Live action role playing

A group of adventurers in the fantasy LARP

Live Action Role Playing ( LARP )is a role -playing game in which the players physically represent their character themselves. So it's a mix of pen & paper role-playing and improvisational theater . The games usually take place without spectators. The participants can improvise freely within the framework of a role that describes their own character and its characteristics and possibilities. The game figure iscalled a character . As far as possible, live role-playing events take place at venues whose ambiencecorresponds tothe scenario of the game plot. Players are responsible for the characters appropriate attire .

Basics

LARP with a Victorian scenario

LARP is a relatively young, participatory medium that is very open and offers an enormous number of opportunities to get involved. Through the participants and social interactions, it offers the opportunity to better understand and develop yourself. It also offers many possibilities from self-actualization to simple pastime.

The scenarios of the live role-playing games fall into different genres such as fantasy , vampires , westerns , science fiction , horror , end times / post-apocalypse , cyberpunk or steampunk . Most events can be assigned to the fantasy area.

There are currently around 500 to 600 publicly advertised live role-playing events per year in Germany. The one-day or multi-day events are often referred to as Con , LARP or Live for short . Live role-playing events in Germany are mostly organized for non-commercial purposes by private individuals or associations . The majority of the events are now advertised and coordinated on the Internet via specialized communities and online event calendars. The number of participants in the individual events varies from a handful to several thousand people. The annual gathering in England once managed to unite almost 10,000 players in one game. The biggest events in Germany at the moment are the large cons Conquest of Mythodea in Brokeloh and the Drachenfest in Diemelstadt . 6,000 to 9,000 players each take part in both events. The "Conquest of Mythodea" recorded around 8,000 participants (including the team) in 2017. With slightly fewer participants, the Epic Empires can also be counted among the major cons, which differ in their orientation, style of play and application standards. Such large events are, however, the exception. Usual event sizes are between 30 and 200 participants.

Depending on the thematic focus, different types of cons are distinguished, including battle cons, ambience cons, adventure cons, court attitudes, tavern cons and others. However, mixed forms with or without a focus are almost always to be found, in which it is up to the player whether he wants to stay in the tavern, take part in combat operations or solve puzzles.

Occasionally, LARP is also advertised as “ Live Adventure Role Playing ” in order to bring the idea of ​​adventure to the fore. The word “action” in the original term does not designate the action genre or particularly action-packed game content, but comes from the established English term “live action”, which also describes a representation with human actors in films.

At the beginning of 2020, the DLRV eV and the Society for Live-Role-Play eV published a model for live role-playing that emphasizes the aspects of community, social responsibility, inclusion, sustainability and participation as essential principles for live role-playing.

Organizational forms

Live role-playing games are usually organized by associations, less often by private individuals or specially created companies. In the fantasy genre, clubs are often set up to represent a common grouping in the game world (such as an order of knights, a magical school or a fantasy land).

In the fantasy and vampire genres in particular , organizers often join forces in so-called campaigns. The members of a campaign play in a common game world; every event organizer has its own country on a fictional continent and plays its story. The countries establish diplomatic relations with one another or wage war against one another. Again, almost nothing is planned, and everything evolves as you play. Nobody can know the outcome of a battle before a battle, as it is not fought in the minds of the players, but on a battlefield with LARP weapons.

The German Live RPG Association

The German Live RPG Association e. V. (DLRV) originally emerged from a fantasy campaign, but now acts as an overarching interest group for the entire live role-playing game in the Federal Republic of Germany. The association sees itself as a communication platform for live role-playing players, organizational teams and clubs and as a public organ for live role-playing. The DLRV provides information material for those interested and presents the hobby in trade fair appearances and brochures for beginners. In order to enable the exchange among German live role-playing players, the DLRV organizes the annual live role-playing conference "MittelPunkt" and awards the prize for progressive role-playing game development in Germany (FRED), which honors outstanding, pioneering and innovative live role-playing game concepts. The association's activities also include the German LARP Research Working Group, an association of scientists from German-speaking countries who research and publish on the subject of LARP.

