Those who brave the mists...
Who is this game for?
Briarhollow is designed as a dyadic LARP. The experience is built around mortal-fae pairs who have a strong relationship and whose fates are tied together. It is recommended to sign up as a pair, as the pair will form a major part of each others game.
Â
Briarhollow is intended for players who enjoy emotionally intense, character-driven play and are interested in building meaningful scenes with others. It is particularly suited to players who enjoy complicated relationships, family drama, romantic or platonic intimacy, supernatural tragedy, gradual revelations and choices without clearly correct answers.
​
The game rewards curiosity and initiative. Players should be willing to approach others, ask difficult questions, expose their character’s vulnerabilities and actively involve themselves in the conflicts around them. Much of the play comes from allowing secrets to become visible and giving other characters something to react to, rather than protecting information until the end.
​
The game has very few scheduled events or outside structure. It has a set endpoint, but during the game the play will be driven by players. As such, an eye for timing is necessary, and Briarhollow is not recommended for first time LARPers.
​
It is less suited to players primarily seeking combat, tactical challenges, comedy, competitive play or a mystery that can be cleanly solved. Although the game contains moments of wonder and tenderness, its overall tone is serious and melancholic, and its characters engage with themes including death, grief, abandonment, troubled families, compromised consent, sacrifice and harm done in the name of love or protection.
​
Briarhollow is not a story about defeating the darkness outside the town.
It is a story about deciding what to do with the darkness that has already taken root inside the people who call it home.
Â
​
Where the wolves howl...
What kind of game is Briarhollow?
Briarhollow is a twelve-player, dyadic, relationship-focused Nordic-style larp built around emotional drama, supernatural folklore and difficult personal choices. Its atmosphere combines melancholic rural fantasy, family tragedy and quiet folk horror.
​
The game is driven primarily through conversations and relationships rather than action or external missions. Players will confront people they have hurt, ask the dead questions they may not want answered, reveal secrets kept for decades and negotiate with beings whose ideas of love, duty and mercy are not entirely human. Supernatural elements appear through dreams, visions, rituals, memories and encounters with the impossible, but the heart of the game remains deeply personal.
​
Every mortal character is bound to a fae counterpart. These bonds are not simple partnerships. They may offer comfort, understanding or power, but they may also become possessive, dependent or destructive. Mortal and fae stories are woven together, giving players opportunities for intimate two-person scenes as well as conflicts involving families, lovers and the future of the entire town.
​
The game does not present a single mystery with one correct solution.
Â
Discovering the past matters, but the central question is what the characters choose to do once they understand it. There are no uncomplicated heroes or villains, and no ending in which everything can be restored without cost. Players will have considerable freedom to form alliances, betray expectations, forgive the unforgivable, refuse inherited duties and determine what Briarhollow becomes.
​
Briarhollow is a low-transperency game - you only know what your character woudl know.This game is designed around collaborative storytelling and play-to-lift and play-for-drama. You should not play to win this game.
​
The game does not have any way of achieving a happy ending for everyone.
Â
​
Signup
Signup is open until 31st of July, 2026. Casting will be done by 9th of August, at which point characters will be sent. Payment will be due at 31st of August.Â
​
For the first run, you are expected to provide meaningful, actionable feedback. Just telling you did or did not have fun will not help us improve!
If you do not feel comfortable providing this kind of feedback, you are free to apply to a future run.