What is there to LARPing?

[Something Else]

I don't really understand LARP. Anyone want to fill me in? How is it different from improvisational theater?

[Pan Man]

I've had a question I wanted to ask as well....Where/how do you find all the open space necessary to put on a LARP? Do you rent land, use friends' land plots?

[pawsplay]

The difference between a LARP and theatre is that there is a method of resolving challenges. For instance, in a boffer LARP, there are combat rules similar to a combat sport like karate, whereas in Vampire there are non-methods of handling combat and the use of vampire powers.

[Jerrythehun]

I don't really understand LARP. Anyone want to fill me in? How is it different from improvisational theater?

How is a tabletop RPG different from improv radio theatre?
:)
All RP is improv theatre.

Do you tabletop RP? Aside from costuming (and usually no dice) you will find yourself quite at home!

[Levi]

I don't really understand LARP. Anyone want to fill me in? How is it different from improvisational theater?

You play tabletop.

First, stand up. Act out scenes in person.

Where dice and the like are required, you'll probably want to substitute something easier (though maybe not).

Costumes wouldn't be bad. And set pieces, too, those are nice.

And you'll want a nice, big play space, so you can have way more players.

Oh, and you might want your adventures to involve lots of big-group stuff - courts, elections, stuff like that, with players sort-of or completely against each other.

You might even want to shift over to "player skill" mechanics in some cases, instead of random ones - like giving pickpockets little stickers (if they can stick them on a pocket undetected, they get the contents).

You're pretty much done.

[Samhaine]

I've had a question I wanted to ask as well....Where/how do you find all the open space necessary to put on a LARP? Do you rent land, use friends' land plots?
Depends on your needs, your connections, and your budget. I've played in big backyards, a student center we got for free through our gaming club, a student center we rented for the evening, and numerous state parks that start at $40 a night for three acres with no cabins, up to $400 a night for many acres and cabins that will sleep up to 80 people, up to $600+ a night for a park space that can comfortably hold well over 100 people.

The more people you have or the more specialized your setting requirements, the better connections you'll need to find a free site or the more money you'll need to rent a venue.

That's the typical model here in the southeast US, anyway. Most modern, salon-style games rent student centers or similar venues and most fantasy, boffer-style games rent group camps at state parks.

[Samhaine]

snip
I agree.

The main thing I've found that distinguishes LARP from tabletop is an easier time of staying in character. In tabletop, you have to imagine 90%+ of what's going on in the world, and take frequent steps back to handle systems-based actions. In LARP, unless you're simulating something you are unable to physically do, it's possible to act in character indefinately. Many LARPs try to minimize system impact on the roleplay; rules are simple to carry out, and are only used when absolutely required. As much as possible is done with costuming and props to prevent people from constantly having to describe/imagine scenes that don't accord with the real world.

Tabletop has the advantage in giving you the systems necessary to be anyone and do anything. LARP has the advantage of making it easier to get into and stay in a character as long as you don't try to be anyone or do anything that can't be easily simulated by simple rules and acting.

[Peter Svensson]

Most LARPs I've been in have been in public parks or other places that are free. This has the benefit of being cheap, but also that you can't really decorate the place. So either you set the game "really there" or depend on the players being able to imagine that they're really in a mansion or the 4th dimension. If they can pretend when playing tabletop, they can pretend when standing around.

[tetsujin28]

I go for the costumes and the chicks.

I really, really love costumes. That makes it just so much fun for me.

[Ambrogino]

More expensive to hire, but there's really nothing like gaming in a replica viking longhouse, or a real castle, Edwardian manor house, or Nuclear fallout bunker.

Man I've been to some awesome sites. Not required, but they're a great addition.

[Jiituomas]

How is it different from improvisational theater?

For some people it isn't. But they're acting, not larping.

For the rest of us, there are some key differences. Very crudely put, larp has:
- A lack of audience, meaning there are no outsiders you're performing for.
- The space of play is different. Larp takes place in a temporary reality that is maintained by people believing, or pretending to believe, in it. ("A spatial representation of an imaginary place, imposed upon a real place through a jointly agreed-upon social contract", in more precise terms. It's what Winnicott called "potential space".)
- There is a liminal aspect to larp, which is normally absent from improv theatre.
- The emphasis on experiencing the role and/or "living within the fantasy".
- Pervasiveness. Even if there are mechanics, the illusion of continuity is constantly preserved. (Or at least tried to preserve...)
- There are strong semiotic and reductive aspects to the play-experience. Elements are interpreted in a way that either transforms them into forms that are acceptable to the game or makes them effective invisible to the player.
- Narrative elements rise from pre-determided potential seeds (fabula) that are normally actualized by player interpretation, not external guidance.

Prof. Göran Sonesson made a small and now somewhat outdated table (http://www.arthist.lu.se/kultsem/sonesson/Actionstoart2.html) about the essential differences between theatre, larp, psychodrama, etc. in 2000. It has a shallow view of what larp is and/or could be, but it's still a good place to start.

[tetsujin28]

More expensive to hire, but there's really nothing like gaming in a replica viking longhouse, or a real castle, Edwardian manor house, or Nuclear fallout bunker.

Man I've been to some awesome sites. Not required, but they're a great addition.Oh, heck yeah. A great location can do wonders.

[invisible_al]

Would that be a nuclear bunker just north of london? It's a great site and has the greatest corridor for a 'run out' ending to a game I've ever seen.