Game world and storyline

Character from the end times scenario

Many events are adventure games in which a game management has prepared approaches to a story as a game plot or plot. The plot is presented using props and prepared helpers. The latter are referred to as non-player characters or NPCs, analogous to the pen & paper role-playing game . The player characters should interact with the NPCs and follow the game plot through puzzles, espionage, inquiries, fights, tests of courage and the like and bring it to a conclusion.

In “free” game systems, however, the game management merely defines a framework that is mainly defined by the setting in the game world. In this the players can act freely after the start of the game without following a thread intended by the game management. Interaction results from the common game world and the common history of the players.

Game objective

Knight at the tournament

In LARP there is usually no defined goal. The game and the fun of representing the characters is the real goal here. However, the chosen character can pursue its own goals. This is how a commissioner will hunt down criminals, but her boyfriend may want to persuade her to marry , and a thief will try not to get caught. In other settings it is sometimes only about survival.

Furthermore, the game master can initiate various game threads, so-called plots , from which sub-goals result. Such a plot idea could be the auction of a jewelry collection. The commissioner will want to keep an eye on the guests at the auction, the thief will try to steal the highlight of the collection, and the friend might try to buy a matching engagement ring.

Occasionally tournaments or own sports such as Rumpelstump, Pompfball or Jugger are included in the flow of the game.

There are also LARPs that have an artistic claim, mostly in terms of the acting performance or the choice of the theme. The subjects of such avant-garde LARPs usually revolve around politics, culture, religion, sexuality or the human condition . This approach is more common in Nordic countries.

In addition to entertainment and artistic value, there are also some LARPs with an educational or educational entitlement. The Danish school Østerskov Efterskole z. B. LARP as a teaching tool in several subjects. Language lessons can be implemented or supported by forcing the pupils in role play to improvise in writing and orally in the language to be learned. LARPs with political topics can try to stimulate or shape political thinking.

regulate

Before an event, a system of rules is usually established by the game management (SL / Orga).

The origins of the live role-playing game from the pen & paper role-playing game can partly be recognized by the rules used, with which fictional or non-real game elements such as magic, divine miracles or battles are represented. As in the area of ​​these role-playing games, there are a number of different control systems.

Basically, the LARP regulations can be divided into two groups:

• Points and skills based rules

  These rules are strongly based on the tradition of the pen & paper role-playing game. The character's characteristics are described by a system of point values, each representing a certain skill of the character. These include, for example, the most widespread fantasy rules "DragonSys", "Silbermond", "Phoenix", "ThatsLive", "Daimon", " Mind's Eye Theater " and " The Black Eye ". As a rule, the character develops over time, with the number of points symbolizing the level of training of the character. Usually a mixture of skills is used: a) those that the player really needs to have (e.g. fighting, aiming, running ...), b) those that he has to learn or buy with experience points (e.g. reading tracks, Fighter protection ...), and c) those that only have to be represented because they cannot actually be carried out (e.g. use of magic, assassination, brewing of poisons, healing of wounds ...).

• Pointless rules

  According to the rule principle You can do what you can represent (DKWDDK), all skills are open to the character that the player himself has mastered or can represent credibly. Magic is also possible if it is presented accordingly through special effects or purely symbolic actions. There is no additional limitation of character traits through point values. Usually there is no need for gradual character development here either.

  According to the rule principle you can do what you can (DKWDK) there is no magic or other skills, only things that can actually be performed by the player. If a player wants to “read clues”, for example, he must actually be able to interpret clues.

In-time and out-time

During the role play, the players are usually in time (IT). This means that all of their actions and statements are part of the game and their respective roles and are viewed as such by the other players. If one, several or even all players have to leave the game for a short time, they are Out Time (OT) during this time . Your actions and statements are then not part of the game or your role. In order for other players to be able to distinguish whether a player is in time or out time , an OT sign is usually agreed that a player has to show while he is out time . For example, this can be a raised closed fist. The OT symbol can also be used to call out a general stoppage of play so that all players automatically go to Out Time until the game continues.

