, larp theorist and professional experience designer Johanna Koljonen will discuss the designable surfaces of the so-called “paralarp” – everything that happens before and after the runtime of your larp. The talk has a special focus on shaping the expectations and actions of your players, and the legacy of your game, through active design of player and community culture.This talk is a companion piece to Bjarke Pedersen’s talk “How to Design Experiences and Larps”.
High on Knutepunkt
Mila Ould Yahoui, Mo Holkar, Sarah Lynne Bowman, Harrison Greene
Fri 18:15–19:00, Fram/Maud
For a no-alcohol or low-alcohol evening. An early evening meeting for people who want to stay sober or not drink too much, and who maybe want to do a little meditation or building up self-confidence for the night. Are you concerned that lack of confidence, social pressure, habit, or just plain default behaviour will encourage you to drink more than you really want to? Our friendly team will provide you with techniques, support, and buddies to help you achieve your goal of not drinking, or limiting your drinking, at Knutepunkt this year.
Village, shelter, comfort
Björn-Ole Kamm Katō Kōhei
Fri 18:15–22:00, Gjøa
This larp is about feelings of comfort and safety pitched against the necessity to leave the source of these emotions behind. Dealing with the question of leaving the familiar or staying, the larp moves from the fantastic to the everyday in three scenarios, a remote pseudo-medieval village facing a plague, a post-apocalyptic shelter running out of resources, and a single room, in which the different mental faculties of a single person are faced with suddenly diminishing comfort. How would you choose? The known threat or the unknown salvation? Participants are invited to an extended, additional but voluntary debriefing afterwards.
Why we didn't go. Larp anxiety and fear
Hanne Grasmo, Tyra Larsdatter Grasmo
Fri 18:15–20:00, Hvervenbukta
A guided roundtable talk about why we fear to larp. Together we try to develop some ideas on how to design for bringing the barriers down, to avoid anxiety among participants before and during the larp. We will give an introduction from two different perspectives on why we fear, what we fear and how we have (or haven’t) dealt with it. We will ask questions, and work in pair, groups and plenum with tasks and discussions.
Practical feminism
Cleo Hatting, Anna Groth, Carina Enggård, Gunilla Hellén, Torun Hegre
Fri 18:15–20:00, Hvitsten
We want to focus on the more practical aspects of feminism in the larp scene – how to actually DO feminism.
Genre shifts as larp goes mainstream
Annika Waern
Fri 18:15–19:00, Ingierstrand
This talk is based upon a text about what the communication for College of Wizardry and Inside Hamlet tell us about how the genre of larp changes when you aim to reach for a wider audience. Annika will go through some of the resources for the two larps to see how they present themselves both as larp and as something else – a theme park and a theatre play, respectively.
Culture clashes, disbelief and lack of tools – how do we make our larps safe?
Petra Lindve, Agata Świstak
Fri 18:15–20:00, Ljansbruket
What sort of safety mechanisms does a larp need? How do you design for safety? In this workshop we will go through some tools and techniques that you can use, and look at safety documents. We will do a series of exercises to dig into the meaning of safety, as well as looking at cultural differences. We will also demonstrate techniques and discuss our own experiences. We will finish with a small larp where you can use what you have learned during the workshop.
To bleed or not to bleed
Jost L. Hansen, Kjell Hedgard Hugaas
Fri 18:15–19:00, Son
After a larp many tend to flood Facebook with how much they bleed while others just brush it off and want to play the next larp. Why do some people bleed after a larp? And why do some people not? Are the non-bleeders playing wrong because they don't bleed or are the bleeders overdoing it? Can you chose and/or learn to bleed or not? We don't think there's a right or wrong, we're just curious about why people react differently. Come and hear about other people’s experiences with bleeding and not-bleeding and what they do to get the best of it. Share your own experiences.
Participatory sound design: The theory
Anni Tolvanen
Fri 19:15–20:00, Fram/Maud
Composer and sound designer Anni Tolvanen talks about practical ways of implementing sound and music in larp design. How can you steer players' behavior via well-curated playlists? How can you maximize the effect of natural soundscapes? How can you use acoustic trickery to boost interaction and intensify dramatic scenes? And most importantly: Why does sound design matter, and why should we become better at it? You'll be able to practice some of the techniques introduced here in the session “Participatory Sound Design: The Workshop”
Eurovision Sing-Along
Charlotte Brolin
Fri 19:15–20:00, Ingierstrand
