LARPing?

[Spazman]

I've not seen a thread like this posted before, and I'd figured since I was getting back into it, whether or not I should ask the community about their experiences with this.

As of right now, I play with a group here in Louisville called Madoc's Keep, as part of this country-wide (I believe) game called Amtgard.

According to some sites I'd looked up on the game, there seems to be divisions of this game around Toronto, as well as one branch somewhere around Germany.

Saturday, I'd built the first foam-sword I'd made in.. two years, if I recall. Plan on scheduling my Saturdays away for this, found it was worth getting into.

So.. if anyone has any experiences at all with any kind of LARPing, whether HvZ, Medieval stuff, or anything else, I'd love to hear some chatter about this.

[DoomUK]

Ask Enjay about LARP. Pretty sure he's into this stuff. geX has also done a lot of medieval reenactment, but he has such a fleeting presence on here that he's probably not even going to see this thread.

Cosplay as a broader hobby can be really cool, when done properly. Some of the costumes people make are really exquisite. I think I'm too self-conscious to get into it myself, though.

[Spazman]

Oh, it's downright amazing what one can do with only a set of thick steel wiring and a few pairs of needle-nose pliers.

Pretty slick-looking chainmail armor, people going farther and (somehow) making up some plated armor, studding it to leather, stuff like that.

It's a lot more enjoyable than sitting at a desk playing WoW (One I haven't played, but have -seen- being played.) or some other RPG stuff.

Took me a while to get into, myself.

[Scripten]

My college campus has a Medieval Studies club that I take part in. They do fencing, heavy fighting (that is, period accurate armor and wrapped wooden practice weapons), as well as some other class-based activities. It's a very fun time, and while it's not awfully RP-heavy, it is a great experience.

[Clonehunter]

LARP = Los Angeles Role Playing?

Not to familiar with it myself. I imagine a few guns and crowded highways would be a good way to start. Add in an insane computer technician with a hard wired brain for added fun.

[Technician]

[Avoozl]

Is it only restricted to reenacting? I once pondered the idea of playing Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher.

[GreyGhost]

Clonehunter said:

LARP = Los Angeles Role Playing?

LARP = Luser Attitude Readjustment Protocol?

At first glance I thought we might be discussing forum management practices in this thread.

[Spazman]

According to a rulebook I got Saturday for the stuff, it looks like it's a game revolving around slight recreation of medieval events, mixed with the usual fantasy elements.

There are limitations to a player character, however.

You cannot impersonate a real historical / fictional character (Originality issues here.) The character must have their own original backstory to them.

So.. if one looks at the game as simply a watcher, it looks like just a re-enactment. It's more like an open-world RPG, except that the open-world happens to be real.

(I probably worded that weirdly. If I did, my bad on my end.)

[bcwood16]

I know a few people who do it.

I guess I have always been up for it.....bit of a laugh and having fun with friends, but not to the extent that its a must and so have not really bothered looking into it further then that.

[40oz]

this is my second day rereading the posts in this thread with no clue of what's going on. I know i've heard of LARPing before but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Today I was suddently reminded of Christopher Mintz-plasse's character in Role Models

Yeah no. Not into it.

[GreyGhost]

TheSpazztikOne said:

You cannot impersonate a real historical / fictional character

Takes some of the fun out of it if I can't role play Vlad the Impaler. :(

[schwerpunk]

GreyGhost said:

Takes some of the fun out of it if I can't role play Vlad the Impaler. :(

You can still invent a new character that's inspired by a historical figure, say, Brad the Skewerer.

[Coopersville]

It's something I wanted to try, but there seems to be an unproportionate ratio of autismal neckbeards who would probably stuff razors into their foam swords if you found yourself on their bad side one day.

[DoomUK]

Coopersville said:

It's something I wanted to try, but there seems to be an unproportionate ratio of autismal neckbeards who would probably stuff razors into their foam swords if you found yourself on their bad side one day.

You'd be surprised how many normal people enjoy these things, too.

[Clonehunter]

40oz said:

http://img.poptower.com/pic-23391/christopher-mintz-plasse.jpg (McLovin playing with his "sword")

I dunno, I gotta say that Role Models actually kinda made me want to look into it... Though maybe I just wanna roar up in a monster truck dressed as Kiss.

[Spazman]

There's another event happening this Saturday. If I get the chance, I could round up some pics of the stuff happening then.

Also, I can safely say the Role Models thing is highly stereotyped (Considering the division of the game I'm in.)

[Koko Ricky]

Knee-jerk reaction: It's one of those "fucking white people" sub-cultures, like Japanophilia, steampunk and bronies.

Upon reflection: Hey, it's a bunch of friends getting together and having fun. What's wrong with that?

Why I'm just as dorky: I've spent a good 80 hours making a single Doom 2 map and haven't even finished it yet.

[TwinBeast]

I used to go to a church where there were some people fighting with the foam swords. It was mostly just about the sword fighting, but there was one LARP event once, sometimes some other little performances and some bible reading at the end.

Some time later I made some swords and stuff with my friends, and then we fight and run around the forest. Some more time later I made another sword with other friend. But they all kinda quit it eventually.

I never did any costume playing. To me it was pretty much just about the sword fighting. I think I would still enjoy it.

[hex11]

Back when I would have been interested in this sort of thing, I didn't get into it mainly because of the Vampire/WoD thing. I just never much cared for that game, or the whole goth culture. I'm more into medieval-fantasy stuff, and the SCA was probably the closest thing they had like that around here (went to some of those, it was fun). But mostly just ended up playing tabletop AD&D with friends.

[Spazman]

Just got back from an event up at the park today. Smaller crowd, probably due to a tournament today.

Pretty humid out today, weather wasn't too nice for game play. We had a small 'ditch-battle', but nothing too exciting.

(Ditch-battle: Team vs team, whoever's team loses all their players first.. loses. No class advantages.)

[TwinBeast]

I checked some finnish forums about this.. there's quite a lot groups doing this. They are quite serious about it too, they have all these metal/chainmail armors etc...

Maybe I'll join those forums, make a sword and see if someone wants to have some dueling with me...

[Koko Ricky]

Yesterday, my girlfriend's uncle told me that back in 1983, he and some other D&D dudes were LARPing and shooting bottle rockets and roman candles at each other. Apparently some jocks joined in but were closet LARPers.

[Stroggos]

[Coopersville]

DoomUK said:

You'd be surprised how many normal people enjoy these things, too.

Sorry, I forgot to finish my sentence to specify that I was talking about the people in my town. I've had friends held up at knife point (SAK pride!) over bad rolls in D&D more than once.