Does LARP freak anyone else out?

[Jeph]

I love gaming. I love roleplaying, I love reading rules, I love settings, I love creating all of the above. But, for some reason, Live-Action Role Play just seems to freak me out.

I know that LARPers aren't bygone hopeless social rejects who have lost themselves in favor of a fantasy world--contrarywise, two of the most vibrant personalities that I know play Live Action (mostly WW stuff). But, somehow, I get the impression that LARP is somehow 'not right' whenever I read about it, even from first-hand accounts of the players, even though I know my knee-jerk assumtions to be false. Such a paradox. Made even more möbioid is my knowledge that not five years ago, when I was but a wee nine year old, I ran around waving bamboo poles and pretending to cast spells with as much ferver, or more, as any twenty-five year old veteran role player. But still, it never ceases to be a wierd thing for me.

Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone think they might have a hint as to the source of my illogical uncomfortableness?

edit for clarity

 

[Ravellion]

Yeah, I get freaked out by it as well... Mostly from a "If you want to act, act! If you want to play a game, get some friends over and the dice out... playing Rock paper scissors isn't fun enough for me, and the roleplaying can't be much improved wihtout a DM adding all the fantastic elements.

Of course, I am going to get loads of response on this, but hey, that's how I think about it, and this has been only reinforced with each larper I met.

Rav

 

[Utrecht]

For me it falls clearly in the "Not that there is anything wrong with it" catagory.

I do not begrude anyone from playing, but I have zero personal desire to participate - mostly from a percieved "wrongness" to it and avoid all offers to play.

Hmmmm, mabye this is insight into how greater society views RPG.

 

[mmu1]

Freaked out? No, but every description of it I've heard from friends who LARPed sounded so inferior to good ol' table-top gaming I never saw the point.

That, and none of the people who play table-top ever hung out at the gaming store dressed in black wearing glued-on prosthetic fangs.

 

[Kamard]

I find the paper rock scissors larps to be sort of silly... I think their need for a moderator dooms them.

On the other hand, I am a five or six year veteran of a family of LARPS here in Maine. We use foam weapons, so combat is "realistic", and for things that need a random determinator, we use a coloured marble system.

I don't think larpers are any different than non-larpers when it comes to role playing- there are plenty of freaky weirdos who give us any group a bad name.

Edit: Having been a larper, feel free to ask me questions.

 

[blackshirt5]

Yes. Very much so sometimes.

 

[Kamard]

Let me rephrase.

Like I said, I've played boffer larp. Whenever I have, it has been either at a large farm, where we are out of the way, or we have rented a state park. Let me note I think LARP isn't to be played anywhere near people not "in on it".

Its a creepy thing. It makes me feel stupid to be surrounded by people buzzkilling me by asking me "what're you #*#$'s doing?"

And as for other things, I find playing Vampire or other WW games especially strange in public. Many of the people I knew who played it are pretty socially inept. Being able to play another person, more powerful than normal humans, can be very cathartic. Of course there are the other 90% who are as normal as me.

(which isn't saying much)

 

[nameless]

I'm a frequent LARPer (about three times a month), and I feel qualified to chime in.

Yes, there are some weirdos out there, who use prosthetic fangs and probably really think that they're vampires. They're the minority. Even among the WW/Vampire crowd (which is probably the biggest LARP scene), it's probably less 30% goths.

As far as costume is concerned, people appreciate if you make an effort to look like your character, but understand when some things aren't feasible. If you're a disgusting Nosferatu, they don't expect you to really have a hunchback and peeling off face. Wearing an old hoodie sweatshirt is probably good enough. Likewise, a richer-than-snot Ventrue who wears Armani can be reflected by just wearing a blazer or somesuch. Effort is appreciated, but not mandated. And as far as I care, any idiot who wears plastic fangs to a vampire LARP deserves to be ridiculed.

As far as rules go, rock-paper-scissors is actually not too bad. It eliminates the need for a narrator more than other systems, since the players can easily determine outcomes. Most combat will want a narrator to make sure everyone is treated fairly, but it's not mandatory. Using foam weapons means that the player's skill is tested, not the character's.

The real strength of LARPing is the sheer number of possible participants. A tabletop game with more than 6 or 7 players gets out of hand quickly, a LARP of 50 or more is really no big deal. There's also something to be said for a game that is really a product of the players and not the GM/ST's.

So you're sure to meet some weirdos in a LARP, but get together with 50 people anywhere and you'll meet weirdos. I say don't knock it until you try it.

 

[dave_o]

I'd love to try, but never had the pleasure.

I read about a LARP that had set referees, it's own park, hundreds of players, etc. I thought that looked way rad, but, who knows - since I've never tried.

If anyone knows of a good LARP in my area, lemmie know!

 

[John Smallberries]

Obligatory Ogre Battle link.