Sing-along with a mix of songs from Eurovision Song Contest from different countries. Made as a group activity so everyone sings together with the original performance screened on the projector.
Loyalty to character?
Charles Bo Nielsen
Fri 19:15–20:00, Son
You receive a character and there are parts you dislike. Should you change it? Ask for a new character? When is it okay to change a character? What effects, positive and negative, could it entail? Panel discussion with opposing views and ideals on the subject of loyalty to character. In the panel: Mike Pohjola, Michael Gyr, Mimmi Lundkvist
Participatory sound design: The workshop
Anni Tolvanen
Fri 20:15–22:00, Fram/Maud
In this session we experiment with steering and manipulating players' moods and actions with sounds and music. From workshopping methods and improv to practical implementation of soundscapes, participants get to try out different sound design techniques to expand their larp designer toolkits. (No singing or playing instruments required.) Up to 20 participants. The theory behind these techniques is covered in a separate lecture, “Participatory Sound Design: The Theory”; attending the lecture is recommended if you want to join the workshop.
L.A.R.Ps – A documentary film
Daniel Najenson, Introduced by Jørn Slemdal
Fri 20:15–22:00, Hvervenbukta
“L.A.R.Ps” – is a 52 minute long documentary about larp. The movie follows three main characters in one of the biggest larps that ever took place in Israel and the distance, if any, between their invented characters and their real personalities.
Everything is beautiful at the drag ball
Alexander Sandrén Erik Winther Paisley, Tor Kjetil Edland
Fri 21:00–22:00, Follosalen
We welcome you to one hour of Beauty, Freedom, Truth and Love! Forget about Trump, Putin and Jammeh, they can not reach us here. Leave your troubles outside, and bask in the fact that everything is beautiful at the Drag Ball(et).The magnificent drag show from Solmukohta 2016 is back at Knudepunkt 2017, and we are once again ready to shine, to dazzle or betray. So come one, come all, this is going to be so fetch!
Party!!!
Fri 22:00–02:00, Follosalen
Inexplicable Crossdressed Dance Party
Stefan Deutsch, Simon Brind, Martine Svanevik
Fri 22:30–23:30, Ingierstrand
An inexplicable and probably gratuitous crossdressed dance party. Relationship status: it's complicated.
Saturday February 25
Best of Russia
Anna Volodina
Sat 10:15–11:00, Fram/Maud
An overview of russian larps in 2016. This will provide you with some knowledge about the most interesting larps and ideas of the last season.
Literacy through larp
Katrin Geneuss
Sat 10:15–11:00, Gjøa
How does playing larps affect your language-skills? How do you improve your decoding-skills of what your surroundings are telling you, verbally and non-verbally? Research reveals that language-awareness and literacy are core aims when using larp in education. This is only one of the aspects that make teachers and others working in education choose larp over other methods. This talk outlines the benefits and obstacles when using larp for educational purposes. In addition to telling you what my thesis at Munich University is about (and kindly asking for feedback), I would like to engage you in discussions and group work.
What's that sound? Listening and sound as tools for immersion in Larp
Alessandro Giovannucci
Sat 10:15–11:00, Hvervenbukta
Humans are animals. Animals need to survive. Listening is crucial in that, but we forgot. We live in a video-centric society and underestimate the power of listening. Sound is evocative, it puts us in our world, establishing relationships with others and with the environment. Despite that, many larp designers don’t work with sound, but rather put their effort into the visual aspect. In this talk we analyze how sound and listening can be used to improve larp design, through case studies, sound examples and a brief overview of audio softwares and devices. Be ready for an interactive talk – don’t be quiet!
COLOR (Morning ritual)
Áron Birtalan
Sat 10:15–11:00, Ingierstrand
COLOR is a guided movement ritual made for developing abstract characters based on sensing our body, the environment and each-other. Throughout the session we’ll be setting these characters into motion throughout space – exploring, moving, interacting with all that comes at us. COLOR is something between improvised dance, a larp and a guided ritual.  It is an exercise to start the day with – open for all, with or without hangover.
De la Bête: a hundred novels in one larp
Iva Vavrova
Sat 10:15–11:00, Ljansbruket
De la Bête is a Czech historical larp built on a lot of highly-scripted organizer-provided content. The organizers write not only lengthy character backgrounds and overall plots, but also relationships, allegiances and so on, overall spanning over 300 000 words of organizer-provided content. Iva describes some of the more interesting design challenges and specifications that this design process entailed: Creating a unique storyline for each character, in which they are the main protagonist of their own novel; how in this scripted design they incorporated player-individualization; and how they asked the players to work with the dramatic progression.
