What is Edge of the Desert?

Edge of the Desert is a 4-hour high-immersion live-action roleplaying game of romance, rebuilding, investigation, and small-town politics set in the same high-fantasy setting as Dogmas of the Stormy Past.

Where and when is Edge of the Desert happening?

There are no current plans to run this game.

How does Edge of the Desert relate to Dogmas?

Edge of the Desert is set in the same world as our other game Dogmas of the Stormy Past, but 150 years earlier in a different part of the world. It is possible to play Edge of the Desert with or without having played Dogmas of the Stormy Past; neither game contains spoilers for the other.

How does the game work? What do I actually do in the game?

You will receive a character background describing your story up to the point the game begins.

Before the game begins, you'll have time to interact with a few of the other characters you know (by email or in person). You can costume for your role. (You'll receive guidance for costuming, which is optional but encouraged.)

You'll walk into game as your character, and from then on everything you do is what your character does. Perhaps you'll negotiate with others over the fate of your land, or perhaps you'll win the heart of your true love. Perhaps you'll apprehend a criminal, cast a powerful spell, or discuss the will of the gods. Whatever you do, your character does. (We will have ways of simulating things you cannot actually do, such as fighting and spellcasting, without disrupting the flow of the story.)

Like any good story, the game will have a build-up, climax, and denouement. When it is done, we will clean up together, have a brief wrap-up, and then go to dinner to share stories and find out what happened!

I've played a lot of LARPs before — what makes Edge of the Desert different?

Edge of the Desert is foremost a high-immersion game. This has several consequences that may affect your enjoyment of the game.

• We have constructed a highly detailed world. We're not sure yet exactly how much you will need to read before the game, but it's a safe bet that you will get at least 50 pages of background of which at least 20 are your character's personal life story. If you have a question about the world of Garhdony not covered in this background, we probably have an answer.
• We stay away from out-of-character mechanics (things like solving a sudoku to simulate picking a lock). When you want to stab someone, you pull out your boffer and stab them. When you want to interpret some magical writing, you stare at it and try to interpret it.
• Production values are fairly high. Everything in the game is represented by a physical prop, not a piece of paper.

Who is running this thing?

The game is written and run by Matthew Ambler, Reuben Aronson, David Farhi, Isabel Farhi, Casey McNamara, and Dan Zaharopol. You can reach all of us at edge-gms@garhdony.com.