Curious Pastimes
Encyclopedia
Curious Pastimes is an organisation that runs one of the best known Live Roleplaying campaigns in the UK. CP is a private, profit-making company head-quartered in Moreton
in the Wirral in Northern England
. The company was formed in 1995, as a break away group from the Lorien Trust
.
Curious Pastimes' ongoing LARP campaign
, Renewal, is a spin-off
from Lorien Trust's Gathering campaign. The campaign uses its own set of LARP rules, adapted from the Lorien Trust Rules System. Renewal is a "Fest" Game, in which large numbers (typically hundreds) of players interact with one another and with a small number of briefed non-player character
s, climaxing in pre-arranged mass battles between roughly even numbers at the two longer events. These battles represent one of the major variations from the Gathering parent-game, being exclusively Player-versus-Monster battles (the Gathering's battles are chiefly Player-versus-Player
).
With approximately 800 players attending the main event in August, Renewal is the third-largest fest campaign in the UK, behind the Gathering and Profound Decisions' Maelstrom
.
weekends, run to Monday afternoon. Curious Pastimes also runs a system for formally approving smaller events (see below) staged by the various participating groups and factions throughout the year.
The events vary in size from 100 to 1000 people and present different aspects of the ongoing Renewal Campaign. The events are:
The May battle event was staged at Bispham Hall Scout Camp in Wigan
until 2009, and Renewal was staged at Phasels Wood Scout Camp in Hemel Hempstead
from 1998 to 2007. Both events were moved following negative customer feedback regarding the sites. Two smaller-scale events (40-70 players, peaking at 100 in April 2002) entitled Prelude (in March/April) and Aftermath (in September/October) were discontinued after Prelude 2002, due chiefly to rising venue costs.
Curious Pastimes classes itself as a "family-friendly" event, allowing parents to bring along children of any age. All children are entitled to full characters, though only those 16 or over are allowed to participate in the mass battles.
Mandala LRP, a non-profit company founded by some of CP's staff and volunteers, ran several small, "Level 3" sanctioned events from 2004 to 2007; in addition, each of the factions runs one or two sanctioned events most years, bringing the total number of events taking place in the Renewal game world close to twenty in some years.
is a unique unnamed fantasy world. The world is more or less Earthlike, and the known, populated continent that hosts the player characters and their communities is a temperate
-to-subarctic
landmass broadly equivalent to Eurasia
.
There are nine intelligent humanoid
races in the CP setting: humans, elves, dark elves, dwarves, four "greenskin" races (orcs, ogres, goblins, and trolls) and a variety of animal-human hybrids
collectively known as beastmen. All are more or less evenly-distributed across the world's population (and thus player base), with some variation among the different factions.
, films
and other sources, as well as original ideas. The majority of player characters
belong to one or other faction, with the exception of a group of non-aligned players collectively labelled "mercenaries." The factions average about 100 in size at Renewal (i.e. 1/8 of the average Renewal turnout of 800), but are presumed to govern (or at least represent) populations in the hundreds of thousands, appropriate to those of equivalent pre-Industrial
states.
In real-world terms, each faction is run as a more or less independent club
, with a small administrative team assigned by CP and internal In- and Out-of-Character hierarchies. Many of the factions host websites for their members, and several of them stage small-scale "sanctioned" events set in the Renewal continuity. At events, members of a faction camp together; the factions' communal In-Character camps are the major focus of the game, with attacks against fortified camps and diplomatic missions between camps providing much of the storyline at each event.
The factions are:
Within the broad faction concepts stated above may be found a broad spectrum of characters, from the comical to the serious, from a range of historical (or pseudo-historical) backgrounds, and from the mean and humble to the high-heroic. Formally, Renewal is an "Open World" campaign setting, so players are permitted to submit any concept they wish, with the exception that neither gunpowder-weapons nor any more advanced technology are permitted.
groups (generally threats of one sort or another) come from the same nations and communities represented by the player factions (plus mercenaries) listed above; many of the ongoing antagonist-plotlines therefore revolve around treachery and civil war. However, over the years a number of non-player characters and monsters have arisen from nations, cults, and other groups that belong outside the general context of the known player-character world.
Foremost among these is the Empire of the Golden Isles (often referred to as the "Greenskin Empire" or just "the Empire"), a large empire of nonhumans (ogres, orcs, goblins and trolls) modelled on Feudal Japan, that supposedly rivals the collected population and magical and military might of all the player nations combined. The Empire originates on a previously unknown archipelago
that lies to the south of the continent occupied by the factions, and roughly equal to it in overall land area.