Keynotes
Sat 11:15–12:00, Follosalen
Remembering the past and where we came from, living in the now and looking into the future, we try to untangle the knots. Have we learned? Will we learn? What have we learned, and where will it bring us? Today's theme is FUTURE, and two great speakers will share their perspectives.
Working with the big corps
Charles Bo Nielsen, Sonja Schwarzenberger
Sat 12:15–13:00, Drøbak
As larp is getting more mainstream we are getting the attention of big corporations. How do we deal with this? How to feel about it? It opens up for much more resources, but at what cost? What is the price of powerful branding, and is it actually worth it?  Panel: Claus Raasted, Anna Westerling, Bjarke Pedersen (Video documented by Natascha Lerche)
Larp and culture
Jamie Harper
Sat 12:15–13:00, Fram/Maud
This talk will attempt to look at larp as a framework for thinking about the development of human culture. The talk will focus on larp, not only as an artistic activity, but also as a space of dialogue in which participants can interrogate cultural difference and, potentially, move towards shared understandings of the world and common values.
Beyond the Horizon: Larping on the waves
Dominika Kovacova
Sat 12:15–13:00, Gjøa
A player perspective on Beyond the Horizon a larp that took place in summer 2016 on a ship in the Mediterranean. The talk addresses design choices and problems that arose or could have arisen since it was, well, on a ship.
In conversation between art and larp: A primer to participatory art history
Jamie MacDonald
Sat 12:15–13:00, Hvervenbukta
Larp overlaps with theatre, game design, visual art, performance art, community art, contemporary dance and all the theories that go alongside it. Here's a short primer to some of the movements that may have influenced your work too.
Once Upon a Nordic Larp… Lightning talks from the book!
Martine Svanevik, Grethe Sofie Strand, Linn Carin Andreassen, Simon Brind
Sat 12:15–13:00, Hvitsten
Not had time to read the Knutebook yet, but still want to know what the hot topics are? We have TWO sessions of lightning talks that will give you the highlights directly from our writers! A lightning talk is a flash of inspiration in five minutes; a hint of an idea; a pitch from one of the writers which introduces their article or their topic. It is like a twenty course tasting menu of contemporary nordic larp. There may be time for a few questions after each talk, if not you’ll know who to talk to later!
Hour of the (white) wolf
Martin Ericsson, Shane De Freest
Sat 12:15–13:00, Ingierstrand
End of the Line, Convention of Thorns, World of Darkness Berlin. Join White Wolf Entertainment as we prepare for a busy second year and take part in a frantic workshop on cooking blood that gets you drunk, werewolf propping, the future of Mind’s Eye Theatre, dark play and mixing different rules-sets within a single chronicle.
The pain of history – why do we need this in larps?
Anita Myhre Andersen, Anna-Karin Linder
Sat 12:15–13:00, Ljansbruket
Historical larps often have strong elements of difficult times, impossible dilemma situations and a lot of pain, whether they are about harsh, brutal 17th century Europe, the diabolic war years of 1942 and 1943 or the tragic death of a young sailor on Christmas Eve in 1872. There are many layers of psychology explaining this need for digging in such dark past, but one of the reasons may be the urge for showing people what we have to fight for. Anita shares her experience of making grave, historical larps, and Anna-Karin Linder shares her perspectives from the larp Brudpris.
The creation of characters for Zeitgeist
Christine Schmidt, Larson Kasper
Sat 12:15–13:00, Son
For charcter creation of the German larp 'Zeitgeist' we aim to merge the German tradition of creating your own character with the Nordic tradition of pre-written characters. Come and hear more about it!
Designer's hour
Søren Lyng Ebbehøj
Sat 13:15–14:00, Drøbak
The Designer's houris a series of very short presentations on specific design challenges that the speakers have solved in their games. This hour is dedicated to interaction design such as rules, meta techniques, culture, workshops, etc.
Meta room in larp design
Hannu Niemi
Sat 13:15–14:00, Fram/Maud
A meta room (known by some as the black box) is a space that can be used to enrich the stories of the characters beyond the time and space of the main larp. This is a talk about experiences and practices of using meta room in larp design with examples from recent Finnish larps Homefront and Marras where it has been a key design tool when exploring the themes of war, loss and survival. The aim is to share ideas about the possibilities of meta room and to help larp designers tackle some common design challenges.
