Open Palms - User contributions [en]

Skills

2026-11-13T11:35:34Z

Gina:

Each Career has a Root skill and several optional skills available. You start with '''2''' optional skills.

Everyone also has the First Aid skill for free.
{| class="wikitable"
!{{Definition|First Aid}}
|With 30 seconds of touch range appropriate roleplay while not under pressure you can [[HEAL]] another character.

With a few moments of touch range appropriate roleplay inspecting a character you can ask "OC are you incapacitated, terminal or dead?".
|}

==Scholar==
{| class="wikitable"
!Skill
!Description
|-
|Séance (Root Skill)
|Create and dismantle OOPAs by leading a [[Séance]].

Must be performed as a [[Group Skill]].
|-
|Expert Contact
|Can call "[[Would You Kindly]] Accept My Credentials" as an academic expert on the subject once per encounter.

You can also take an additional [[downtime]] action to Investigate using your contacts
|-
|A Study in Batrachology
|Once per interactive, can receive a hint from refs on your current puzzle.

Can send high-priority messages via the Frogsimile machine once per interactive. (You speak frog.) You can also send encoded messages via the Frogsimile machine, which can only be read by the recipient.
|-
|{{Definition|Eye for the Occult}}
|Can analyse [[OOPA]]s to discover hints about their cores; you can also look at Burdens before handing them out during a séance
|-
|Reference Encyclopedia
|Once per event, when trying to research a single question, you can consult your store of magical reference materials. This consultation may give a direct answer to the question asked, but will most likely tell you where to look next to find the information needed.

Bigger or less specific questions (for example ‘What agreements were made in the Pact’) will provide vaguer answers, or will result in being given the next step, not the endpoint.
|-
|Protective Circle
|You can set up a static [[EFFECT]] on an area to keep something non-mobile dangerous out (or in). (Essentially, to buy time when exposed to something unexpected).
|-
|Magical Analysis
|You can analyse [[EFFECT]]s and magical items (i.e. spellbooks, magical wards, etc) to gain more information about them. Using this skill risks side effects.

Can be performed as a [[Group Skill]]. More people assisting can reduce the side effects
|}

==Official==
{| class="wikitable"
!Skill
!Description
|-
|Official Stamp (Root Skill)
|You can initiate [[contract negotiations]] with other entities, and have access to Writs that others do not.

During interactives, provided you are present and have declared yourself as an Official, Outside entities are disinclined to directly harm anyone present for fear of official repercussions.

Can be used as a [[Group Skill]].
|-
|Official Badge
|Can call "[[Would You Kindly]] Accept my Credentials as a Public Official"

You can also take an additional downtime to Engineer an Encounter using your credentials
|-
|Sanctioned Networking
|You begin play with a Ministerial Writ, allowing you to extract certain favours in contract negotiations at no personal cost.
|-
|Extra Requisitions
|You may request specific items via official channels - this may be a list of employees that work in a graveyard, the remains of a destroyed artefact, or access cards for a prohibited area. You may need to justify or make a deal for the request, depending on what you’re asking.
|-
|Gifted Speaker
|Once per encounter, may call “[[Would You Kindly]] tell me, was that a lie?”

Once per encounter, you can call [[MASS]] [[EFFECT]]: Don’t Start a Fight after 15 seconds of conversation
|-
|Smooth Talker
|After 15 seconds of conversation, you can call [[EFFECT]]: Emotion on a single character. This works on Occult entities and creatures that may not understand you, though unintelligent targets may not react as expected.
|-
|Iron Will
|When under emotion [[EFFECT]]s, you may choose to respond instead with an emotion of your choice.

Once per encounter, when you would take a [[Would You Kindly]] call, you can choose to take it as an emotion [[EFFECT]] call of your choice instead of following the command.
|}

==Occultist==
{| class="wikitable"
!Skill
!Description
|-
|Student of the Outer Art (Root Skill)
|Can perform [[Rituals]] using a ritual circle
|-
|I Know A Guy
|You have access to an unregistered Frogsimile address for the criminal underground, allowing you to engineer an encounter in uptime with a dodgy character for information or resources. (This must be done before Last Orders are called.)
|-
|Occult Informer
|You can quickly assess a scene to see if the veil is thin, and more information might be obtained by investigating it.

If the veil is thin, you spend 15 seconds of roleplay to summon an entity and ask them one question about events that occurred in that location. More specific questions will obtain more specific answers but the answer will always be generally useful. The watcher may or may not extract a price for their information.

