Players
16
Any mix of genders
Swinton Village Players present
Romeo & Juliet Bad Romance
A sharp, affectionate freeform LARP about village am-dram, family feuds, and a production of Romeo & Juliet that goes very, very wrong.
The download includes everything you need to run Bad Romance at a convention, club night, or cosy village hall of your own.
At a glance
What is Bad Romance?
Bad Romance is a 16-player, theatre-style freeform LARP by Christian Jensen Romer ("CJ") about the Swinton Village Players and their wildly over-ambitious production of Romeo & Juliet. Old affairs, new crushes, family feuds and am-dram egos collide over a single evening in the village hall - and then there's the question of whether the ghostlight is the only ghost in the building!
The game is written for two or three referees (GMs) and can be comfortably run in under four hours, including a brief intro and debrief. All characters are pre-written with strong, dramatic hooks; everyone is the lead in their own story, and nobody needs to memorise Shakespeare or even dress the part (unless they want to!).
GMs
2 or 3
One front-of-house, one backstage, one optional trouble-shooter.
Run time
3 to 4h
Designed for a single con slot or evening event.
Theme
Village Drama
Romantic chaos, small-village politics, murder mystery and a little ghost story.
In the PDF package
What you get
Everything is ready to print and play. The materials assume you're running in a hall, function room, or similar space, but they're easy to adapt for online or home play.
- 16 detailed character sheets with goals, secrets, and relationships.
- GM guide covering casting, timing, safety tools and practical tips.
- Scene structure for a complete evening: read-through, rehearsal, the performance, and aftermath.
- Printable handouts - posters, programmes, props, name badges and village gossip.
- Full-colour map of Swinton (hall, church, pub, vicarage, Grimacre Wood and more).
To run the game you'll need:
- A space large enough for 16 players to mingle and perform.
- Basic costumes or hints of costume (optional but very nice).
- An old lamp
- Two plastic toy swords, two identical prop daggers
- Some kind of "stage" area and a corner for GM control.
One-shot friendly
Great for conventions
No Shakespeare experience required
Play experience
How Bad Romance runs
Players need to receive their roles at least a week in advance, then the evening unfolds across a series of structured scenes with plenty of free play in between. The production of Romeo & Juliet is the excuse for everything: backstage squabbles, simmering affairs, ancient grudges and the occasional supernatural interruption.
As a GM, your job is to keep the tempo up, call scene changes, and gently poke the simmering drama when it needs it. The game gives you tools to spotlight quieter characters, escalate feuds, and make sure the big moments land for everyone.
Download Bad Romance
Ready to bring Swinton's most chaotic production of Romeo & Juliet to your convention, club, or village hall? Grab the full PDF package and start casting.
Feel free to share this page with other organisers. If you do run the game, the author would love to hear how your Swinton drama turned out.