Live action role-playing game

Not to be confused with Larb.

A live action role-playing game (LARP or LRP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically act out some or all of their characters' actions.

LARP varies greatly internationally and within countries. This article describes well-known international variations. The term LARP is not accepted universally and many other terms are used to describe similar activities, especially in non-English speaking countries.

Play overview

Players take on the role of characters in a fictional setting and physically portray them, improvising their characters' speech and movements somewhat like an actor in improvisational theatre. This is distinct from traditional role-playing games where character actions are described verbally.

The setting, rules, and characters may be defined in a LARP publication, invented by the organisers of the larp, or created by the players themselves.

Play usually takes place within a defined physical space. This may be a public area or a private building or section that has been borrowed or hired for the purpose. Play usually starts and ends at pre-defined times, and may occur over hours or days.

Unlike in theatre there is usually no audience, as LARPs are played for the satisfaction of the participants. If members of the public who are not involved in the LARP are in the play area, they are typically ignored or treated as part of the fictional setting.

Beyond these basic common features, LARPs vary greatly. In particular there is a broad spectrum of settings that play takes place in, methods of physically representing the characters and the settings, game rules, and types of activity that characters are involved in.

Production

Players may dress as their character and carry appropriate equipment, or costume and gear may be portrayed by physical symbols or entirely imagined. The environment in which play takes place may be dressed to resemble the imaginary setting, and special effects may be used to represent unusual occurrences in the setting.

In character versus out of character

There is a distinction between when a player is actively representing their character (called in character, IC, in game or in play) and when the player is being themselves (called out of character, OOC, off role, out of game, off game or offplay). Some LARPs encourage players to stay consistently IC except in emergencies, while others accept players being OOC sometimes and use devices such as off-game areas, armbands, or gestures to signify when players are currently OOC. Information learned while OOC is usually considered distinct from information learned when IC, and characters making use of OOC information is a form of metagaming.

Simulation and representation

All LARPs occur in both a real and an imaginary environment - the latter called the setting, game world or (in theory) the diegesis. Characters inhabit the imaginary environment, while players inhabit the real, physical environment. In all LARPs, the real environment to some degree represents the imaginary environment (for example, a real wall is normally also an imaginary wall) and player behaviour represents character behaviour. In cases where the real environment does not correspond to the imaginary environment, LARPs use different techniques to simulate events in the imaginary environment. These techniques may include game rules and randomizers (dice, cards), physical symbols (for example a rope signifying an imaginary wall) and theatrical improvisation.

Player characters and non-player characters

There is sometimes a distinction between player characters (PCs) and non-player characters (NPCs). The NPCs exist to make the LARP more satisfying for the players and they typically receive more direction from the organisers than the players do. Unlike in traditional role-playing games where a gamemaster usually plays all the NPCs, in a LARP each NPC is typically played by a separate person. The people playing the NPCs are variously called crew, cast, monsters (in some fantasy LARPs) or NPCs (erroneously). Each crew member may play many NPC roles over the course of a LARP event. Sometimes players are asked to play NPCs for periods of an event.

Game rules

Some LARPs have game rules that determine how characters can affect each other and the setting. These rules may define things such as a character's capabilities, how those capabilities can change over time, what can be done with various items in the setting, and what characters can do during the downtime between LARP events. Because organisers are often not available to mediate all character actions, players are relied upon to be honest in their application of the rules.

There are also LARPs that do without rules, instead relying on players to use their common sense or feel for dramatic appropriateness to cooperatively decide what the outcome of their actions will be.

History

Main article: History of live action role-playing games

LARP does not have a single point of origin, but was invented independently by several different groups in the late 1970s and early 1980s. What these groups had in common was experience with genre fiction or tabletop role-playing games and a desire to physically experience such settings. In addition to tabletop role-playing, the early LARP groups were preceded and possibly influenced by educational and therapeutic role-playing, historical reenactment groups and the Society for Creative Anachronism.

The earliest recorded LARP group was the physical combat Dagorhir Outdoor Improvisational Battle Games, founded in 1977 in Washington, DC, USA. After the release of the movie Logan's Run in 1976, rudimentary role playing games based on the movie were run at many US science fiction conventions. In 1981 the physical combat International Fantasy Games Society (IFGS) started, with rules influenced by Dungeons & Dragons. IFGS was named after a fictional group in the 1981 novel Dream Park, which described futuristic LARPs. The authors publicized the LARP organization in subsequent novels. The first Theatre Style LARP group was the Society for Interactive Literature (SIL), founded in 1981 at Harvard University.

