Life Action Role-Play

[Girlysprite]

I wonder if anyone has heard of larp before, or has even engaged in it.
Larp is basically roleplaying, and acting it out with a group of people. In D&D you describe what your character does, in larp you play the character and do what you'd normally describe.
((more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larp))
So if you play in Larps, in what kind of larps, and what kind of characters do you play?

 

[Apone]

I have never Larp'ed before. Play DnD now and then when we can get together for long enough, same with Warhammer (FB+40K).
I fit in that category of it looks a little bit TOO role-play for my tastes (voices, acting etc). But dressing up, and running round the countryside with weapon sounds fun.
Wonder if I'd be allowed to use my Force FX lightsaber lol.
(Btw its spelt Live Action Role-Play)

 

[Swenglish]

I have not larp'ed before, however, I've heard of some NYU students playing Pac-man IRL around the streets of New York, using cell phones, sat-nav and other gizmos. Kinda like a really expensive cops and robbers game, only with grown-ups and a much bigger area. I'll try to find a link about this later, gotta do my homework now

 

[John Galt]

I'm as big a fan of tabletop gaming as everyone but I always thought of larping as "going over the edge". I'm sure it's grand fun (how could dressing up for Ren-fest not be?) but I don't think it'll ever hit mainstream.

Oh, I too have heard of people larp-ing Pac-man. A few students at a local school made costumes and chased eachother around the campus.

 

[HSIAMetalKing]

I'm afraid of LARPers. I think that, if I tried to join them, I would mess up on some insignificant character detail and they would actually murder me for it.

 

[Girlysprite]

I find the stories somewhat odd. maybe larpers over there are different. The organisations I play in are not gay or overly physical. About half of the players is females. Normal looking ones.

I am sometimes even a bit irritated when people see it as a bunch of out-of-touch nerds, that scream and abuse you when you forget a rule, only fat females, using plastic fake swords and are only concerned with rules and dice.
Actually, isn't that how people used to see table top people?

I do agree that it isn't for everyone. You need to be able to 'get into the game', get along with the suspension of disbelief.

 

[Lance Icarus]

I really can't stand LARPers. I know quite a few of them who have a Werewolf LARP over at the UW campus. I actually went and took a look for myself as per a friend's request and watched both a Changling game and Werewolf game for six hours of my life I can NEVER get back. I'll admit some of the Werewolf stuff does have some drama you just don't get with a pen and paper D&D session, but overall it just seemed more like a pathetic excuse for people to wear fake tails and fur than to actually play a game.

Oh, and a word of caution to any D&D players who meet a LARPer. NEVER talk about your current campaign with them, especially if you're doing a Vampire: The Masquerade game and they're doing a Werewolf LARP. I got chewed out for twenty minutes about how my vampire would have gotten torn apart by a werewolf. Who the hell cares? They're all just names on paper, it's not something to get worked up about. Roleplaying is fun, and when you start touting superiority for one type of roleplaying against another, the fun dies.

But hey, that might just be Washington. We are all cynical bastards at heart. Stupid grey rain clouds.

 

[Girlysprite]

*makes a reminder not to come in Washington*

Yeah, it must be that place then. Luckily I don't know rule-setting-nazi's like that.

 

[romitelli]

I'm afraid of LARPers. I think that, if I tried to join them, I would mess up on some insignificant character detail and they would actually murder me for it.

A couple of years ago a LARPer died while trying to cross a river in Colorado, or something like that.

 

[PhoenixFlame]

Must depend on the area. I know LARP'ers and while I'm not one myself nor will ever be, the majority of them don't necessarily fit the stereotype. They're socially adjusted, don't think they are their characters outside of the actual game, and generally have as much fun going out and meeting people at a bar as they do a LARP event.

It also depends on the organization. If you look up Nero, they are perhaps one of the better known LARPing organizations that has chapters in North America. That's not to say that you don't have LARP folks who generally fit the stereotype that does "scare" people, but I don't think they're quite the norm, at least where I'm from.

 

[PettingZOOPONY]

LARP es gay. Atleast here in Washignton it is.
And when I say gay, I mean honestly homosexual.
I can't go to a D&D game without being houdned by atleast 10 guys who beleive they're vampires, and dress like Prince.
Seriously, the only time I've seen a woman even near them, she was fat as all get out.
Same with the Renisance (SP?) festivals.. Fat ass women shoudl wear mroe clothes than a belly dancer.

Thank god I thought I was the only one, I use to love playing DD back in High School until my friends convinced themselves they were real vampires then I went back after the Marines and they all thought they were angels fighting demons. Haven't seen them for ten years now and am glad for every minute of it.

 

[Joe]

Everyone keeps using the term well-adjusted, that doesn't make them NOT fan boys with far too much time on their hands.

Actually, that's exactly what well-adjusted means.