Can be used as a [[Group Skill]].
|-
|Arcane Resistance
|Can ignore 1 wound or RP effect generated by casting a [[ritual]]

You can use this skill to alleviate your current WOUNDS (not your wound tab) until the end of the event. You can bolster terminal characters to allow them to function normally, but not to prevent them dying.
|-
|I’ve Seen This Before
|After 15 seconds of appropriate roleplay, you can analyse completed rituals for an idea of the effect.
|-
|Destruction
|You can use brute force on an object to destroy it (magical or otherwise). Can be used on doors, [[OOPA]]s, walls, etc, or on items resistant to mundane destruction. Call [[EFFECT]]: DESTROY.

For OOPAs, this effect will damage the housing beyond repair, preventing OOPA function, but specialised magic may be able to salvage the core.

Can also be used to destroy another EFFECT - larger effects may be replaced with smaller ones, possibly spread around. Either way, you’re probably going to improve the situation.

Can be used as a [[Group Skill]].
|-
|Sealing Ritual
|You can spend 1 minute of appropriate role-playing sealing an unresisting person or magical item to cut off any communication or magical [[EFFECT]]s it is causing, and suppressing any effects from contact with an Outside or Native entity. By default, this lasts until the end of the event, but stronger effects may require a greater effort to seal away and may only last a few minutes.

Can be used as a [[Group Skill]]. More participants will result in a stronger seal.
|}

==Warden==
{| class="wikitable"
!Skill
!Description
|-
|Astral Anchoring (Root Skill)
|Can [[Astral Projection|Astrally Project]] and your spirit can interact loosely at the other end to learn more information
|-
|Standard Autopsy Protocols
|You can disassemble unusual biological corpses, or magical wreckage for information, or other resources. This cannot be performed on normal humans. This can only be done once per event per warden, and cannot be done while under pressure.

You can also, as part of your downtime, request a specimen to autopsy, or an autopsy report, of a creature you know of.

This is not the Destruction skill and cannot be used in place of it.

Can be used as a [[Group Skill]].
|-
|This One’s On Me
|Once per event you may take a live WOUND from another player after 15s of appropriate roleplay, when not under pressure. This WOUND goes onto your tab immediately. You permanently gain +1 to your maximum hits each time you do this.
|-
|Fearsome Reputation
|You can call [[Would You Kindly]] Fear once per encounter.

Once per encounter you can use [[Would You Kindly]] Consider Me Dangerous.
|-
|Astral Accompaniment
|You can bring another person with you when astral projecting. They may go in a different direction to you exactly once, and can travel only one junction further independently without severe hazards. (If they reach an endpoint, great! If not, they might take Wounds to go further.)
|-
|Mundane Scout
|You can examine non-magical items to discern more information about them.

Three times/event you can theorise about what lies ahead. (Refs will let you know what the signs you’re seeing seem to indicate.)
|-
|Smuggler
|You can make a quick assessment of a character to determine if they are carrying any valuables, or specifically weapons (you can ask “OC do you have any unsmuggled game items?” and “OC do you have any unsmuggled weapons?”). This can't be used while under pressure.

You can smuggle two items up to the size of a one-handed weapon or buckler, and unlimited items up to the size of a dagger. Do not hand over those items to a searcher on the completion of a search, unless you are terminal or dead. You must plausibly physically conceal the items.
|}

==Group Skills==
Some skills can be performed as Group Skills (and a few must be performed as Group Skills). A group skill is led by a character with the skill, but other characters can assist them to improve the effect.

Group skills take at least one minute to perform. If you want to perform a group skill on an unwilling target then inform a ref and they'll brief you on any requirements and adjudicate.

If you are participating in but not leading a group skill and you stop roleplaying, your contribution is lost from the result and you cannot rejoin, but the skill can continue.

Skills

2026-11-08T14:52:26Z

Gina:

Each Career has a Root skill and several optional skills available. You start with '''2''' optional skills.

Everyone also has the First Aid skill for free.
{| class="wikitable"
!{{Definition|First Aid}}
|With 30 seconds of touch range appropriate roleplay while not under pressure you can [[HEAL]] another character.

With a few moments of touch range appropriate roleplay inspecting a character you can ask "OC are you incapacitated, terminal or dead?".
|}

==Scholar==
{| class="wikitable"
!Skill
!Description
|-
|Séance (Root Skill)
|Create and dismantle OOPAs by leading a [[Séance]].

Must be performed as a [[Group Skill]].
|-
|Expert Contact
|Can call "[[Would You Kindly]] Accept My Credentials" as an academic expert on the subject

You can also take an additional [[downtime]] action to Investigate using your contacts
|-
|A Study in Batrachology
|Once per interactive, can receive a hint from refs on your current puzzle.

