Written by Gerrit Reininghaus 

Other collaborators to be added 

Date: 2018/05/11 
A manifesto for 

laogs – live action online games 

[shortened link: ​https://tinyurl.com/laogmanifesto​] 
 
laog  is  short  for  live action online game – and that says it all, doesn’t it? We can larp – live 
action  roleplaying  –  when  being  behind  our  video  camera.  We  can  play  with  people  all 
around  the  globe  and  be  100%  in-character.  We  can  make  use  of  meta  techniques,  be  360 
degrees in or break out of character for scene setting on intervals.  
 
laog is a design realm we want to explore and define it by making and playing games in it.  
 
This document is about what we learnt, what we imagine and what we recommend.  
 
[Disclaimer: we are not bound to the term laog - ‘digital larp’ or ‘online larp’ work just as well] 
 
Playing online 

Playing live 

Practical lessons 

Laogs in action 
 
   
  

1 PLAYING ONLINE 
Playing  online  provides  us with some extra tools, demands good care and imposes certain 
constraints.  
 

1.1 MORE TOOLS 

Having  a  chat  window  for  everybody  in  a  game  defined  as  out  of  character  is  an 
opportunity  for  many  aspects:  meta  techniques,  safety  check-ins,  technical  and  rules 
questions etc.  
 
That  there  is  a  physical  distance  between  players  allows  us  under  certain  circumstances 
to  feel  safer.  The  door  which  is  always  open  is  just  a  click  away.  You  can  return  home  a 
second  after  you  decide  to  go.  Private  chats  between  players  can  be  an  additional  and 
non-intrusive way to check-in, to continue debrief, to work through the experience.  

1.2 GOOD CARE 

 

The Leave Call button is always available 

Safety  tools  are  important  for  laogs  as  they  are  for  larps  or  online  tabletop  RPGs.  laogs 
shall  not  be  run  without  everybody  willing  to  take  care  for  each  other.  People  are  always 
more  important  than  the  game.  The  “Leave  Call”  button  is  always  available.  We  don’t  play 
laogs  with  people  who  don’t  respect  others  boundaries,  who can’t accept diversity and that 
people are different. laogs shall be as inclusive as possible.  
 

Safety tools 
The  X  card  is  an  important  tool  and  an  easy  to  grasp  safety  technique.  For  every  laog, 
provide  a  way  to  include  the  X  card  or  a  similarly  efficient  safety  technique.  In  video  calls 
the  X  card  can  easily  be  tapped  by  typing  an  X  into  the chat window and if necessary name 
the  content  you  like  to  X  card.  Nicely,  some  chat  tools  (including  Google  Hangouts  Video 
chat  sidebar  allow  for  anonymous  posting.  To  increase  visibility  and  that  people  pay 
attention  to  the  use  of  an  X  card  you  can  additionally  cross  your  arms  while  being  on 
camera or verbally call for the X-card.  
 

The safety of your space 

Not  part  of  the  game  but  part  of  your  responsibility  as  a  laog player is taking care for the 
people  in  your  surrounding being affected by the game. Have you informed everybody what 
you  are  planning  to  do  and  that  nobody needs to be worried? Does somebody need to sleep 
or could otherwise be negatively affected by your play? 
 

De-role and debrief 

Good  after  care  is  an  important  part  of  every  laog. Nobody has to participate in a debrief. 
No  technique  fits  all  laogs.  Every  laog  shall  carefully  consider  what  structure  and  method 
they  want  to  follow.  It  has  to  be  adequate  to  the  degree  of  intensity  and  sufficient  time 
should always be made available.  

1.3 CONSTRAINTS 
 

Set-up 
Online play brings with it some hurdles.  
It  is  good  practice  to  check  your  technical  set-up  before  the game. Your microphone and 
webcam  should  be  ready  to  go  and  your  internet  connection  needs  to  be  sufficiently  fast 
and stable.  
 

Surrounding 
Will  your  surrounding  be  suitable  for  the  play  time  –  think  of  background  noises,  phone 
calls,  light.  Check  in  with  other  players  what constraints you have for play and if it’s alright 
for them.  
 

