If something happens Out Of Character (OOC) that affects your In Character (IC) experience, or something happens IC that affects you OOC, that’s what LARPers refer to as “bleed.” It happens to everyone, and it’s important to know how to recognize, respond to, and handle it. Bleed can seep from game into real life (i.e. if your character is betrayed IC, you OOC feel betrayed), or from real life into game (i.e. you were treated poorly at work in real life, and so your character is mad and bullying other characters in ways that are not warranted IC). Bleed can be positive or negative, but we will be dealing for the most part with negative bleed, since that’s where there are the most difficulties.
In all LARP games, there will be conflict, tension, confrontation, and highly emotional interactions between characters. It’s important that this doesn't flow over into OOC space and cause real-life harm. Likewise, real life can cause difficulties and there may be disagreements between members of the community. It’s just as important that this doesn’t flow into IC space. As such, we ask every member of our community to “police their bleed” - to deal with the feelings from IC or OOC struggles constructively and without allowing it to overtake a person’s interactions. It can be summed up as “keep what is IC as IC and keep what is OOC as OOC.” However, this doesn’t fully address what we hope to see.
LARP is about communal storytelling. Everyone should feel comfortable telling stories with each other. Even if two characters don’t interact positively, there should be an understanding that each person wants to enjoy the game. Bleed can be a massive hurdle to that, and we want to work together to avoid disrupting the safe community that we are in.
We greatly encourage community building through bleed-processing in players, volunteers, and staff. Bleed-processing can look like respectful conversations with each other and can also be private introspection. What is most necessary though is the reinforced separation of characters from players.
This doesn’t mean that you have to be okay with everything that happened IC or how other players are LARPing with you. This doesn’t mean that you have to hide your bleed from others. This just means that bleed, even if it feels overwhelming, can be addressed and cycled through - on your own but also especially with others.
One way to prevent bleed is positive metagaming. This is when the players’ feelings are taken into account in character. It can direct how to engage with characters in a way that still tells a good story (even a story with conflict) but also supports the player playing the character. We don’t require positive meta-gaming, but it is strongly encouraged as an important tool in collaborative storytelling. While it shouldn’t be used to avoid IC tension or consequences, it still gives space to the player’s feelings.
If problems arise, any member of the community should first speak with the person or people that they are having IC conflict with in order to prevent OOC conflict. It is always okay to ask for positive metagaming and check-ins with others. Should further mediation be needed, please contact a staff member for help. It is truly important for those involved to first try to settle the matter between each other amicably.
Please note that this is not the same as negative metagaming, where OOC knowledge is used to give a player’s character an edge over a situation IC. Negative metagaming is often used to “win the game” in some way, and so puts the player’s wants above the storytelling. Negative metagaming is not allowed.
Do not play yourself as a character
Make sure that you create a character that has some clear aspects that are not like you. The goal is to create and foster a solid barrier between yourself and your character to avoid IC feelings and OOC feelings overlapping too much.
Remember that IC is IC
Playing immersively is truly exciting, but people are not their characters. This game has the potential to have very difficult scenes between characters, and we want everyone in the community to keep it as just that: between characters and not between players.
Keep it FOIG
Sometimes it’s best to keep in character chatter to IC spaces. We are all excited about our character’s and others’ plots and plans. But if there’s too much talk about IC happenings and goals, especially when it comes to things that will negatively impact other characters, it can cause bleed and possibly negative metagaming.
Take a break
If you’re starting to feel stressed or irritated when talking to others about game, take a break! Go for a walk, drink some water, stretch, pet your animals, ignore your notifications or mute chats. Get some outside perspective in the real world before jumping back into the fray.
Avoid too much planning
It’s easy and incredibly common for all of us to get attached to our own characters’ goals. Try to avoid planning too far ahead or expecting things to go a certain way. This can lead to irritation, disappointment, and other strong negative feelings.
Be aware of IC drama
This is hard, but try to avoid internalizing IC drama as if you were the target of it. Just because there is drama between characters doesn’t mean that the player(s) want or intend for there to be drama OOC. They too should have that wall between character and player and should have the best intentions for this game. If there is tension that you do not like going on in character, invite others to discuss it with you.
Be aware of OOC drama
If there is something going on OOC that is hanging over you, it might also be hanging over your character. If there is someone you are having a hard time with OOC who plays at the same game, that can be hard to work through. While LARPing can be an excellent form of escapism and catharsis, it isn’t a stand-in for resolving issues. If you cannot approach the person OOC to talk to, please reach out to a staff member for a mediated conversation or to make a report. Staff is always here to help facilitate the best time a player can have, not just to ensure that the character is engaged. Remember that you can always do OOC check-ins to see how yourself and others are doing.
Be aware of yourself
Being mindful and aware of where you are at mentally can open the door for the best experiences. Be aware of what emotions you are bringing into game. Your character shouldn’t be just an outlet for what is going on in real life. Take some time to analyze your character’s actions and choices with some healthy objectivity. Ask yourself if you need a break, a rest, or a moment to decompress. Remember that ultimately you are the one who makes the choices for your character, and that what your character does changes how the story is written with others
Remember: experiencing bleed is completely normal. Real people are playing these characters, and it is extremely difficult to not put some of ourselves into who we play. If you are experiencing bleed beyond something you can walk off or breathe through, take a step back. Try to get to the root of the bleed (actions, choices, situations, treatment), and name the root. More than that, set your boundaries as needed and discuss them OOC with those it may affect or include. (Remember that a boundary is something that you create for yourself, not something that you create for someone else.) Then leave yourself open to different kinds of solutions. You may even need to change how you play your character or what character you play. It is most important that you, the player, are happy and healthy.
If you are experiencing bleed, or think you may be, and want to talk to someone about it, please reach out to others you trust in the community in order to process. Bleed is often easier to process when it is talked through with friends. Sometimes they can offer opinions and options that we wouldn’t have come up with ourselves.
Character death is always hard and can bring on very strong emotions - whether it's our character, a friend’s character, or any of the many PCs and NPCs. It can be especially potent in a game based on the creation of a community, however functional or dysfunctional.
Getting to the true root of this bleed helps a lot. Ask yourself: am I upset? Am I feeling loss and/or grief? Does the bleed stem from feeling like I'm losing a sense of community? Or maybe losing my investment in the character?
The passing of time can really help, just like with grief from losses in real life. Focusing on the entire story of the character and the positives that were in that “life” can help ease these emotions.
It can also help to reach out to build new connections. A character's death can lead to beginning a new story that you and others can know and love. If the bleed includes missing an aspect of the lost character, that aspect can always be reimagined in the next. This could lead to both the excitement of new creativity and the comfort of some piece of familiarity.
If a character died from either PCs or NPCs/Plot, there can be some added feelings of betrayal, anger, or resentment. When facing these emotions, remember that this is a game where no one intends to punish you as a player. Try to process your emotions with the trust that we build and maintain as a community. If you or someone you know is struggling with this and can’t get past it, try talking with the person or persons who participated in the character's death. Remember that what happens IC should stay IC, and that goes for both the person who lost their character and the people involved.