My LARPing Adventure

This past weekend I went LARPing (Live-Action Role-Playing) for the first time. It started Friday night and ended Sunday morning, and you stay the whole weekend (or at least, my friends and I had to because the campground is 3 hours away). So, think Renaissance fair meets camping meets role-playing meets omg nerdgasm.

I’ve done roleplaying before on forums and stuff, and I’ve played RPG video games, but this was quite different. Since it was my first event, I played various NPC (non-player character) roles the entire weekend. E.g. goblin, bandit, water elemental. And since it was a VERY full weekend, I’m not even going to try describing everything; instead I’m going to provide you with lists!

The Good

  • The campground was absolutely beautiful! The sky was 100% clear and full of stars, and the landscape was awesome. I live in a pretty rural area, but this was breathtaking.
  • This LARPing community really goes all out. Everyone is in character, everyone dresses up and the game is very well regulated. It’s legit.
  • I had a lot of fun playing some of the roles. With NPCing, you get a lot of crappy ones that involve dying, but sometimes you get to do cool stuff like rob people and avoid arrest!
  • My one friend played his character, and from what I saw the whole weekend, playing a character is SO much fun and way better than NPCing all weekend.
  • Most of the people are very friendly, helpful and welcoming. I only encountered a few people that I didn’t like, and they were just annoying people in general. There’s a big sense of community, though.

The Bad

  • Due to my unpreparedness I was freezing at night and had to sleep on a wooden bed frame. Not comfortable.
  • There’s a lot of waiting around when you NPC.
  • If you’re like me (lazy) you will be quite sore after the weekend is over. This isn’t too bad, though, seeing as I need the activity!
  • It’s 3 hours away.

So, those are my lackluster lists about my actually awesome weekend. It’s just hard to articulate the experience, but if you’re a nerd like me, you’ll appreciate the fun and excitement of LARPing.

I plan on going again in December, and I’d like to make a character to play. I’ve already got a good idea of what I’m going to do, and I just need to get a costume together and make a character history. Can’t wait!

Do you have any experience with role-playing? Maybe even LARPing? Share it with me!

Posted on: October 11, 2010 — 5 Comments

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