Some possible reasons for using the OT sign:

• A player has a question about the rules of the role-playing game. He can show the OT sign and ask his question. Other players can then answer him out-of-time as well . This is often very useful, especially for new players who are not very familiar with the usually complex set of rules.
• A player who is injured and is calling for help will display the OT sign to indicate that their call for help is not part of the game. The OT sign brings with it a safety aspect.
• A game management wants to announce an event that cannot be played out directly. For example, the game management could announce the exploding of a bomb. The game management calls out a so-called freeze with the OT sign shown. The game then does not really interrupt, but the players remain in their positions. The game is frozen. The game management then announces the bomb and gives further details about the exact position, strength and effects of the bomb. Then she counts down a countdown. The moment the countdown runs out, the freeze ends and the bomb explodes in the game. The players can then play out their reaction to the explosion as realistically as possible, for example by starting up or screaming in fright.

history

Live role-playing games have been taking place in German-speaking countries since around 1990. Various precursors had already developed in parallel before that, in that members of role-playing and fantasy clubs or participants in fantasy post-games began to depict game actions in real life. The SCA may also have had an early influence. However, the first commercial live role-playing game with an initial effect is DRACCON 1 in 1992 on the Starkenburg near Heppenheim an der Bergstrasse, organized by Markus Hailer (Drachenschmiede), for which the first LARP set of rules was developed in Germany: DragonSys . It was widely used and is probably the most popular system of rules in Germany. In addition to DragonSys, there are other well-known sets of rules such as B. Silbermond, Phönix, DKVDK and DKVDDK.

Recognition by the Federal Agency for Civic Education 2015

In 2015, the live role-playing game Project Exodus , a Battlestar Galactica-LARP, was funded by the Federal Agency for Civic Education . The Federal Office for Civic Education used Project Exodus, among other things, to find out whether live role-playing games are suitable for political education. This could possibly depend on whether LARP for youth and adult education will receive better state funding in the future.

In 2015 the Waldritter eV received recognition for the promotion of guidelines by the Federal Agency for Civic Education. As a result, the forest knight was one of the first associations of this type to have a contingent to hold educational events in the field of political education.

Weapons in live role-playing

LARP foam weapons

Armed conflicts are simulated in the live role-playing game using so-called upholstery weapons that look as realistic as possible but are relatively harmless . In the often used fantasy scenario, bladed weapons such as swords, daggers and axes and even bows and arrows are used. Certain clothing, such as chain clothing , is also used.

The basic structure of a bladed weapon almost always consists of a rod made of glass fiber reinforced plastic , which is padded with high-performance foam. The foam is brought into a suitable shape and covered with a stabilizing layer of latex or fabric adhesive tape ( tape ). For several years, weapons that are industrially foamed and foamed in one piece have also been in use.

Since the upholstery weapons are checked for their suitability before the events and should not be used with full force in combat, fighting remains physically harmless. A fiberglass rod, as used in LARP weapon construction, is extremely resilient (up to 200 kg) and splinters only minimally in the event of a break. Stitches are generally not allowed, as injuries cannot be ruled out.

Weapons that match the role played are used. For example, a knight's weapon is richly decorated, while an orc's sword looks rusty and jagged. This is where the advantage of latex weapons over tape weapons comes into its own: You can add filigree ornaments and paint them in detail.

Firearms such as bows or crossbows are allowed by the majority of organizers in the LARP if the weapon does not exceed a certain pulling force (approx. 4.5 kg to 13.6 kg) and arrows and bolts are adequately padded. For this purpose, the arrow or the bolt must have thick padding (e.g. made of foam) instead of a point, which prevents the arrow or bolt shaft from being pierced and whose impact area is larger than an eye socket. The use of crossbows is forbidden for people under the age of 18 in Germany under current gun law. This also applies to upholstered crossbows.

Related / opposing

Because many live role-playing games of the fantasy play genre in a more or less medieval-themed world, many live role players interested in medieval markets and historic exhibition match and some also re-enactment and Living History . The term Reenlarpment has been in circulation since around 2004 , which aims to revive historical events using live role-playing games (LARP).

