NOVELS & INDIE RPG HIT BY OLIVIA HILL
THE WORLD OF iHUNT
iHunt - Alpha Access is based on the iHunt novels and TTRPG, written by Olivia Hill.
They are set in an alternative universe similar to ours, with the only difference that monsters of different kinds exist. The works of Olivia take place in the USA, however we decided on a German setting, so some of the lore bits might be different from the original. In general, we will stay close to the source material.
To play this LARP, you don’t need to know the books nor the TTRPG, though it might be helpful to grasp what its world feels like. That being said, please don’t police lore bits that you might know by heart from Olivia’s works. Only the background information given in this Design Document and in your character sheets are relevant to the campaign.
You will be playing characters that grew up in a late-stage capitalistic society, with struggles that might not seem too unfamiliar or too far-fetched for most of us.
With one exception: Monsters are real.Vampires, werewolves, the undead, whatever really – they are walking among us, and you
will be the ones hunting those monsters.
Being a hunter is not a fun hobby or something you would just pick up in your free time. It is hard work, it sucks and can end very deadly - certainly no fun. So why do it? Well, someone has to, and it pays the bills - or it helps to pay them. Hunting monsters has
become a secretive side hustle for the struggling millennial next door who can’t get by with just one job.
Not unlike in many shows that feature urban fantasy elements, the normal populace seems to ignore the existence of the supernatural for one reason or another, fingers in their ears and eyes firmly closed until it haunts their apartment or eats their uncle and of course the wealthy don’t hunt monsters - they get someone else to do it for them. The #iHunt app has been developed to capitalize on this - if someone needs a monster to be taken care of, they can put up a contract on the app and a hunter can pick it up and get paid by
the gig.
COLOGNE
Just like any living creature, the city of Cologne can’t be understood within one glance. The city is the living amalgamation of old and new. A buzzing metropolis building its image around four core pillars: the Dom, the Rhine, rich cultural traditions and the melting pot of different subcultures, people and creatures populating its streets.
The Dom represents the heart of the city, a cathedral towering over the main train station and every other building in sight. Its history is filled with superstition and maybe some grains of truth, if you trust the archivists‘ records about Gerhard von Ryle and the devil’s pact concerning the construction of Cologne‘s most popular church. Moving away and deeper into the city one can find modern shops, restaurants and cinemas next to parks, graveyards and historical remnants ranging from statues of long dead kings, to monument of folklore like the Heinzelmännchen-Brunnen and a lot of ruins documenting over 2000 years of history since
its founding by the Romans. Sprinkled in between most modern structures lie hidden gems, like “Die Tafelrunde” a bar with strong
ties to monster hunting history on “the right side” of the Rhine. Hunters are welcome here, though the bar has suffered some losses in its customer base after #iHunt launched, since the owner does not believe in modern technology overruling personal connections for a quick cash grab.
Monsters have always been very active on the “Schäl sick”, the “wrong side” of the Rhine, which made them a rich hunting ground for aspiring hunters.
But if you ask around you can hear rumors that even on the right, or if you believe in superstition formerly protected, side of the river monsters have become more active.
The whole city is facing a chaotic upheaval, and those waves are in no way soothed by the announcement of Alexander Bennett, the entrepreneur who created the app, coming to Cologne to oversee its further development and that of the iHunter community, by getting “into the thick of it” as he stated in a social media post.
More attacks will be expected as hunters and creatures alike flock towards the city, filling the upperclass regions around the Maritime as much as the more niche establishments in the rural and queer community areas. Everything, good or bad seems possible, as the sun goes down behind the Dom: masks drop, makeup, wigs and disguises are applied, and all eyes turn towards the launch date of one small, digital application that will surely mark the beginning of a new era, after 2000 years of unaware coexistence.