Vampire live action role players take Powers Hall by night

• Tweet
• 

Powers Hall is filled with history and leadership classes in the sunlight hours, but every other Saturday after dark, creatures of the night overtake its halls.

Mount Pleasant junior Sarah McBryde had a simple reason for joining Mount Pleasant by Night, a registered student organization and active domain for the Camarilla, global fan club of publisher White Wolf’s World of Darkness game and book franchise.

“Who doesn’t like vampires?” she said.

The Camarilla is an organization that operates on a global level as a live action roleplaying group.

“What happens at this meeting with a character could have a ripple effect on the whole game, globally,” said Bloomfield Hills junior Xander Meyers, the domain storyteller.

The game’s actions are enacted by players rather than on a computer or game board and the violence and weaponry are replaced with magical abilities and other skills chosen by each player for his or her individual characters.

Some players attend the games in casual clothes while others go for the full out vampire look — fangs, blood and all.

The group hosts games featuring five interlinking species of supernatural characters, or ‘venues,’ which focus on vampires, werewolves ghosts and others.

It isn’t uncommon for a player to have a character for each of the venues; however, some choose to be involved in only one or two.

“It has aspects of ‘True Blood,’ ‘Labyrinth,’ ‘Underworld,’ ‘American Werewolf in London’ in it, just to give an idea,” said Becky Brannan, five-year member and Bloomfield Hills resident.

Each venue meeting is overseen by a storyteller, whose role is to guide local Camarilla games to fit the ongoing global chronicle, along with providing advice and discussion for players.

Beyond the fantasy-fiction aspect of the game, strong political and social themes lie beneath the surface and up the stakes of play. Each character belongs to a family, or clan, as well as a social covenant based on political and religious favor.

The large community of members and theatrical aspects to the game serve as draws for those interested in horror fiction and gaming.

“I like the social networking, knowing people all over the world who do the same thing,” McBryde said. “The LARP encourages acting, making it more theatre-like than ‘Dungeons and Dragons.’”

For Meyers, the benefits extend beyond just having fun.

“I’m a theatre major here,” Meyers said. “It’s a great opportunity to improve my acting skills.”