Pannonia, 249 A.D.
Rome is in turmoil. A civil war has erupted and the roman legions protecting the Limes have been ordered to Italy to fight fellow romans. Germanic tribes and raiders are lurking beyond the Danube, waiting for their chance to exploit the poorly protected border.
The ancient roman city of Scarbantia, located near Carnuntum at the Limes, is left to take care of itself. The financial aristocracy long ago fled the perilous region and left control of the city to ruthless gangs.
Amidst all this chaos many people seek refuge with a new sect. They speak of charity and brotherly love yet deny tribute to the emperor and the gods! Surely these heathens summoned the wrath of the gods and are co-responsible for the crisis at hands.
The collapse of the Empire seems inevitable. Will Scarbantia share its fate?
- Focus on immersion and ambience
- Historic background
- Prewritten characters
- Tightly woven web of connections between characters
- Conflict based gameplay
- Simulation of everyday city life
- Religions
- Intrigues
- 18+
- Reenactment
- Military gameplay | Fighting
- Economic simulation
- Railroading
Scarbantia is a historic Live Action Role Playing game. The aim is to simulate an antique roman provincial town during the imperial crisis in 249 A.D. All adversities, amenities and characteristics representative of this exciting time shall be portrayed. The focus of the game will be social relationships and conflicts, maximum immersion and harmonious ambience.
The setting is dirty. Scarbantia is not the imperial court and the majority of the financial aristocracy has long deserted the town. Only its citizens, slaves and the plebs are left, whose life was hard enough already. Three street gangs filled the power vacuum, and they are not prepared to cede one bit of their newly gained influence. In these difficult times the inhabitants of Scarbantia struggle to appease their gods and accomplish their ambitions and live their lives.
To make all this possible, all participants will receive prewritten characters, which will be developed and interconnected by the organizers (including participants input). To accurately depict everyday-city-life all characters will engage in a suitable profession or work. There will have ambitions and dark secrets, friends and foes, loved ones and convictions. The game will be animated by the interactions of the characters, their plots and the resulting stories. We aim to create an environment in which this can be achieved. Our hope is to generate a high degree of immersion for all participants in a credible, bustling town, giving rise to stories which in a similar manner might actually have happened back in the day.
Game Area | Accomodation
There will be a clear cut division between In-game and Off-game areas.
Off-game areas include room for your off-game equipment and the sleeping area, where you will either sleep in beds or camp beds. The will be a limited amount of beds provided, which will be reserved primarily for slave players. Non-slave-players will be required to bring camp-beds themselves. Showers and toilets are included, as well as a dedicated “Off-Zone”, which will provide players with room to take a short break from their character, if needed.
The In-game areas will enforce a strict 24/7 In-time policy: As long as you dwell there, you are expected to play your character at all times. These areas will include the main square (Forum) and shady alleys, dark cellars and the tavern, as well as a steam bath (!) and lavatories, all of which will offer room for various In-Game craftsmen and craftswomen to display their trade.
Players are free to sleep in these areas, however, they will be scrutinised to keep their bedrooms, tents and pavilions free of immersion breaking equipment.
Slave characters
Slaves were not only normal, but essential to ancient societies. On the one hand, they were not considered citizens or even humans and had to endure atrocities, on the other hand, they often held high offices and enjoyed a high degree of trust and responsibility from their masters.
Scarbantia will emulate this facet of society as best it can. One third to half of the players will play as slave characters!
Players performing as slaves or other servants sometimes tend to suffer from a decreased gameplay experience (sometimes describes as “Peasant Problem”). Often this is due to their characters being neglected or them being considered background actors for other “more important” characters. Sometimes it is due to organizers being unaware of the challenges that come with these roles.
We intend to give this problem no chance to arise.
Extra care and attention will be given to the creation of slave characters and their interconnection with other characters. They will have clear cut areas of responsibility and dependencies, and shall not be considered solely as servants.
Additionally, a Guideline for Slaves and Masters will be provided. This guideline is a combined result of several years of experience in playing master-and-slave relationships as well as in creating games with a focus on servant and slave roles. There will be workshops before the game, introducing these helpful concepts to the players, to ensure their successful implementation in the game.
Religion
One essential part of the game will be the portrayal of religion, which was omnipresent at the time. Every citizen will be expected to participate in the square, old state cults. They were an everyday sight but had little left to do with true faith. The state cults are simply part of the setting.
However, players are encouraged to immerse themselves in more intense religious gameplay opportunities. There will be two possibilities: Firstly, there will be the Christians, hiding from prosecution, meeting in secret underground churches, branded as enemies of the state! For those who consider playing historic early Christians themselves too sensitive, there is an alternative.
Players can secondly choose to join one of two secret cults (Bona Dea for women, and Mithras for men). Participating in religious gameplay will offer a more dense web of interconnections with other characters, and thus hopefully more potential for great gameplay.