Suppression and domination techniques in larps
Martin Østlie Lindelien, Anita Myhre Andersen, Siri Sandquist
Sat 13:15–16:00, Gjøa
The queen, the judge, the overseer, the principal, the spymaster, the emperor, and the many other faces of power. All of them are made real by the player's capacity to plausibly portray the visage of dominance. By working with these techniques any player can challenge themselves and put more tools in their larp toolbox to have increase their options when it comes to what kind of characters they dare to play. In most larps this will also make it possible to facilitate scenes and moods that otherwise are hard to achieve. To some players this comes naturally, but there are also techniques that can be learned.
Larping with an audience
Hanne Grasmo, Hilda Levin
Sat 13:15–15:00, Hvervenbukta
This panel focuses on experiences with different kinds of audiences in larps. The panel will start with sharing some thoughts on structures and tools on how to think and talk about larp and audience. Hopefully the discussion will lead us towards some theory making. Panel: Nina Runa Essendrop, Martin Nielsen, Jamie MacDonald
Safety and calibration techniques in larps
Maury Brown, Sarah Lynne Bowman, Johanna Koljonen
Sat 13:15–15:00, Hvitsten
Players are unique individuals with varying experience, abilities, triggers, and comfort zones – physical and emotional. How do you ensure that players feel safe and able to consent to roleplay they desire and opt-out of what they don’t? What to do if a boundary gets crossed, or a player becomes triggered or overwhelmed? Safety and calibration mechanics are tools designed to help players feel comfortable with each other and their own needs and boundaries during a game. We will introduce and model the system of mechanics designed for New World Magischola, some of which were used at End of the Line, Convention of Thorns, and are being added to other larps.
New vampire larp
Juhana Pettersson, Bjarke Pedersen
Sat 13:15–14:00, Ingierstrand
Techno parties, Berlin hipsters and blood: Bjarke Pedersen and Juhana Pettersson talk about a new style of larp based on the game Vampire: the Masquerade. Games such as End of the Line, Convention of Thorns and Enlightenment in Blood build on the Nordic larp tradition and the strong legacy of vampire larps around the world to create a powerful, intimate experience. Everything from what personal horror really means to the challenges of larp organizing in Finnish squats and American hotels.
Where would we be without the Larpwriter Summer School?
The Larpwriter Summer School Alumni Association
Sat 13:15–15:00, Ljansbruket
2016 was the year of the fifth Larpwriter Summer School held in Lithuania. We don’t know if there ever will be any more Summer Schools. These are the stories about the impact the Summer School has had on the hundreds of participants, speakers, facilitators and organizers, but also the whole larp community.
Exploring smell: Smelling session
Ane Marie Anderson, Karete Jacobsen Meland, Jorg Rødsjø, Katrine Øverlie Svela
Sat 13:15–15:00, Norge
What can your sense of smell do for you? Join us in experimenting with smellcasting for larps and workshops! Participants are required to sleep in a t-shirt for four(?) days, bring the t-shirt to Knutepunkt, join our exquisite lounge where we let your noses do the casting for you, and then we put our olfaction to the test through a short workshop. Requires pre-signup! If you have signed up, you have to take part in both the smelling session and the workshop (our design depends on you!)
Homo ex machina
Anna Volodina
Sat 13:15–16:00, Son
This is a game about past and present, parents and children, TV in the livingroom and a noise of news in the head. Players will take away some experiences about generations and ideas about our next summer “Deus ex Machina” larp.
When larp hit Abu Dhabi like a tidal wave
Claus Raasted
Sat 14:15–15:00, Drøbak
In December 2016, Rollespilsakademiet brought a 38-person team to Abu Dhabi for a month to do larps in cooperation with a local theme park. This is the story of that project.
The Southern way – new Italian larp
Alessandro Giovannucci
Sat 14:15–15:00, Fram/Maud
In recent years larp in Italy and Southern Europe has taken on new, more conscious forms. Nordic style was important in the development, but new and exciting approaches are blooming. A Dionysian spirit animates us – the corporeal, the non-functional, the non-regulated, the invasiveness, and the politically incorrect are our natural forms of expression. This has led to the creation of several larps and the Southern Way – New Italian Larp Manifesto. This talk will analyze the design in new Italian Larp by highlighting its narrative approach and structural aspects.
My gaming history: Personal reflections on play
Jaakko Stenros
Sat 14:15–16:00, Ingierstrand
