With the recent revival of the Harry Potter franchise in the form of the movie “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” a lot of fans probably found themselves diving back into J.K. Rowling’s magical world. It’s a series many people grew up with, and a lot of UCR students undoubtedly joined in the joy of seeing their favourite books and movies turned to life once again. After all, UCR is a hotspot for Potterheads, and our university has been linked to Hogwarts more than once. And so, with love for this magical franchise, we present the University College of Wizardry (UCoW), a live-action roleplay, or LARP, in which players can live their dreams of being a witch or wizard at a special university in Middelburg.
In UCoW, all players will be able to make their own character, with an exciting background story, interesting traits, and, of course, some goals they want to achieve during the game. Now, this might seem a little intimidating, especially for those who are not familiar with LARP or other role-playing games, but we’re making sure there will be a cohesive and, most of all, concise handbook with everything you need to know about the game. There will be some rules, of course, but also other important information, such as lore, guidelines and everything you need to know to survive at the University College of Wizardry.
Most players will play the role of students, and will follow classes, compete for prizes, and make mischief in between. It will be UCoW’s first year of teaching, so all students will be first-years, excited and raring to go to this brand-new university. However, some of the participants can choose to play a staff member, such as a professor or the groundskeeper. They will be responsible for the lessons, trying to keep the students in check and, of course, engage in some good ol’ professional rivalry. We’ll make sure that there is plenty to do for you during the event, but you’re also free to carve your own path and go on your own adventures. After all, roleplaying games are all about, well, roleplaying as your character and creating stories together with all of the other players.
This event is scheduled to take place over approximately four days, in one of the first two weeks of the Summer break. This project is still a work in progress, so we cannot share all of the details yet, but we’ll keep everyone updated as new information is available. Interested? Then please send a message to [email protected]. And don’t worry, this is not binding; we simply wish to estimate a player count for the event, and then we can also keep you updated on any news. And we’re also available for any questions you might have concerning this event, so please feel free to send us a message.
Rosa Zwaal, Class of 2017, is a sociology and anthropology major from Delft, the Netherlands.
Jesse Grote, Class of 2019, is an Arts & Humanities major from Schoorl, the Netherlands.
