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|homepage_link_text=Caligo Mundi website
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An [[Australia|Australian]] LARP group based in Melbourne. Games cycle between different campaigns and oneshots of all genres, primarily a blend of social or theatrical roleplaying, [[Multiform|multiforms]] and [[Australian freeform|Australian freeforms]]. Attendance anywhere between 10-60 players per game, every month.


==Mission statement==
==Mission statement==
Caligo Mundi is a non-profit volunteer organisation, run by our members, for our members. We are limited by guarantee and registered under the Corporations Act 2001. Our community is dedicated to the running of role-playing events, board game days, and other social gaming activities for adults, 18 years old and over. We are most known for our live action roleplaying events.  
Caligo Mundi is a non-profit volunteer organisation, run by its members, for members. Limited by guarantee and registered under the Corporations Act 2001. Dedicated to the running of role-playing events, board game days, and other social gaming activities for adults, 18 years old and over.


==History==
==History==
The official start of the club is in 2007, but the club draws many stylistic and historical influences from the local history of roleplaying prior to this point. Many founding members were involved in the [[Australian freeform |Australian freeform scene]] which began in the early 80's, and draw its beginnings to back then. Later, in 1996, a US World of Darkness LARP group and official fan club of White Wolf – known then as the [[Category:Camarilla_Fan_Club|Camarilla]] – established an Australian branch, including a chapter in Melbourne, which drew in many of these seasoned convention roleplayers. Then in July 2007, part of the Melbourne chapter broke away from the international Camarilla organisation in pursuit of more creative freedom in telling stories, and founded this club.  
The official start of the club is in 2007, but the club draws many stylistic and historical influences from the local history of roleplaying prior to this point. Many founding members were involved in the [[Australian freeform |Australian freeform scene]] which began in the early 80's, and draw its beginnings and style influences to back then. Later, in 1996, a US World of Darkness LARP group and official fan club of White Wolf – known then as the Camarilla – established an Australian branch, including a chapter in Melbourne, which drew in many of these seasoned convention roleplayers.  
 
Then in July 2007, part of the Melbourne chapter broke away from the international Camarilla organisation in pursuit of more creative freedom in telling stories, and founded this club.  


At the time, the club dedicated itself to an expanded World of Darkness campaign, and this is reflected in the club's chosen name (Latin for "world of shadows/mist" or other connotations, depending on your translation source.) But over the years, the shape of the club has changed.
At the time, the club dedicated itself to an expanded World of Darkness campaign, and this is reflected in the club's chosen name (Latin for "world of shadows/mist" or other connotations, depending on your translation source.) But over the years, the shape of the club has changed.


Since the hosting of the first "Caligo Presents" in 2010 at Northcote Town Hall in Melbourne - a 'taster' of different one-shots in the style of Australian freeforms - the club expanded to other genres and styles and became a home for games that many locals couldn't find anywhere else (simulated combat excepted). Each month Caligo played host to between 1-3 ongoing campaigns, spanning usually anywhere between 4 sessions long to 2 years long before different storyteller teams took breaks to rest and consider what they wanted to run next. Many of these games were [[Multiform|multiforms]], combining social roleplaying with text roleplaying elements, board games, wargames, or in one case a phone app designed specially by one of the storytellers to interface with players as a 'ship computer' in a sci-fi game. In 2015 these experiments led to the club's first weekend camp event. This was inspired by a popular ongoing campaign that sought to expand beyond its usual format, and then became another home for one-shots in a new setting. The camp was popular enough that the events and one-shot extravaganzas continued on annually for another 4 years until the Melbourne lockdowns put a pause on all larping activity.
Since the hosting of the first "Caligo Presents" in 2010 at Northcote Town Hall in Melbourne - a 'taster' of different one-shots in the style of Australian freeforms - the club expanded to other genres and styles and became a home for games that many locals couldn't find anywhere else (simulated combat excepted). Each month Caligo played host to between 1-3 ongoing campaigns, spanning usually anywhere between 4 sessions long to 2 years long before different storyteller teams took breaks to rest and consider what they wanted to run next. Many of these games were [[Multiform|multiforms]], combining social roleplaying with text roleplaying elements, board games, wargames, or in one case a phone app designed specially by one of the storytellers to interface with players as a 'ship computer' in a sci-fi game. In 2015 these experiments led to the club's first weekend camp event. This was inspired by a popular ongoing campaign that sought to expand beyond its usual format, and then became another home for one-shots in a new setting. The camp continued on annually for another 4 years until the Melbourne lockdowns put a pause on all larping activity.


