This page contains several ideas and concepts that we plan to realize at Jenseits der Siegel. This collection also gives some insights into our LARP philosophy that is the basis for everything we do at Chronicles.

1. Supportive Play

2. Orga & SL

3. Roleplay along!

4. Thief's Play

First a clarification of terms:

• 'Thieving' is what we call part of the play that centers on pilferers and a often dubious change of ownership of certain goods.
• 'Stealing' is a real-life crime that will be reported to the police!

Sidenote: 'Beyond the Seals' is the perfect setting for pilferers and other freelance thieves.

The Shadow Guild and the color red

The Shadow Guild is a group of players (GPCs) who create a Thief's Play for our event in close cooperation with the GMs. The Thief's Plays main objective is to offer pickpocketing, burglary and several other in-game-crimes.

To create these specific possibilities the GMs as well as the Shadow Guild GPCs distribute items to a variety of NPCs as well as merchants who agree to support the Thief's Play. These items are all completely dyed or painted in a bright red and represent placeholders for other items the merchant has (but can not be taken because that would be 'stealing' - see above!). There are several different groups of items which are listed below.

Should it happen that a thief is seen while trying to take something, he can either try to run or make excuses. In case he is successful and get's away unnoticed he can exchange the item at a fence (a receiver of stolen goods). Depending on the LARP event and which item the thief got the fence will have a different kind of 'payment'.

What items are part of the Thief's Play?

At the 'Beyond the Seals' you can choose from these:

1) Red cubes, books and pouches. These need to be returned to the GMs as soon as possible. What the thief get's in return (from the GM) can be anything - a couple of coppers, some minor object or even something to eat. It is also possible that it was just junk that's worth nothing.

2) All other red painted items. These may only be taken by order of the Shadow Guild and need to be handed over to the Shadow Guild afterwards (also the 'price' can then be negotiated). The Guild acts as fence in this case (a.k.a. receiver). Those orders are usually difficult and dangerous. And of course a thief first needs to find and make contact with the Shadow Guild (please don't just ask the GMs where to find them).

Important: Pickpocket-thiefing (red cubes, books & puches) is available for every player at all times. Burglary play in cooperation with the Shadow Guild is restricted to players that are 18 years or older. Every player who wants to play a burglar or thief connected to organized crime needs to be of age!

What do these items represent in game?

All items of the Thief's Play are obviously only marked in red for out-of-game reasons. Whatever the thief took in-game is therefor not red but would look normal or precious. A red painted chandelier would probably be silver or gold in-game. This is good to remember but irrelevant for the Thief's Play.

a) Red cubes & books (made of foam)
These represent small objects of minor worth. Cubes will be primarily available at merchant boothes and stand for whatever that merchant has on display. The thief will probably not get rich stealing those but might get some coppers or even food out of it. Red books can be found at offices and administrative desks (municipality, library, scribe office). They don't sell for copper but might give some clues or minor admissions.

b) Red puches
Those can be worn at the belt and represent purses. Every player can choose to bring and use one of these but needs to be aware that it is very likely that he will never see it again (in-game as well as out-of-game!). The pouches are used to enable pickpocketing (and it is also the only form of pickpocketing allowed at our events!). The pouches include their own worth (usually some small coins) and should be returned to the GM after the thief took his loot.

c) Red documents / scrolls
These are very rare and are special scrolls that can only be taken if ordered by the Shadow Guild. Without specific instructions they just look like any other sheet of paper.

d) Red… things!
All other items in play which are obviously completely dyed or painted in red can not be the target of simple thievery. They are unique and important goods. To take one successfully and turn them into money afterwards is a great success for every thief. But it can only be done with a specific order from the Shadow Guild (which the thief needs to get in adance).

Investigations & consequences

The GMs will return all cubes, books & pouches back into play. Each time they turn up again, they represent new items (not the exact same as the one taken before). The individual things (listed as 'd' above) are different. Should one of these return to play, it is the exact same thing as the one which was seen before. A heirloom chandelier for example could be taken by a burglar, sold to the fence and bought again by some merchant or even the original owner and be the target of another burglary later.

This also means, that these items can be tracked by investigators looking for the thief. Please do not use the out-of-game necessity of the red color to your in-game advantage. If an investigator manages to find the taken (red) chandelier on your person and claims 'hey, that looks exactly like that silver one that was taken an hour ago!' don't argue along the line of 'no, look, this one is clearly golden, not silver!'. These kind of investigations are also a great oppurtunity for other players who like to play constables, detectives and more righteous characters…

5. Playtime & Off-Time

6. Languages