No physical space 
The  virtual  room  we  create  in  a  laog  is  lacking  many  features  a  physical  space  can 
provide.  A  laog  takes  these  constraints  into  consideration  in  its  design  (and  might  find 
interesting  ways  to  circumvent  the  shortcomings).  One  on  one  discussions  are  more 
difficult  to  be  organised.  Body  language is far more limited and players should find suitable 
ways  in  written  format  (e.g.  emojis)  or  with  mimic  to  alleviate  communication  to  physical 
level.  Physical  interaction  like  touching,  the  sheer  presence  of  another  human  being  need 
less intuitive re-interpretations.  
 
 
 

2 PLAYING LIVE 
This section is looking on laogs from the perspective of online tabletop roleplayers.  
 
Playing 100% in-character will sound frightening to some – even very experienced online 
RPG players. That is totally alright and indeed it is for some a great experience, for some an 
interesting experience and for others not what they are looking for.  
 

2.1 BEING IN CHARACTER –ALL THE TIME 

When you play a laog you should always be in character when your webcam is on. That 
means every motion of your head, how close you are to the camera, the tone of your voice, 
your eyes rolling, your tongue snarling is in-character. There will be exceptions as there 
are and shall always be exceptions from aesthetic rules everywhere in the world.  
 
When you look at other player characters find an element in their habits or appearance 
which lets you lock your imagination of the character they incorporate. Such an anchor 
makes it easier for you to stay in character while interacting with others.  
 
 Switch your camera off any time you need a moment out of character.  

2.2IS THIS MORE IMMERSIVE? 

How immersive a laog experience is depends more on the combination of the laog, the 
other players and you than on the format. If all three are a good fit, you probably will have a 
good time in that regard.   
 
Being for a longer time fully in character can be intense. Incorporating somebody or 
something else with your full body means that you might have a full body experience. Listen 
to your body and mind accordingly in terms of safety but also in terms of getting the full 
experience of the laog. Continue listening to your body and mind when the laog is over and 
the cameras are off. The immersive part of a laog might flow through you again when you 
allow yourself to return to the game.  
 
Then again, don’t worry too much about immersion. No matter if you are larping, 
tabletopping or story gaming or however you call what you are doing, you shouldn’t get lost 
in your character. There are safety techniques, meta techniques, time limits, story 
considerations and many other things which will float through your mind while you do this 
thing called roleplaying. And that’s right as it is.  
 

2.3 ARE WE LARPING? 

Yes and no and however you like to see it. Larp is a different kind of thing and the same. If 
you haven’t larped so far, you should try it. There is boffer larp, there is chamber larp, there 
are jeep forms, Dogmas, black boxes, American Freeform and so many other forms of larps 
out there. There will be something in it for you.  
 
A laog is different to a good degree. We get the best of playing online in our own spaces 
and feeling play in every dimension without interruption. So in many aspects a laog will 
cause the same sensation than a larp.  
 

3 PRACTICAL LESSONS 
 
We still don’t have enough experience to give you the full list of tools you need. It’s up to 
you and me and everybody else who is interested in this design and play space to make 
laogs better.  
 
For your use, I have created a template you can copy to facilitate your laogs (or other 
roleplaying games) which includes some of the elements described in more details below: 
 
https://tinyurl.com/OnlineGamingTemplate  

3.1 RESPONSIBILITY ROLES 

From the laog session of Winterhorn (by Jasons Morningstar) I developed this set of 
responsibility roles. Splitting these rules among several people shall make the game 
smoother and relieve the workload from the facilitator’s shoulders.  
  
Responsibilities (multiple roles possible, but better distributed) 
Orientation: Welcoming and introduction, character assignment 
moderator 
Time: Setting the timer, reminding in chat when time is getting 
short 
Tech Help: Help desk for technical difficulties 
Rules: Help desk for rules clarifications 
Debrief: Moderator for the debrief 
 
Before you start playing, discuss which player is taking over which role and what that 
contains for your game. It’s alright if one person has several roles as long as everybody feels 
comfortable with that.  

3.2 ARCHETYPICAL STRUCTURE 

Sitting together in front of a computer screen is an advantage when it comes to 
presenting and sharing a structure for your session. Exemplary, this structure for the laog 
version of Susanne Vejdemo’s So Mom I made this sex tape is presented.  
 
