Blues & Cthulus

It’s 1978 and the mean streets of rural Gloucestershire aren’t getting any safer. Every rookie knows that blags and new moons go together like flares and fondue so the guvner wants everyone on shift this weekend sharper than a freshly-polished truncheon. Guv wants results goddam it, by hook or by crook, preferably by hook, unless no-ones watching. And, realistically, no-ones ever watching...

Event Overview

Date: March 20-22 2026

Location: Gloucestershire

Player Price: £175 (inc indoor accomodation, food)

Crew: Limited crew places available

Blues and Cthulus is a one-shot game of investigation, eldritch intrigue, and shameless 1970s cop tropes of fluid geographical origin.

The game is set in the late 1970’s. You’ll be playing a member of the British police force, hamming it up plenty. Think of the sort of setting and tropes you might find in “Life on Mars”, “Police Squad”, “Hot Fuzz”, or “The Sweeney” and go all in. Natty 70’s clothing, moustaches, etc.. Costuming is anticipated to be 1970s plain clothes appropriate to the character. Uniform welcome though not a requirement

We’re looking for a diverse player base of beat coppers, detectives, undercover agents, psychologists, forensic investigators, riot squad, and plenty of other roles - broadly speaking, you’ll focus your police career in a physical, mental, or social direction.

Themes

In scope for this game: Crimefighting, Corruption, Framing, Violence, Good cop / Bad cop, Personal trauma, Bereavement, Alcoholism, Addiction, Smoking, Crimes (inc. Murder and Theft), Drugs, Organised crime.

Whilst the game aims to capture the costumes, clichés and flavours of the era this does not extend to any prejudices associated with less enlightened times. Racism, Sexism, Ageism, Homophobia, Transphobia, or any form of sexual coercion have no place in the game.

Fake cigarettes and booze will be provided, but there will be no actual smoking or vaping indoors.

Registration of Interest & Booking

At this stage, we are still finalising event details - and looking to gauge the level of interest.

So we’d like to invite you to fill in the “expression of interest” form. We’ll follow up with invitations to pay and complete your background once we’ve got everything firmed up. If we are over-subscribed, we’ll run a waiting list for drop-outs and potential future re-runs.

To register your interest in either playing or crewing please complete the Expression of Interest Form (right)

Please submit a form only if you intend to take up a later offer of a booking

Subject to availability attendees will be contacted and invited to secure a booking by placing a deposit following closure of the form

Full payment for the event should be received two weeks before to the event date. Payment by installment prior to this date is welcomed.

System

The game will use light touch rules including physical larp safe combat with skills tailored to character occupations.

Every sort of police role will have opportunities to use their tailored skills in a relatively hard-skilled and immersive way (think chase scenes, arrests, identity parades, taking plaster casts of footprints, etc.).

This is a Cthulhu style horror larp with a lighthearted feel, and a dark-door style sanity mechanic: You will start with a pool of sanity points, and lose them as the game progresses, representing a decline into madness. You’ll choose three “insanities” in advance, which will determine how your character reacts the first, second, and final time that you run out of points. By the end of the event, you should expect to either die or go insane with high probability, so this is about enjoying the inevitable downward spiral… but if you pull a blinder, maybe you can make it out alive and sane!

Characters

Character occupations fall under one of the three categories outlined below. Each category leans towards a different style of gameplay (though not exclusively restricted to such activities). A prop particular to your branch will be provided to assist in your endeavours.

Of course, every classic bobby has some terrible trauma behind them - the loss of a partner, a botched case, crippling addiction, depression, a loved one who thinks you’re more married to the force than to them - and some terrible coping mechanism to deal with that. It might be your last day before retirement, or you might be a brand new rookie. Whatever it is, you can expect to be paired with someone else wildly unsuited to your character’s temperament.