How has play shaped us as human beings? Who are we when we play? What marks have our games and toys left on our bodies and minds? How has larp shaped us – and how have other forms of play shaped us as larpers and larpwrights?
Theme, setting and experience: brainstorming larp designs
Mo Holkar
Sat 15:15–17:00, Drøbak
We will explore the use of theme, setting and experience as starting-points for chamber and black-box larp designs; and will practice and develop this technique in groups, brainstorming ideas. This is a practical workshop aimed at new and would-be designers. It will involve creativity and teamwork.
Gendering larp, a linguistic approach
Petra Lindve
Sat 15:15–16:00, Fram/Maud
What does it mean to be a larp producer, a game master or a larpwright? How do we create titles in a larp fiction? This talk will go through both explicit and implicit gendering in larp as well as looking at the etymology of descriptive titles. We will also look at some of the emerging gender-neutral titles within the larp world. Welcome to a linguistic geek-out where we will dig into culture, etymology and history.
In conversation between art and larp: The panel
Marije Baalman, Nina Runa Essendrop
Sat 15:15–17:00, Hvervenbukta
There is an increasing interest from the art world in larp, as artists are more and more interested in involving audience members as active participants in their work. At the same time, some larp designers have created larps that are more and more abstract in their approach. This raises questions such as “Is larp an art form?” and “What can larp learn from art?”. In the panel: Adam Saville James, Alessandro Giovannucci, Mark Durkan, Una Hamilton Helle, and Maria Bergmann Hamming
Principles of female erotic dancing and posing in larp (non-female)
Anna-Antonia Berger
Sat 15:15–17:00, Hvitsten
In the workshop we will deal with classic  female erotic posing, dancing and principles of performance composition. We treat techniques that are easy but effective so that you will be able to employ them even if you have no experience in this area yet. We will have a look onto different genres to give you an idea of the variety of the field and discuss what has to be regarded when using these techniques in a larp. Wear clothes that allow you to move.There is an alternative run for women only.
One-hour room party LWSS
Charlotte Brolin
Sat 15:15–16:00, Ljansbruket
Reunion party for participants, organizers and speakers from LWSS Alumni, but everyone is welcome to party with us.
#feminism sampler
Lizzie Stark, Petra Lindve, Siri Sandquist, Agata Swistak
Sat 16:15–18:00, Fram/Maud
Let's play some games from #feminism, the anthology from 2016 with games written by feminists from eleven different countries. This is a jam session where we split into groups and play! (Additional rooms: Norge, Kontoret, Uranienborg, N24)
Exploring smell: The workshop
Ane Marie Anderson, Karete Jacobsen Meland, Jorg Rødsjø
Sat 16:15–18:00, Gjøa
What can your sense of smell do for you? Join us in experimenting with smellcasting for larps and workshops! Participants are required to sleep in a t-shirt for four(?) days, bring the t-shirt to Knutepunkt, join our exquisite lounge where we let your noses do the casting for you, and then we put our olfaction to the test through a short workshop. Requires pre-signup! If you have signed up, you have to take part in both the smelling session and the workshop (our design depends on you!)
Retrospect: The Boat and other stories
Anna-Karin Linder
Sat 16:15–17:00, Ingierstrand
One designer talks about all the designs they have done or been involved in since they started designing. In 45 minutes they will go through everything from their earliest try outs to their latest projects. Three of these lectures have been held at the Interactive art larp course at Swedish SADA.
Make your childhood fantasy real!
Anita Myhre Andersen, Harald Misje
Sat 16:15–17:00, Ljansbruket
We will give an introduction to the Bergen based kids larp community, and we will together create your childhood dream larp.
Designing for the human brain: a pattern language
J Li
Sat 16:15–18:00, Son
The core building blocks of our games are not plots or characters or props. They are our most limited resources: time, space, player energy, and above all player cognitive processing. This half-talk, half-workshop delves into the patterns, numbers, and shapes that can make our designs more user-friendly to player brains. What's the best use of short-term memory? How can we apply furniture placement to guide interaction outcomes? What mathematical differences distinguish a juicy social setup from one that falls flat? The habits of player cognition work like any other force of nature: when we build a game upon them, we can either strain and resist them, or work in harmony to enhance the quality of our creation.
Counter education kingdom
Áron Birtalan, Klára Cserne
Sat 17:15–18:00, Hvervenbukta
