I'm dying here a little bit because just as I was about to post this, our Instagram account automatically uploaded an old photo of a Dark Elf at a convention we ran. This ain't always easy, yo! 

Ok, here we go... 

This is a couple of days later than we expected, but we wanted to make sure we did this right. This is our roadmap for making LARPing in North America more inclusive and attractive to potential LARPers of colour. This will ultimately help break down cultural barriers that pre exist within our community and help dismantle systemic racism that is prevalent everywhere we look.  Being a 18+ horror fantasy LARP means we’re coming at this with a bit of a disadvantage. Our world and stories are gritty, dark, and we touch on a lot of sociologically and ethically challenging topics that sometimes have direct real world counterparts. We often find some players want to take those elements and challenge them, because in the real world they are not acceptable. We often have to remind people that this is fiction and that we need terrible things in our fiction so you can feel amazing defeating it. The counter to that though, is that we need to make sure our players are safe, both physically and emotionally. We need to establish boundaries. 

The fix here is mostly policy. By writing OOG rules we can ensure that when we run sensitive stories or write lore that fits IG but contains problematic elements within the real world, that we are creating a clear divide between our fiction and reality. This in turn will lessen the likelihood of unintentional traumatic occurrences. 

Here are the changes we are committed to making. 

Racism

• We have spoken at length to a large amount of our players of colour and our Guildmasters. All have identified that IG racism is part of the dark fantasy/horror experience they have come to love and combat as their characters. To accommodate this, policy will be released shortly that will identify potentially problematic scenarios and real world racist iconography that could be mistaken as harmful or hateful actions OOG. The policy will force Guildmasters and Shapers to offer options on an OOG level to the player affected by any of these factors. These options will still be equal in detriment and force. Example: Should a character be found guilty of a crime and punished by lashes (a punishment often used in real life slavery), the player will be given an option to instead be stoned or beaten. This policy will include such iconography as manacles, whips, hangings/nooses, slavery, indentured labour, etc. (Release: August 2020)  
• Global policy shall be written to ban the use of any real world racial slur from our IG vocabulary (Release: Already Release, formal inclusion in Company Agreement (August 2020)   

Real World Culture

• While we cannot commit to tying real world cultures into races or geographical locations in the game world, we do recognize that we have failed in diversifying our World Building as a whole. Starting with the new edition of the Monster Manual we will be introducing monsters, heroes, lore and the like from multiple cultural myths and history. Players may continue to incorporate real world cultures into their histories and kit, however, our current policy will stand strong. Guildmasters are expected to ensure that a player's appreciation of a RL culture does not cross into mockery and that best intentions are always forefront. (Release: Sept 2020)

Representation

• A formal commitment by each Guildmaster and Underworld LARP Global to include more visual representation in their promotions and advertising. Equally as important, is to pay those people in real world currency. (Release: Immediately)

Races

Rulebook Changes

• Carnal Fae - Black portion of the makeup to be changed to Grey (Release: Sept 2020)
• Brownies (Monster) - To be replaced with the release of the next edition of the Monster Manual (Release: Sept 2020)
• Minotaur - Makeup requirements to now include a white or light coloured muzzle (Release: Sept 2020)
• Ogres - Warpaint Requirement increased to 25% of makeup coverage on face. (Release: Sept 2020)

Policy Changes

• Part of the reason we can use certain colours of makeup on our faces to represent race is because when combined with other makeup or prosthetic requirements, they do not look like what is historically deemed problematic in the real world. Removing those additional elements but keeping the problematic ones when leaving the site, however, makes a problem again. Policy to be created to deny any full makeup race from removing pieces or aspects of their makeup and then leaving game or site. All makeup either stays on or all makeup comes off. Example: A Minotaur cannot remove their horns and makeup, leaving only brown, and go into town for breakfast. Failure to adhere to this policy will potentially lose you access to playing that race and potential wasted frags. (Release: August 2020)

Lore

• A two tiered “do as we say, not as we do” system is to be implemented around the concept of homophobia. Homophobia will continue to exist in game so that characters who wish to defeat it can continue to do so. However, it is not something that is playable by PCs. This is the first time we’ve ever used a “do as we say, not as we do” type of policy and we reserve the right to tweak it as needed. The reason this particular subject gets a unique solution is that you cannot be homophobic towards another character IG without using real world slurs. Unlike races, there is no “made up” sexuality in the Underworld that we could use to fabricate insulting or demeaning attacks. There are only the problematic ones that exist today in the real world. (Release: Immediately, formal inclusion in Company Agreement August 2020)
• We will review our lore to ensure that there is no over abundance of homophobia in our race, culture, and faction lore. (Release: Sept 2020)
• Years back we recognized our Ajaunti race was similar enough to the many real world nomadic people and multiple cultures. The race was changed and lore altered so that this race was more celebrated and less scorned. We’ve discovered there are still legacy lore in other pages that reference the old Aja so we will clean those up (Release: Sept 2020).
• Salam: Alterations to the lore/tenets to be introduced to clarify that the definitions used are Salam’s and not the OOG beliefs held by any UW lore writer. Further changes to the language to include “all disadvantaged or poor families”, not just those Salam has deemed primitive or uncivilised. Salam is a bad guy, we are not. (Release: August 2020)
• Cultural/Racial Representation in Superpowers: More visually diverse representation planned for the mortal forms of Dragons, as the lore gets released. This planned representation is not just limited to race. (Release: As they get written)
• Races without real world languages to be given them from a more diverse pool of non-Western Languages. (Release: Oct 2020)
• Sybil: Text to be added to clarify that Sybil is PoC God with a disability and that’s not a bad thing. Sybil is not silenced by being mute. She speaks volumes through her actions. (Release: August 2020)

Policy

• Global policy to prevent the use of all real world slurs towards gender, race, sexuality and the like. (Release: Already Release, formal inclusion in Company Agreement (August 2020)   
• Inclusion of the Opt Out policy to be prominently displayed in Underworld LARP’s rulebook and wiki (Release: Sept 2020)

Red Armband

• Graphic and design requirements to be implemented and rolled down to Guildmasters to ensure our designs are not mistaken for Nazi imagery (Release: Nov 2020)
• Policy to be designed to force removal of red armbands when leaving site. (Release: Aug 2020)

Conclusion

Please make note that both these policy changes and this roadmap are fluid and ever changing as we learn and grow. What is acceptable today might become unacceptable tomorrow, so we reserve the right to update as required. This ensures our game is accessible and appealing to potential new players of colour and to our current ones. If we missed the mark on something, or you weren’t able to attend our Town Hall on Racism in LARP and you want to have a voice, please contact us at comments@larp.ca

Underworld LARP is a trendsetter. We trailblaze. We don’t abide by traditional LARPing stereotypes and standards, we rewrite them. We have done so for over 25 years, now. We legitimately and sincerely want to hear how we can do better and how we can change the culture of LARPing to draw in any who might normally shy away from it. 

-UW Global