A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to ToonTown is a pre-written, ready to run, boxed larp (live action roleplay) set at an animation studio in 1938 for 17-21 players over 4 hours. Nominated for an IDGN Indie Groundbreaker Award in 2022. The players play animators, writers, and long-suffering executives who have been locked in a studio as they try to finish their next big cartoon.
This is a sincere larp about silly people. It will largely be light-hearted and funny, with moments of genuine poignancy. Come prepared to laugh and have feelings.
Your characters are making a cartoon, but that does not mean you have to be an artist! You’re welcome to draw, or not!, as you prefer. Game time will be divided between a gamified making of cartoon, office politics, and goofing off.
It’s the year 247 OTC, Of The Collective. Years before that, there was The Great War. Civilization as it was, fell. What rose out of the ashes was the Collective. A white city on a green landscape.
Cancer was cured. Each person now lives to be well over 100 years old. Society is peaceful, polite, and productive. Humans have been genetically altered to be so. Any emotion responses have been removed from our make-up. We have cured the following disorders: anxiety, depression, rage, schizophrenia, wonder, mania, love.
Each day is regimented and filled with activities that are enriching. We send ships to the stars to explore and find our place in the galaxy. Our homes are white, sterile, and comfortable. Like our workplaces, our lunchrooms, and our clothing.
Some suffer from SOS: Switched On Syndrome, which leads to unpredictable sensory experiences and behavioral defects. This disease can be slowed with Inhibitors. But after some time, patients will progress to Stage 4 which involves a complete breakdown of ability to function in Society and be sent to the Defective Emotional Neuropathy Facility, the DEN, where they are humanely euthanized.
It is what is best for the Collective.
This is a larp exploring what it is like to suddenly begin feeling for the first time, dystopian societies, and conformity.
6-7 people
3-4 hours
You need a four-sided dice.
All players and the facilitator are encouraged to read this information; this is not a game about out of character secrets.
Content warnings for this game include suicide mentions/attempts, mental illness, dubious consent, brainwashing and mind control, cult behaviors, medical triggers, and other content which may be troubling.