And I never have LARPed. I almost got roped into a Vampire one in Vegas back when I was 12, but even at that age something didn't sit ight about the 40-year-old goth guy running it. I think there's a certain age where covering yourself in black leather and eye shadow becomes inappropriate and Karl the comic book store owning goth guy passed it.

I'd rather just hit up a goth night at a club. More music, better drinking and less pretense, which means more chicks below the magic black leather age.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

I don't have any objections to LARP so long as players respect that the game has boundaries and that not everyone wishes to participate.

At one GenCon I attended, things got so out-of-hand with LARPers spilling their gameplay into the halls that some group calling itself "The Van Helsing Society" started handing out stickers with a wooden stake printed on each. I personally didn't see anyone "staked", but a friend of mine claims to have seen one mascara-streaked player with a half-dozen stuck to his cape.

I don't begrudge you your fun, but leave me to my dice and controllers please.

-- Steve

 

[Easykill]

Watch this. Then tell me whether Larp'ers are "well adjusted" or not.
I mean, come ON! http://youtube.com/watch?v=3oWtrY3mmDE

 

[The Irrelevant Gamer]

Watch this. Then tell me whether Larp'ers are "well adjusted" or not.
I mean, come ON! http://youtube.com/watch?v=3oWtrY3mmDE

You do realize that is from an episode of Reno 911, right?

 

[Easykill]

You do realize that is from an episode of Reno 911, right?

Damn... No. Because it was introduced to me as real, and I dont watch that show. However, my stance doesnt change. I mean, just looking the sheer number of rumours of weird stuff that's happened fairly near my area is mind boggling. Like people pretending to be vampires actually drinking pigs blood or blood they managed to get someone to donate. I'm not saying Larp'ers are all like that, there are probably very few, but there are some. And it's my policy to avoid those people as much as I can.

 

[braincore02]

LARP es gay. Atleast here in Washignton it is.
And when I say gay, I mean honestly homosexual.
I can't go to a D&D game without being houdned by atleast 10 guys who beleive they're vampires, and dress like Prince.
Seriously, the only time I've seen a woman even near them, she was fat as all get out.
Same with the Renisance (SP?) festivals.. Fat ass women shoudl wear mroe clothes than a belly dancer.

lol. i think the reason you don't see women near them is cause they're such HUGE NERDS! if you're so consumed by a fantasy world that you're larping then chances are you don't relate to a good 3/4's or more of the female population.

in theory i would say there isn't anything wrong with larping, but in our current cultural climate, it does seem quite childish. in that acting out your imagination in real life is seen as childish. it's much more acceptable to spend thousands of dollars on a machine that displays pretty colors, and act out your imagination using that, as long as you are secluded in a dark room away from everyone

and the larpers are the best reno 911 calls

 

[Lampdevil]

Man, such LARP-hate happening, here. Sure, it's an intensely nerdy activity. So's rolling dice, fiddling with fake guitar controllers, or whatever your game-of-choice is. The difference is, the LARPers are brave (or shameless) enough to get their nerd on in the public eye.

I've always considered the whole "run around and pretend that you're a vampire" thing intensely silly, and when I first checked out my local chapter of the Camarilla, I was entirely unimpressed. Too big, too much going on, too many cliques, too many people that I really wouldn't want to hang around with on a regular basis. I passed. And so did the years. And recently, through a bunch of complicated circumstances, I wound up at a game with them again. Although "them" was a much more focused, whittled-down group of extremely fun-to-hang-around-with people. Costume optional. More time spent yukkin' it up and ordering our peons out for coffee runs than melodrama and fangery. It's, gasp, fun!

Well-adjusted? Yeah, that's important. You can spend a few hours a week play-acting, and be a perfectly acceptable member of society. Those are the folk I'd much rather be playing with. You play any game with a bunch of crazies, and you're likely not in for a good time.

it's much more acceptable to spend thousands of dollars on a machine that displays pretty colors, and act out your imagination using that, as long as you are secluded in a dark room away from everyone

Ding ding ding! We have us a winner!

 

[Halfang]

Yes I did, and I still do from time to time.

August Schmidt from the Last Express was an epic win.

 

[Larenxis]

I love D&D, although I haven't invested any money into it yet (mooching off friends is easy AND fun). Sometimes our DM will make us physically show how we open a door (razor wire to the face, yay!) or show how we're holding an object or something. It's much less constrictive than larping would be though. I find there's a lot of freedom of character when your actions are verbal rather than physical. I'd have a hard time playing a middle-aged male dwarf if it was in real life. It's so much easier to say "I ask 'Where is the nearest pub?' in a very manly way" than to attempt a vocal distortion. And by the way, I know 6 girls (none fat) that play D&D, not counting myself.

What's with all the vampire talk? I'm not precisely 'in' on the larping scene, but I have two friends who are, and neither of them ever mention vampires. Vampires sure don't come up in D&D (although they're in the book), and I doubt they will any time soon.