As Night Falls: The Crimson Ball

As Night Falls: The Crimson Ball takes over the Museum and Art Gallery on The Wardwick on Saturday 21 November, and it's not your usual night out. It's a vampire live roleplay (LARP) run by Mythic Echoes, set in the modern day and staged inside the 19th-century gothic former library of The Wardwick. If you've never come across LARP, the simplest way to put it is that you turn up dressed as your character and shape the story through your actions. There's no script and no predetermined narrative, so what happens depends on who you talk to and what you decide to do.

It's a rules-light, purely social game, and it's zero-combat, so you don't need to worry about fighting or complex mechanics. When you buy your ticket, you pick one of five vampire dynasties, each with its own personality: Bathory, de Morieve, Lilith, Orlock and Tepes. That's your starting point for the night. Gold doubloons serve as currency, and you'll also have a blood crystal and a small portion of blood, the 'sacrament', which you use to pursue personal, faction and overarching goals.

The night doesn't end with the roleplay, either. There's a costume competition and a raffle to round things off, and photographer Peter Gatehouse will be there shooting attendees in their finest garb. A complimentary buffet and a bar run throughout the evening, so you can eat and drink while you're in character.

It runs from 6pm to 11.30pm, with an introduction at 6.30pm and the main action starting at 7pm. The venue is the Museum and Art Gallery on The Wardwick, The Strand, Derby, DE1 1BS.