LARP
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Introduction
This is adapted from the LARP FAQ which was written in the mid 1980s, and revised periodically. LARPA maintained the FAQ from about 2000 to 2005, and considers the Wiki to be the natural and logical replacement to the more limited FAQ.
What is this live-action stuff, anyway?
The Live Action Roleplayers Association (LARPA - formerly ILF), in an attempt to bridge all the various forms of live roleplaying, uses the following definition: "Interactive Literature (IL) is any dynamic art in which multiple participants interact at the same time, to create a story." The basic idea is somewhat like improvising a play with nothing but knowledge of the background and motivations of your character. Sometimes these will be decided by you, sometimes by others, depending on the style of event you play. Each of the other players will have a character he or she is playing, and the interaction of the characters creates a story. For some styles of LRP, this is the entirety of the event. For others, there is an adventure gaming element, where your character might have some specific goals to achieve, either alone or with the help of others. This might range from "Rescue the kidnapped princess from the bandits" to "Prevent the rise of Hitler's Nazis to power", again depending on the style of event.
Below, well talk about
Styles of LARP - the way in which events are run in terms of what the focus of the event is and how the players interact with it.
Attributes or Axis of LARP - various attributes that describe qualities about LARP that experience has shown are very important in understanding what makes one event different from another.
Genres of LARP - the actual subject or content of the event - Science-Fiction, Vampire, High Fantasy, Real World, etc.
Styles of LARP
At this stage, it becomes useful to talk about the the principal styles of live roleplaying. In discussing Styles and Genres, it can also be useful to have a working knowledge of LARP Jargon.
History: Theatre Style v. Live Combat
Historically, LARP tended to be divided into Theatre Style and Live Combat, however Live Combat is really an attribute of LARP, since there are Theatre Style events with Live Combat elements. A more modern outlook suggests a principal division between Adventure Style LARP and Theatre Style LARP which are different along two of the axis below. These terms originated in the LARP FAQ back in the 1990s, and at the time there was a long debate about what terminology should be used in the FAQ. Certainly few of the Live Combat groups would call themselves by that label, and, although the label is sometimes self-applied, most "Theatre Style" groups would not want to be pigeonholed as such either.
Note that few events fit these definitions exactly. The point of terms such as Theatre Style is not to build a box, which a LARP must fit into, but rather to develop a term to be able to talk easily about certain types of events which have broad similarities. So the terms must fit the events, rather than the events fitting the terms. There are certainly LC events in which the organizers have prepared characters for the players, and TS events in which the players create their own characters. While it isn't the most common format, some groups do run single-shot LC events. Most Mind's Eye Theatre events are a theatre style event with an ongoing plot. Many Cthulhu Live events would also fall under this heading.
Many games may fit the Hybrid Style outlined below, but it may be useful, in mechanical terms, to discuss the aspects of them which are primarily Theatre Style or primarily Adventure Style
Styles of LARP
Theatre Style
There are very few pure extremes in LARP. "Theatre Style" (TS) LARP is distinguished by four principal attributes:
a) more than in Adventure Style LARP, the GMs are likely to have either pre-written characters for the players to play, or if not may provide much more pro-active plotting and guidance during the event. The GMs in general provide more direction and are more likely to supply goals for the character.
b) more than in Adventure Style LARP, the action is likely to be generated or instigated by the Players. Theatre Style describes a event in which players play in a background, ethos or environment set up by the GMs, but may have a great deal of latitude in choosing how to behave and what to do within the setting. GMs are more likely to provide guidance, and less likely to prohibit or penalize changes of heart or compromises.
c) more than in Adventure Style LARP, it is likely that the game setup will involve elements of Character v. Character play. This means that characters may have mutually exclusive or irreconcilable goals, and may be in direct conflict, in some cases actually killing each other out of the game.
d) more than in Adventure Style LARP, it is likely that Combat will be simulated with cards or a numeric system involving dice or some other randomizer such as "rock paper scissors," than by fighting with padded weapons.
Historically, the distinction of not involving Live Combat was seen as paramount, and Theatre Style was also known as Simulated Combat, Abstract Combat, Card Waving.
The term Theatre Style also creates some confusion because some people use it principally to refer to Traditional Theatre Style, which if it were limited to that, would leave no term at all for many events.
One of the strongest early influences on the development of Theatre Style was the SIL, which coined the term Interactive Literature at Harvard in 1982.