Since resuming, the club has returned to running two campaign larps each month so far, resuming our special one-shot showcase events in 2026, and looking forwards to what comes next.
Since resuming, the club has returned to running two campaign larps each month.


Volunteer GMs can be found by looking through the [https://caligomundi.com/w/index.php/Archived%20Games archive] or [https://caligomundi.com/w/index.php/Past%20Events other special events].  
Volunteer GMs can be found by looking through the [https://caligomundi.com/w/index.php/Archived%20Games archive] or [https://caligomundi.com/w/index.php/Past%20Events other special events].  
Current list of board volunteers is on the [https://caligomundi.com/index.php/about/position-holders/ Position Holders] page.
Current list of board volunteers is on the [https://caligomundi.com/index.php/about/position-holders/ Position Holders] page.
==Games and Events==
While some earlier dates are unknown due to the loss of the Caligo Mundi yahoo forums in 2009, the club has kept extensive record of campaigns and other games and events run across the decades.
{| class="wikitable"
! Game !! Type !! Start Date !! End Date
|-
| nWoD Games 2007 || Campaign || July 2007 || Late 2012
|-
| Changeling: The Lost || Campaign || Late 2007 || 2009
|-
| 7th Sea: Buccaneers Blade|| Campaign || January 2008 || 2009
|-
| Deadlands || Campaign || 2010 || ???
|-
| 7th Sea: Frieberg || Campaign || January 2009 || 2010
|-
| Shadowrun: Downtime || Campaign || July 2008 || April 2009
|-
| Houses of the Blooded || Campaign || 2012? || 2013? 
|-
| Vampire: The Masquerade || Campaign || February 2012 || November 2014
|-
| Firefly || Campaign || March 2012 || March 2013
|-
| Imperium Bel Canto || Campaign || January 2013 || November 2014
|-
| WoD 2013 || Campaign || March 2013 || Late 2014
|-
| 7th Sea (2013) || Campaign || October 2013 || March 2014
|-
| Legend of the Five Rings: The Obsidian Council || Campaign || January 2015 || Early 2016
|-
| Legend of the Five Rings: The Ashen Empire || Campaign || February 2012??? || June 2013??
|-
| Cadwallon || Campaign || July 2012 || May 2013
|-
| The Imperial Society || Campaign || January 2013 || October 2013
|-
| For Queen and Empire || Freeform || 12th December 2014 || -
|-
| Cyberpunk: The Oni's Smile || Campaign || January 2016 || July 2016
|-
| Dollhouse: Puppets and Masters || Campaign || February 2014 || July 2014
|-
| Libretto || Freeform || August 2012 || -
|-
| [[Caligo_Mundi#Generation_X|Generation X: Tomorrow’s Heroes]] || Campaign || April 2014 || July 2015
|-
| Game of Thrones || Campaign || April 2015 || April 2016
|-
| Laundry Files: The Vespertine Amendments || Campaign || July 2015 || July 2016
|-
| Cyberpunk: The Dragon's Path || Campaign || February 2016 || July 2016
|-
| Planescape: The Lady's Sigil || Campaign || March 2016 || February 2017
|-
| Mage 20th: Ascension Training || Campaign || August 2016 || September 2016
|-
| Colony: Antares & Antares: Prequel || Campaign || December 2016 || May 2017
|-
| 7th Sea: A Great Star Falls || Campaign || July 2016 || June 2017
|-
| Snapshots || Freeform One Shots || July 2017 || November 2017
|-
| Vampire: Sangfroid || Campaign || October 2017 || August 2019
|-
| Changeling: Threehold || "Nordic-style" One-shot || June 2018 || -
|-
| Changeling: 12 Nights in the Garden || Campaign || July 2018 || March 2019
|-
| Altais: Seasons of Ash || Campaign || June 2019 || October 2020
|-
| Four Nights in Alexandria / Typemooniverse || Campaign || November 2019 || November 2020
|-
| Shadowrun: Melbourne Freestate || Campaign || July 2021 || November 2023
|-
| Manafont University || Campaign || January 2023 || August 2023
|-
| 7th Sea: The Kings Court || Campaign || October 2023 || May 2024
|-
| Babylon 4: Journey in the Dark || Campaign || February 2024 || December 2025
|-
| Tavern Tales || Freeform || April 2024 || -
|-
| Usurper! || Freeform || May 2024 || -
|-
| Vaesen: The Heirs of Harkaway Hunt || Campaign || May 2024 || July 2025
|-
| Eastward Ho! || Freeform || June 2024 || -
|-
| Pride and Extreme Prejudice || Freeform || August 2025 || -
|-
| Revenant's End || Campaign || August 2025 || July 2026
|-
| Spire: The Masks We Wear || Freeform || February 2026 ||
|}
Other special events include:
*Caligo Presents 2026
*Caligo Presents 2021
*Camp Caligo 2019
*Camp Caligo 2018
*Camp Caligo 2017
*Camp Caligo 2016
*Camp Caligo 2015
*Caligo Presents 2014
*Caligo Mundi Presents (2013)
*Caligo Mundi Presents (2012)
*Caligo Mundi Presents (2011) - Held at the Rendevous Hotel
*Caligo Mundi Presents (2010) - Held at Northcote Town Hall
These events primarily acted as showcases of Australian freeform by local writers, as well as more casual events in ongoing campaigns that allowed new people to try them in a more accessible format and special setting.
