Where, when, how much?
Run 7 : September 1st-3rd, 2023
Players arrive on Thursday evening (from 6pm to as late as you have to). Thursday evening is an informal meet-and-greet between participants to allow time for everyone to arrive.
On Friday, we will have workshops from 10am to 6pm, with breaks for rest, lunch, getting in costume.
The game begins on Friday at 6 pm and ends on Saturday night (around 11 pm)
You can leave on Sunday morning (but you can also choose to stay the whole day and enjoy the heated swimming pool).
The venue is Cernay Castle in Normandy, France.
It is a two-hour car ride from Paris, with no convenient train links. You can rideshare with French players or rent a car in Paris.
The participation fees are as follow : 135€ (standard ticket), 80€ (subsidized ticket), 165€ (sponsor ticket)
What does the participation fee cover ?
Venue rental, meals from Friday morning breakfast to Sunday brunch, some light investment in props necessary to the game.
Our association is a non-profit structure, we do not draw any profit from the game. The participation fee covers subscription to the association for foreign players (mandatory for insurance reasons). French participants will have to make sure they are registered with the association.
Costumes and transportation are to be handled by the players, but we’ll bring the international players all the help they can get. You’ll need at least one period appropriate costume (beginning of the XXth century/Belle Epoque)
Which style is the game?
The « Romanesque » genre of game is a character-driven, emotionally inclined type of games which has a long and rich history in France. In essence, it can be compared to some so-called « Mediterranean » Larps, the Czech « content larp », or Norwegian historical dramas. The characters and content is created by the organizers and there is a significant amount of written material for each character.
Each character undergoes a narrative centered around their past, interpersonal relationships, family and friendship conflict and personal drama. « Play to lose » and play for others is extremely important.
Is there a costume rental option?
Our friends at Les Vertugadins are among the best costume creators in France. They are offering us a discounted price of 136€ for costume rentals for this larp. We can help arranging a rental through them or the delivery of your costume to the venue.
How are meals handled?
Meals are provided by our team of volunteers in our organization for the duration of the game, and fit the time period and atmosphere when they are in-game. There will always be a vegeterian option, and players will be kindly requested to inform us of any allergies they might have.
About alcohol: in-game alcohol will be limited and officially prohibited, and no alcohol will be served at meals or in game. Of course, some contraband might exist, in a very limited capacity.
During out of game periods, players may bring and drink alcohol in a reasonable manner.
How does sign-up work?
We will ask you to fill in a form so that we know what kind of character you would like, to try and keep a balance between players. Subscriptions are sorted out at the end of the sign-up period, if there are more requests than available places. French-speaking players in particular have to go through a selection process as there is usually a lot of requests for very few available parts.
The game is not designed for beginners, as it deals with harsh themes and have a lot of content. French-speaking players wanting to discover Larps are invited to get in touch with the association to try out our other games and discover the activity (we organize a lot of those as well)
Can we register as a group?
Harem Son Saat is a small format game where each character is individualized, it is therefore not possible to register as a whole group. However, you may indicate upon sign-up with there is someone you would like to register with, to play on the same run, especially for practical reasons.
These requests will be given priority, but we cannot promise that you’ll always get to play on the same run.
Why are there so many constraints on language?
I wanted to make the game international, and considered running it fully in English, but for many people in this country there is a huge language barrier, so I went for language neutral. Characters have been created to incorporate this issue and make language barriers a relevant aspect of culture shock. Personal experience on other games has shown that it is possible, and even immersive, to play along those difficulties, and while it may restrict the number of roles, I feel like there is good opportunity to play these issues.
Are roles gender segregated ?
Three genders are played in game: male, female, neutral, and gender issues are going to be a major themes. Eunuchs will be gender neutral characters, to be played by anyone regardless of their gender. For the other groups, however, for practical and narrative reasons, I decided to keep the groups homogeneous gender-wise. Players may sign-up for any gender they feel comfortable playing. If you have any question regarding the way the gender-heavy theme is approached, feel free to contact the production team.
What is your take on historicity?
While we try to go by the most accurate visual possible, and ask costumes in particular to fit the time period, we can’t hope to be 100% accurate. Also, historically-inspired Larps usually deviate from full accuracy in order to better serve the themes and narratives.
While the game will be inspired by the Ottoman culture, it is by no means an attempt to recreate or appropriate it. The Sultanate of Morta Siyah is entirely fictional, and its ruler has, within the context of the narritive, delved into insanity and deviated from the Ottoman traditions. Therefore, nothing that is enacted over the course of the Larp should be considered relevant to this culture.
The context of the upcoming First World War, however, will be of particular relevance since it questions the existence of power and domination in geopolitics, and will serve as background to the shock of culture that will be a driving force behind the narrative.
Who is organizing?
The production team for run 7 is comprised of three former players from run 4 : Jonathan Gandy, Manon Méchin, Pauline Paris. We have been playing, writing and organizing larps for many years and are very honored that Muriel Algayres, the author of Harem Son Saat, is trusting us to hold a run of this LARP.
You can contact us at haremsonsaat@gmail.com
Role is a French non-profit association dedicated to the organization of Larps in a wide diversity of settings since the beginning of the 1990s.
You may find more about us on our website, or FB page
Photography and image rights
The game will be documented by our associated photographer, who has experience in covering Larps. You will be requested to sign up an image rights cession form, that stipulates that you accept that photographs will be there over the game. Images taken through the game may be used for the communication of the organisation (non-profit only), within the following confines:
– No pictures will be taken during intimate or sensitive scenes
– You can always deny the use any picture you appear in, according to the stipulation of French law