But to answer the question, it's like table-top but you dress up and act stuff out, you also stay in character the majority of the time. Also you tend to use 'real' skills a lot more, you don't role to charm or skillfully interrogate a character you actually do it, same with latex weapons, although there you can do more damage or have more hits if you've got better skills on paper.

[Something Else]

So, am I correct in assuming LARPs should generally avoid major use of "NPCs", since they would have to be completely imagined?

Could a LARP be entirely based on political/social negotiation, with no combat rules, etc.?

[Levi]

So, am I correct in assuming LARPs should generally avoid major use of "NPCs", since they would have to be completely imagined?

Or played by "actors". But even so, a minimal number is best, even none.

Could a LARP be entirely based on political/social negotiation, with no combat rules, etc.?

Yes.

I've seen many games with a lot of rules played in such a way as to use basically none of them, as well.

[Ambrogino]

Would that be a nuclear bunker just north of london? It's a great site and has the greatest corridor for a 'run out' ending to a game I've ever seen.

That's the one - though IIRC the corridors designed to be a 1/2 mile long killing zone for use against people trying to break in rather than out. The fact that the road signs directing you to it are marked "This way to the Secret Nuclear Bunker" never ceases to amuse me.

[NERO Aeon]

I found this an interesting read regarding LARPs, what they are, and how they relate to other things in life.

http://help.com/wiki/Live_action_role-playing_game

[Ryan Paddy]

That looks like it's been borrowed from the Wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larp

[firebat]

So, am I correct in assuming LARPs should generally avoid major use of "NPCs", since they would have to be completely imagined?

Could a LARP be entirely based on political/social negotiation, with no combat rules, etc.?

NPCs: well, that depends on the type of LARP you're running. Boffer fantasy may require lots of NPCs just to play monsters and quest-giving-fellows. "Theatrical" stuff like WoD or CoC LARPs may or may not require less NPC, the second option typically being the one chosen when most of players are pretty experienced and have been playing the same LARP chronicle (or campaign or... you get it) for a pretty long time.

Combat rules: well, you could theoretically go without them but then what if someone wanted to do something like that? After all, assassination has been a way to speed up and/or control political matters for centuries and still is in many countries.

Regarding locations, my group usually rents public parks (for boffer fantasy LARPs) or other public buildings/halls, for free or a small rent (since we're a nonprofit association). Our next V:tM event will take place in a former church. How goth :P
BTW, I live in Italy, so I don't know if this will be helpful to you.

[Requiem_17_23]

Our boffer LARP has two sorts of session. 'Interactives', where the emphasis is on character interaction and the 4-strong ref team runs all NPCs, and 'adventures', which are much like a traditional tabletop session and the PC party of about five is faced off against a series of pre-written encounters played by the rest of the society.

More experience is handed out for adventures, but they are uncommon - a PC may go on one adventure for every four or so interactives, and that's assuming they're the kind of person to go adventuring.

LARPing can do things tabletop has trouble with, like massively-multiplayer events and player-led plot, much more easily. It doesn't have the special-effects budget of the imagination, so the creative space is slightly limited.

[tetsujin28]

Could a LARP be entirely based on political/social negotiation, with no combat rules, etc.?Not only could it, but I've found that many of the most fun LARPs I've been involved in have been exactly of this type. When LARPs are really going well, they don't need rules, much like tabletop rpgs.

[pawsplay]

The SCA is highly combat-focused, but the local groups here get together 2-3 times a month just to socialize in character.

[Peter Svensson]

Could a LARP be entirely based on political/social negotiation, with no combat rules, etc.?
Generally unless you're playing an Action LARP (IE, a boffer game) then you should try to make a game based entirely on social/political interaction, a Drama LARP. However, having some form of combat resolution planned because players always find ways to throw monkey wrenches in gameplay is a good thing. Even if it is just narrative freeform resolution.

[pawsplay]

Probably the closest thing to "no combat" would be to put everyone's name on a numerical list, in a particular order or randomly, and give them a rank. If a fight breaks out, the person with the highest number gets to dictate any disputed results. Players can appeal to the event organizers.

[Jiituomas]

Probably the closest thing to "no combat" would be...

Actually, you can get a lot closer simply by having a player base where people have learned to treat a non-competitive larp as a non-competitive larp. At that point, all conflicts can be handled with a simple "end result is the thing we think fits the game best" approach.

When losing is just as interesting as winning, everything gets much easier.

[Iskander]

So, am I correct in assuming LARPs should generally avoid major use of "NPCs", since they would have to be completely imagined?


For the fantasy larps we organise in Belgium, we have aproximately, 60 pc's and 35 - 40 npc's + gm's.
We prefer off course npc's who come back each time so they know the world, the social and political influences at that time in the world and off course the game rules. But we also have a lot of one timers who come for the fun of the combat (they mostly play the monsters).

[Wulf Corbett]

So, am I correct in assuming LARPs should generally avoid major use of "NPCs", since they would have to be completely imagined?
In our LARP the place is heaving with NPCs, but they're either played by Refs and full-time staff or by volunteers players who take a bit of time out for the job. In both cases a bit of change of costume, some makeup and maybe a mask do the job, and usually the new NPCs take care to introduce themselves so everyone knows it's not who it looks like (something a tabletop GM usually has to do too!).

Additionally, everyone is invited to 'monster', playing primarily combat characters with minimal but visible costume/makeup/masks for 'random encounters' and mass battles. Basically half the players monster for the other half one day, then swap the next. Loses a few hours of PC activity for some NPC action.

Wulf