Can send high-priority messages via the Frogsimile machine once per interactive. (You speak frog.) You can also send encoded messages via the Frogsimile machine, which can only be read by the recipient.
|-
|{{Definition|Eye for the Occult}}
|Can analyse [[OOPA]]s to discover hints about their cores; you can also look at Burdens before handing them out during a séance
|-
|Reference Encyclopedia
|When trying to research a single question, you can consult your store of magical reference materials. This consultation may give a direct answer to the question asked, but will most likely tell you where to look next to find the information needed.

Bigger or less specific questions (for example ‘What agreements were made in the Pact’) will provide vaguer answers, or will result in being given the next step, not the endpoint.
|-
|Protective Circle
|You can set up a static [[EFFECT]] on an area to keep something non-mobile dangerous out (or in). (Essentially, to buy time when exposed to something unexpected).
|-
|Magical Analysis
|You can analyse [[EFFECT]]s and magical items (i.e. spellbooks, magical wards, etc) to gain more information about them. Using this skill risks side effects.

Can be performed as a [[Group Skill]]. More people assisting can reduce the side effects
|}

==Official==
{| class="wikitable"
!Skill
!Description
|-
|Official Stamp (Root Skill)
|You can initiate [[contract negotiations]] with other entities, and have access to Writs that others do not.

During interactives, provided you are present and have declared yourself as an Official, Outside entities are disinclined to directly harm anyone present for fear of official repercussions.

Can be used as a [[Group Skill]].
|-
|Official Badge
|Can call "[[Would You Kindly]] Accept my Credentials as a Public Official"

You can also take an additional downtime to Engineer an Encounter using your credentials
|-
|Sanctioned Networking
|You begin play with a Ministerial Writ, allowing you to extract certain favours in contract negotiations at no personal cost.
|-
|Extra Requisitions
|You may request specific items via official channels - this may be a list of employees that work in a graveyard, the remains of a destroyed artefact, or access cards for a prohibited area. You may need to justify or make a deal for the request, depending on what you’re asking.
|-
|Gifted Speaker
|Once per encounter, may call “[[Would You Kindly]] tell me, was that a lie?”

Once per encounter, you can call [[MASS]] [[EFFECT]]: Don’t Start a Fight after 15 seconds of conversation
|-
|Smooth Talker
|After 15 seconds of conversation, you can call [[EFFECT]]: Emotion on a single character. This works on Occult entities and creatures that may not understand you, though unintelligent targets may not react as expected.
|-
|Iron Will
|When under emotion [[EFFECT]]s, you may choose to respond instead with an emotion of your choice.

Once per encounter, when you would take a [[Would You Kindly]] call, you can choose to take it as an emotion [[EFFECT]] call of your choice instead of following the command.
|}

==Occultist==
{| class="wikitable"
!Skill
!Description
|-
|Student of the Outer Art (Root Skill)
|Can perform [[Rituals]] using a ritual circle
|-
|I Know A Guy
|You have access to an unregistered Frogsimile address for the criminal underground, allowing you to engineer an encounter in uptime with a dodgy character for information or resources. (This must be done before Last Orders are called.)
|-
|Occult Informer
|You can quickly assess a scene to see if the veil is thin, and more information might be obtained by investigating it.

If the veil is thin, you spend 15 seconds of roleplay to summon an entity and ask them one question about events that occurred in that location. More specific questions will obtain more specific answers but the answer will always be generally useful. The watcher may or may not extract a price for their information.

Can be used as a [[Group Skill]].
|-
|Arcane Resistance
|Can ignore 1 wound or RP effect generated by casting a [[ritual]]

You can use this skill to alleviate your current WOUNDS (not your wound tab) until the end of the event. You can bolster terminal characters to allow them to function normally, but not to prevent them dying.
|-
|I’ve Seen This Before
|After 15 seconds of appropriate roleplay, you can analyse completed rituals for an idea of the effect.
|-
|Destruction
|You can use brute force on an object to destroy it (magical or otherwise). Can be used on doors, [[OOPA]]s, walls, etc, or on items resistant to mundane destruction. Call [[EFFECT]]: DESTROY.

For OOPAs, this effect will damage the housing beyond repair, preventing OOPA function, but specialised magic may be able to salvage the core.

Can also be used to destroy another EFFECT - larger effects may be replaced with smaller ones, possibly spread around. Either way, you’re probably going to improve the situation.