===Significant events===
====7th Sea: Buccaneers Blade====
The first game run by the club outside of the World of Darkness setting, run by Fi. This began to establish the club as something with more to offer than just being a splinter group from the Camarilla.
====Generation X====
A campaign set in the X-Men comic universe, at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, revolving around all the students of the school. This became the largest campaign that Caligo Mundi had ever run up until that point, with approximately 60 players signing up. Once that limit was reached, no new players were accepted, and late applicants were encouraged to join the game as "Teachers" who had partial duties of crowd-management, moderation, and storytelling, to assist the main storytellers deliver the game to as many people as possible. Regular numbers of attendees fluctuated, but stayed relatively high compared to the number of GMs. By the final event, approximately 43 players attended.
The main Storytelling team included:
*Richard S - took a step down at the end of Season 1.
*Nat R
*Paul S
*Aaron Fenwick
It ran for two "seasons" (approximately 2 years) and was considered a [[Multiform]] due to the combination of regular theatrical larp events as well as an ongoing text role-play portion, which took place over Facebook groups and comment threads. This game also spawned the beginning of the Camp Caligo full weekend events; as the first one was pitched and organised by Simon (one of the players, character name "Click") as a 'school camp' for the superhero teens to relax and bond at. Several "RTR" or 'real time roleplay' (mini-session) events were also run, which offered social events in-character with less or no GM-driven plot; as well as an in-character "prom" with photography, as a special event.
Gen X has also for many years been referred to by past players of the game as ''"The War"'', due to complex experiences of the game and community around it: particularly regarding the intensity of the text roleplaying, which was sometimes taking place nearly 24/7, and management of mature content. Text roleplay was considered "canon" within certain bounds - for example, mainly text scenes revolved around social day-to-day interaction, as any significant development of powers and plot had to take place in-session. Often, the frequency of roleplaying was considered inaccessible to players who did not have the same amount of time and energy to engage, difficult to moderate, and created more polarised experiences of inclusion in the game and story. Storytellers had to create a rule against being contacted between the hours of 12am-8am to minimise disruption to their personal lives. Player-character [[bleed]] ran high, with some friendships, romantic relationships, and enmity [[in-character]] noticeably affecting [[out-of-character]] relationships, both for good and ill.
As a result of these experiences, in 2015 the Code of Conduct was updated. Caligo Mundi games for many years avoided including any text roleplay as part of games, as well as games where significant numbers of adults were cast as teenagers or children in school settings, as this was perceived as a cause of negative bleed experiences. Despite the negative experiences that did occur, many consider this game to have been an important learning experience for many roleplayers, and something that significantly shaped the community through reflective discussions and friendships that emerged from this game.
====Changeling: Threehold====
In 2018, Penny Sullivan and Jason Chappel travelled to Melbourne to run a one-shot offered to introduce "Nordic-style negotiation" to the club, to allow for reflection, discussion, and learning about different styles of games.<ref>Sevenbe (Jun 13, 2018) [https://medium.com/roleplaying-games/threehold-2-the-wash-up-326a3263dc82 Threehold 2: The Wash Up], ''Medium'' article. Retrieved 30th April 2026.</ref> This game was preceded by a 1.5–2 hour workshop, which allowed players a chance to try the specific style of negotiation using "Off-game" signals, and abilities that used the code phrase, "I really ''really'' (do something magical)" to indicate special effects without requiring players to break character.
While some players were unsure of there being significant benefits of using a different negotiation system from the local play culture, the community was very happy to have a guest share their experiences and ideas gathered from other places across Australia and the world, and Penny's ideas in particular have continued to linger and influence storytellers in the club as they experiment with game format and framing.
==References==
<references />


