The One Without Sin is a larp in four acts – one played Thursday evening through to Friday morning , one played Friday until late, one played Saturday from morning to afternoon, and a short final act on Saturday late afternoon into evening. Between the acts, there will be short calibration workshops.
In the story, these acts take place during four subsequent Sundays (with the first act also including the Saturday evening before), which means there’s a time jump of a week between each act. Every act begins with a church service in the local little church.
The first act (played Thursday evening to Friday morning) is centered around every-day life, with the people of the village also celebrating having successfully brought home the cattle from the summer pastures and taken in the harvest. The rumours about witches in Mora and elsewhere have, however, already begun to spread.
Act one will also include the arrival and introduction of the Witchcraft Commission, during the morning hours. Some people are hesitant to believe that witches could truly exist, in the way that they are now talked about, or if they do, whether they truly are in conjunction with the Devil himself. Others are afraid, and might welcome the Witchcraft Commission wholeheartedly. Yet others are also afraid, but their fear is for the Commission itself, and what they might do.
Note that the Witchcraft Commission, sent from Stockholm to inquire into the locally increasing accusations of witchcraft, are NPCs (non-playable characters), there to structure the acts and enhance the larp experience. They are, however, on site and played almost the entire larp, and you can interact with them as if they were any other character.
Act two (played Friday early afternoon into the night) will gradually lead to a shift – most people become convinced that witches do exist – but how to know who they are, and where they might be hiding? This is the act to bring grievances, wounded feelings and fears out into the open. The act will also include the Witchcraft Commission interviewing each household, and the possibility to actually start officially accusing someone of witchcraft and sorcery.
Act three (played Saturday morning to Saturday afternoon) will be focused on the trial, including the last hours leading up to it, with the possibilities to bring any final accusations before the Witchcraft Commission, as well as the immediate aftermath. Whoever is judged guilty in the trial will be arrested and contained for the rest of the larp and play all their further scenes as captives.
By signing up for The One Without Sin, you accept that your character might be accused of witchcraft. You cannot choose beforehand that you definitely will be, even if you would want to, and you cannot completely negate the risk that you might be, even if you rather wouldn’t. This is a conscious design choice, as it historically mostly was happenstance and random incidents that would determine whether you would be accused of witchcraft or not. It is, however, voluntary for you as a player if you want your character to be judged guilty in the trial or not, if your character is accused. If you don’t want the experience of being judged guilty, arrested and executed, it is possible to opt out of this and let your character be judged innocent. We will talk more about the accusations, the trial and opting out during the workshops.
The fourth and final act (played Saturday afternoon and early evening) is about saying goodbye for the last time, spitting on the ground before someone’s feet, or feverishly trying to withdraw the accusations that might condemn someone to death. The larp will end just before a public execution at nightfall.
After the larp ends, there will be some structured time to talk and debrief, and then the rest of the evening to hang out and socialise. It will be possible to leave Saturday evening from 21.00 onwards, but we highly recommend staying until Sunday morning. We would like everyone to plan for leaving the village by 11.00 at the latest on Sunday.
Schedule
Note that this is a rough, preliminary schedule and the exact times might change.
Wednesday 2/9
You may arrive at the location from 17 o’clock
Thursday 3/9
10- ca 18.00 Workshops
ca 18.00 Act 1 begins
Friday 4/9
Wake up in game
ca 12.00 Act break and calibration
ca 14.00 Act 2 begins
Saturday 5/9
Wake up offgame, calibration
ca 11.00 Act 3 begins
ca 16.00 Act break and calibration
ca 17.00 Act 4 begins
ca 19.00 The larp ends
Debrief and socialising
Sunday 6/9
Leave by 11.00