I have a confession to make. I am a LARPer.
‘LARP’ stands for ‘Live Action Role Play’. It involves spending several weekends a year variously running around a field while wielding a giant fake sword or running around a field trying not to be thwacked with a giant fake sword.
I actively try not to tell people that I do RP, because they tend to assume I’m talking about the kind of roleplay that’s best enjoyed in private. “Oh, yeah, I just wander out into a clearing at night with about 20 other people and we get a bit rough…” I can see how they get confused.
The easiest way I can explain LARP to you all is this: If you’re over 25, then it’s like Final Fantasy but in real life. If you’re under 25, then it’s like the film ‘Role Models’ but with more smacking people with latex-covered fibreglass until they fall over. If you don’t know what either of those things are then you’re probably not going to care what LARPing is anyway.
When it’s time for a LARP weekend, I have to say I find it quite liberating to stroll casually down the concourse at King’s Cross wearing a large black cloak. On days when there’s a decent breeze, I can almost take flight.
As a LARPer you can pretend to be almost anything or anyone you want, as long as it’s within the game’s character rules. All you need is some face paints and you’re well away. I’ve been a skeleton, a zombie, a rat, a troll, and a juggernaut.
That last one was possibly the most fun of all. Juggers hold a two-handed hammer, and crush anyone that gets in their way by swishing it back and forth. I managed to swing up enough momentum to near corkscrew myself into the mud. Add that to the three layers of fake fur in mid July, and the players didn’t need to do much to ‘kill’ me – I just keeled over.
I’d definitely tell anyone considering LARP to give it a go. If nothing else it makes a great story when you get back into work on Monday morning… particularly if you’ve forgotten to wipe the face paint off.
