I won't pretend to be an expert on RPG, let alone live action role-playing or "LARPing". However, even I can easily see why LARP is considered a descendant of games like Dungeons & Dragons. The catch? Here the players physically act out their characters' actions.
Fortunately, a few weeks ago I saw myself in the middle of a LARP for the first time.
I have to say I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the whole process from building the setting to fleshing out your own character.
There was so much to explore after you got the little paper with your character's description! It didn't just motivate me to pursue the tasks I was given, it made me want to explore the other characters involved in the game. And not only the ones I was directly connected to, but everyone that crossed my path.
For as little as an hour and a half I was someone else, living in a post-apocalyptic world - yes, you guessed it: there was a zombie threat. I wasn't seeing my friends running around in extravagant outfits and saying the most weird things. No, on the contrary, I saw people starving, people looking for jobs that didn't exist. I watched refugees seeking shelter afraid of being sent back to the outside where the zombies were waiting. I didn't trust people easily. In a camp like this, inhabitants could be persuaded to work for the enemy, be it an outside emissary that says they have better military skills or even your brother who unfortunately has just brought the first zombie into the camp.
But setting all of this aside, it's not just the story we built together during that period of time. What matters is the fact that we were putting ourselves in someone else's shoes. On that moment, we were living in a camp, there was little to no hope for a better future and what shaped our reactions were the problems of this post-apocalyptic existence.
I'm sure that if you have taken part in a LARP before, you will identify with at least one or two things I've mentioned. I believe that there is much more to it and that my experience was very limited compared to the five hours even the whole day LARPs that exist out there. But for me, as a newbie in this gaming world, I found it extremely interesting to say the least and it has made me look for other LARP experiences for sure.
None of this would have been possible without the people who wrote the setting and the characters and, of course, the awesome group who played it all out and made the game as crazy and funny as it was.
And how about you?
Have you ever taken part in a LARP? If so what was your favorite one? And how about the worst...hmmm...I mean your least favorite?
Tell us all about it in the comments and if you've got pictures don't hesitate to share them on our Pinterest board or on any of our social media platforms!
We want to see YOU in character!
S.G.
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