The art of governing

lands and peoples

A larp written by
Rafael Carneiro Vasques
 This larp was written to participate in GOLDEN COBRA 2021.
Larp addresses decision-making and the “invisible” consequences for people who are affected by
these choices.
It is a larp for 4 people and is divided into 4 scenes:
Scene 1: Council of the Nation;
Scene 2: Pacifying the streets;
Scene 3: Civilizing the colony.
Scene 4: Collecting the results.

The characters will repeat themselves in scenes 1 and 4.

One character from scene 1 will also reappear in scene 2 and the other in scene 3.

SECURITY

The the art of governing lands and peoples addresses scenes of social control, urban violence and
colonial violence. One should avoid describing scenes and situations of violence, focusing on the dramatic
intensity of the consequences of political practice in the lives of dominated individuals.
In the metropolis or the colony, political power often does not take into account the consequences
of its actions on the lives of ordinary people. This cannot be used as a way to attack people who sat next
to us and who want to have fun with us.

BACKGROUNDS

The kingdom went through a crisis with the death of the former monarchs. With a new leadership, the empire
tries to rebuild and has the support of a religious leader, a military leader, and a special adviser.
Popular unrest in the streets of the metropolis demands some kind of response from the authorities. Time to
put the hysterical traditions in order. By force or persuasion. Civilization will win.
On the other hand, valuable raw materials were discovered in overseas lands. It is necessary to create a favora-
ble environment that guarantees the support of the natives for the extraction and shipment to the metropolis.

SCENES

The first scene takes place in the nation’s council and the political leadership must decide which
policies will be applied in the streets of the metropolis and which will be applied in the colony. The leader-
ship should send military forces to one of the scenes and religious forces to the other scene. Military or
religious will affect the development of scenes in different ways. After the decision, the scene should end.
The second scene takes place in an attempt to pacify the streets of the metropolis. If the poli-
tical leadership has chosen the military forces, the military leadership must explain their actions and new
characters will be distributed. If religious leadership has been chosen, it must explain its actions and the
players must interpret the new characters.
The third scene takes place in as overseas colony. If the political leadership has chosen the military
forces, the military leadership must explain their actions and new characters will be distributed. If religious
leadership has been chosen, it must explain its actions and the players must interpret the new characters.
In the fourth scene, the players will reinterpret the characters from the first scene and will have to
take stock of their actions. When the political leadership is satisfied, the meeting will be dissolved and the
game ends.

Cover: Retrato de Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, Marques de Pombal. Louis-Michel van Loo
e Claude Joseph Vernet,1766
 SCENE 1 - COUNCIL OF THE NATION

Each player must select one of the characters. Political leadership must decide where to send
political leadership and where to send religious leadership. After defining the actions, the scene ends.
The adviser advises the political leadership.
Players should write down ideas they have to act in each of the conflicts.

Political leadership: Counselor:

Proposals for internal conflicts: Proposals for internal conflicts:

____________________________________ ____________________________________

____________________________________ ____________________________________

____________________________________ ____________________________________

____________________________________ ____________________________________

Proposals for the Overseas Colony: Proposals for the Overseas Colony:

____________________________________ ____________________________________

____________________________________ ____________________________________

____________________________________ ____________________________________

__________________________________ __________________________________

Religious leadership: Military leadership:

Proposals for internal conflicts: Proposals for internal conflicts:

____________________________________ ____________________________________

____________________________________ ____________________________________

____________________________________ ____________________________________

____________________________________ ____________________________________

Proposals for the Overseas Colony: Proposals for the Overseas Colony:

____________________________________ ____________________________________

____________________________________ ____________________________________

____________________________________ ____________________________________

__________________________________ __________________________________
 SCENE 2 - PACIFYING THE STREETS

The leadership chosen to act on the streets of the metropolis must choose 4 actions proposed
on the Nation Council character sheets and must describe their consequences. Distribute the chips
among the players.
• If military leadership acted, cross 1 name off each character’s friends list. These people died in re-
pressive actions. Each player chooses the character who died and how it happened.
• If religious leadership acted, circle 1 male name from each character’s friends list. They were recrui-
ted to act on behalf of the mother country in the colony. Each player chooses the character from
their sheet.
Players play 4 characters who get together to talk about their impressions of the government’s ac-
tions. They must decide whether popular pressure against the government has increased or decreased.
The player who played the acting lead decides when the scene will end.

Sarah Peter


________________ ________________
Sarah’s brother and dependent. Peter’s military friend.

________________ ________________
Sarah’s boss. Peter’s Spouse.

________________ ________________
Sarah’s Religious Cousin. Partner of Peter.

________________ ________________
Sarah’s mother. Peter’s neighbor.

Ariel Rose

________________ ________________
Ariel’s father. Rose’s Spouse.

________________ ________________
Ariel’s friend. Rose’s friend.

________________ ________________
Ariel’s sister. Rose’s Piano Teacher.

________________ ________________
Ariel’s brother-in-law. Rose’s employee.
 SCENE 3 - CIVILIZING THE COLONY

The leadership chosen to act must choose 4 proposed actions on the Nation Council character
sheets and then describe their consequences. Define which raw materials are found in the colony and
which ritual depends on each raw material.
• If military leadership acted, cross out 2 raw materials and cross out 2 names attached to each. These
people died in the colonial massacre. Each player chooses a character from a different group and
will play them.
• If religious leadership acted, circle 2 raw material and all names attached to it. These characters were
catechized. They now no longer participate in religious rituals and collaborate with the colonizers.
Each player chooses a character from a different group and will play them.
• The players will play characters who must represent a scene in which the raw materials related to
the characters must be collected for the preparation of a religious ritual.
The player who played the acting lead decides when the scene will end.

Dorni Kaxú

Faiá Rengrê

Nikâi Fórign

______________________ ______________________
Raw material Raw material

_____________________ _____________________
Ritual Ritual

Fangrei
Ngrâ
Karêi
Xokãi
Kórin
Kondá

______________________
Raw material ______________________
Raw material
_____________________
Ritual _____________________
Ritual
 SCENE 4 - COLLECTING THE RESULTS

Each player will revert to roleplaying their character at the meeting. Religious leadership and
political leadership shall report their actions to political leadership and the counselor.
The political leadership and the advisor will have to weigh which actions produced the most satis-
factory results. You can ask the opinion of other leaders and plan new actions.
The larp ends when the political leadership reassigns each of the leaders to deal with the nation’s
challenges.

DEBRIEF

Now it’s time to share the sense of experience. Talk, share, and reframe the experience you had
together.