LARPing

[MonkeyDragon]

I wanted a D&D-esque larp, but I couldn't find any rulesets for it...so I wrote my own. A pack of friends and I gather once or twice a year for larpage. We use boffers and little beanbags for spells. Character sheets are like a very simplified version of a D&D sheet. When it's time to play, I come up with a story situation and some goals, as well as some monsters and a bunch of props.

Usually the structure of the game is like a giant easter egg hunt. slips of paper and eggs full of treasure are hidden through the wooded area (a friends big backyard) that we play in. We have to hunt through the woods and retrieve them, encountering monsters along the way. The papers represent things like scattered scroll pages, dragon scales, pieces of maps, etc. Sometimes there are puzzle bits to assemble, sometimes there are riddles.

It's great fun.

 

[Shieldhaven]

I'm a longtime LARPer, to the point that it's my main hobby. Tabletop gaming and MMOs are what I do to pay the bills and waste time between live-action events.

If you're going to be pissed off with a brief "I heart these games" paragraph, read no further and save yourself the unhappiness. Or, if you are a moderator, let me know and I'll edit the post.

I'm biased, but I'll recommend King's Gate, Eclipse, and Forest of Doors in you're within a reasonable-for-you drive from Atlanta. I live six hours from Atlanta and still drive to King's Gate and Eclipse, so I'm not necessarily a great judge of "reasonable." King's Gate is live-combat swashbuckling fantasy, and Eclipse is live-combat science fiction with NERF guns. They both focus on running weekend-long games.

 

[Umbran]

Cool, I think I would prefer a live combat fantasy LARP over a theatre style one. I think a lot of the fun would be in actually just moving around, dodging, and running around with boffer weapons.

The problem with live-combat is what you'd expect. It is based largely on the player's skill, so if you are not personally good with a sword, it is very difficult to play a character who is. There are folks who play live combat as their primary hobby, and spending the hours and hours at it, they get pretty darned good. It can be a bit of a barrier to new folks to be so outclassed.

And, usually these games take place outside, and are thus victim to the problems of weather. Be ready to play in the rain, because they generally don't cancel for such - there are too many people involved.

 

[wingsandsword]

I've been playing NERO for a little over a decade. Personally, I love it. Depending on my work schedule, finances, and the event schedules around me I typically go to 3 or 4 events a year. Spending a weekend or so at one of those events feels a lot like living out a D&D adventure.

I regularly played in a WoD LARP for about two and a half years, but I wouldn't do it again. That and most players were a lot more interested in making combat-optimized characters and standing around throwing rock-paper-scissors all night to beat up the foes-of-the-week for hours (Sabbat, SWAT teams, Werewolves, Men In Black, Demons, Revenants, Hunters ect.) than in the plotting and politicking that I expected from a Vampire larp).

 

[Umbran]

That and most players were a lot more interested in making combat-optimized characters and standing around throwing rock-paper-scissors all night to beat up the foes-of-the-week for hours (Sabbat, SWAT teams, Werewolves, Men In Black, Demons, Revenants, Hunters ect.) than in the plotting and politicking that I expected from a Vampire larp).

That, of course, varies from group to group. While I didn't play on a regular basis, I know several WoD larp groups (both Cam and non-Cam) who were far more into politics, and others who were more into the dramatic, emotional acting facet of things. YMMV.

WoD isn't my thing usually, just because I'm not into playing blood-sucking monsters

 

[el-remmen]

DARKON!

also, DARKON!



At the very least, watch the documentary, it's great. . .

 

[Tinker Gnome]

The problem with live-combat is what you'd expect. It is based largely on the player's skill, so if you are not personally good with a sword, it is very difficult to play a character who is. There are folks who play live combat as their primary hobby, and spending the hours and hours at it, they get pretty darned good. It can be a bit of a barrier to new folks to be so outclassed.

And, usually these games take place outside, and are thus victim to the problems of weather. Be ready to play in the rain, because they generally don't cancel for such - there are too many people involved.

Well, that can be a problem depening on how the game is run, but it would not bother me too much. You just gotta get good at it.

For weather, I can deal with the cold, rain, and snow. It is heat I have a problem with, I start melting if it goes above 70 degrees F. Oh well.

 

[pawsplay]

I've played Amtgard for nearly 15 years, and I love it. Amtgard's a boffer game, primarily, with some magic stuff, padded arrows, and a quasi-medieval cultural aspect. I've also tried SCA armored combat, which is a blast, but hard on the body and the wallet. I've played NERO and IFGS, didn't care for either (if I want that kind of rules detail I'll play pen-and-paper).

I've also played Vampire, which is a wholly different thing from boffer sports.

I've also played Killer, which is a different sort of LARP. Ultimately, one game of Killer spun out of control at my college campus, resulting in a nerf dart shootout at high noon outside the student union, after which time all LARPs were banned from campus for an indefinite period.

 

[Solodan]

I play in a LARP up in North East Wisconsin. Its live action style, so boffer weapon ahoy! Course, its a rather small game, with 20 or so people instead of those mass games with dozens. Rules are basically a skill based system for a fantasy game. www.newlarp.com

 

[pawsplay]

I play in a LARP up in North East Wisconsin. Its live action style, so boffer weapon ahoy! Course, its a rather small game, with 20 or so people instead of those mass games with dozens. Rules are basically a skill based system for a fantasy game. www.newlarp.com

Whoa, it's a 240 page LARP manual. I'm impressed.