==External links==
==External links==
Proof of existence - Caligo Mundi mentioned in the [https://www.smh.com.au/culture/theatre/fancy-a-night-in-shining-armour-there-s-a-place-for-people-like-you-20230123-p5cepm.html Sydney Morning Herald], a local newspaper, on January 26, 2023.
* Caligo Mundi mentioned in the [https://www.smh.com.au/culture/theatre/fancy-a-night-in-shining-armour-there-s-a-place-for-people-like-you-20230123-p5cepm.html Sydney Morning Herald], a local newspaper, on January 26, 2023.
* [https://ofscienceandswords.com.au/of-science-swords-blog/caligo-mundi Caligo Mundi] on the '''Of Science and Swords''' blog
 
[[Category:Australia]][[Category:Theater Style Game]][[Category:Australian Freeform]]

Latest revision as of 21:08, 29 April 2026



Caligo Mundi

Calogo Mundi.png

A Melbourne LARP community

Location
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Genre
Pan-genre club. Campaigns, one-shot freeforms, and other experimental formats.
Established
17th July 2007
Website
Caligo Mundi website


An Australian LARP group based in Melbourne. Games cycle between different campaigns and oneshots of all genres, primarily a blend of social or theatrical roleplaying, multiforms and Australian freeforms. Attendance anywhere between 10-60 players per game, every month.

Mission statement

Caligo Mundi is a non-profit volunteer organisation, run by its members, for members. Limited by guarantee and registered under the Corporations Act 2001. Dedicated to the running of role-playing events, board game days, and other social gaming activities for adults, 18 years old and over.

History

The official start of the club is in 2007, but the club draws many stylistic and historical influences from the local history of roleplaying prior to this point. Many founding members were involved in the Australian freeform scene which began in the early 80's, and draw its beginnings and style influences to back then. Later, in 1996, a US World of Darkness LARP group and official fan club of White Wolf – known then as the Camarilla – established an Australian branch, including a chapter in Melbourne, which drew in many of these seasoned convention roleplayers.

Then in July 2007, part of the Melbourne chapter broke away from the international Camarilla organisation in pursuit of more creative freedom in telling stories, and founded this club.

At the time, the club dedicated itself to an expanded World of Darkness campaign, and this is reflected in the club's chosen name (Latin for "world of shadows/mist" or other connotations, depending on your translation source.) But over the years, the shape of the club has changed.

