Community Initiatives
We believe in making not just the Travail LARP community but the New England LARP community as a whole a better and more inclusive space and are committed to taking steps towards realizing that goal. These community initiatives are staff-led and staff-funded. We ask that our community members contribute if they are able to so that we can do even more for the community. All contributions of time, money, and goods made to Travail work towards community goals for the year, which will be added here soon. Travail does not accept payment in exchange for individual character advancement or plot.
Here you will find a link to our Code of Conduct. Everyone that is part of the Travail community, whether they are staff, an NPC, or a player, will be held to the standards set forth in the Code of Conduct. It is our goal to be as transparent as possible about the expectations of members of the community as well as the expectations that the staff of Travail can be held to.
Come Try Travail!
The purpose of this community initiative is to lower the barrier of entry for weekend boffer LARPs, whether PCing or NPCing.
Travail offers a number of discounted community tickets to our events on a sliding scale based on need. NPCs always play Travail for free and we provide breakfast on Saturday and Sunday morning and dinner on Saturday evening. No one on the Travail staff except the managing members of the LLC has access to information about who has purchased community tickets and there is no application process for purchasing one.
If you NPC Travail and help us create awesome events we ask that you show up in “NPC Blacks” meaning black sweatpants and sweatshirt or other non-descript, logo-free attire. If you need to purchase these to attend an event, show us your receipt from the purchase and we’ll give you $20 toward your purchase.
Travail has a costume library of shirts, pants, cloaks, hats, belts, pouches, weapons, shields, and more that are exclusively available to players for the purposes of borrowing for an event. We want to offer the option to come try out the game without having to commit to purchasing all of the gear ahead of time.
The meals served at Travail do not have a cost associated with them, but if you are able to, we encourage you to contribute toward the cost of food for the event.
Working together, the intention of Come Try Travail! is for anyone to be able to attend Travail at a price point that fits their budget with the ability to either be a player or an NPC. Just bring your bedding, weather-appropriate under layers, extra socks and underwear, ankle-supporting footwear, toiletries, and some food and snacks to keep you fed between meals, and you’re ready to have a weekend of adventure, hilarity, and community at a Travail event.
Travail is for Everyone
The purpose of this community initiative is to make Travail diverse, inclusive, and welcoming to everyone that wants to be part of the community.
Travail does not tolerate intolerance. Travail is for everyone, and any sentiment contrary to that will not be tolerated at the game or in the community. We insist that everyone be treated with dignity and respect at all times, especially when disagreements occur. We expect everyone to adhere to our Code of Conduct.
Travail players are able to write their own worlds for their characters to be from. We have published guidelines to help define what is and isn’t appropriate in this writing process. More information is available in the Travail Wiki, a central online repository of all the In Game lore that has been contributed by players, staff, and discovered during the game. This Wiki will be updated every event to reflect new things that have been learned about the Travail universe and to help new attendees get caught up to speed on the story while also having a reference for when you encounter something at game that you aren’t familiar with. The Wiki will be available during game in the tavern.
The Travail universe is designed to be diverse, and that means that we want as many voices as possible contributing to it. Travail employs sensitivity readers, diversity consultants, and diverse writers as our promise to the community that we are committed to this community initiative. All of these individuals are paid market value for the work they do for Travail.
We Are Our Community
The purpose of this community initiative is to make sure that everyone at Travail is respected and able to participate in the game in the way that is most fun for them.
Our goal is to offer as many different activities during each event as possible. From combat, to roleplaying, to puzzles, to minigames, to solving mysteries and learning about the Travail universe, there’s something for everyone. You don’t have to participate in every one of these things either. Part of the Travail character creation and feedback process is letting us know what parts of the game you’re most interested in so that we can produce the game that the community wants to play.
Travail offers open plot experiences for everyone to participate in together, plot for small groups, and targeted content for specific players or groups of players in order to help players tell the stories they want to tell about their characters. Our goal is that every player at Travail has a chance to experience each of these experiences at least once every event.
What you want to or are able to do at events can change over time for a number of reasons. Maybe you can’t or don’t want to participate in combat any more. You can log in on the Travail Wiki and update your information so that when we write an event these new preferences are reflected. We want to write the event that you want to play.
Welcome!
The purpose of this community initiative is to help new folks feel immediately welcome and understand what to expect at a Travail event.
Travail offers a new player tutorial experience for players and NPCs that demonstrates the regular flow of the game and what the expectations of all attendees are. This includes safety protocols, how to check in with others during roleplaying (improvised acting) interactions to make sure that everyone is comfortable and having fun, and what to expect if you choose to take part in boffer (padded foam weapon) combat during the event.
The Event page is designed to be a complete, step-by-step guide to attending your first event and give you an idea of exactly what to expect. It will also contain photos of what you’ll see when you arrive and information on which staff members to check in with to help you get situated.