In a TS type event, the characters are, more often than not, created by the people running the event. You are given a packet or dossier containing this background information - maybe you're this young Danish prince. You're pretty depressed because your father died, and your uncle took the throne, marrying your mother. You have a few friends you can trust, such as Horatio, and a few you're not sure about, such as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. And now Horatio wants you to come with him and see this ghost. Now Horatio, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern et. al. are other players, each of whom has a similar dossier with his or her goals, motivations, and background. The story then unfolds as the characters interact - it might be similar to the way Bill wrote it, or it might be utterly different - the survivors might even get into double figures! Again, it's all down to the way you and the other players interact. (Hamlet analogy (c) Scary Kevin)
Adventure Style
Historically Adventure Style was equated with "Live Combat" but that is no longer a reasonable proposition. A large Live Combat game might have a tavern that allows for mostly Theatre Style play, while running Adventure Style modules.
Adventure Style LARP is distinguished by four principal attributes:
a) more than in Theatre Style LARP, the Player is likely to have generated the character and background of the character, and there is more onus on the individual player to self-entertain with the game providing a framework for finding plot and goals, rather than specifically assigning them. Goals may tend to be more shared
b) more than in Theatre Style LARP, the action is likely to be generated or instigated by the GM. Adventure Style describes a event in which players play "against" a set of obstacles largely introduced by the GM. This style of play is based on traditional tabletop where a "party" of adventurers goes up "against" Monsters, NPCs, Traps, and puzzles contrived by the GM.
c) more than in Theatre Style LARP, it is likely that the game setup will involve elements of Character v. Environment play, or Collaborative Goals. While there may be conflict between Characters, it is more likely that the plot can be resolved by mutual cooperation and direct conflict is more likely to be downplayed.
d) more than in Theatre Style LARP, it is likely that Combat will be simulated by Live Combat
To give two very general examples (there will be more clarifications later), in an Adventure Style event, your character might be a member of a mercenary group in a fantasy/medieval setting. The group might be hired by a rich merchant (played by another member of the club) to find a valuable piece of jewelry he lost. How you go about doing this is up to you. Maybe when you find the item, you discover it contains plans for the invasion of the kingdom. The so-called merchant is a spy! Do you inform the authorities? Are you so angry that you kill him yourself? Will you keep quiet about it if the "merchant" pays you enough? Well, that's where your conception of the character comes in.
One very old type of Adventure Style event is called the Line Course. While few groups play Line Course events today, they may form a module or part of a larger Adventure Style event.
Hybrid Styles
Most modern LARP is to some extent a hybrid of the various elements above.
One notable style which is distinct from the two paradigms is that used by the many groups now using the Mind's Eye Theatre (MET) live versions of the various White Wolf World of Darkness (tm) tabletop games. They use combat resolution in the TS vein, but character creation and ongoing storylines more reminiscent of the LC style, with most campaigns occurring over years in various clubs and other public places, the players interacting with each other and the (fictitious) underground secret societies of vampires, mages, werewolves, and faerie in their respective cities whilst keeping their "true nature" secret from the general public.
Attributes or Axis of LARP
Axis of Attributes
Brian David Phillips suggested that LARP deals with two continuums that intersect into a quadrant. The number of Axes can be multiplied by adding many elements, however by adding a third axis we are able to arrive at a model which allows the important characteristics of most LARP to be described.
The LARP axis was a central teaching tool during the 1990s for ending the recurring feuds in which proponents of one particular type of LARP would put forward that it was "right" and that all other types of LARP were "wrong." The axis makes it clearer that many different types of LARP may exist at one time.
http://www.larpaweb.org/images/larp-axis.jpg
1 = Stand Alone Scenario (usually Created Drama with Provided Characters)
2 = Campaign, Serial or Chronicle Campaigns (usually player-created characters, ongoing story arcs)
A = Live Combat
B = Abstract Combat
i = Character v. Character
ii= Character v. Environment
1 & 2 represent the nature of the piece in terms of whether it's a self-contained unit or part of an ongoing campaign or chronicle while A & B represent the degree of realism in the portrayal of conflict (touching and hitting simulations). i and ii describe whether the action is primarily instigated by the GMs or by the Players.
Live Roleplaying events fall into various quadrants.
Campaign v. Stand-Alone Scenario
One primary set of Attributes which set events apart is the length of play.
"Stand Alone" events are run only one time, and there is no continuity. In some cases there may be one or two sequels, but they are seldom closely tied. In these events the play follows the characters through a slice of their life, but they do not go on after the event. Very often characters for Stand Alone play are GM generated. It is more typical for Theatre Style events to be Stand Alone than for Adventure Style Events to be Stand Alone
"Campaign Play" events follow the characters from episode to episode. Very often characters for Campaign play are generated by the player to specifications given out by the GMs. MET is an example of a event that is usually played in Campaign Style.
Both types of play have their strengths and weaknesses, and each have individual qualities that are necessary to make the event a success. Types of play that work well in one may work poorly in another.