They first became known to the player characters at Prelude 2001 (see above), and quickly fell into a war with the factions until peace was reached in 2004 (1104 in the in-character calendar). Now they exist as an imposing political and military presence, producing many of the high-profile non-player characters and several of the more "political" plotlines. Two recent events - Fayre of the Empire (Fayre 2005) and Suukou Kaigi (plot-event 2007) - took place on Imperial lands and were focused predominantly on the ongoing Imperial plotline.
, a plane of demons, a "pole" of spirits and the like). People from the Land very rarely travel to any of the other worlds, and the denizens of the other worlds only slightly more frequently visit the Land.
Several nations from one of the more earthlike worlds - the Keltoi, the Tagmatoi and the Amgeara (parallel versions of the Fir Cruthen, the Teutonians and the Al'Gaia, respectively) - invaded the Land in 1108 and 1109, before the portal connecting the two worlds was eventually sealed in 1110.
Moreton, Merseyside
Moreton is a town on the north coast of the Wirral Peninsula, England. In the 2001 Census, it had a population of 17,670 ....
in the Wirral in Northern England
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...
. The company was formed in 1995, as a break away group from the Lorien Trust
Lorien Trust
Lorien Trust is the trading name of Merlinroute ltd., a live action role-play organisation that runs LARP events in Locko Park, Derby, UK. It runs Britain's largest Live Roleplay events, attracting around 4,000 people to the larger events...
.
Curious Pastimes' ongoing LARP campaign
Campaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
, Renewal, is a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
from Lorien Trust's Gathering campaign. The campaign uses its own set of LARP rules, adapted from the Lorien Trust Rules System. Renewal is a "Fest" Game, in which large numbers (typically hundreds) of players interact with one another and with a small number of briefed non-player character
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s, climaxing in pre-arranged mass battles between roughly even numbers at the two longer events. These battles represent one of the major variations from the Gathering parent-game, being exclusively Player-versus-Monster battles (the Gathering's battles are chiefly Player-versus-Player
Player versus player
Player versus player, or PvP, is a type of multiplayer interactive conflict within a game between two or more live participants. This is in contrast to games where players compete against computer controlled opponents, which is correspondingly referred to as player versus environment...
).
With approximately 800 players attending the main event in August, Renewal is the third-largest fest campaign in the UK, behind the Gathering and Profound Decisions' Maelstrom
Maelstrom (live role playing game)
Maelstrom is a live action role-playing game campaign run in the United Kingdom by Profound Decisions Ltd. The campaign consists of four events held each year at weekends during the British summer at a variety of locations...
.
Events
The Renewal Campaign comprises four events each year, culminating in the flagship event, also called Renewal, held every year over the August Bank Holiday weekend. All the events take place on weekends; two of them run from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, and two, occurring on Bank HolidayBank Holiday
A bank holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom or a colloquialism for public holiday in Ireland. There is no automatic right to time off on these days, although the majority of the population is granted time off work or extra pay for working on these days, depending on their contract...
weekends, run to Monday afternoon. Curious Pastimes also runs a system for formally approving smaller events (see below) staged by the various participating groups and factions throughout the year.
The events vary in size from 100 to 1000 people and present different aspects of the ongoing Renewal Campaign. The events are:
- A battle event (variously titled Crusade, Bastion, Invasion etc.), traditionally on May DayMay DayMay Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
Long Weekend, which will be held on EasterEasterEaster is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
Weekend at Paccar Scout Camp, Chalfont HeightsChalfont St PeterChalfont St Peter is a village and civil parish in Chiltern district in south-east Buckinghamshire, England. It is in a group of villages called The Chalfonts which also includes Chalfont St Giles and Little Chalfont. The villages lie between High Wycombe and Rickmansworth. Chalfont St Peter is...
in 2011. The event emphasizes two mass battles against an identified game-plot enemy. The event normally attracts about 400-500 players. - A plot event (titled to give some hint as to the details of the event, as Heart of Darkness, Great Council etc.) on the second or third weekend of June at Barnswood Scout Camp in LeekLeek, StaffordshireLeek is a market town in the county of Staffordshire, England, on the River Churnet. It is an ancient borough and was granted its royal charter in 1214.It is the administrative centre for the Staffordshire Moorlands District Council...
. The event emphasizes introducing new plot elements, giving players access to significant non-player characterNon-player characterA non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s, and distributing in-game information. The event normally attracts about 250-300 players. - Fayre (generally named after the hosting nation, as Fayre of Albion etc.) on the second or third weekend of July at Woodhouse Scout Camp in BristolBristolBristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. The event is an almost wholly player-led opportunity to trade and interact in-character, and several games and contests are held. The event normally attracts about 250-300 players. - Renewal on the August Bank Holiday weekend at Tolmers Scout Camp in Potters BarPotters BarPotters Bar is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England, located north of Central London. In 2001 it had a population of 21,618....
