Guy Fawkes Day

No special knowledge of history is important to play in this game. Sufficient background information will be given to players.

Note, also, that this game will not necessarily be totally true to history. We are presenting this in the historical context of November 5, 1605, London, but small aspects of history that are now "known" to be true may have been changed for game purposes. This is to create a sequence of events and plots that can put 24 separate characters into major roles in a short time on screen, to make it easier for the players to remember their historical roles and what is going on, and to create or maintain an air of intrigue or romance where there may have been none in real life. If parts of the history that we have written in these pages, or in your character sheets, seem mistaken, play the game as though the LARP is correct (and speak to us afterward -- the difference may have been an oversight that we wish to correct).

Guy Fawkes Day next ran on Saturday, November 13th 2004.

1. Fill out a casting questionnaire so we know what role to give you. You will receive a copy of your character via email, which you should read over until you feel comfortable with the role.
2. Make or obtain some costuming appropriate to your character.
3. Review the following files, and print them out to take with you to the game:
• Information about relevant history.
• Widely known information about well-known characters in the game.
• A description of the game systems being used, and assorted ingame information.
4. Be sure to come to the game on time with your costuming. If you learn that there is any chance that you may be unable to attend after all, please inform us as soon as possible.

Electronic References

• A timeline of the past 20 years before 1605.
• The Gunpowder Plot Society.
• Some writings by His Majesty, King James VI and I. (We in no way endorse the religious or historical views held by the people who maintain these pages).
• The Complete Works of Master William Shakespeare.
• The UK Public Record Office at the National Archives.
• The Arcade Game.
• Google search for more pages on the gunpowder plot.

Bibliography

• England in the Seventeenth Century (1603-1714), third edition, by Maurice Ashley (1961).
• A Short History of 17th Century England: 1603-1689, by G.E. Aylmer (1963).
• A History of the English Speaking Peoples, volume 2, by Winston S. Churchill (1966).
• Faith and Treason, by Antonia Fraser (1996).
• The Gunpowder Plot, by Alan Haynes (1996).
• The Century of Revolution 1603-1714, third edition, by Christopher Hill (1980).
• The History of England, by David Hume (1762).
• Stuart England, second edition, by J.P. Kenyon (1985).
• Scapegoat for a Stuart, by Kate Kirby (1977).
• Fawkes: The Quiet Guy, a musical, by Kjartan Poskitt (1998).
• Shakespeare: His Life, His Language, His Theater, by Sam Schoenbaum (1990).
• History of England, Volume 2, third edition, by G.M. Trevelyan (1945).

Remember, remember, the fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot
We see no reason
Why Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot

Other links that you may wish to review

• See pages about Mont Saint Michel; another 17th century European LARP by the same authors.
• See pages about Deep South by Daylight; another LARP by the same authors.
• See GRAPE; a pen and paper roleplaying game by Scott David Gray.

This game is a Subterranean Homesick Games production.