Live Combat v. Abstract Combat
"Live Combat" (LC) is also known as Simulated Combat {confusing but true}, boffer, rubber sword, etc. Conversely, in LC style events combat is handled by attempting to strike an opponent with a safe padded weapon; when you strike your opponents, there are rules or conventions which determine how badly wounded they are.
While LC is most often seen as fighting with padded weapons it may also include guns firing safe projectiles such as rubber dart pistols, Gummy or Airsoft, or some type of Laser or infrared system.
Character v. Character and Character v. Environment
Character versus Character (CvC) describes a event in which players play against each other. We can generally describe them as having Antagonistic Player Goals. This need not be a deadly competition where they are out to kill each other, but may be a competition along political terms, or for resources. "Win/Win" scenarios may or may not be possible depending on the event. This area of LARP shares a background with "Killer" and other competative Assassin games. Typically Theater Style is more Character versus Character
Character versus Environment describes an event in which the players play against factors in the Environment set up by the GMs, including NPCs, puzzles, and traps. Usually there is strong potential for Collaborative Player Goals. Typically Adventure Style is more Character v. Environment.
Both cases have many exceptions. Few games are "pure" Character v. Environment or Character versus Character. Even a CvC event may have a powerful GM NPC who has to be defeated, and an Adventure Style event might have internal squabbling over politics, or a Thief who steals from other characters.
Genres of LARP
We've talked about Styles of LARP. However what most players are interested in is not the abstract of style, but "what the event is about." There are almost more Genres of LARP than it is easy to list.
Eclectic LARP
First it is worth saying that Theatre Style LARP, by virtue of a tendency toward Stand Alone rather than Campaign play, is notoriously ecclectic. Events at even a single Intercon may run the gamut from Turn of the Century Paris, to 1680s France, to the Far Future, to the inside of the human body or mind, to abstract Gods building a new universe.
A widely recognized subgenre of eclectic LARP is "Historical LARP," in which a historical time period is the focus. Like novels, Historical LARPs often have unrealistic or fantasy elements, or may even be set in "alternate histories."
Tabletop Based
Many LARPs are formed when a particular GM decides to run a given tabletop game as a LARP. For example, LARPs have been based on the tabletop versions of In Nomine, and Deadlands. It is reasonable to assume that almost any genre that can be run tabletop can probably be run Live Action.
Published Genre
Some Publishers have offered extended support for LARP:
Mind's Eye Theatre - without question MET is the best known and most redoutable system for LARP. Vampire is a significant subgenre in its own right. Some GMs of course run with variant rules, and backgrounds, but in general some version of the White Wolf World of Darkness materials are used, with or without the MET supplement.
Star Wars LARP - Live Action supplment by West End Games
Cthulhu Live - "Cthulhu Live", currently in it's 3rd edition, is a stand along Live Action Role Playing game published by Skermisher Press and licensed by Chaosium which publishes "Call of Cthulhu" and owns the RPG rights to H.P. Lovecraft's work.
Passion Play - A LARP version of Fading Suns, a space opera created by Bill Bridges and published by Holistic Design.
Fantasy LARP or Medieval Fantasy LARP
The original tabletop RPG was Chainmail and Dungeons and Dragons, published by TSR. Not surprisingly, by the late 70s, this had become the first LARP genre. Fantasy LARP is still probably the largest genre of LARP, and is dominated by Live Combat Groups. There are various subgenres, usually identified with a major organization which sponsors and sanctions groups and events.
Assassin Style Games
Before 1981, groups on College Campuses began staging LARPs which involved hunter/killer games. Technically this is a published system, however the phenomenon predates Steve Jackson Games Killer (1981) and is a major factor in the history of LARP. Several influential early groups undoubtedly were influenced by the Assassin genre, but began before SJG published Killer, or concurrent with its publication.
Murder Mystery Games
Another early element of LARP, muder mystery games are often considered to be a "different thing entirely." Some element of Murder Mystery LARP can be traced back to the 20s and probably the Victorian era, and there is some indication that this had an influence on the development of Theatre Style LARP. In these events, participants are more or less active in trying to discover the identity of a murderer. Events run during the late 1980s and 1990s establish this firmly as a LARP genre, as authors branched out into pursuing subplots and detailed characterization.
History of LARP
General Information about LARP Events
What these events are not
Unlike earlier games of "Killer" and "Assassin," or SCA and Markland "Frat(ricidal)" Combat, the emphasis is more on dramatic roleplaying and interaction between players. Pure Assassin games are, like Frat Combat, an ancestor of modern LARP, and more developed Assassin Style Games form a venerable and important branch of modern Live Roleplaying.
