A Leadership Guide for Transparency, Safety, and Trust
Running a LARP is more than building worlds, writing plots, and throwing unforgettable events. At its core, LARP leadership is about stewardship of people their safety, trust, and emotional investment in a shared space.
Player grievances and serious allegations are not interruptions to your event’s success.
They are tests of your leadership.
How you respond will define your organization’s reputation far more than any story arc ever could.
1. Create a Clear, Accessible Reporting Structure
If players don’t know how to report concerns or fear retaliation when they do you already have a problem.
Leadership teams should establish:
A written Code of Conduct with real enforcement language
Multiple reporting options (email, anonymous form, in-person, third-party)
Clear explanations of what happens after a report is made
Avoid vague promises like “we’ll look into it.”
Players need to understand process, not just intent.
Best practice:
Make reporting information easy to find not buried in a Discord channel or mentioned once at opening meeting.
2. Take Every Report Seriously Without Playing Judge
Grievances range from interpersonal conflicts to allegations involving harassment, abuse, or financial misconduct. Leadership’s role is not to decide who is “right” immediately it is to listen, document, and protect.
When a report is made:
Acknowledge it promptly
Thank the player for coming forward
Do not minimize, dismiss, or reframe their experience
Avoid emotional or defensive responses
Statements like:
“That doesn’t sound like them”
“We’ve never had issues before”
“Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand?”
…are leadership failures, not neutral questions.
3. Separate In-Game Drama From Out-of-Game Harm
One of the most dangerous leadership mistakes in LARP spaces is treating real-world harm as “in-character conflict.”
Serious allegations are never plot.
They are never roleplay.
They are never “both sides just being emotional.”
Leadership must:
Pause in-game consequences while investigations occur
Protect reporters from retaliation or social punishment
Set boundaries around gossip and speculation
If a situation involves real-world safety, legality, or power imbalance, the game stops being the priority.
4. Document Everything (Yes, Everything)
Good intentions without documentation are useless when things escalate.
Leadership teams should:
Keep written records of reports, actions taken, and timelines
Store records securely and access-limited
Avoid discussing allegations casually in staff chats or social spaces
Documentation protects:
The reporting party
The accused
The organization itself
If an outside authority ever becomes involved, incomplete or sloppy records can cause serious legal and ethical fallout.
5. Know When to Bring in Outside Help
Not every issue can—or should—be handled internally.
Leadership should consider external resources when:
Allegations involve assault, abuse, or criminal behavior
Financial misconduct or nonprofit compliance is questioned
Leadership itself is implicated
The community no longer trusts internal processes
This may include:
Legal counsel
Professional mediators
Trauma-informed consultants
Law enforcement (when appropriate and at the reporter’s discretion)
Refusing outside oversight to “protect the game” often signals the opposite: protecting leadership at all costs.
6. Communicate With Transparency (Without Oversharing)
Silence creates rumors. Oversharing creates harm.
The balance is clear, factual, and timely communication.
Effective leadership communication:
Acknowledges that a concern exists
Explains the process being followed
Sets expectations for timelines
Avoids naming or speculating publicly
Centers community safety over reputation management
Players do not need details but they do need reassurance that leadership is acting responsibly.
7. Accept That Accountability May Cost You Players or Staff
Doing the right thing is rarely the easiest thing.
You may lose:
Long-time NPCs
Staff members
Financial contributors
Friends
If accountability threatens your organization’s survival, the issue is not accountability it is structural dependence on unsafe people.
Healthy communities are built by leaders willing to choose ethics over comfort.
8. Build a Culture That Prevents Issues Before They Happen
The strongest LARP communities don’t just react well they prevent harm through culture.
That means:
Regular staff training on boundaries and consent
Clear power-structure limitations
Rotating leadership or oversight boards
Encouraging feedback without punishment
Taking “small” concerns seriously before they grow
Players stay where they feel heard, protected, and respected.
Additional Leadership Considerations: Boundaries, Objectivity, and Inclusion
Respecting Neighboring LARP Ban Lists and Safety Decisions
LARP communities do not exist in isolation. Many players, NPCs, and staff move between multiple games, regions, and organizations. When a neighboring LARP has removed or banned an individual for documented safety concerns, leadership has a responsibility to treat that information with seriousness not ego or rivalry.
Best practices include:
Establishing inter-LARP communication channels between leadership teams
Respecting bans related to safety, harassment, assault, or repeated Code of Conduct violations
Avoiding the mindset of “they’re not banned here, so it’s not our problem”
While each organization must make its own decisions, ignoring established safety actions elsewhere often leads to preventable harm. Requiring someone to be “proven dangerous again” before acting places unnecessary risk on your players.
At minimum, external bans should trigger heightened review, conditional attendance, or additional safeguards, not automatic dismissal.
Make Rulings Based on Facts, Not Emotions
Leadership must remain grounded in evidence, patterns, and documented behavior, even when emotions run high.
This means:
Separating personal relationships from decision-making
Avoiding rulings driven by popularity, longevity, or financial contribution
Not reacting defensively to criticism or public pressure
Empathy is essential but empathy does not replace accountability.
Emotional responses such as:
Protecting a friend because “they didn’t mean it”
Dismissing concerns because “this feels like drama”
Making snap decisions to quiet social media backlash
…undermine trust and credibility.
Strong leadership listens with compassion and decides with clarity.
“Inclusive” Does Not Mean “Everyone”
Inclusivity is about protecting marginalized and vulnerable players, not guaranteeing access to those who repeatedly cause harm.
A safe and inclusive community:
Sets boundaries
Enforces consequences
Accepts that some individuals are not compatible with shared spaces
Leadership must be willing to say:
“This environment is not the right fit for you.”
Removing or restricting someone due to unsafe behavior is not exclusion it is community care.
No LARP owes participation to:
Those who violate consent
Those who abuse power
Those who repeatedly disregard rules, boundaries, or safety
Those whose presence makes others feel unsafe
Inclusion without accountability is not inclusion it is negligence.
Players watch how you handle hard decisions.
They remember who was protected, who was ignored, and who was sacrificed for convenience.
Respecting external safety actions, ruling based on facts instead of feelings, and understanding that inclusion has limits are not harsh leadership choices they are responsible ones.
Running a LARP is a privilege.
People trust you with their bodies, emotions, time, money, and creativity.
Managing grievances and serious allegations with integrity is not about avoiding drama it’s about honoring that trust.
A game can always be rebuilt.
A community’s trust, once broken, is far harder to repair.
