Dawnstone larp | PRACTICALITIES

practicalities

Dawnstone aims to be as accessible and accommodating to players as possible, so if you need any information that isn't included here, please get in touch and we'll see what we can do to provide answers.

TAKING PART

SIGN UP

Dawnstone has space for 26 players age 18+, and will run in English.

1st round sign up is open until Friday 10th May, and if the larp is oversubscribed we'll aim to run a draw and inform participants with slots that weekend. We'll run the draw publicly using silly codenames, and f you want to sign up as a pair you can give the same codename to make sure you're both chosen together. A small handful of players who helped to make Dawnstone Run 1 happen will be given automatic places. After sign up, you'll have 2 weeks to complete payment or get in touch, or your ticket will be offered to the waiting list.

Any tickets that become available until the end of July will be made available to the waiting list for at least 48 hours before they're offered to the public. During August and September, tickets that become available will be offered directly to the public on a first come, first served basis.

There will be an option on the sign up form where you can indicate if there’s anyone else you would rather not attend the game without, but please keep this to one person. If you both mention each other, you'll be included in the lottery as a single entry.

There will also be an option to indicate if there's anyone you don't consider safe to attend the game with.

PRICE

The price to attend the larp is £90.

There are 3 tickets available at £45 available to those who wouldn't otherwise be able to attend, and there will be a separate lottery for these. We won't ask why anyone is applying for one of these tickets, but we ask you to only put your name forward for one if your financial circumstances limit your ability to get involved with the larp community.

Staying at the church on Friday night is an optional extra for £20, including a simple breakfast on Saturday. We'll get the space set up, play some board games or roleplaying games, and order some kind of takeaway on Friday night (which isn't included in the price).

LOCATION

The larp will take place at the Chellington Centre in Bedford, a beautiful church building with modernised interior that is primarily a youth residential centre. For players who attended the first Dawnstone run in 2017, note this is a different venue with far more facilities.

GROUND RULES

Because this is an ancient, sacred building, we have a couple of ground rules:

No open flames are allowed anywhere inside or outside the church
Be respectful of the altar area at all times, in and out of character
Photos shared publically should not depict ritualisation, violence, or anything else that might cause the church disrepute
No loud noise or alcohol outside the church - though inside is fine

GETTING THERE

By car

The church is about an hour and a half from north London up the M1. The postcode is MK43 7NA, and there is parking on site.

By public transport

Bedford Station is a 35 minute direct train from Kings Cross St Pancras

From Bedford, you can walk 10 minutes across town to the bus station, catch the number 25 bus to the Post Office, and then walk 10 minutes to the venue
Alternatively, it’s about a 20 minute taxi ride, and players will be able to organise sharing on the Facebook group

If you're flying in

There's an hourly train directly from Gatwick airport station to Bedford, making this probably the easiest place to fly in.
Luton airport has a short shuttle bus to Luton airport, then a direct train to Bedford. This is the shortest journey overall, if you can find a flight to Luton.
If you're flying into Heathrow, you can take the Picadilly underground line to Kings Cross and follow the directions above.
If you're flying into Stanstead, you'll need to take a train to Tottenham Hale, then the Victoria line underground to Kings Cross, then follow the directions above. Alternatively, it's about a 90 minute drive if you drive, and Ryanair constantly offers 50% off on car hire.

ARRIVAL TIMES

Participants who are only attending the larp are asked to arrive between 11:30am and 12:30pm on Saturday 7th September to be ready for a 1pm start. There will be snacks available, but please eat beforehand or bring something with you for lunch.

The larp will be finished by 11am on Sunday.

Anyone staying the Friday night is welcome to arrive anywhere between 5pm and 10pm on Friday 6th.

You’ll be given a phone number to call if it looks like your travel plans are running late.

ACCOMMODATION

The church has small rooms in the side aisles with 4 or 5 beds each, and it won't be possible to provide sleeping areas with fewer roommates than that. All of the beds are bunk beds, and some of them are shorter than average at 163 or 168cm long, so we'll be looking for people who don't mind slightly cramped conditions on the sign up form. All bed linen is provided, so no need to bring sleeping bags.

There are showers on site, but there are only 4 for 30 people so chances to use them will be limited. You'll also need to bring your own towel.

ACCESSIBILITY

The church has been outfitted to be accessible and the venue's accessibility document is available here.

We'll ask about any specific accommodations you need in the sign up form. Please let us know in particular if you need wheelchair access, but don't hesitate to mention anything else that would help you out and we'll do what we can to accommodate it.

EATING AND DRINKING

FOOD

The main meal on Saturday evening will be part of the larp, the final feast before the battle where the characters pool whatever luxuries they have left, knowing that they may not be around to enjoy them after tomorrow.

We'll be bringing in a buffet of cold food so players can eat at their own pace throughout the evening, and will do our best to take into account any dietary requirements we know about before the end of August. You're also very welcome to bring any food you'd like to have for yourself or share with the group, but we'll ask you to label food to take into account allergies and so on.

A light continental breakfast of pastries, fruit, yoghurt, and possibly leftovers will be provided at the church on Sunday morning.

For anyone staying over on Friday, we'll arrange a simple cooked meal on Friday evening, as well as a grab and go breakfast and lunch on Saturday. The food may start to look a little samey as we're limited by what we can order in, so feel free to bring along something of your own if you prefer.

DRINKS

There's water and a hot urn in the church, and we’ll have tea, coffee, squash and soft drinks available.

You’re welcome to bring alcohol to drink and share, but please consume in moderation out of respect for the larp and the church, and don't take any alcohol outside. Anyone whose coordination or judgement is impaired by alcohol will be asked to leave the game.