Can be used as a [[Group Skill]].
|-
|Sealing Ritual
|You can spend 1 minute of appropriate role-playing sealing an unresisting person or magical item to cut off any communication or magical [[EFFECT]]s it is causing, and suppressing any effects from contact with an Outside or Native entity. By default, this lasts until the end of the event, but stronger effects may require a greater effort to seal away and may only last a few minutes.

Can be used as a [[Group Skill]]. More participants will result in a stronger seal.
|}

==Warden==
{| class="wikitable"
!Skill
!Description
|-
|Astral Anchoring (Root Skill)
|Can [[Astral Projection|Astrally Project]] and your spirit can interact loosely at the other end to learn more information
|-
|Standard Autopsy Protocols
|You can disassemble unusual biological corpses, or magical wreckage for information, or other resources. This cannot be performed on normal humans. This can only be done once per event per warden, and cannot be done while under pressure.

You can also, as part of your downtime, request a specimen to autopsy, or an autopsy report, of a creature you know of.

This is not the Destruction skill and cannot be used in place of it.

Can be used as a [[Group Skill]].
|-
|This One’s On Me
|Once per event you may take a live WOUND from another player after 15s of appropriate roleplay, when not under pressure. This WOUND goes onto your tab immediately. You permanently gain +1 to your maximum hits each time you do this.
|-
|Fearsome Reputation
|You can call [[Would You Kindly]] Fear.

Once per encounter you can use [[Would You Kindly]] Consider Me Dangerous.
|-
|Astral Accompaniment
|You can bring another person with you when astral projecting. They may go in a different direction to you exactly once, and can travel only one junction further independently without severe hazards. (If they reach an endpoint, great! If not, they might take Wounds to go further.)
|-
|Mundane Scout
|You can examine non-magical items to discern more information about them.

Three times/event you can theorise about what lies ahead. (Refs will let you know what the signs you’re seeing seem to indicate.)
|-
|Smuggler
|You can make a quick assessment of a character to determine if they are carrying any valuables, or specifically weapons (you can ask “OC do you have any unsmuggled game items?” and “OC do you have any unsmuggled weapons?”). This can't be used while under pressure.

You can smuggle two items up to the size of a one-handed weapon or buckler, and unlimited items up to the size of a dagger. Do not hand over those items to a searcher on the completion of a search, unless you are terminal or dead. You must plausibly physically conceal the items.
|}

==Group Skills==
Some skills can be performed as Group Skills (and a few must be performed as Group Skills). A group skill is led by a character with the skill, but other characters can assist them to improve the effect.

Group skills take at least one minute to perform. If you want to perform a group skill on an unwilling target then inform a ref and they'll brief you on any requirements and adjudicate.

If you are participating in but not leading a group skill and you stop roleplaying, your contribution is lost from the result and you cannot rejoin, but the skill can continue.

Main Page

2026-10-08T10:20:44Z

Gina:

==Open Palms: An Occult Fantasy LARP==

Open Palms is the [https://camlarp.co.uk Cambridge LARP Society]'s game for 2026-2027.

=== Alternative History ===

Open Palms is a supernatural-mystery LARP set in an [[The World|alternative 1970s version of the UK]], magic is real, occult entities sit in government, and the fantastical lives alongside the mundane.

In 1946 the newly formed Labour Government announced the formation of the Pact, a binding agreement between his Majesty's government and a previously unknown donor, one with the will and resources to fund the rebuilding of the UK, and put an end to the poverty that the war had forced on Britain.

But that deal came at a cost; an impenetrable barrier around the entirety of the UK, and the terrifying knowledge that humanity was not alone in the cosmos. Other worlds existed, with their own denizens, histories, and laws of reality, that could force their way into ours with terrifying - and impossible - effects.

Soon magic and the supernatural became commonplace. Devils plied their trades on street corners and in Government, spirits haunted abandoned factories, and magical constructs built roads and office buildings.

But after twenty five years, trouble has come around again. Incursions, where other worlds press against ours, overwriting physical laws and spewing forth strange creatures, are increasing faster than official response teams can keep up. In desperation, the Ministry of External Affairs has announced the Citizens Defence Initiative, calling for brave and patriotic souls, knowledgable of the occult, to form 'Branches' - local support groups to assist their fellow citizens with magical affairs, investigate and respond to Incursions, and perhaps, discover the cause behind their increasing violence...

The new home of the Cambridge Branch, the ''Basillica de San Cerveza'' has opened its doors to those wishing to support the Initiative. You are among those who have decided to respond.