Since a role is also shown in live role-playing without a given script, parallels to improvisational theater are often drawn, whereby, in contrast to LARP, it is mostly played for an audience. In contrast, cosplay usually only rehearses a short appearance in front of an audience and the costumes z. B. as a superhero is in the foreground.

Also detective game or Crime parties and Krimidinner partially use similar elements such as the live role-play. Fantasy indoor worlds (heroes' dungeon, dragon labyrinth, Phoenix castle, etc.) are indoor playgrounds with live role-playing elements.

A Live Alternate Reality Game (LARG) is a hybrid of a live role playing game (LARP) and an Alternate Reality Game (ARG), in which the line between reality and game is blurred. LARGs often play in the crime or espionage genre.

Airsoft LARP (ASLARP) stands for live role-playing games that are carried out with airsoft weapons and thus enable the representation of modern combat and conflict scenarios (e.g. police and criminals) or military clashes. Since the use of airsoft guns poses real dangers, this can only be done in suitable locations and with appropriate protective equipment. In Germany and other European countries, some of the airsoft weapons also fall under the Weapons Act , which means that additional, restrictive and sometimes different provisions apply to ASLARP.

Artistic reception

Like the pen & paper role-playing game , LARP has also left its mark on various media:

• In the movie Labyrinth of the Monsters , Tom Hanks plays a P&P role-player who loses touch with reality after the role-playing games are played as LARP.
• In the film The Wild Hunt , a group of LARPers loses touch with reality after social conflicts arise on the real-life level.
• Role models in comedy ?! a socially isolated boy and his supervisor become friends through his hobby LARP. The finale of the film consists of a larger LARP battle.
• The documentary The Lords of the Games accompanies three German live role-players as they pursue their hobby.
• In the movie Knights of Badassdom, LARPs accidentally conjure up a real demon.
• The documentary Weekend Warriors portrays five German live role-players.
• In the Icelandic film Astrópía , the protagonist Hildur begins her work in a comic and role play shop, where she also comes into contact with the LARP scene.
• In the episode 8x11 Bloody Game of the series Supernatural , one of the LARPers can enslave a fairy and use real magic .
• In the novel Saeculum , Ursula Poznanski interweaves the LARP level and the real-live level to create an exciting, award-winning thriller for young people and adults.
• In the pilot episode Kampf um Thandrien of his mockumentary Meine heile Welt: The Germans and their hobbies , Michael Kessler portrays the plumber Baggi, who in his spare time slips into the role of the warrior Bagor on LARPs .
• In Daniela Beck's novel Murderer Game , a group of LARPs encounter unsolved puzzles from the past.

literature

• Ina Dahm: LARP - entry into a fantastic hobby . Zauberfeder, Braunschweig 2013, ISBN 978-3-938922-38-5 .
• Momo Evers , Lars Schiele, live role play . Phoenix Press, 1999, ISBN 3-89064-557-7
• LARP: Behind the scenes (collection of essays on MittelPunkt 2009) by Karsten Dombrowski (ed.), Braunschweig: Zauberfeder Verlag, 2009, ISBN 978-3-938922-21-7
• LARP: Insights (collection of essays on MittelPunkt 2010) by Karsten Dombrowski (ed.), Braunschweig: Zauberfeder Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-938922-23-1
• LARP: Über den Tellerrand (collection of essays on MittelPunkt 2011) by Karsten Dombrowski (ed.), Braunschweig: Zauberfeder Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-938922-29-3
• LARP and I (collection of essays on MittelPunkt 2012) by Karsten Dombrowski (ed.), Braunschweig: Zauberfeder Verlag, 2012, ISBN 978-3-938922-35-4
• LARP: Just a game? (Collection of essays on MittelPunkt 2013) by Karsten Dombrowski, Rafael Bienia (ed.), Braunschweig: Zauberfeder Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-938922-39-2
• LARP: Kommunikation (collection of essays on MittelPunkt 2014) by Rafael Bienia (ed.), Braunschweig: Zauberfeder Verlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-938922-87-3
• LARP: Zeug (collection of essays on MittelPunkt 2015) by Rafael Bienia and Gerke Schlickmann (eds.), Braunschweig: Zauberfeder Verlag, 2015, ISBN 978-3-938922-58-3
• LARP and the (other) arts (collection of articles on MittelPunkt 2016) by Rafael Bienia and Gerke Schlickmann (eds.), Braunschweig: Zauberfeder Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-938922-74-3
• LARP: Silver Wedding of Rafael Bienia and Gerke Schlickmann (ed.), Braunschweig: Zauberfeder Verlag, 2017, ISBN 978-3-938922-80-4 .
• LARP: Gender (roles) by Rafael Bienia and Gerke Schlickmann (eds.), Braunschweig: Zauberfeder Verlag 2018, ISBN 978-3-938922-96-5 .
• LARPzeit , a quarterly magazine since 2003, Braunschweig: Zauberfeder Verlag
• Role Playing Materials by Rafael Bienia, dissertation, Maastricht University, Braunschweig: Zauberfeder Verlag, 2016, PDF , ISBN 978-3-938922-61-3 .

