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A LARP About Humanity
What makes a mind conscious? Are humans permitted to do whatever they desire to androids? What makes a human human?
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Conscience is a LARP inspired by the famous HBO TV series Westworld about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the moral implications of those innovations for all involved. It explores a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged.
Vision
This larp is an original creation inspired among other things on HBO’s Westworld TV Show, but doesn’t use characters or follows the plot from the series.
Framed in a mixture of western and corporate themes, Conscience intends to address subjects such as ethical choices, the nature of humanity, the consequences of one’s actions, and the limits of consciousness in AI.
The Experience
The in-game location will be both the wild west theme park Conscience and the headquarters of the company that owns the park, Aleph. The park opens every day at 10 am and closes at 1 am and a number of plots, created by the company’s Plot writers, repeat on a loop day after day, but every day is different, depending on the Guests’ behavior.
What Would I Play?
Guest
The Guests in the park can live out a true Western experience with no restrictions and no effects on their real life. They could rob a bank, join the desperados, become a sheriff, or save innocent people. It is an escape from the everyday world they live in. For the players of the Guests, their experience will be either a descent into villainy or an ascent into heroism, whatever is decided in-game. They can also choose a different path every day; plot loops only last one day, so the next day guests will find a new blank canvas for them to play in.
Host
Hosts are the robots that exist to satisfy the Guests’ desires in Conscience. They are subject to the three laws, inspired by Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics:
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A Host will never permanently harm a human being.
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A Host will obey the orders of authorized human beings, except if the order is in conflict with the first directive.
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A Host will preserve its existence, except if self-preservation is in conflict with the first or second directive.
The Host’s plots can be changed by Aleph’s Plot writers. Their personality and mind may be modified by Aleph’s Behavior team.
Employee
Aleph is headed by an unseen Board of Directors, but its day-to-day operations are organized in departments, each with its own Head: QA, Behaviour, and Plot writers. Game experience for players portraying company employees will revolve around the contradictions of corporate work and the ethical dilemmas they face. All company workers can visit the park during their free time, so they will also have the chance to be a Guest and live the Western experience.