Dance of Ribbons

A Dance of Ribbons

A love letter to those role players who love intricate stories, deep narratives, and embodying characters with love and care.

Location

Warrandyte, Victoria, Australia

Genre

Medieval fantasy meets folk horror at a pagan festival.

Conflict resolution system

Boffer combat for duels, hidden mechanics for magic; crochet 'ribbon' representing health, with back-up hidden mechanics to provide combat resolution for injured or disabled Martial players.

Duration

Full Weekend, Friday night to Monday morning.

Established

2022

Games per year

1-3

Credits

Come Close and Listen

Participation fee

$250 per player year 1; $400 per player by year 3.

Rule system

Custom rulebook. Emailed privately to players to limit awareness of others' mechanics.

Website

Come Close and Listen website

Dance of Ribbons was an Australian blockbuster larp which ran for three years, intended and completed as a trilogy. In the final year, this annual event was also supplemented by 2 day games, one for each of the major player groups within the game (Garmont and Vicaria).

This game pioneered its own system to represent health using the eponymous crocheted "ribbons", which were tied to player's belts. When a character was injured - whether through boffer combat or through other mechanics, such as magic - the game's referees (known as "Witnesses") would grab a loose thread on the ribbon and begin to pull, unravelling the small piece. Speed was determined by the perceived severity of the injury and GM choice. The physical tension created by the string being pulled added to the dramatic tension, particularly of moving injured players, which could lead to extra 'blood loss' as the ribbon unravelled faster when pulled. Medic or healer-class players were the only characters able to interact with the ribbon, cutting it to stop further health loss, or crocheting the string back into the ribbon to restore players to health. This ribbon system was fairly popular and has so far been unique to this campaign, though the creators encouraged other larps to consider it for their games.

Setting

We have danced this dance for more than a century. From the West come the proud Cantons of Garmont. From the East, the otherworldly Vicarians. Here we converge, in a hidden valley of the Spire Mountains, returning once again to the hallowed grounds of the Dance of Ribbons.

An original setting in which three factions each from Garmont and Vicaria - 6 in total - met at festival grounds to discuss peace, trade, beliefs, and their relationships with other neighbours, such as Francia and Emoria.

Garmont factions:

• Straussland
• Gottenburg
• Vaud

Garmont was known for worshipping the triple-goddess Io. Io the Blessed; the Thrice-Faced Goddess; the Woman Who Was, Shall Be, and Is. They believed that in the creation of the material world, Io and her counterpart Azrael fought a battle between good and evil. Azrael, the master of darkness and tormentor of souls, created monsters and the Fey as a mockery of the divine. Io created humans as a way of battling the darkness and out of an overabundance of love. Io was the victor and trapped Azrael in the centre of the earth, where he is kept imprisoned. Thus, Garmont shunned magic, as a representation of Azrael.

Garmont was also known for its stratified class system which mirrored feudal medieval Europe. Each faction was led by "Lades", who in turn elected a "High Lade" who ruled over all three factions.

Vicarian factions:

• Dunmore
• Kilkern - renamed to "Silkern" by game 3.
• Hathwoad

Vicaria was also known internally as ‘Vic’ (Children) and ‘Raiaria’ (Feykin), aka Children of the Fey, or referred to as "the Clans" by players, reflecting the lore that the term "Vicaria" was a Garmontian over-simplification of their culture. They worshipped a pantheon of gods known as the Sidhe (inspired by the Tuatha De Danann).

The clans did not have leaders like Garmont, but did have representatives who would speak for the clan's decisions as a whole. These spokespeople were referred to as the "Kelda". The clans were also given guidance by an order of druidic 'Woaden', who stood separate to Vicarian society and acted as a connecting link to the Sidhe.

Game history

Come Close and Listen is primarily an immersive theatre company and a project led by David Harris. This business became the vehicle through which David Harris, along with Josiah Lulham, formed a 20-person team to create their first larp, inspired by their own shared experiences of Blackpowder and Bloodlines.

This game was notable for its production values, as the first blockbuster larp in Australia known to be eligible for and acquire government funding through the institution Creative Victoria to bring their project to life. This funding was initially produced to support accessibility at the LARP. Some team members also acquired support in the project through PhD projects, by undertaking larp-making as an auto-ethnographic study on LARP. A documentarian was also present at the game to record it.

Each annual weekender game was also preceded by player workshops in which players were invited into structured pre-game calibrations. There, they had opportunities to contribute to world and faction lore, and to practice different kinds of improvisation and tools of play that would later come up during the game. The traditional round "Rose, Rose, Rose" became associated with the game because of this, as players were taught the round to sing together during pre-game calibrations to encourage attuning to other players; and began singing the song together at critical moments of the larp (and, occasionally, at other non-Dance of Ribbons larp events, when reminiscing on their time at this game).

Number of players increased each year.

• Year 1: 80 players
• Year 2: 120 players
• Year 3: (info not currently available)

After achieving what they set out to do with this trilogy, the team behind Dance of Ribbons has taken a break and indicated that, for the foreseeable future, they will not be returning to this world or this project: allowing them to focus on other pursuits.

The team as of the final game included:

• David Harris (he/him) - Creative Director
• Jess Lu (they/them) - Creative Producer
• Tim Sneddon (he/him) - Creative Producer
• Kit Thornton (they/he) - Assistant Producer
• Josiah Lulham (he/him) - Community and Culture Designer
• Steph Young (they/them) - Production Manager & Access Coordinator
• Dan D'Angelo (he/him) - Graphic Designer and Brand Manager
• Chantel Eagle (she/her) - Art Director
• Emily Ten-Hoeve (she/her) - Designer
• Eli Rooke (they/them) - Advisory Designer
• Stirling (he/him) - Technical Manager
• Georgia Symons (she/her) - Lead Mechanist and Tank Beast
• Frazer Shepherdson (he/him) - Story Lead and Writer
• Tay Pitts (she/her) - Writer and Tank Assist
• Iris Simpson (she/her) - Writer
• James Vinson (he/they) - Writer
• William Klaranbeek (he/him) - Game Designer & Online Systems Builder
• Gispa Walstab (they/them) - Advisory Game Designer

Alumni / team members from prior years:

• Jett Chudleigh (she/her) - Props Master and Ribbon Designer
• Siena Muscat (she/her) - Creative Producer, and Website & Systems Developer
• Paulina Samy (she/her) - Writer and Designer

External links

• Dance of Ribbons Setting document
• A Dance of Ribbons Part 2 Trailer
• DoR on Instagram
• An example of the song Rose, Rose Rose which became associated with this game locally.