Poll: Do you LARP?

[Zen Bard]

Gave it shot once with the "Classic" White-Wolf Vampire: The Masquerade game.

It was okay. The players were pretty cool but the guy running it was super uptight and that killed the immersion for me.

Given the right situation, I might try it again. But it's not something I'm absolutely dying to do.

 

[Zhukov]

Nope. That's the one level of geekery I refuse to sink to.

I could get behind putting on some armour and whacking the crap out of people with fake weapons. Hell, I've done martial arts and that's not so different. Participating in a large scale organised "battle" could be a hoot too.

But any kind of "fantasy elements" or, well, actual roleplaying would make me shrivel up with embarrassment. Or laugh myself sick. Could go either way.


No. Just no.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Does running around battling my friends with sticks count? Keep in mind, this was when I was 12.

Otherwise, nope, never done it. I don't think I'd be able to stay in character.

 

[chocolate pickles]

Never actually tried it, and don't really know much about it besides what was presented in 'Grown Ups' - that is to say, nerds running around pretending to throw fireballs and hitting people with fake swords.

Now obviously, that's a stereotype (though with some essence of truth, some could argue). To be honest, i would be cautiously willing to give it a try - i actually find all the costumes and such quite intresting, but if it were taken a bit too seriously, I'd probably be dissuaded. Probably wont ever get the chance, though: It ain't a big thing over here in the UK, and i doubt I'd any of my friends would be willing to come along and give it a try with me.

I was handed a butt load of arrows, given an arbitrary character name and shunted in with my girlfriends group before a big battle. A woman in full platemail just told me to shoot people holding banners or holding big shields and they left me to it. I basically got to stand there, while people battered eachother in full plate and with foam swords and shoot people with arrows from my 35 pound ish bow. EXTREMELY satisfying. Truly. Its monstrously easy with some archery experience to hit a slow dude in plate from a good 50 yards and watching someone drop to the ground after you nail them in the back is pretty satisfying.

I cant comment much on the melee combat or the very small amount of spell crafting but I honestly just go to larp to shoot people with my bow and some padded arrows. Its just stupidly fun that now I can practice shooting people legally with my bow. Honestly watching some people roleplay seems boring as shit, and when Im thrust into it sometimes I just stand back and nod. But hot damn I just get to shoot people, and my girlfriends family provide food and comfortable camping. Cant complain.

Also acting as a scout was awesome. Its a 1000 ish player event so I just leg it across fields and through woods with my bow to each camp to ask how stuff is going, I get given a couple of ciders from each one and end up walking back tipsy every time. People just up and give you things, REAL drinks, its great!

So you more or less go to shoot people and get drunk?

...Sounds better than i thought

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

So you more or less go to shoot people and get drunk?

...Sounds better than i thought

Thats an accurate summary of what I do at larp yeah, but then again I don't make much (any) of an effort to care for the plot or roleplay, and sometimes I have to evade being asked awkward questions about character background or whatever. Usually I just say something about hunting then head toward the bar or glance at my girlfriend to bail me out.

Also sadly you cant shoot people WHILE drunk so I usually have to pick one or the other at any one time.
Also youre encouraged to not aim for the face or balls. People tend to be ok with accidents though, as long as you apologise a lot and maybe offer them a cider later.

Yeah LARP can be as laid back as this if you want, but do be warned some people will wanna take it seriously and avoiding them like the plague is a skill you need. People like lightning bolt guy (pictured above) exist. Try and do something without magic is my advice, the ones that are basically re-enactment are damn fun.

To be brutally blunt though, people like lightning bolt guy arnt as common in games without magic. With no magic system you gotta be fairly physically able to not have yourself pushed/tripped over or just left behind by the people who are actually in shape. Its pretty physically demanding in places. Sorta limits the demographic of people who go to pretend to be powerful. To win with no outside bullshit you need to be actually strong and fast.

Im heavily considering, and have been hinting to my SO as well, that we should change to a system with absolutely zero magic so we can get down to the nitty gritty. Id recommend those to other people as well, less roleplay involved too. The great thing about re-enactment is being a viking entails hitting people, drinking round a table and eating roasts. Just say youre Rolf or whatever and do what you would do in real life.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

Participating in a large scale organised "battle" could be a hoot too..

Can confirm this is really fun.

Only done it the once but hot damn having 500 people in armor charge up a hill toward you while you shoot at them in a big archery group is pretty rad. Volleys make an awesome sound. There are totally games without magic if you wanna try big battles and hate the other stuff, they are fun enough for me to just wanna do those and nothing else.

 

[Saetha]

...See, the responses in this thread are the reason why I don't tell people what I do on my Thursday nights. Or why all my friends are theater majors. Or why there are a bunch of random costumes in my closet.

Like, I get it's a little weird, but jeez...

 

[Emanuele Ciriachi]

I loved it! Back then, when I didn't had a career nor a family.

I built my costume from scratch, from sewing the tabard to link my chain mail (over 14.000 links in total, for some ~15Kg of metal).

Here is my costume, I'm the guy on the left:

Spoiler

[http://s148.photobucket.com/user/Noir_79/media/LudusMagnus.jpg.html]

And this is a detail of the armor:

Spoiler

[http://s148.photobucket.com/user/Noir_79/media/DSCN0462.jpg.html]

Good times...

 

[Aerevolt]

Ok. I concede some of you who Larp regularly seem to be part of more realistic games.
The boffer larp I went to had people in Halloween costumes and very fake looking weapons.
The other problem was that I was an outsider, and they were a tight-knit group. It can take me months to warm up to people.
I have friends that larp and they constantly complain of being broke, but they spend $300 a month on the stuff they need for games, including driving 4+ hours one way to an event.

 

[the December King]

Sure, I used to.

Made paper mache masks, constructed market tents, merchandise out of costume jewelery, foam weapons and halloween accoutrements, the whole shebang. Called it "LARP-Quest"" there was about a dozen of us, for about three years, and we wandered local parks and logging roads.

It was fun!

 

[Ironbat92]

I know a guy who does in my Newspaper club, but I never have.