Creating Monsters - A Series - "The Kraken"

[Suzanne]

Creating Monsters – A Series by Alliance Denver Larp

“The Kraken”

Season 1: Mini-Series 1 - 2021

(71 PCS/17 NPCS)


**We have been talking about this series for a while now, since the down time has started between events, we decided it would be a great series to do once a month. If you have questions about how it was created or what some items are, please reach out to owners.alliancedenverlarp@gmail.com and one of us can assist you! **​

When you are sitting in a plot meeting, you know, one of the first 100 when Covid hits and you cannot play for 563 days, it can become a bit delirious. Especially when someone says,

“What about building a Kraken?”​

Now, if you know larpers, you know one of them is going to think it is a great idea. The bigger the better.

This is usually the part when I step away like a necromancer in a graveyard, taking my friends with me. ​

It is better to let the man with a Master’s degree in Art and Game Design, and the multitude of others with ideas, grand dreams and the means to do it, to their own devices.

During those few months, between the staff retreat and even up to the day of the event.

Our first event.

Since we bought the chapter in March of 2020, the day before the country shut down.

The first game in a new world.

We birthed a Kraken.

She was exquisite.

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Body

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Made from a blue tarp that was painted by our staff in Las Vegas, someone from Colorado had to drive to Las Vegas to pick it up and bring it here for the event. They found out many things doing this, what shows up under black light, and what does not.
(Hint: White paint does not. Go ahead, try it, I will wait)

They learned that paint flakes from tarp, so primer, or just be careful. We learned that soccer goals could not go long ways; the tarp can get to be too heavy. Oh, and ANY wind creates a kite, a LARGE kite, so cut wind holes in it.

In the end, the inside of the Kraken was full of balloons (internal organs) and damage calls that forced the PCs to think fast to get out alive.

Tentacles​

These started out as pool noodles taped together, but it would not have had the structured needed to use them as weapons.

Yes, they were swung at PCs and threw 10 massive; it was a huge deterrent to them just jumping into the Krakens mouth.

The ADL design team came up with the idea of PVC and the large hard foam to allow for a base. It created an amazing skeleton for the mermaid type fabric that coated it. Then the pool noodle pieces that were ground down to create the suckers.

Conclusion
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In the end, the whole creation was 24 feet long, 8 feet tall with large eyes (beach balls that were drawn on), black light paint to create the body; we had a generator that ran the lights in the middle of the soccer field. The inside was filled with obstacles they had to pop and a memory for the first event that was NEVER forgotten; many of our PCs that night were brand new and had never seen anything like it.


Check out all of out images on our Facebook Page: Alliance Denver Larp

By: Suz Bastien

If you are looking for more information about ADL, check out our Linktree and see when our next gather is. Look for the next addition of “Creating Monsters” in June 2022