What Is a Sensitivity Reader?
Odds are if you found Larping in Color you likely searched terms about sensitivity reading or sensitivity consultation and might have an idea about this already. If you found us some other way, welcome, and we hope this article will give you some idea about the kind of work we hope to promote.
What is LARPing?
That’s a big one and likely deserves it’s own article. If you have no idea you might want to search some off of this site such as here. For the purposes of our site we include all forms of live action experiences whether boffer, salon, murder mystery dinner parties, escape rooms, or any experience intended to be acted out. We’ll occasionally talk about how the needs of our community crosses over into tabletop RPGs and other parallel projects but we’re focused on a big tent of live action dramatic experiences.
What is Sensitivity Consulting?
Briefly, a Sensitivity Consultant reviews your game materials to see how they may affect marginalized people. This can include disability access for mobility or colorblindness. It can be a review of terms and how a fictionalized history and the way it is framed affects people who are related to the real world cultures inspiring the material. It can be for disciplinary procedures to make sure that LGBTQ+ people are not excluded even unintentionally. That last word is very important as our experience is that it is the rare LARP runner who intends harm and it is often these unintentional issues that can cause more harm than good.
Can’t I just rely on my players? If I make a mistake then I want people to let me know.
This is a noble attitude and we highly recommend listening to your players. That being said, if you don’t design your game with accessibility and sensitivity in mind you may find that many people avoid your game in the first place. The author of this article is mobility impaired and has specifically avoided LARPs that included explicit requirements he cannot do. Would those LARPs have worked around his issues? Perhaps those LARPs could make accommodations but in the absence of an explicit statement many players assume that there is no policy for accommodations.
Maybe, but having requirements in your game that some cannot adhere to, without any statement that players in need will be accommodated is off-putting and has prevented more than one player who could have been a great addition to your community.
I understand some of my content may be offensive to some but I want to grapple with serious issues. Will a Consultant just tell me not to run my game?
Most people who ask this question are running horror games or games with horror themes. This is not a bad thing. We love horror and horror often crosses boundaries to tell stories. However, much like other acts in life, a warning and knowing what you are going into can help make sure everyone is on board and is fully committed.
We have run across games with fundamental flaws that were advised to do a complete overhaul. This is rare but is most often when it is rooted in historical prejudices that persist to this day and do harm to real living people. A Consultant can help walk you through this to get at the root of what you’re trying to portray (themes of isolation? prejudice?) in ways that will make sure you art and community achieve your goals without causing harm.
What if I can’t afford a Consultant?
Many LARPs out there are run as functionally non-profits or labor-of-love LARPs where all of the staff are volunteers and all money is funneled back into the game. With all funds on a shoestring it can be hard to justify hiring a consultant. For those who have almost no money we recommend first starting with time. In the 21st century there is a wealth of information readily available on the internet to seek out the knowledge and experiences of others. Also, consider recruiting marginalized people to your staff so that they can share insights and experience (a great tip for LARPs that have more money to pay that staff as well).
Finally, we here at LARPing in Color hope that we can redress this problem. Part of our mission is to raise money so that smaller games can get the advice they need while the time and expertise of consultants is respected and paid for. You can apply for this here: [This article will be updated with a link when the program launches.]
