What Is Monstrosity?

Monstrosity is a larp that can be enjoyed in one of two ways.

First, we hope that you come to the larp to explore what it means to be a monster, and exist in a morally ambiguous world that examines hypocrisy, self-acceptance and power from multiple angles. The core mechanic of this larp is what we call the “push-pull” - that which is repugnant to you but still seductive, that which is hurtful but that you want so badly. We offer a particular opportunity to engage with these themes and encourage you to take advantage of it.

But also, Monstrosity is a larp where you get to bite people, often in sexy ways. And that’s a lot of fun too.

You can decide how you enjoy Monstrosity - both of these ways are part of the design. But one of these two options is more demanding than the other. So if you want to engage with the themes of Monstrosity, here’s some more information to help you do that.

The Theme of Monstrosity

There’s a place where people will accept you, if you accept who you are. “One of us” can be simultaneously a comforting and disturbing statement: It means you have friends, but you’re also just like those disturbing creatures around you. A monster is someone who can’t exist in “normal society,” but who can find community in the presence of other monsters. However, to do so, the monster admits what they are in order to join the community.

The theme is simple, but to understand this, you have to understand the monster as a metaphor.

The Monster as a Metaphor

At the center of the theme is a metaphor, and it’s in the name of the larp. You’re playing monsters, but what does that mean?

A monster is someone who has to do something that society deems as wrong, and thus they have to hide it. This monstrosity might be simple: a serial killer is a monster. It might be complex: while there might be no ethical billionaires, being rich doesn’t make you a monster, because you don’t have to hide your riches from society. But the health care CEO who’s made billions denying claims might be a monster… or the actuary who built the tables might be one too. The trick is that if you honestly describe what a monster does, “normal” people would recoil.

The thing about monsters is that there can be a place for them, if they accept their monstrosity. This group of vampires represents that place: they might all be blood-sucking killers, but at least they have each other (even if they hate each other almost as much as themselves). Monstrosity is about acknowledging that everyone has something they need to hide, and wants a place where they can be their true selves.

But there’s another part to Monstrosity. Monsters are interesting. They’re powerful. They’re rich, they’re leaders or just plain cool. They’re the characters we’re waiting to see in the movies. They’re the people who capture our imagination in news stories. If we’re the “normal” people, we are fascinated by monstrosity.

That’s the vampire metaphor: on one hand, they’re murderers who have to hide not just from the rest of the world, but the very light of day. On the other hand, they’re a metaphor for sexual rapture: the creature who comes to you at night and does all the things you’re afraid to ask for. This metaphor both pushes us away, and pulls us closer.

The Push-Pull

The vampire is a monster who preys upon humans, but not without empathy; this combination of power and vulnerability make the vampire alluring to humans. The human is the victim of the vampire, but not innocent; it is the same monstrous qualities within them that attracted the vampire. This is the push-pull of the monster metaphor, and it echoes throughout the larp.

This push-pull is the core mechanic of Monstrosity. Everything in the larp is ironic; it has multiple truths that exist in tension. Even our risk controls are like this - we offer you tools, not rules, such that we want you to use the mechanics we give you, but if you manage to mitigate risk in a different way, that’s also okay. This irony reinforces that everything you encounter is something you can examine, and that nothing is all good or all bad, even the larp itself.

The purpose of the push-pull is to give you a chance to play off of repugnance and attraction. Maybe that vampire is scary and you want to run away, but at the same time they’re sexy and you want them to touch you. Maybe you want them to stop hitting you but deep down you feel you deserve it. Maybe you don’t want to play the vampire’s game, but you also want to survive.

When you approach this larp, try to find that tension behind that push-pull. That’s how we’re going to explore the monstrosity metaphor, and how you can engage with what Monstrosity is all about.

Tips for Participants

Discussions of themes are important, but what’s more important is what you do with them. Monstrosity is a larp about things you do with your body, and what happens to your body. So how can we actively engage with the push-pull and the monstrosity metaphor? Here’s some tips:

Focus on action, not thought. We’re going to constantly ask you, “what do you want to do?” and we’re looking for actions we can see, not feelings you describe. If you make this larp physical, you’ll get external consequences to your actions, and the difference between those consequences and your expectations will create tension.
Play characters, not caricatures. Your character should be a monster, whether they’re human or vampire. They should be driven to do terrible things for reasons they have to hide from society. But they should also have humanity; you have to be able to care whether they live or die. If you don’t have empathy for your character, how can anyone else?
Have a specific, actionable and determinable goal. For humans, this is easy - about 90 minutes into the larp, you’re all going to have the same one (become a vampire). For vampires, this could be more complex, but have something concrete that you can accomplish by the end of the larp.

There’s nothing wrong with coming to the larp to enjoy the physical role-play of it. It’s designed for you to enjoy it. But realize there’s another avenue for you as well, and we hope you take advantage of it.