. The event is promoted as a "catch-all" event with two mass-battles, heavy interaction with plot and non-player characters and extensive opportunities for players to interact with one another. The event normally attracts about 700-800 players.
The May battle event was staged at Bispham Hall Scout Camp in Wigan
Wigan
Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...
until 2009, and Renewal was staged at Phasels Wood Scout Camp in Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead is a town in Hertfordshire in the East of England, to the north west of London and part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2001 Census was 81,143 ....
from 1998 to 2007. Both events were moved following negative customer feedback regarding the sites. Two smaller-scale events (40-70 players, peaking at 100 in April 2002) entitled Prelude (in March/April) and Aftermath (in September/October) were discontinued after Prelude 2002, due chiefly to rising venue costs.
Curious Pastimes classes itself as a "family-friendly" event, allowing parents to bring along children of any age. All children are entitled to full characters, though only those 16 or over are allowed to participate in the mass battles.
Sanctioned Events
Curious Pastimes offers formal "sanctioning", allowing affiliated groups (generally groups who also participate in the Renewal Campaign) to run their own events within the ongoing Renewal storyline. There are degrees of sanctioning, ranked from "Level 1" (lowest) to "Level 3" (highest); lower-sanctioned events have little effect on the main Renewal storyline but can be organised and run with minimal involvement by the company, while higher-sanctioned events may have a concrete effect on events at main events but need to be extensively co-ordinated with company staff.Mandala LRP, a non-profit company founded by some of CP's staff and volunteers, ran several small, "Level 3" sanctioned events from 2004 to 2007; in addition, each of the factions runs one or two sanctioned events most years, bringing the total number of events taking place in the Renewal game world close to twenty in some years.
The Game World
The game's settingCampaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
is a unique unnamed fantasy world. The world is more or less Earthlike, and the known, populated continent that hosts the player characters and their communities is a temperate
Temperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
-to-subarctic
Subarctic
The Subarctic is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic and covering much of Alaska, Canada, the north of Scandinavia, Siberia, and northern Mongolia...
landmass broadly equivalent to Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
.
There are nine intelligent humanoid
Humanoid
A humanoid is something that has an appearance resembling a human being. The term first appeared in 1912 to refer to fossils which were morphologically similar to, but not identical with, those of the human skeleton. Although this usage was common in the sciences for much of the 20th century, it...
races in the CP setting: humans, elves, dark elves, dwarves, four "greenskin" races (orcs, ogres, goblins, and trolls) and a variety of animal-human hybrids
Parahuman
A parahuman or para-human is a term used to describe a human-animal hybrid or chimera. Scientists have done extensive research into the mixing of genes or cells from different species, e.g...
collectively known as beastmen. All are more or less evenly-distributed across the world's population (and thus player base), with some variation among the different factions.
Factions
The known continent is populated by a number of monarchies, nation-states and confederations known as Factions, modelled very loosely on various real-world historical communities, with influences from fantasy literatureFantasy literature
Fantasy literature is fantasy in written form. Historically speaking, literature has composed the majority of fantasy works. Since the 1950s however, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music, painting, and other...
, films
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
and other sources, as well as original ideas. The majority of player characters
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
belong to one or other faction, with the exception of a group of non-aligned players collectively labelled "mercenaries." The factions average about 100 in size at Renewal (i.e. 1/8 of the average Renewal turnout of 800), but are presumed to govern (or at least represent) populations in the hundreds of thousands, appropriate to those of equivalent pre-Industrial
Pre-industrial society
Pre-industrial society refers to specific social attributes and forms of political and cultural organization that were prevalent before the advent of the Industrial Revolution. It is followed by the industrial society....
states.
In real-world terms, each faction is run as a more or less independent club
Club
A club is an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal. A service club, for example, exists for voluntary or charitable activities; there are clubs devoted to hobbies and sports, social activities clubs, political and religious clubs, and so forth.- History...
, with a small administrative team assigned by CP and internal In- and Out-of-Character hierarchies. Many of the factions host websites for their members, and several of them stage small-scale "sanctioned" events set in the Renewal continuity. At events, members of a faction camp together; the factions' communal In-Character camps are the major focus of the game, with attacks against fortified camps and diplomatic missions between camps providing much of the storyline at each event.