Fighting | Injuries | Healing
(Competitive) Fighting will not be a focus of Scarbantia. Violence will be a topic regarding the brisk gang activity in the city, however, these violent interactions will not be about winning or defeating your opponent, but about creating an exciting experience for your fellow players. Players will be encouraged to escalate their conflict slowly, before engaging in fights. If a fight cannot be avoided, these fights are to be carried out in a cooperative, vivid manner.
Don’t expect epic deaths. Injuries as well as tending to wounds should be portrayed as accurately as possible. There will be no magic of any kind.
In case a character ends up dead, the player can at any time return to the game with a secondary character prepared by the organisers.
The Legionaries protecting the Limes withdrew from the region to fight in the civil war. There will be no military force in Scarbantia. Instead, three rival gangs (collegia) will struggle for dominance in the streets.
Catering
Cooking food is an essential part of everyday life in Scarbantia. In order to increase immersion there will be a focus on historic roman cuisine. Original roman recipes as well as foodstuffs and cooking instructions will be provided for the players, who will use the ingredients to cook their own meals. This will happen in-game, using historic techniques and tools at public cook shops located around the Forum.
You will have a chance to offer your dedicated support as innkeeper or cook’s mate/cookmaid during your registration.
Naturally, special dietary needs will be taken into account and vegetarian meals without the notorious fish sauce “garum” will also be available. There will be an opportunity to declare your special dietary needs during your registration.
Water and juices as well as wine in limited amounts are also included.
Rules
- If another player interacts with you, show any plausible reaction. Play. Play something. No matter what, but play.
- If you interact with another player, don’t expect any specific reaction of him or her. Accept what that player makes of your interaction.
- Keep “telling” to a minimum, or omit it entirely. (Pulse? Yes/No)
- Read and follow the Guideline for Slaves and Masters
- Respect the in-game safeword “Wenn das deine Mutter wüsste!” (“If your mother knew about this!” is an established safeword in the german speaking LARP-Community. It signals that you are not OK with what is currently happening to you, and you wish to leave this situation, without having to suspend the scene, and go Off-Game).
- “RED STOP!” The Off-game safety/emergency stop, which will suspend the game for a while.
- There will be no magic of any kind.
- Poison 1) can only be applied as a liquid. 2) must taste oversalted. Once (if) the victim recognizes the “poison”, the first and second rule above apply.
- In-game stealing is allowed, however, stolen goods must not be hidden away, but instead must be carried on the player at all times. The thief must also declare his action and stolen goods to the game masters, to avoid confusion.
Price | Conditions
Regular Ticket: €95,-
Deposit for cleaning: €10,- (The deposit will be refunded to diligent helping hands after the event.)
Payment is due latest 4 weeks after registration. Failure to pay in time will result in automatic deregistration from the event. Please inform the organizers ASAP, if your payment cannot be made in time. You will receive the bank account details per mail in due time.
There will be a limited amount of special tickets for people with limited financial recourses at the cost of €65,-. Please declare your need for such a ticket upon registration.
The ticket cannot be transferred to another person. Please immediately inform the organizers if you are registered but cannot make it to the event, so we can find a replacement. In case of cancelations after 31st May 2017 your payment cannot be refunded for administrative reasons.
There will be pictures taken and videos filmed at the event. These pictures and movies will be used noncommercially for the purposes of 1000 Atmosphären, and made available to all participants. Participants will have to sign a paper at the check-in, ceding their image rights for pictures and movies taken at the event to 1000 Atmosphären. If you take issue with this policy, please contact the organizers, so we can find a suitable solution for all.
There will be explicit language and nudity (steam bath), as well as enactments of topics such as fanatism, violence and sexuality. All participants therefore must have reached the legal age of 18.
Equipment
No costume? No problem!
Compared to other historic garb, Roman clothes are super simple to craft yourself at home. This DIY-Roman-Garb-Guide explains everything you need to know.
In order to create a dense and appealing ambience in Scarbantia, we are dependent on your help. All players are encouraged to provide any and all equipment they can spare. This could be candles or oil lamps, chairs, benches or tables, awnings, tents or pavilions. Anything that could enrich the roman experience is welcome. There is no need to be 100% historically accurate, as long as it is consistent with the setting and fits the atmosphere.
Organisationsteam
Contact
1000 Atmosphären
Gemeinnütziger Kulturverein zur persönlichen und künstlerischen Weiterbildung mittels Liverollenspiel
Alexander Neubauer – Organizer & GM
Alina Bugelnig – GM
Bernhard Slanic – Organizer & GM
Gerhild Grabitzer – Organizer & GM
Stefan Petrovic – Organizer & GM
eMail: 1000atmosphaeren@gmail.com