Since the hosting of the first "Caligo Presents" in 2010 at Northcote Town Hall in Melbourne - a 'taster' of different one-shots in the style of Australian freeforms - the club expanded to other genres and styles and became a home for games that many locals couldn't find anywhere else (simulated combat excepted). Each month Caligo played host to between 1-3 ongoing campaigns, spanning usually anywhere between 4 sessions long to 2 years long before different storyteller teams took breaks to rest and consider what they wanted to run next. Many of these games were multiforms, combining social roleplaying with text roleplaying elements, board games, wargames, or in one case a phone app designed specially by one of the storytellers to interface with players as a 'ship computer' in a sci-fi game. In 2015 these experiments led to the club's first weekend camp event. This was inspired by a popular ongoing campaign that sought to expand beyond its usual format, and then became another home for one-shots in a new setting. The camp continued on annually for another 4 years until the Melbourne lockdowns put a pause on all larping activity.

Since resuming, the club has returned to running two campaign larps each month.

Volunteer GMs can be found by looking through the archive or other special events. Current list of board volunteers is on the Position Holders page.

Games and Events

While some earlier dates are unknown due to the loss of the Caligo Mundi yahoo forums in 2009, the club has kept extensive record of campaigns and other games and events run across the decades.

Game Type Start Date End Date
nWoD Games 2007 Campaign July 2007 Late 2012
Changeling: The Lost Campaign Late 2007 2009
7th Sea: Buccaneers Blade Campaign January 2008 2009
Deadlands Campaign 2010 ???
7th Sea: Frieberg Campaign January 2009 2010
Shadowrun: Downtime Campaign July 2008 April 2009
Houses of the Blooded Campaign 2012? 2013?
Vampire: The Masquerade Campaign February 2012 November 2014
Firefly Campaign March 2012 March 2013
Imperium Bel Canto Campaign January 2013 November 2014
WoD 2013 Campaign March 2013 Late 2014
7th Sea (2013) Campaign October 2013 March 2014
Legend of the Five Rings: The Obsidian Council Campaign January 2015 Early 2016
Legend of the Five Rings: The Ashen Empire Campaign February 2012??? June 2013??
Cadwallon Campaign July 2012 May 2013
The Imperial Society Campaign January 2013 October 2013
For Queen and Empire Freeform 12th December 2014 -
Cyberpunk: The Oni's Smile Campaign January 2016 July 2016
Dollhouse: Puppets and Masters Campaign February 2014 July 2014
Libretto Freeform August 2012 -
Generation X: Tomorrow’s Heroes Campaign April 2014 July 2015
Game of Thrones Campaign April 2015 April 2016
Laundry Files: The Vespertine Amendments Campaign July 2015 July 2016
Cyberpunk: The Dragon's Path Campaign February 2016 July 2016
Planescape: The Lady's Sigil Campaign March 2016 February 2017
Mage 20th: Ascension Training Campaign August 2016 September 2016
Colony: Antares & Antares: Prequel Campaign December 2016 May 2017
7th Sea: A Great Star Falls Campaign July 2016 June 2017
Snapshots Freeform One Shots July 2017 November 2017
Vampire: Sangfroid Campaign October 2017 August 2019
Changeling: Threehold "Nordic-style" One-shot June 2018 -
Changeling: 12 Nights in the Garden Campaign July 2018 March 2019
Altais: Seasons of Ash Campaign June 2019 October 2020
Four Nights in Alexandria / Typemooniverse Campaign November 2019 November 2020
Shadowrun: Melbourne Freestate Campaign July 2021 November 2023
Manafont University Campaign January 2023 August 2023
7th Sea: The Kings Court Campaign October 2023 May 2024
Babylon 4: Journey in the Dark Campaign February 2024 December 2025
Tavern Tales Freeform April 2024 -
Usurper! Freeform May 2024 -
Vaesen: The Heirs of Harkaway Hunt Campaign May 2024 July 2025
Eastward Ho! Freeform June 2024 -
Pride and Extreme Prejudice Freeform August 2025 -
Revenant's End Campaign August 2025 July 2026
Spire: The Masks We Wear Freeform February 2026

Other special events include:

  • Caligo Presents 2026
  • Caligo Presents 2021
  • Camp Caligo 2019
  • Camp Caligo 2018
  • Camp Caligo 2017
  • Camp Caligo 2016
  • Camp Caligo 2015
  • Caligo Presents 2014
  • Caligo Mundi Presents (2013)
  • Caligo Mundi Presents (2012)
  • Caligo Mundi Presents (2011) - Held at the Rendevous Hotel
  • Caligo Mundi Presents (2010) - Held at Northcote Town Hall

These events primarily acted as showcases of Australian freeform by local writers, as well as more casual events in ongoing campaigns that allowed new people to try them in a more accessible format and special setting.

