LARP Writing Contests

If you want to encourage LARPing, you need more good, easy-to-run, ready-to-go LARPs that can be given to new GMs and new groups. What better way to make that happen than by sponsoring LARP writing contests with cash prizes?

Intercon has had a long history of Iron GM and Small Game Contests, starting with the Live Action Roleplayers Association (LARPA) mid-Atlantic Intercons. NEIL was involved in many of those contests, helping LARPA to sponsor them by providing prize money. Several impressive LARPs came out of those contests, like Marlowe 2020, The Road Not Taken, and Time Travel Review Board. These LARPs, and other contest LARPs like them, continue to run in different places, bringing more people to LARP.

As the New England Intercons prospered and grew - and needed more LARPs to satisfy its voracious population of LARPers - it was only natural for NEIL to sponsor local competitions leading up to Intercon. With contest game first runs at Intercon, it meant that they could be played and judged by a diverse crowd of enthusiastic Intercon LARPers.

What follows is a history of the events primarily sponsored by NEIL.

Intercon T Iron GM Contest (January 2020)

Facilitated by: Tara Halwes, Kim Sward, and Ace Tayloe

Goal: Produce a 2 hour LARP for 12 players in 24 hours, using the genre of Monster Stories, the theme of Immortality, the ingredient of Silence, with a prop of a lantern.

The scoring between the five games was extremely close.

Intercon S Iron GM Contest (January 2019)

Facilitated by: Tara Halwes and Kim Sward

Goal: Produce a 2 hour LARP for 12 players in 24 hours, using the secret ingredient genre of Magical Realism (the 'real world' meets the fantastic), the secret theme of Coming of Age, the secret element of Distress Call, with an additional secret prop of a 10” glass round mirror.

This was an amazing year for the Iron GM competition:

• 8 teams completed the writing portion of the competition.

• 7 readers read, scored, and made some comments for the game writers about their games in advance of the convention.

• 7 teams ran their games at Intercon S

• The 8th team, "Gap Year" did not run and therefore was not eligible to compete. We are looking forward to seeing their game run somewhere soon.

• 50 player slots were run at Iron GM games; 3 games ran with 8 players at 10:00 am, 3 games ran with 7 players at 12:30 pm, and 1 game ran with 6 players at 3:00 pm.

Several of these games have already run again, in other venues.

Intercon R Iron GM Contest (February 2018)

Facilitated by: Tara Halwes and Kim Sward

Goal: Produce a 2 hour LARP for 12 players in 24 hours, using the secret ingredient genre of Sea stories, the secret theme of Metamorphosis, the secret element of Math, with an additional secret prop of a wooden shaker egg painted silver.

Intercon Q Iron GM Contest (February 2017)

Facilitated by: Tara Halwes and Kim Sward

Goal: Produce a 2 hour LARP for 12 players in 24 hours, using the secret ingredient genre of Parallel Universes, the secret theme of Hope or False Hope, the secret element of Trickster animals, with an additional secret prop of 10' foot strand of green LED lights.

Three teams produced really interesting games, with the usual narrow point spread in the results.

Intercon P Iron GM Contest (February 2016)

Facilitated by: Marsha Gershon

Goal: Produce a 2 hour LARP for 12 players in 24 hours, using the secret ingredient genre of Paranormal, the secret theme of Convention and Rebellion, the secret element of Tattoos, with an additional secret prop of a Plastic Kazoo.

There were four excellent competitors, producing enjoyable games, in another close competition.

Intercon O Iron GM Contest (February - March 2015)

Facilitated by: Viktoriya Fuzaylova

Goal: Produce a 2 hour LARP for 12 players in 24 hours, using the secret ingredient genre of Satire, the secret theme of Lost and Found, the secret element of Vegetables, with an additional secret prop of a Skeleton Key.

There were three excellent competitors, producing enjoyable games. Despite the fact that Nat Budin was ineligible to compete (being married to the facilitator), he also wrote a fourth game for the competition!

Intercon N Iron GM Contest (March 2014)

Facilitated by: Viktoriya Fuzaylova

Goal: Produce a 2 hour LARP for 12 players in 24 hours, using the secret ingredient genre of Comedy of Manners, the secret theme of Tradition versus Change, the secret element of The Four Elements, with an additional secret prop of 12 origami butterflies.

It was another tough competition, producing five very good LARPs.

Intercon M Iron GM Contest (March 2013)

Facilitated by: Joshua Sheena

Goal: Produce a 2 hour LARP for 12 players in 24 hours, using the secret ingredient themes of time-travel, stuffed animals, and secret societies.

Once again, it was a tough competition, with just a few points separating first place and last place. Some of these games have run again since the contest, which is part of the goal!

Intercon J Small Games Contest (March 2010)

Facilitated by: LARPA

Goal: Produce a 2 hour LARP for 10-16 players. This was a general contest, with no special themes or ingredients.

This was a really small contest, as Mike Young was the only entrant. He won all the money!

Intercon I Iron GM Contest (March 2009)

Facilitated by: Jaelen Hartwin

Goal: Produce a 2 hour LARP for 12 players, using the secret ingredient themes of pulp (the literary style), long-lost siblings, and fairies.

Each game could score a possible total of fifty points, and the results were very close. The difference between the winning team and the last place team was just six points.