A talk about the Bánk tradition, a series of larp summer camps that have been running in Hungary since 1938. The talk will touch upon how and why such a phenomenon could be born and live through one of the most oppressive dictatorships in Europe, what educational basis it has, and what sets it apart from other traditions of children's larp. How can a 3-week 24/7 larp work, and how do kids create their own culture and history from kids of the past and for kids to come?
Disability accessibility in larp
Shoshana Kessock
Sat 17:15–18:00, Ingierstrand
Larp design requires a lot of considerations, including venue creation, mechanics, setting and themes. On the forefront of creating and promoting larps, disability access is a major topic of discussion. How can games become more accessible, both in how they represent disabilities and how they make the games themselves accessible for the disabled? This talk will use examples from the past and offer up possibilities for outside the box larp techniques and ideas to innovate for the future.
Tweaking and redesign of workshop elements
Frida Sofie Jansen
Sat 18:15–20:00, Gjøa
This is a workshop on how to use elements you already know, from children’s games, theater practice, workshop exercises, and tweak and redesign them to better fit your purpose in your design.
In conversation between art and larp: Discussion/workshop
Sarah Jury, Jamie Harper
Sat 18:15–20:00, Hvervenbukta
In response to an increasing interest from creative practitioners in the medium of larp, and a new tendency for larp practitioners to describe their work as art, this event opens the floor to discuss the effects and potential of what is emerging. Creatives from all disciplines, larpers and anyone curious about the overlap between art and larp are invited to raise questions concerning the aesthetics, ethics, economies and politics of live action role-play in conjunction with art. Participants may bring short (5 mins max) role-play or audio visual media, in an attempt to discover something new by talking, dreaming and playing.
How to design experiences and larp
Bjarke Pedersen
Sat 18:15–20:00, Ingierstrand
Designing larps, or any participatory experience, is not easy. There are so many elements you need to control. This talk will help you understand how to design experiences and larps.From designable surfaces and the para larp, to design aesthetics and representation of theme, you will learn the tools to create a consistent design. This is not a talk about plots, characters and the like, or about how to produce a larp. It is about how to systematically think about design to make sure you have the best possible outcome. This talk is a companion piece to Johanna Koljonen’s “Larp design approached as experience design”.
Tomorrowland – A future of larps in theme parks?
Herwig Kopp
Sat 19:15–21:00, Ljansbruket
From blockbuster formats to high-production value offers of participatory play for a wider audience in theme parks – is this a possible and desirable future for larp? If yes, what may it look like? What projects are already trying to bridge into the entertainment industry and how to discuss results, methods and ethics? How would a “perfect larp-park” look like, as a collaborative community effort, or with investor money? How much of Westworld do we wish to become, including the pros and cons of “hosts” and “newcomers” and how much story does it need?
Nordic larp bingo – A drinking game
Agata Świstak
Sat 20:15–21:00, Hvervenbukta
Let’s explore the liminal phase of our beloved conference, the time when all important lectures have ended and the party is yet to begin. Together we will revise excerpts from different books and articles devoted to Nordic larp and larp theory. Together we will go through buzzwords of past years and sum up our plans for the future. Together, we will drink. Remember to BYOB. From the bar.
The Time Labyrinth!
Sat 21:00–22:00, Follosalen
Dress to impress and to show us your inner time traveler! Do you miss your character from That Larp and need the perfect excuse to be them one more time? Are you a star from the silent movies era? Were you ever stranded in time amongst cavemen? Is the future a dystopian wasteland? Or did “Barbarella” get it right, and the people of the future dress in plastic and tin foil? Pick your favorite historical era, larp character, or futuristic vision, and show us where and when you belong. Anything is allowed – both real and imaginary time and space. During the party we will open the great and mystical space known as the time labyrinth of larp! BE THERE AT 21:00 SHARP FOR THE EXTRAVAGANT OPENING!
Sunday February 26
Ethical design
Tomas Mørkrid
Sun 10:15–11:00, Hvervenbukta
Be forewarned! Come armed! In this one hour spot you will be asked to give your most horrendous statements on ethical design of roleplaying games: how it may be done horrendously wrong, and horrendously right. How it may help, and make everything worse, and how ethical design may end up altering everything you and your players now about the world, and humans.And you will be free to dismiss it all, if you like. Or to puke, if that makes it easier for you to stomach the blind statements of the righteous.