=== Major Themes ===

* Occult Investigation - Why are the Incursions increasing? What other Occult entities are out there, and what are they planning? Who is really behind all of this?
* Mutual Aid & Community Support - Not only must you investigate Incursions, the people of Cambridge will rely on you to solve their magical problems...
* Tiny Fish in a Cosmic Pond - The Powers That Be are bigger, stronger, and more knowledgeable than you are. To beat them you must even the odds - make friends, make deals, and make use of every advantage you have to bring them down.

=== What Can I Play? ===

* A world-weary PI who uses runes to find leads and follow up on clues.
* A Union leader who makes deals with devils and spirits to protect his fellow workers.
* A bouncer, ready to remove undesirables from their bar, no matter what world they come from.
* An eccentric scholar searching for that last perfect artefact to add to their collection.

=== How Do I Start? ===

If you're new to LARPing, head on over our [https://www.camlarp.co.uk/Frequently_Asked_Questions general FAQ] on the hobby.

After that, you should read the [[The World]] to see what in the setting takes your interest, then, when you're ready, go to [[Character Creation]] to create what kind of character you want to play. If you're not sure, or want to try it out first, you can [https://www.camlarp.co.uk/Crewing crew] to see what it's like.

See [[Look and Feel]] for tips on starting kit, but don't worry - the society has plenty to spare if you'd like to borrow some first!

If you have further questions that aren't answered here, you can email the [[Refs]] or ask on discord.

Main Page

2026-10-08T10:17:47Z

Gina:

==Open Palms: An Occult Fantasy LARP==

Open Palms is the [https://camlarp.co.uk Cambridge LARP Society]'s game for 2026-2027.

=== Alternative History ===

Open Palms is a supernatural-mystery LARP set in an [[The World|alternative 1970s version of the UK]], magic is real, occult entities sit in government, and the fantastical lives alongside the mundane.

In 1946 the newly formed Labour Government announced the formation of the Pact, a binding agreement between his Majesty's government and a previously unknown donor, one with the will and resources to fund the rebuilding of the UK, and put an end to the poverty that the war had forced on Britain.

But that deal came at a cost; an impenetrable barrier around the entirety of the UK, and the terrifying knowledge that humanity was not alone in the cosmos. Other worlds existed, with their own denizens, histories, and laws of reality, that could force their way into ours with terrifying - and impossible - effects.

Soon magic and the supernatural became commonplace. Devils plied their trades on street corners and in Government, spirits haunted abandoned factories, and magical constructs built roads and office buildings.

But after twenty five years, trouble has come around again. Incursions, where other worlds press against ours, overwriting physical laws and spewing forth strange creatures, are increasing faster than official response teams can keep up. In desperation, the Ministry of External Affairs has announced the Citizens Defence Initiative, calling for brave and patriotic souls, knowledgable of the occult, to form 'Branches' - local support groups to assist their fellow citizens with magical affairs, investigate and respond to Incursions, and perhaps, discover the cause behind their increasing violence...

The new home of the Cambridge Branch, the ''Basillica de San Cerveza'' has opened its doors to those wishing to support the Initiative. You are among those who have decided to respond.

=== Major Themes ===

* Occult Investigation - Why are the Incursions increasing? What other Occult entities are out there, and what are they planning? Who is really behind all of this?
* Mutual Aid & Community Support - Not only must you investigate Incursions, the people of Cambridge will rely on you to solve their magical problems...
* Tiny Fish in a Cosmic Pond - The Powers That Be are bigger, stronger, and more knowledgeable than you are. To beat them you must even the odds - make friends, make deals, and make use of every advantage you have to bring them down.

=== What Can I Play? ===

* A world-weary PI who uses runes to find leads and follow up on clues.
* A Union leader who makes deals with devils and spirits to protect his fellow workers.
* A bouncer, ready to remove undesirables from their bar, no matter what world they come from.
* An eccentric scholar searching for that last perfect artefact to add to their collection.

=== How Do I Start? ===

If you're new to LARPing, head on over to our general FAQ on the hobby.

After that, you should read the [[The World]] to see what in the setting takes your interest, then, when you're ready, go to [[Character Creation]] to create what kind of character you want to play. If you're not sure, or want to try it out first, you can crew to see what it's like.

See [[Look and Feel]] for tips on starting kit, but don't worry - the society has plenty to spare if you'd like to borrow some first!

If you have further questions that aren't answered here, you can email the [[Refs]] or ask on discord.

Main Page

2026-10-08T09:52:22Z

Gina: Addtion of 'What Can I Play' section

Main Page

2026-10-08T09:48:55Z

Gina: Addition of Major Themes section

Main Page

2026-10-08T09:45:16Z

Gina: Addition of detail about game setting