Roleplaying & LARP (Live Action Roleplay)

LARP PLANNING & Roleplaying overview in preparation for next summer!

#GEOTL24

Planning has already begun for Great Escape on the Lake, Aug. 21-25, 2024!  You are invited to join us in the Kingdom of Gonzaie!   

There is also a proposal for gathering late Winter / early Spring for a kingdom feast, mini-LARP, and to begin collaborating for the summer.  Let us know if you are interested!

OUR VISION

The vision for GEOTL is an overall event culture that includes something for everyone, a fantasy medieval feel where roleplaying is welcome at whatever level of immersion you may enjoy, a board game convention in full swing, camp and lake activities such as archery, axe throwing, boating, and climbing wall, Castle Quests (self-guided quests that are great for adventurers who want to enjoy the overlapping immersive story and theme of the Kingdom of Gonzaie, but with less commitment to the fully immersive LARP), a merchant sector (vendors), and a general understanding that we will see muggles strolling through camp…

Our favorite examples of some themed books and movies to set the tone for roleplaying, LARP, and Castle Quests would be to check out the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis, the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien, and the Princess Bride.

While the details may change each year, we keep the general “fantasy medieval” theme the same so that folks can plan ahead, invest in tents, thematic decorations, acquire roleplaying gear, and develop year over year as may be desired.  For example, two years from now, in 2025, in addition to the continuing LARP, we are also planning a one day fully immersive roleplaying experience based on the Game of Thrones.

OUR LEADERSHIP

Please join the GEOTL core leadership team in celebrating and welcoming Sir Stephen Griffith into a new role as a Knight of the Round Table, and the lead GM for GEOTL’s LARP team.  Henceforth, Sir Stephen shall be tasked with serving on our core leadership team, building a collaborative LARP team, and serving GEOTL’s LARP community in the areas of planning, story-writing, and adapting LARP stories and adventures to flow within the core values of the camp and loosely within the world of the Kingdom of Gonzaie found within Ken’s unpublished book.

Serving by Sir Stephen’s side on this newly formed LARP team are his sister Meaghan, Ellie, Jonah, and Pat, as well as others to be determined.  Sir Stephen and Meaghan led us in dance in past years and enjoy immersive LARPing.  Ellie and Jonah are both former camp staff members, and as such, bring a wealth of camp knowledge to the team that will help to guide our decisions.  Pat brings with him a desire for creative LARP experiences that transcend battles and what may be seen as “typical LARP”.

If you would enjoy helping in any capacity and/or would like to continue with a current character, please let us know so that we can begin to write you into the story line.  For example, perhaps you are interested in participating as an NPC (non-player character), helping to plan an adventure or quest, or maybe you want to enjoy an immersive character role that is reminiscent of prior year’s as we continue forward in the unfolding storyline in the Kingdom of Gonzaie! 

OUR STORY

We are in our 5th year of planning and building a kingdom for all of our enjoyment, though due to covid we were unable to gather in the Summer of 2020, and instead gathered together for the first time in August of 2021.

Our story finds itself in the Kingdom of Gonzaie and is loosely based on an unpublished book that is still  being written by GEOTL founder, Ken Yentzer, and has been in process since he was much younger.  Our dream is to have a fantasy and medieval based live action roleplaying experience year over year, including building a medieval village together. 

“Hoist sail, ye flea bitten sea dogs!”, raged the infuriated captain of the vessel.  As the scow slowly slipped from the docks, red streamers of newfound dawn began to edge over the horizon.  Glimpses of shadows appeared and were gone as the bustle of merchants slowly crowded the littered streets in the now distant port of Gonzaie.”

It’s a new age…many moons have set since the historians dusted off the legends that befell us before to recount our wonderous triumphs, blights and woes, and our adventures beyond imagination and compare.  We find ourselves in the 5th age.  Dragons, both good and evil, find their place in the northern mountains.  The fire swamp, now the land of the Diji, finds itself searching for the red arrow which was lost.  As best as we can tell from the old scrolls, it was the final arrow from the time of the great wars.  It has become a sacred reminder to the Diji people that has signified peace and tranquility with the neighboring kingdoms for as long as any can remember.  War was over and peace reigned throughout the neighboring kingdoms.  But now the red arrow is gone…stolen perhaps, removed, lost to history.  There is unrest in the land.  What does this foreboding sign mean.  The mystics of the Diji foretell of a time where the Red Arrow will be found again.  An invitation has gone out, a grand adventure from all nationalities, races, and tongues have converged upon the Kingdom of Gonzaie, a gathering of epic proportions, a time of feasting and adventuring, perhaps we can find and return the Red Arrow to the Diji.  Has it been lost to history forever or can it be found and peace restored to the land?

The LARP story will unfold as needed and will only be loosely based on the unpublished book, but will be based within the Kingdom of Gonzaie for thematic unity within the camp as a whole.

MEDIEVAL VILLAGE

Join us in creating your own MEDIEVAL WORLD!  Your fantasy adventure continues year-over-year with the same or different characters!

Try your hand at panning for gold!  One of Ken’s  enjoyable past times is to mine for gold.  Our dirt comes direct to us from Roaring Camp Mining Co. on Clinton Bar in the Mokelume River Canyon!  …part of the California Gold Rush!

We hope you’ll join our medieval fantasy-based adventure…you even have an island to find!

…you will be immersed in an effort to gather on Lamoka Lake once a year to come together to create a MEDIEVAL VILLAGE, Quest together, RPG, and play board games… Your camping gear and cosplay is what builds the village…

We would love to know your thoughts and questions so that we can better plan a full year ahead.  Please e-mail us at GEOTL@GreatEscapeAdventures.net.