LARP quickly spread internationally following the growing popularity of role-playing games in the 1980s. Treasure Trap, formed in 1982 at Peckforton Castle, was the first recorded LARP game in the UK and influenced many of the physical combat fantasy LARPs that followed there. In 1983 the first recorded LARP in Australia was run at the Canberra Games Convention, a freeform event in the science fiction Traveller setting. In 1993 White Wolf, Inc released Mind's Eye Theatre: The Masquerade which is still played internationally and is probably the most commercially successful published LARP.

Today LARP is a popular activity in North America, Europe, Russia and Australasia. Large games with a thousand or more participants are organised by for-profit companies, various LARP books are published and an increasingly professional industry sells costume, armour, and foam weapons intended primarily for LARP.

Classification

LARP is notably diverse, with widely different approaches being taken in different groups and regions. LARPs are sometimes classified according to their system of combat resolution (physical or symbolic), primary conflicts (player vs player or player vs organisers), number of participants, duration (campaigns or single events), stance on role-playing (immersive or theatrical) or genre (fantasy, science fiction, contemporary etc.).

Physical vs. symbolic combat

A physical combat LARP battle at a Lorien Trust event

Latex weapons used in LARP combat in the UK. The dagger has a laminated card from the Lorien Trust system attached.

The two most common ways of simulating combat in LARP are physical representation and symbolic determination.

Physical combat occurs without interruption in role-play, using foam weapons, airsoft guns, laser tag guns, and similar. Sometimes relatively harmless versions of real weapons (blunt metal swords, firearms loaded with blanks) are used as representations. Games using physical combat are often known as boffer or live combat LARPs. In LARPs with physical combat the fighting skills of the player affect their ability to portray a character who is successful when fighting.

Symbolic determination relies on players momentarily suspending role-playing in order to determine the outcome of combat, for example by rolling dice, playing rock-paper-scissors or comparing character attributes. In symbolic combat systems, weapons may be represented by cards or physical replicas. A "no-touch" rule, prohibiting physical contact between players, is sometimes enforced. Many symbolic and physical combat systems also use game rules for character attributes like strength and physical endurance to help determine the outcome of a combat situation. Others use an honour system where players are trusted to determine the outcomes of combat through free improvisation.

Genre

LARPs can have as many genres and settings as novels, plays, or movies. However, many LARPs use settings derived from genre literature. While some LARPs borrow a setting from an established work in another medium (e.g. The Lord of the Rings or the World of Darkness), many LARPs take place in a setting designed specifically for the LARP. Re-usable custom-designed settings ("campaign worlds"), together with rulesets, are often the principal creative asset of LARP associations and LARP publishers.

The creative content of a LARP is produced by players in collaboration with organisers - called game masters (GMs), referees or larpwrights - who determine the fictive framework of a LARP. GMs may decide how characters are created by players, or write and distribute characters to the players. The characters allowed or authored by the GMs, along with conflicts placed between characters and possible interventions during the LARP, usually determine the type of interaction in a LARP. GMs may also influence the LARP while it is played, for example by playing or controlling "Non Player Characters" (NPC's).

LARP players will often narrate the events of a LARP as a story, with their character as protagonist, though it should be noted that few LARPs feature pre-determined or pre-scripted stories of the type common in literature or cinema. Whether a LARP can or should "tell a story" is an intensely controversial issue amongst LARP players and theorists.

Focus of interaction

Some LARPs, such as theatre-style games in the US, feature primarily conflicts between player characters or groups of characters. Others, sometimes called "adventure style LARPs", pit players against organiser-controlled obstacles or antagonists. Another distinction is often made (especially in the UK) between player-led and organiser-led interactions, the former being improvised by players during play while the latter are planned in advance by GMs although they are usually reactive to the players' improvisation.

Game format

LARPs vary in size from a handful of players to several thousand, and in duration from a couple of hours to whole weeks. Most LARPs are either single, self-consistent events or form parts of a campaign - a series of LARP sessions featuring the same setting, the same rules and many of the same characters.

Common styles

LARP rules and play cover a wide variety of different styles that blend into each other. There are some categorizations that are widely used and in broad terms help identify shared expectations for a game.

Arthaus

Common in the Nordic countries but also present elsewhere, arthaus LARPs are eclectic events that are characterised by the originality of the themes and techniques used. Arthaus LARPs have high culture aspirations, and are occasionally held in the context of fine arts - at festivals, in art museums or theatres. The themes, settings and characters of arthaus LARPs tend to be intentionally relevant to real-world issues of politics, culture, religion, sexuality and the human condition. Arthaus LARPs can be seen as experimental LARPs, since they often aim to test out techniques that may be of use to mainstream LARPs.

