The Practical

Brief

Giovanni: The Family Reunion is a consent-based (Nordic-style) LARP taking place at Midwinter Gaming Convention 2024 across Friday and Saturday nights. This game will be focused heavily on social and political scheming and dealing, where old grudges will be settled and old debts called in to determine how the Clans of Death will move forward into the future.
The game is intended to portray the events of the Family Reunion - the event that carries the Clans of Death from their disparate states in the V20 setting into the Hecata of the V5 setting. You, the player, will take on the role of one of the members of the various Clans of Death, and that character will be assigned into one of three factions that have distinct goals and opinions on how the future of the Clans should function moving foward.

Please read the points below for more information.

What Is Nordic LARP?

 

Nordic-style LARP is live action roleplay conducted largely via consent-based, negotiated gameplay. There are few, if any, hard numerical stats since players are expected to work together to create and portray a collaborative story.

This does not mean that actions do not have consequences, as sometimes one’s choices can drastically limit the options one has at one’s disposal moving forward. However it does enable us to tell a story that is more focused on narrative and roleplaying than numbers or combat.

We will be running two seminars about Nordic LARP, Giovanni: the Family Reunion, and how to get into character - one Thursday evening, one Friday afternoon. It is recommended, but not required, to attend one as your schedule permits.

What Is This Game About?

 

Giovanni: The Family Reunion is intended to explore the political and social intrigues that resulted in the formation of the Hecata - the collective clans of death as presented in the Vampire the Masquerade 5th edition setting.

There are no plans for violence, large-scale combat, or forays off-site to solve any mysteries. Our intent is for you to participate in this major formative event in the World of Darkness, and provide a framework for you to experience the society and intrigues of the Kindred for one night split across two 5-hour sessions.

Your sheets will have an explanation of your character history, clan/family, your faction, a short description of powers available and how to use them, and a handful of connections built in that are a mix of friends and foes. While we encourage you to build additional ties or flesh out history as you see fit, we will not be allowing you to change the framework of the character as they have been built. Every character has an important role to play in the tapestry of the story we are weaving together.

What We Are:

 

  • An open secrets, Nordic style game.

  • A chance to experience the World of Darkness without the risk of being stuck in hours of RPS PvP combat.

  • A chance to help shape the events of one of the major settings shifts between previous editions and 5th Edition.

  • An opportunity to play your character to the hilt with the knowledge that, once game ends on Saturday night, your time with this character comes to an end as well.

What We Are Not:

 

  • A heavy-crunch, heavy-rules game. While we will provide a barebones sheet explaining your clan, your powers, and a handful of numbers to help resolve disputes should negotiation fail, we are not here to provide a combat PvP experience.

  • A heavily Storyteller-led game. While this game has certain story beats and an act structure to keep things engaging and moving, the staff of the game are here to facilitate versus lead. You will get out of this game what you put into it - as such we encourage you to be willing to enter the game with an open mind and a willingness to say “Yes, and…” when it comes to negotiating scenes.

  • An organization-linked game. While our presence at Midwinter is sponsored by Cerberus Interactive Media, we are not affiliated with any networked organization, and operate under the Dark Pack license.