|
A R C H
I V E Main Page - Return to previous page |
Main
> Resources
> Archive
> Live Action Role Play: no blood, all glory
Title: Live Action Role Play: no blood, all glory Source: The Spectator, June 1st, 2011 NOTICE: The following material is copyrighted as indicated in the body of text. It has been posted to this web page for archival purposes, and in doing so, no claim of authorship is expressed or implied, nor is a profit being made from the use of the material. Live
Action Role Play: no blood, all glory By John
Beaton Published:
Wednesday, June 1, 2011 If you've
ever tried to suck the dragon venom from the arrow wounds of a fallen
guildsmen
while some level 12 necromancer slowly draws your essence from your
body and
banishes it to the pits of Hades, then you're either an extra on a new
Peter
Jackson movie or a "LARPer." LARP
stands for Live Action Role Playing and is a blend of theater and
simulated
combat. The players (LARPers) will take on the elements of a character
of their
choosing and stick to that role like World of Warcraft players stick to
their
chairs. And despite what you may think, this fantasy game seems to be
as
ubiquitous in America as the cheese lodged in the hearts of the people
that
live here. LARPing
began sometime in the late 1970s with the rise of similar games such as
Dungeons and Dragons. But unlike Dungeons and Dragons, you don't need a
20-sided die or a shuttered basement room to play. LARPing is generally
open to
everyone and is often carried out in semi-remote outdoor areas such as
parks or
fields. "[LARPing]
a great way to get out, make friends and lose weight… the game is all
the fun
of playing pretend as a kid with rules and fast-paced, safe combat,"
said
Ron Leota, a game master for a Seattle LARPing group. This
particular group is known as Alliance, which is a high fantasy LARP
group that
is a chapter in a larger nationwide group that uses similar rules. High
fantasy
is a subgenre of fantasy that generally involves magic and parallel
worlds,
similar to Lord of The Rings. LARP games that involve high fantasy
often allow
the players a higher degree of escapism due to the almost limitless
character
possibilities. For
example, Leota plays a "good guy" charismatic leader that goes
politicking throughout the game and story. According to Leota, a large
part of
the fun is listening to the back-stories that each person makes for
their
respective character and seeing how those stories can intertwine
throughout the
game play. For some,
however, the battles are the drawing feature into these LARPing worlds
and
different groups have been formed to cater to that interest. Dagorhir,
for
example, is a battle game that doesn't allow magic or fantasy but
instead
focuses on all-out battles using foam weapons. John may
be reached at jbeaton@su-spectator.com |
|