Czech LARPers use historically accurate costumes, props, and settings to bring out the atmosphere of the Wild West.
A talented group of people donned their cowboy hats, dirty clothes, and prop guns for the Hell on Wheels LARP held in Stonetown of the Czech Republic.
Based on AMC’s Hell on Wheels, a television series about the construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad, the LARP of the same name is an intense Western LARP. Taking place in 1866 in Nebraska, a part of the Cheyenne Native American tribe, the game tasks over 50 people with assuming the role of a Union Pacific Railroad employee.
Hell on Wheels uses accurate props, costumes, and settings to create an atmosphere for the weekend that helps players get into their characters. The costumes, props, and setting all emphasize historical accuracy; players were expected to spend the weekend in costumes they made or commissioned. The goal is to create a town where it feels like railroad employees in the 1800s lived. To that effect, the LARP takes place in a makeshift town with cabins, a saloon, and steam locomotives along with shootouts, cowboys, outlaws, and the sheriff. Players spend the weekend as their character, including times of meals and rest.
All sorts of people work for the Pacific Railroad. Players indicate the top five characters they would be interested in playing of the following: company management, Americans, Irish, Germans, prostitutes, blacks, foreigners, and Native Americans. Players learn more about their characters over the course of each chapter. During each chapter, players are provided new information about their characters to impact the story.
The event has run three separate weekends. The first Hell on Wheels took place last year, and the most recent event ran September 18 to 21. The next run is tentatively scheduled for spring 2015.
Photos are courtesy of Larping.org. To see more pictures of Hell on Wheels, check out Larping.org.
Source: Larping.org via Hell on Wheels
