About The Bacchanalia Affair

The Bacchanalia Affair is an erotic high-ritual intrigue LARP, inspired by the suppression of the Bacchanalia during the height of the Roman Republic, reclaiming the narratives by pulling in inspiration from The Bacchae. 

This LARP will utilize mechanics that are associated with entering an altered state, such as self-hypnosis and ritualized behavior; these mechanics may result in unfamiliar mental states and intense emotional bleed.

This is a playtest version of a longer LARP.

Premise: 

  • It’s a few years prior to the Bacchanalia Affair of 186 BCE, in the Roman countryside not too far from the city 

  • The Roman government is starting to look into limiting or fully blocking Bacchic rituals, supplanting them with the more conservative cult of Liber 

  • You are either an existing Bacchante (Maenad) or an aspiring initiate 

  • Some of you are recently-inducted priests of Liber, controversially assimilated into the mystery cult of Bacchus  

  • Some people here are undercover state spies 

  • Others are believing that the cult is not radical enough in terms of societal subversion

  • Bacchus himself is there in disguise 

Themes: 

  • Divine madness and ecstatic states 

  • The role of ritual in community and life as a whole 

  • Religious infighting 

  • Encroachment into radical movements by neoliberalism and patriarchy 

  • State-led religious and cultural persecution 

  • Suppression of free expression and queerness in increasingly conservative society 

  • Toxic masculinity and gender as performance 

  • Popularity and recruitment versus authenticity and vision 

Gameplay: 

  • Afternoon workshops begin around 2pm 

    • Safety trainings 

    • Sex mechanics practice 

    • Player calibration

  • Gameplay begins around 6pm, after an OOC dinner 

    • Leaders/priestesses gather in private as people mingle IC 

    • Initiates are initiated 

    • Bacchanal begins, starting with an hour of ecstatic dance and chanting

    • Assassination occurs 

    • Revelry must continue at all costs 

    • Political intrigue comes to a head 

    • Public executions occur amidst the revelry 

    • Divine madness fades, characters see through any illusions they may have been under 

  • Gameplay ends around midnight (after around 6 hours), debrief begins 

    • Cozy herbal tea and hot chocolate are served, blankets are provided, people are encouraged to rest and sleep 

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