Web links

Commons : Live action role-playing games  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Wiktionary: Live role-playing game  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

• Wiki about Live Action Role Play
• Mission statement of the DLRV and the GfLR
• Extensive report on Deutschlandfunk

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Alexander Jaensch: LARP - An attempt at definition. In: teilzeithelden.de. April 5, 2014, accessed December 11, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Mission statement. In: dlrv.eu. Retrieved August 9, 2020 . 
3. ↑ DLRV - German Live RPG Association e. V. Accessed November 20, 2014 . 
4. ↑ FRED Progressive role play development in Germany. Retrieved November 20, 2014 . 
5. ↑ The AG German Larp Research in the German Live RPG Association. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on November 29, 2014 ; Retrieved November 20, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ Eirik Fatland: Knutepunkt and Nordic Live Role-playing: A crash course. (PDF; 99.8 KB) In: knutpunkt.laiv.org. Retrieved November 16, 2017 . 
7. ↑ Malik Hyltoft: The Role-Players' School: Østerskov Efterskole . In: Markus Montola, Jaakko Stenros (Ed.): Playground Worlds . Ropecon ry, 2008, ISBN 978-952-92-3579-7 .
8. ↑ Michael Cheng: Student perceptions of interactive drama activities (PDF). In: Journal of Interactive Drama , pp. 1–26. Retrieved April 13, 2003. 
9. ↑ (Montola, Stenros & Waern 2009) “Some pervasive larps seek to engage in active dialogue with their social environment. The purpose of such dialogue can be politically or artistically motivated. These games have a message that is aimed either at the players, at bystanders, or society as a whole. "
10. ↑ Anita Myhre Andersen, Erik Aarebrot: Larp in Kamensky forest . In: Larp, the Universe and Everything (PDF), Knutpunkt 2009, 2009 (accessed May 5, 2009).
11. ↑ InTime - LarpWiki. Retrieved October 4, 2014 . 
12. ↑ OutTime - LarpWiki. Retrieved October 4, 2014 . 
13. ↑ detailed list of RegelWerke - LarpWiki. Retrieved January 20, 2018 . 
14. ↑ Sebastian Meineck: Live role-playing game in the naval destroyer: Four days of the end of the world. In: spiegel.de . February 7, 2015, accessed March 6, 2018 . 
15. ^ Educational institutions - Waldritter eV In: bpb.de. Retrieved August 14, 2020 . 
16. ↑ ReenLARPment. In: LarpWiki. Retrieved January 22, 2020 . 
17. ↑ The Lords of Games . Film homepage
18. ↑ Knights of Badassdom . Film homepage
19. ↑ Weekend Warriors. Summary and trailer. In: gebrueder-beetz.de. Retrieved February 13, 2020 . 
20. ↑ Ursula Poznanski: Saeculum , Loewe-Verlag, Bindlach 2011, ISBN 978-3-7855-7028-9 .
21. ↑ "My ideal world": Format with Michael Kessler goes into series in the first. In: rtv.de. July 7, 2017, accessed November 9, 2018 .