Time  Agenda 
10  Welcome players, check technical set-up with all, distribute responsibilities (10 
minutes) 
10  Read the Background and Play sections out loud, including the relevant 
characters (10 minutes) 
5  Players choose a character and re-read it (5 minutes) 
3  Decide on why the characters have a video call together (postponed birthday 
chat, one person returning from a journey,…) , etc. (3 minutes)  
3  Get accommodated with the metatechnique spreadsheet (see below, 3 minutes)  
3  Each player presents their character in 30 seconds, use timer (3 minutes)  
5  Take a short break before the in-character part of the game begins. (5 minutes) 
25  Start a 25-minute timer and begin playing, add 5 minutes for every player above 
3 
5  When the timer rings the final scene begins (5 minutes) 
15  Debrief (15 minutes) 
 
Adapt the structure for the purpose of your game. Never forget to include breaks if you 
player longer games.  
 
 

3.3 TOOLS FOR BREAKING THE VIRTUAL WALL 

The following tools are just examples and wait for you to be improved, thrown out of the 
basket or extended.  
 
A pretty effective technique in laogs is to make use of the physical boundary – and break 
through it. One example how this can be done is to ​touch somebody on the screen​. Please 
ask the other players if they feel comfortable with using this technique.  
 
 Purposefully ​establishing eye contact​ is another very effective measure to drastically 
reduce the felt distance between players in an online game.  
 
Asking players to turn their volume down so much until they can only hear you when they 
get close to their speakers can create the idea as if you ​live in their sound system​.  
 
Offer ​several video rooms​ between players can switch to replicate having separate rooms 
between to move. In the laog version of End Game by Glass Free Games, one of the rooms 
represents the video game the players play together.  

3.4 DE-ROLE AND DEBRIEF 

De-roleing is about leaving your character behind. An efficient way to do that is leaving 
the video call altogether. However, you might want to still use it for the debrief. So if that is 
the case, you can at least switch the camera off for as long as you need. Stretch your 
muscles after sitting for quite a while in a chair and staring at a screen. Leave the room in 
which you played and leave your character outside. Change a piece of clothing (a hat, a scarf 
etc.) before you return to the video.  
 
A good debrief can have many forms. The following set-up has been used in the laog 
version of So Mom I made this sex tape:  
 
When the game is over, turn your camera and mic off. Earliest after 30 seconds you can
switch your cameras back on. But take your time if you need more. Don’t immediately start
talking about the game. Free yourself from the character you played, possibly by shortly
leaving the room you played in or by changing something of you or the environment. Stretch
your muscles after all this time sitting and staring at a screen.
When everybody is back with cameras on the moderator starts the debrief by thanking
everybody who participated.
Who doesn’t want to be part of it, can leave, no questions asked.
Go around the table for what impressions you had:
1) What you enjoyed, which parts were challenging for you. Stay with you if possible.
2) In a second round you have the opportunity to praise other players, the game designer
or whatever comes to your mind.
The debrief will last a maximum of 15 minutes.
The facilitator can ask for feedback if they want. They can also hand that over to somebody
else. Feedback can then be given in private channels. If there is a lesson to be learnt for all
players, the facilitator / feedback moderator will write to all players. Please leave some time
between the game and the feedback lesson.  
 

3.5 WORKSHOPPING 
Many roleplaying games nowadays follow the good tradition of doing some exercise of the 
special situations we want to bring each other in, in-game. For example, practicing 
screaming at each other is worth an exercise for safety reasons, to learn what you can do 
and that you already get an idea what could happen in the game.  
 
Workshopping can highly alleviate your laog experience. Give it a try. And surprise us 
with your design ideas about workshops.  
 
  

LAOGS IN ACTION 
 
 

END GAME 
This is a laog - by Gerrit Reininghaus adapting a larp by David Hertz (Glass Free Games).  
 
End Game is a game about a team of eSport professionals who just got relegated from the 
professional league and need to make a tough decision if they feel ready to continue on 
amateur level without payment etc. It's the one hour before the end of their time as 
professional gamers. They meet their fans, journalists, but are mainly just among 
themselves to find out why they have been a team.  
 
The special part about this laog is that it is the first laog designed for two separate video 
rooms between which the players / characters can move freely while the game is running.  
 
