Creating crossover between tabletop RPG and live-action crowds

[Umbran]

2. It's easier to imagine the scene without props and costumes.

Yep. It is easier. No doubt about it.

But, sometimes that effort is fun. Sometimes, that effort brings some really cool stuff into the world.

3. I'm unsure about how satisfying the rules systems are. Rock-paper-scissors (in addition to #2 above) just seems rather poorly suited to any kind of complexity of task resolutions.

Task resolution in LARPs is typically far, far simpler than in a typical D&D game, yes. If what you're looking for is "playing with the rules", working the tactical wargame end of things, many live-action games may not be for you. There's not a lot of depth there.

However, the richness of the tabletop experience doesn't come from the GM. The GM is constantly overtasked - designer, rules arbiter, and playing every single NPC and monster by themselves. Your GM has too much to concentrate on to give anything like the depth that a player, dedicated to a single character can. So, from a social role-playing point of view, interacting with your fellow PCs is typically more interesting.

A tabletop gives you, what, four or five other PCs to play with? A live-action game can give you dozens.