COLOR (Morning ritual)
Áron Birtalan
Sun 10:15–11:00, Ingierstrand
COLOR is a guided movement ritual made for developing abstract characters based on sensing our body, the environment and each-other. Throughout the session we’ll be setting these characters into motion throughout space – exploring, moving, interacting with all that comes at us. COLOR is something between improvised dance, a larp and a guided ritual.  It is an exercise to start the day with – open for all, with or without hangover.
Storytelling through music
Marion Bræstrup Løsnes
Sun 10:15–11:00, Ljansbruket
There are many ways to use music to tell a story. In this workshop we will do some exercises to experience how we can use music to tell a story. The first part of the workshop will be based on musical improvisation. In the second part we will learn some songs, together with the presentation of a case example. This workshop is open for everyone. No prior musical experience is needed.
Beyond make-believe: Larp in the early childhood classroom
Jonaya Kemper
Sun 11:15–13:00, Fram/Maud
Do you like adventure? Do you like a challenge? Do you think you can lead 15 children through the fires of a volcano to discover a lost treasure? This fun hands-on workshop will go over some basic early childhood education principles and how we can use them to create age appropriate larp scenarios for very young children (3-5). We’ll learn how to extend solo play into co-operative make-believe, and allow children to make up their own stories with adults as the barest facilitators. At the end, participants will create short larp scenarios with teams and will lead all of us through them!
Larp kids, kid's larps
Toril Mjelva Saatvedt, Eskil Saatvedt, Harald Misje, Anita Myhre Andersen
Sun 11:15–12:00, Hvervenbukta
A talk about making larps for kids, in collaboration with kids, and attending larps with kids.
Love & larp: Tips & tricks
Jeppe Bergmann Hamming, Maria Bergmann Hamming, Charles Bo Nielsen
Sun 11:15–12:00, Ingierstrand
We believe that love and romance is a great engine for play in larps. By getting better at using love relations to distribute and create play, and by making it easier to set up this kind of play and debrief afterwards we believe that we can all get better larp experiences. We want to share some tools and tricks with you and hopefully inspire you to make your larps full of love.
Designing for meta-reflection
Hilda Levin
Sun 11:15–12:00, Ljansbruket
To design for meta-reflection (to make players reflect upon their larp experience) before and after a larp is common. But how about during the larp? With inspiration from Brecht's differentiation between immersion and reflection, we will discuss the why and the how of designing for meta-reflection during an ongoing larp. What are the motives for making players switch perspectives during an ongoing narrative? What examples of this can we find in our larps? What can we learn from other media?
Can larp in a box enhance quality of life?
Anders Berner, Claus Raasted, Sofie Støvelbæk
Sun 12:15–13:00, Hvervenbukta
How do we train new organizers and introduce young people to larp? Simultaneously creating a national community of organizers while promote specific values? Research done by the The Happiness Research Institute suggests that active participation in the organization of larps greatly enhances self-esteem, recognition of hard and soft skills and the feeling of being valued as a person.  Our main method, Larp-in-a-box, is an easy way of training new organizers to successfully run their first larp, with everything they need being provided in a packed-and-ready box. This presentation deals with the methods and research results of an ongoing Danish project.
Retrospect: Physical, sensory larp design
Nina Runa Essendrop
Sun 12:15–13:00, Ingierstrand
One designer talks about all the designs they have done or been involved in since they started designing. In 45 minutes they will go through everything from their earliest try outs to their latest projects. Three of these lectures have been held at the Interactive art larp course at Swedish SADA.
Spontaneous interaction
Tomas Mørkrid
Sun 12:15–13:00, Ljansbruket
A very laidback talk. Tomas HV Mørkrid, a Norwegian gamesmith with more than twenty years of professional design in the field of verbal – and live role-playing games, will make a short introduction on the virtues of spontaneous interaction, how to design for it, and how to be a positive part of it. After the introduction he invites you to participate in a discourse on the theme. We will discuss the spontaneous nature of gameplay, real life dealings, love, family-relationships, and everyday life. And we may search for the magical meeting point between spontaneity and ritual.
Ending Ceremony
Sun 13:00–14:00, Follosalen
Be there!