The factions are:
- Al'Gaia: Equal parts Elves and RenaissanceRenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
-era Spanish and Italian humans, united by a form of Mother goddessMother goddessMother goddess is a term used to refer to a goddess who represents motherhood, fertility, creation or embodies the bounty of the Earth. When equated with the Earth or the natural world such goddesses are sometimes referred to as Mother Earth or as the Earth Mother.Many different goddesses have...
worship. The Al'Gaia are from Estragales and Lyonesse. - Fir Cruthen: From the Irish Gaelic for "The Painted People". Predominantly human Bronze AgeBronze AgeThe Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
Celts, pursuing the ideals of the Celtic heroic tradition. The Fir Cruthen live in the allied kingdoms of Erin, Caledonia, Cumrija and Mann. - Jhereg: Originally inspired by Stephen Brust's JheregJheregJhereg has three meanings, all of which are linked to the fiction of Steven Brust:Jhereg is the name of the first novel in the Vlad Taltos series, which was published in 1983...
books. A motley of outcasts and nonhumans from different backgrounds, recreating a long-lost nation. The Jhereg have made their homes in Siberia. - Lions: A largely human traditional kingdom based on Arthurian Early-Medieval BritainBritain in the Middle AgesEngland in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the Medieval period — from the end of Roman rule in Britain through to the Early Modern period...
and the ideals of ChivalryChivalryChivalry is a term related to the medieval institution of knighthood which has an aristocratic military origin of individual training and service to others. Chivalry was also the term used to refer to a group of mounted men-at-arms as well as to martial valour...
. The homeland of the Lions is Albion. - The Steppe Alliance: A mix of nomadNomadNomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
ic cultures, particularly traditional MongolianMongolsMongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
and the Franconians making the pilgrimage only once a year from far-away Franconia. The Alliance lives in The Steppe. - Teutonians: A notionally GermanicTeutonsThe Teutons or Teutones were mentioned as a Germanic tribe by Greek and Roman authors, notably Strabo and Marcus Velleius Paterculus and normally in close connection with the Cimbri, whose ethnicity is contested between Gauls and Germani...
culture, with the exception of the Roman-Imperial city-state of Riga. The Teutonians are marked by strong militarismMilitarismMilitarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....
, an open attitude to traditionally "evil" practices such as necromancyNecromancyNecromancy is a claimed form of magic that involves communication with the deceased, either by summoning their spirit in the form of an apparition or raising them bodily, for the purpose of divination, imparting the ability to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge...
and a high proportion of nonhumans. Their home is Teutonia. - Wolves: Predominantly human ScandinaviansNorsemenNorsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
, united by their worship of the Norse PantheonNorse mythologyNorse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
. The home of the Wolves is Norsca. - Mercenaries: A "catch-all" category of non-aligned groups who share a camp but no common leadership or goals. Many are true mercenariesMercenaryA mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
; others have independent political goals analogous to those of factions. Although the Mercenaries camp together at events, they have no single homeland.
Within the broad faction concepts stated above may be found a broad spectrum of characters, from the comical to the serious, from a range of historical (or pseudo-historical) backgrounds, and from the mean and humble to the high-heroic. Formally, Renewal is an "Open World" campaign setting, so players are permitted to submit any concept they wish, with the exception that neither gunpowder-weapons nor any more advanced technology are permitted.
The Empire of the Golden Isles
Most of the non-player characterNon-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
groups (generally threats of one sort or another) come from the same nations and communities represented by the player factions (plus mercenaries) listed above; many of the ongoing antagonist-plotlines therefore revolve around treachery and civil war. However, over the years a number of non-player characters and monsters have arisen from nations, cults, and other groups that belong outside the general context of the known player-character world.
Foremost among these is the Empire of the Golden Isles (often referred to as the "Greenskin Empire" or just "the Empire"), a large empire of nonhumans (ogres, orcs, goblins and trolls) modelled on Feudal Japan, that supposedly rivals the collected population and magical and military might of all the player nations combined. The Empire originates on a previously unknown archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
that lies to the south of the continent occupied by the factions, and roughly equal to it in overall land area.
They first became known to the player characters at Prelude 2001 (see above), and quickly fell into a war with the factions until peace was reached in 2004 (1104 in the in-character calendar). Now they exist as an imposing political and military presence, producing many of the high-profile non-player characters and several of the more "political" plotlines. Two recent events - Fayre of the Empire (Fayre 2005) and Suukou Kaigi (plot-event 2007) - took place on Imperial lands and were focused predominantly on the ongoing Imperial plotline.
Other Worlds
The unnamed Renewal campaign world (sometimes referred to as "The Land") lies at the centre of the campaign's cosmology, surrounded by six more or less earthlike worlds and twelve supernatural worlds (including a plane of the undeadUndead
Undead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...
, a plane of demons, a "pole" of spirits and the like). People from the Land very rarely travel to any of the other worlds, and the denizens of the other worlds only slightly more frequently visit the Land.
Several nations from one of the more earthlike worlds - the Keltoi, the Tagmatoi and the Amgeara (parallel versions of the Fir Cruthen, the Teutonians and the Al'Gaia, respectively) - invaded the Land in 1108 and 1109, before the portal connecting the two worlds was eventually sealed in 1110.
External links
- Official CP site, including forum.
- Rule 7 Forum for CP.