Significant events

7th Sea: Buccaneers Blade

The first game run by the club outside of the World of Darkness setting, run by Fi. This began to establish the club as something with more to offer than just being a splinter group from the Camarilla.

Generation X

A campaign set in the X-Men comic universe, at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, revolving around all the students of the school. This became the largest campaign that Caligo Mundi had ever run up until that point, with approximately 60 players signing up. Once that limit was reached, no new players were accepted, and late applicants were encouraged to join the game as "Teachers" who had partial duties of crowd-management, moderation, and storytelling, to assist the main storytellers deliver the game to as many people as possible. Regular numbers of attendees fluctuated, but stayed relatively high compared to the number of GMs. By the final event, approximately 43 players attended.

The main Storytelling team included:

  • Richard S - took a step down at the end of Season 1.
  • Nat R
  • Paul S
  • Aaron Fenwick

It ran for two "seasons" (approximately 2 years) and was considered a Multiform due to the combination of regular theatrical larp events as well as an ongoing text role-play portion, which took place over Facebook groups and comment threads. This game also spawned the beginning of the Camp Caligo full weekend events; as the first one was pitched and organised by Simon (one of the players, character name "Click") as a 'school camp' for the superhero teens to relax and bond at. Several "RTR" or 'real time roleplay' (mini-session) events were also run, which offered social events in-character with less or no GM-driven plot; as well as an in-character "prom" with photography, as a special event.

Gen X has also for many years been referred to by past players of the game as "The War", due to complex experiences of the game and community around it: particularly regarding the intensity of the text roleplaying, which was sometimes taking place nearly 24/7, and management of mature content. Text roleplay was considered "canon" within certain bounds - for example, mainly text scenes revolved around social day-to-day interaction, as any significant development of powers and plot had to take place in-session. Often, the frequency of roleplaying was considered inaccessible to players who did not have the same amount of time and energy to engage, difficult to moderate, and created more polarised experiences of inclusion in the game and story. Storytellers had to create a rule against being contacted between the hours of 12am-8am to minimise disruption to their personal lives. Player-character bleed ran high, with some friendships, romantic relationships, and enmity in-character noticeably affecting out-of-character relationships, both for good and ill.

As a result of these experiences, in 2015 the Code of Conduct was updated. Caligo Mundi games for many years avoided including any text roleplay as part of games, as well as games where significant numbers of adults were cast as teenagers or children in school settings, as this was perceived as a cause of negative bleed experiences. Despite the negative experiences that did occur, many consider this game to have been an important learning experience for many roleplayers, and something that significantly shaped the community through reflective discussions and friendships that emerged from this game.

Changeling: Threehold

In 2018, Penny Sullivan and Jason Chappel travelled to Melbourne to run a one-shot offered to introduce "Nordic-style negotiation" to the club, to allow for reflection, discussion, and learning about different styles of games.[1] This game was preceded by a 1.5–2 hour workshop, which allowed players a chance to try the specific style of negotiation using "Off-game" signals, and abilities that used the code phrase, "I really really (do something magical)" to indicate special effects without requiring players to break character.

While some players were unsure of there being significant benefits of using a different negotiation system from the local play culture, the community was very happy to have a guest share their experiences and ideas gathered from other places across Australia and the world, and Penny's ideas in particular have continued to linger and influence storytellers in the club as they experiment with game format and framing.

References

  1. ↑ Sevenbe (Jun 13, 2018) Threehold 2: The Wash Up, Medium article. Retrieved 30th April 2026.

External links

Retrieved from "http://larpwiki.labcats.org/index.php?title=Caligo_Mundi&oldid=4743"