Program Schedule	Thursday February 23rd

14:00
15:00
16:00
17:00
18:00
19:00
20:00
21:00
22:00
23:00

Check in and Lunch

Drøbak
Follosalen
Fram/Maud
Gjøa
Hvervenbukta
Hvitsten
Ingierstrand
Ljansbruket
Son

Dinner

Physical action: some practical tools p. 6
Opening ceremony p. 6
Keynotes p. 6
KPTV2017 p. 9
High on larp p. 6
How not to internationalize your larp p. 8
Thinking on your feet p. 7
Meet new people p. 7
Knutepunkt 101 p. 8
Mixing desk 101 p. 8
Aesthetic larping p. 7
Physical, intuitive workshop p. 8
In memory of Elge p. 7
Culture by design p. 8
Retrospect: Juhana p. 9
Using known universe... p. 9
Don't cross the streams p. 7
Over the next hill p. 8
Dancing with kimonos p. 7
Multimodality for dummies p. 10
Food as a narrative tool p. 12
Execution of transformative ... p. 14
Crisis management: bleed, harassment, trauma p. 15
Upcoming larps p. 17
Larp design approached as experience design p. 17
Keynotes p. 10
Everything is beautiful at the drag ball p. 20
Party!!! p. 20
Acting for larpers p. 9
... Role-Playing in Japan p. 11
The other life project: Talk p. 13
The other life project: Larp p. 15
High on Knutepunkt p. 17
Participatory sound design: The theory p. 19
Participatory sound design: The workshop p. 20
Larp as part of a learning process p. 10
Translating larps p. 11
How to hold a workshop p. 13
Larp in youth work p. 16
... Dressing up 'n gett'n drunk p. 17
Village, shelter, comfort p. 18
How to treat your volunteers p. 10
Designing for inclusivity p. 11
That Danish larp school ... p. 13
Dealing with antisocial ... p. 15
Stop thinking start larping p. 15
Why we didn't go. Larp anxiety and fear p. 18
L.A.R.Ps - A documentary film p. 10
Lightning Talks from the book! p. 11
Body language for larp: tools from theatre p. 13
Principles of female erotic dancing and posing in larp (for women) p. 16
Practical feminism p. 18
COLOR (Morning ritual) p. 10
The player-organizer contract p. 12
Dare to ask, dare to tell p. 14
Managing conflict in your larp community p. 16
Retrospect: Jamie p. 17
... as larp goes mainstream p. 18
Eurovision Sing-Along p. 19
Inexplicable Crossdressed Dance Party p. 21
Exploring smell p. 12
The virtual restoration project p. 14
... quantitative larp evaluation p. 17
Culture clashes, disbelief and lack of tools - how do we make our larps safe? p. 19
Adaptation to larp p. 12
Knutepunkt open space p. 14
Dancing drama: narrative design through dance p. 16
To bleed or not to bleed p. 19
Loyalty to character? p. 20
Working with the big corps p. 22
Designer's hour p. 24
When larp hit Abu Dhabi p. 26
Theme, setting and experience: brainstorming larp designs p. 27
Keynotes p. 22
The Time Labyrinth! p. 31
Best of Russia p. 21
Larp and culture p. 22
Meta room in larp design p. 24
... new Italian larp p. 26
Gendering larp, a linguistic approach p. 27
#feminism sampler p. 28
Literacy through larp p. 21
... Larping on the waves p. 23
Suppression and domination techniques in larps p. 24
Exploring smell: The workshop p. 28
Tweaking and redesign of workshop elements p. 29
What's that sound? ... p. 21
between art and larp: Primer p. 23
Larping with an audience p. 25
In conversation between art and larp: The panel p. 27
Counter education kingdom p. 29
In conversation between art and larp: Discussion/workshop p. 30
Nordic larp bingo - A drinking game p. 30
Lightning talks from the book!	p. 23
Safety and calibration techniques in larps p. 25
Principles of female erotic dancing and posing in larp (non-female) p. 27
COLOR (Morning ritual) p. 22
Hour of the (white) wolf p. 23
New vampire larp p. 25
My gaming history: Personal reflections on play p. 27
Retrospect: Anna-Karin p. 28
Disability accessibility in larp p. 29
How to design experiences and larp p. 30
De la Bête: a hundred novels in one larp p. 22
The pain of history ... p. 24
Where would we be without the Larpwriter Summer School? p. 26
One-hour room party LWSS p. 28
Make your childhood fantasy real! p. 28
Tomorrowland - A future of larps in theme parks? p. 30
W Nor 13:15-15:00 Exploring smell: Smelling session p. 26
... characters for Zeitgeist p. 24
Homo ex machina p. 26
Designing for the human brain: a pattern language p. 29
Ending Ceremony p. 33
Beyond make-believe: Larp in the early childhood classroom p. 32
Ethical design p. 31
Larp kids, kid's larps p. 32
Can larp in a box enhance ... p. 33
COLOR (Morning ritual) p. 31
Love & larp: Tips & tricks p. 32
Retrospect: Nina  p. 33
Storytelling through music p. 32
Designing for meta-reflection p. 32
Spontaneous interaction p. 33

Program Schedule	Friday February 24th

10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
17:00
18:00
19:00
20:00
21:00
22:00
23:00

8:00-10:30 Breakfast

Lunch

Program Schedule	Saturday February 25th

Program Schedule	Sunday February 26th

10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00

8:30-11:00 Breakfast

Checkout by 12:00

Follosalen
Fram/Maud
Hvervenbukta
Ingierstrand
Ljansbruket

The amazing map of the rooms!

1, 2

1: Follosalen
2: Hvitsten
3: Drøbak
4: Son
5: Fram/Maud
6: Gjøa
7: Main entrance
8: Ingierstrand
9: Hvervenbukta
10: Ljansbruket
11: Stairs/elevator, bathrooms downstairs.
12: To upstairs program rooms

7

8

9

10

1, 3

1, 4

5

12

6

bar / lounge

Reception

11

Food!