Fest

A fest (short for festival) LARP has hundreds of participants, usually split into competing character factions camped separately around a large venue. There are relatively few fests in the world, all based in the UK and Europe, however their size means that they have a significant influence on local LARP culture and design.

Simulation

Some of the first LARP-style games were group activities designed to demonstrate various social and political settings. One of the first such games was SimSoc, which is still used in modern social science classes.

Theatre Style / Freeform

A theatre style LARP taking advantage of a decorated room at COSI Columbus.

Theatre style or freeform LARPs are characterised by symbolic combat, an eclectic approach to genre and setting, and a focus on interaction between characters that are written by the organisers. They are sometimes played at gaming conventions, which they suit well as they typically only last a few hours and require relatively little preparation by players.

Youth LARPs

Youth LARPs are intended for children and young people. Some are organised through institutions such as schools, churches, or the Scouts. Youth LARPs are especially common in Denmark, where an estimated 8% of children aged 10-14 participated in outdoor LARPs in July 2004. The Danish scene is dominated by mediveal/fantasy LARPs with physical combat. Other varieties of youth LARP include science fiction games and dramatizations of the Harry Potter world.

Common genres

LARPs can be in any genre, however certain genres are especially common.

Espionage

Espionage LARPs are inspired by spy fiction. Some leverage the real world as a venue or real player identities as characters in a manner similar to Assassin or alternate reality games. These usually avoid physical combat and real-looking weapons which could attract unwanted attention from the public and authorities.

Fantasy

Fantasy genre LARPs are set in pseudo-historical worlds inspired by fantasy literature and fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons. These settings typically have low technology, magic, and fantasy races. Many fantasy LARPs use physical combat and focus on adventure and/or competition between character factions. Fantasy is one of the most common LARP genres internationally.

Historical

LARP with a Victorian setting

Historical LARPs take place in our world, at some point in history. They can vary from a 1930s murder mystery to a feudal Japanese Samurai story. Historical accuracy, in both fictional content and physical props and costume, is often prized in these LARPs, and there are similarities with Historical reenactment.

Horror

Horror LARPs often use horror fiction as inspiration. LARPs with a horror theme can be set in any era, often crossing over historical or science fiction genres. One common sub-genre is based on the writing of H.P. Lovecraft, sometimes using the published LARP Cthulhu Live and often set in 1920s USA.

Military Simulation

Military simulation (mil-sim) LARPs focus on military operations, often in modern or futuristic settings. Many include live combat with laser tag, airsoft or paintball firearms. Some mil-sims have a hard-core approach and attention to detail that resembles police exercises or war games conducted by the military. Players may take on combat roles or play non-combatants such as civilians or VIPs.

Mind's Eye Theatre

Main article: Mind's Eye Theatre

Published by White Wolf Game Studio, these gothic-punk LARPs take place in the World of Darkness setting where players usually portray secretive supernatural creatures like vampires and werewolves. Mind's Eye Theatre is a relatively complex symbolic system. These LARPs are usually played in a chronicle, a series of short events held at regular intervals, and are also popular at conventions. An international chronicle is run by White Wolf's own fan club the Camarilla. Mind's Eye Theatre is one of the most common forms of LARP internationally.

Mythology

Mythology LARPs are set in a semi-historical era with legendary aspects of that time. For example, a Celtic mythology LARP might include features of Celtic myth such as Druids with powers from the gods and goddesses, or legendary creatures and monsters such as the Tuatha Dé Danann or the banshee.

Science fiction

Science fiction LARPs take place in futuristic settings with high technology and possibly aliens, but usually without magic. This describes a broad array of LARPs, including politically themed LARPs depicting dystopian or utopian societies, combat-oriented events played with laser tag weaponry, and settings inspired by cyberpunk, space opera and post-apocalyptic fiction.

Academic works

• Journal of Interactive Drama. An Online Multi-Discipline Peer-Reviewed Journal of Scenario-Based Theatre-Style Interactive Drama Freeform Live Action Roleplaying Games. http://www.rpg.net/larp/journal/index.html

See also

Lists

• List of live action role-playing groups

LARP conventions

• Intercon US LARP convention
• Knutepunkt Nordic LARP convention

Related activities

• Alternate reality game
• Assassin (game)
• Cosplay
• Historical reenactment
• Improvisational theatre
• Murder mystery game

References

• Niven, Larry (1981). Dream Park. Phantasia Press. ISBN 0-9320960-9-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Young, Mike (Editor) (2003). The Book of LARP. Interactivities Ink. ISBN 0-9708356-8-X. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

External links

• RPG.net's LARP forum for general discussion on all LARP topics.
• Shade's LARP List - International LARP portal.
• The rec.games.frp.live-action FAQ
• Rule7 The UK's biggest Independent LARP forum