Infernal Teddy
Explorer
Tell me, what LARP Rules / Systems do you know and can recommend? Out here in germany the standard is something called "Dragonsys", and I wanted to know what the rest of the world uses...
What LARP rules do you know?
- Thread starter Infernal Teddy
- Start date
wingsandsword
Legend
It really depends on what kind of larp you want.
Through normal game-store channels, the only really widespread LARP is White Wolf's Mind's Eye Theater (now in a completely new edition), which is meant for the World of Darkness setting.
There have been LARP adaptations of other tabletop games from time to time, but they rarely get big. I know they made a LARP of Legend of the Five Rings, but in my experience, it's only generally played at big conventions. Back when West End Games made the Star Wars RPG, they made a Star Wars larp book, but I don't think it was too successful.
Personally, my favorite larp is NERO (www.nerolarp.com), a huge fantasy larp (over 50 separate campaigns across the US & Canada, all sharing one world). It's been around since 1989, but it really got big with a huge article in Dragon Magazine in 1991, leading to it expanding around the country as interest in it increased rapidly. It's a live combat "boffer" larp in a high-fantasy setting. I'd recommend it if you're ever near a game and want to play for a weekend. It's almost certainly the biggest fantasy larp in the US. (The Society for Creative Anachronism is larger, but they generally don't like to be called a larp, considering themselves to be a historic reenactment group.)
Generally, in the US, LARPs are either White Wolfs spinoffs to tabletop games, one-shot convention games, or they are a completely separate gaming culture which just happens to have some overlap with tabletop games. Many tabletop gamers have a strange prejudice against LARP players, while many LARP players only play tabletop games with their larper friends (or don't play tabletop games at all), leading to not as much mixing of the subcultures as one would expect.
Through normal game-store channels, the only really widespread LARP is White Wolf's Mind's Eye Theater (now in a completely new edition), which is meant for the World of Darkness setting.
There have been LARP adaptations of other tabletop games from time to time, but they rarely get big. I know they made a LARP of Legend of the Five Rings, but in my experience, it's only generally played at big conventions. Back when West End Games made the Star Wars RPG, they made a Star Wars larp book, but I don't think it was too successful.
Personally, my favorite larp is NERO (www.nerolarp.com), a huge fantasy larp (over 50 separate campaigns across the US & Canada, all sharing one world). It's been around since 1989, but it really got big with a huge article in Dragon Magazine in 1991, leading to it expanding around the country as interest in it increased rapidly. It's a live combat "boffer" larp in a high-fantasy setting. I'd recommend it if you're ever near a game and want to play for a weekend. It's almost certainly the biggest fantasy larp in the US. (The Society for Creative Anachronism is larger, but they generally don't like to be called a larp, considering themselves to be a historic reenactment group.)
Generally, in the US, LARPs are either White Wolfs spinoffs to tabletop games, one-shot convention games, or they are a completely separate gaming culture which just happens to have some overlap with tabletop games. Many tabletop gamers have a strange prejudice against LARP players, while many LARP players only play tabletop games with their larper friends (or don't play tabletop games at all), leading to not as much mixing of the subcultures as one would expect.
Taloras
First Post
wingsandsword said:
True. Although technically, we are doing live action role playing, the SCA is recreating the middle ages, not too much unlike the civil war re-enactors.(except we usually arent as anal about some things).
The only other LARP ive played is Minds Eye Theatre for the OWOD. Havent tried for the NWOD yet.
Angel Tarragon
Dawn Dragon
None. Never LARPed before.
Romnipotent
First Post
If you're holding a beer your out of character and not involved in tha game till you're good and sober.
I enjoyed NERO sparring, but never got to actually PLAY. Something about not being able to get away for the whole weekend...
I've smacked and been smacked around with a lot of boffer weapons, and NERO's were my favorites.
I've smacked and been smacked around with a lot of boffer weapons, and NERO's were my favorites.
Taloras said:
A great many of the folks in the SCA are not doing live action role play, in that there's no "role" invovled. Having a separate name does not a role make, after all. You aren't role playing the middle ages if you put on armor, whack at someone a few times, and then go off to talk about computer programming
Many, even within the SCA, take the fighting to be, in effect, an athletic sport or martial art.
Be that as it may, it does depend upon the type of larp you want to run. Often, the first major division considered is, "Live Combat or Theatre Style?"
In Live Combat games, players physically fight - they pick up some form of weapon, and actually hit another player (or NPC) with it to simulate fighting. Some folks like the physical activity, adrenaline rush, and so on. Others find it limiting, because the character's abilities are directly link to the player's ability to wield a weapon. In addition, for smaller groups, Live Combat can be an insurance nightmare.
Theatre Style games have combat simulated via some other mechanic, be it dice rolling, rock-scissors-paper, and so on. Theatre style lacks the immersion of actually fighting yourself, but gains in the number of places you can play, and the types of characters you can use.
White Wolf has the widest selling available theatre-style larp rules. Many theatre-style players actually consider White Wolf to be it's own little sub-genre, and not without reason, as their rules were not generally useful for running anything but World of Darkness games.
Many other larps use homebrew rules, written for the particular game or campaign. Interactivities Ink published Rules to Live By a more generic set of larp rules, designed to run theatre-style games of any genre. These rules are far from perfect, but they work pretty well. Unfortunately, they are going out of business, and their supplies are limited.
If you're really interested, you can go poke around the Live Action Role Player's Association web stie
I played many LARP. And there's about as many rules systems as there's LARP activities.
It depends on what you're looking for. Epic or non-epic, high or low fantasy (elves, magic, etc or not). What's the setting? Etc.
I've co-created 2 LARP rules systems one of which is incomplete (all but the magic system is pretty much mailed down).
The former was for a high fantasy epic system. The later is for a low fantasy averagely epic system. The former is very D&D like in feel the later is more Call of cthulu like in feel but in a medieval fantasy setting.
There is similar consideration to keep in mind to tabletop RPG:
1) simplicity
2) balance
3) "feel" or "realism/credibility"
The first system had a high emphasis on simplicity and credibility and balance was compromised to keep the other two at the highest point. Balance was regulated in-game by the organisers.
The seconed system had an emphasis on realism and balance with a small sacrifice to simplicity.
It depends on what you're looking for. Epic or non-epic, high or low fantasy (elves, magic, etc or not). What's the setting? Etc.
I've co-created 2 LARP rules systems one of which is incomplete (all but the magic system is pretty much mailed down).
The former was for a high fantasy epic system. The later is for a low fantasy averagely epic system. The former is very D&D like in feel the later is more Call of cthulu like in feel but in a medieval fantasy setting.
There is similar consideration to keep in mind to tabletop RPG:
1) simplicity
2) balance
3) "feel" or "realism/credibility"
The first system had a high emphasis on simplicity and credibility and balance was compromised to keep the other two at the highest point. Balance was regulated in-game by the organisers.
The seconed system had an emphasis on realism and balance with a small sacrifice to simplicity.
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