KVAD at the Tønsberg Medieval Festival

On Saturday, June 4, there was a public celebration in Norway's oldest town. In glorious weather, Slottsfjellet was filled with bustling crowds visiting the time machine.

A few weeks before the event, I was contacted by festival director Terje Floberg, who wondered if I could put together a program around Kvad in connection with the festival. In addition to being a thoroughly pleasant fellow, Terje is also a keen roleplayer. This was an offer I could not refuse. We agreed that I would set up an activity stand promoting roleplaying, with the option of selling books.

I was put in touch with activities manager Even Stokke, who made sure I got to the right place at the right time. I was also lent an outfit for the occasion, since the festival aims to simulate an atmosphere like that of the Middle Ages.

Yours truly behind the stand

On Site

I set up the stand with various items related to Kvad, plus a table demonstrating the game setup. Since Kvad is a roleplaying game «where sagas are made», I also brought my own copy of the Kings' Sagas written by Snorri Sturluson. For those completely unfamiliar with roleplaying, I used it as an entry point; «imagine that you could be a saga hero, in your very own saga». For those who already knew roleplaying, I started the conversation with «Kvad is in a way the love child of Dungeons & Dragons and the Kings' Sagas».

During the day I had many fine conversations with curious visitors, spanning ages from perhaps 5 to 75. The conversations led to an improvised 30-second roleplaying scenario, offering a short taste of what roleplaying can be.

Playing Pretend

For the adults, I often proceeded like this: «Imagine you are a warrior in the Viking Age. You stand eye to eye with the one who killed a member of your family. The enemy has a weapon in hand and is about to attack you. What do you do!?». This always led to a delightful reaction from the people I talked with. Some said they would flee, while others said they wanted to attack.

Immediately after they described what they wanted to do, I gave them a die and said «now you roll this, and if it shows 1, 2, or 3 you succeed with the action. If it shows 4 or higher you fail, okay?». What followed was an intense focus on the die rolling across the table, and great suspense around the result. When the die landed and showed the outcome, I would describe for example «you succeed! The axe hits your enemy's skull, and he drops to the ground like a sack of straw. You have won, and honor is restored». Alternatively, if the die showed 4 or higher: «oh no, the action fails! You strike, but the enemy dodges your axe and thrusts his spear into your thigh! You are in real pain, but you still feel the fighting spirit in you. What do you do now!?». A grandmother of over 70 truly let loose here, and was for a moment a vital shieldmaiden describing in graphic terms how she took the life of her archenemy. Absolutely fantastic.

For the children, things went a little more gently. I would often start with «imagine you are watching over a flock of sheep. Suddenly you see a hungry wolf approaching your flock. He is probably out to eat your sheep. What do you do now?». There were many funny reactions from the children. A six-year-old girl wanted to feed the wolf candy and another boy wanted to describe how he struck the wolf, but stopped because his dad was with him and he thought it might be a bit too violent. But his dad encouraged him to finish the description, and it became a beautiful moment of play and connection between father and son.

The magic lay in the creative conversation, the interplay, and in how the dice influenced the conversation with an element of chance. Would they succeed, or fail?

Family Games

During the afternoon I also ran three play sessions of between 20 and 40 minutes per group. The first group was a gang of friends in upper secondary school, and the other two groups were families with adults and children. I ran a simplified version of the module Hevnvisa, where the premise is that the evil Sigurd Jarl has forcibly Christianized the land and killed several of the players' relatives. The premise of the game is revenge. First the players plan how to do it, then we jump ahead to carrying out the revenge itself. It was bloody fun every time.

Game table with book, map, dice, character sheets, and skald sheet

Toward evening I packed up the stand, and ended the day with friends from Kongsberg Viking- og Middelalderlag. An incredibly friendly bunch, truly dedicated and knowledgeable about the Viking Age. They travel to similar markets with clothes and tools they have made themselves, set up period-accurate tent camps, and switch off everyday stress for a little while. If you live in the Kongsberg area and want to know more, I recommend checking out Kongsberg Viking- og Middelalderlag's website.

Tommi and Frode from Kongsberg Viking- og Middelalderlag

This became a fantastic day with many fine experiences. If you are interested in a game that lets you immerse yourself in the Viking Age, you can buy Kvad from Game Forlag's web shop.

-KO