Here is the link to the template with everything you need for play: 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QU-W5mJ1LcPBXMckyVrTr4yMZZPVLkRQNr-k26
Y4wgM/edit  
 
This is an actual play (past character creation etc.): 
Game Room: 
https://youtu.be/0dBTXz0NBuY?t=21m17s  
Social Room:  
https://youtu.be/C-dvXr4itUo?t=1h2m36s  
 

SO MOM I MADE THIS SEX TAPE 

Author of the original larp: Susanne Vejdemo 
Published in the #Feminism anthology 
laog version by Gerrit Reininghaus 
Link: 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OVTyOz7rJ2I1YHvcGZEflKT7-295B-dtZl1wy5QrwO
E/edit#gid=175294368  
 
Actual Play video: 
https://youtu.be/yp9VHDnBAqw  
 
What happens: 
In the original larp version we play a family meeting of three to five women. The Daughter 
has made a sex tape which her partner had sent without consent to an alternative porn 
festival. The festival likes it. The family members represent different generations of 
feminism with differents stands on sex and pornography. In the ​laog​ version the family 
meeting happens online.  
 WINTERHORN 
Author of the original larp: Jason Morningstar 
Published by Bully Puplit Games 
laog version by Gerrit Reininghaus 
Link: please request personally from Gerrit 
 
Actual Play video: 
https://youtu.be/sMx3K7ljNNI  
 
What happens:  
The original Winterhorn larp is about a meeting of government officials and agents. They 
develop a strategy how to destroy a group of political activists. The game represents three 
separate meetings. Between meetings the results of the actions taken are evaluated through 
mechanics.  
In the laog version of this game, the meeting happens online. So good to have government 
institutions to offer home office opportunities - that is very important for example for 
young families. So we play three online video chats. Everything in the surrounding of the 
officers and also the online tools (Google Drawings, Spreadsheets) are part of the game.  

VIEWSCREAM 
Author: Raphael Chandler 
Published by Neoplastic Press 
considers itself as a varp - a video augmented role-playing game 
Link: ​http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/113064/ViewScream  
 
Actual Play video:  
https://youtu.be/ygSuQa90S-A  
 
What happens: 
Depending on the scenario you play a group of people on a spaceship which is destined to 
be destroyed. They can only communicate through the ship’s intercom, i.e. through a video 
chat. Conflict arises from exchanging problems and potential solutions. But there are not 
enough working solutions for all the problems around.  
 

THE ELECTION OF THE WINE QUEEN 

Author of the laog: Gerrit Reininghaus 
Authors of original larp: Silvia Ochlast, Björn Butzen 
Link to the larp: ​http://minilarp.de/wordpress/?page_id=330 
Link to the laog: 
https://drive.google.com/open?id=10B6ZuDlNP_-ZEVOhLvdt4s6aFOnF9T7m  
 
The Election of the Wine Queen is a digital black box laog about a wine queen competition 
in which the players play promising candidates and the jury of such a traditional rural 
event. Who will be the next wine queen representing the region for year on national fairs? 
How will this year’s competition change the village to the better – or the worse? 
  
 As a metatechique the laog uses singing: a drinking song can be brought into any scene 
any time to violently break the mood. 
  
Players are also supposed to drink wine (or water in replacement) while playing. 
 
The laog version makes heavy use of what the author calls digital black box scenes: 
Whoever is not in the scene switches their camera and mic off. Play is organized in Acts. 
Between Acts, players go out of character to plan for scenes and who is in there for the next 
Act.  
 
Actual Plays videos: 
https://youtu.be/51S61DtGrbk  
https://youtu.be/hJc0N7uJrNg​ (German) 
 
 
 

OTHER LAOGS OR POTENTIAL LAOGS 

 
Monster Squad by Thomas McGrenery (as made for the RPG Geek One Sheet Contest 2015) 
 
They’re onto me by Banana Chan as made for the Golden Cobra Award 2016  
 
 
 

DIGITAL LARPS BY THE GEEK INITIATIVE 

This is the best place to learn more about Tara M Clapper and her team’s initiative to 
make digital larps / laogs more popular:  
https://www.facebook.com/groups/tgilarps/