Most live events involve a large number of players (from thirty to several hundred at a time) who walk around and talk with each other, acting out as much of their characters' actions as are allowed within the rules. Unlike many tabletop roleplaying games (D&D and other games of its ilk), most live roleplaying events have a strong emphasis on player-player interaction as well as interaction with the world which is controlled by the Gamesmasters (GMs); in fact in some events, the GMs have no input into the events of the event beyond interpreting the rules after the event has started, making the events very social events as well as intellectual and creative challenges.
Why do it?
People Live Roleplay for any number of reasons. Some for escapism because it's lots of fun to be someone else for a few hours or a few days at a time, for the social aspects of the event and the opportunity to meet new people, and for the pure exhilaration of letting your mind run wild in a world of complete fantasy. Some players of LC style events like the opportunity to get away from their desks and do something physical in the fresh air.
Safety Concerns
It's not dangerous, is it?
No. There are a variety of different systems used, but all groups who run any kind of live events consider safety very important. After all, for any organized group there are issues of liability to consider.
Gamesmasters and players alike stress that these are games or simulations, not substitute realities. Groups which use "live" mechanics have systems for handling combat, magic, and thieving which are designed to make sure no one gets hurt, and many of these groups also have medical insurance.
There may be the odd bruise or ankle-twist, but nothing more than you might get walking through the woods or in a game of soccer or basketball. In general LARP is probably safer than hockey, (American) football or rugby.
Groups which use "abstract" mechanics use systems based largely on index cards or some other simulation, rendering the whole event little more dangerous than a walk in the park.
One of the most frequent objections to LARP is carried over from protests against tabletop Fantasy Role-Playing by various fundamentalist religious groups. It is suggested that LARP represents Satanist or other dangerous practices. Obviously since LARPers are generally representative of a broad spectrum of people with different educational and civic backgrounds, it would be as little tolerated in LARP as in any other walk of life.
It is also sometimes suggested - again as an extension of objections to tabletop fantasy role-playing - that LARP is somehow addictive or psychologically dangerous because it involves pretending to be someone else and that participants can get "too wrapped up in it." Obviously we all know that individuals can get wrapped up in any hobby or entertainment, sometimes to the point where it interferes with life. Usually the reasons are with the person's personal life, not the hobby they choose, and this is as true of LARP as anything else.
There is further information explaining the falsehood of this sort of accusation, which is frequently leveled against roleplaying games in general, in the Usenet rec.games.frp FAQ's
Who wins?
Everyone and no one. Everyone has fun. "Winning" isn't the point of live roleplaying games; it's the taking part that is the fun. (Yes I know you can say that about any event but LRP events are probably one of the few where it is true.)
Yes, sometimes you'll come away from an adventure having accomplished your goals, sometimes you won't. Most events are set up so that it isn't possible for everyone to "win" all the time. If there's no chance of failure, success doesn't have much sweetness. Dramatic roleplaying and creative interaction are what's really important, and what's really fun. Some of the most legendary scenes happen when people are "losing." More so than in any other form of gaming, how you play your character and how much fun you have are far more important than who does better or worse than you.
Do I need experience? What if I don't know anyone there? What if I'm shy? Who are these people, anyway?
Don't worry. Many people who play these events have played tabletop roleplaying events, but many others have not. Lots of other real-life activities are excellent preparation for live roleplaying. If you've ever daydreamed about being someone else, or about being in a different world, you've got what you need.
Besides, most event designers set things up to give experienced players incentive to help new players along. You'll probably have knowledge or abilities that other people need. Other people will help you out, not just because they're nice, but because they need your help.
And they are nice, too. These aren't wild-eyed lunatics or immature geeks, they're ordinary people from all walks of life, who happen to like using their imaginations and sharing the experience with other people. All live roleplaying events are very social it's a great way to meet new friends.
Can I team with my friends?
Like almost everything else, that depends on the Event. In general it is possible in longer events, or Campaigns. It is important to let the organizers know ahead of time. Really big teams often get broken up into smaller ones, just to keep things balanced, but you'll practically always get to stay with at least a few of your friends. In some events, this will mean that you will be given characters who share goals and beliefs, and who would have reasons to work together. In others, notably LC fantasy style events, the whole ethos is on your character as part of a group of adventurers who rely upon each other to survive.
So how do they work? Who runs them? How do I get involved?
This is where things start getting really diverse, and we have to start differentiating between the two major styles. For the next section of this document, the answers will be labeled Theatre Style or Live Combat appropriately, but these are only the predominant answers for the style - some events which would be classed as Live Combat in most respects might do some things similarly to the Theatre Style.
Remember, however, that every event is individual. Each may resemble the answers given under one, neither, or both styles in the following. The fact that I have chosen combat resolution style as a label for the two major groups is incidental, all LRP groups are there to roleplay, with combat being stressed to a greater or lesser amount depending on the group. If the thing that attracts you to LRP is the opportunity to have a realistic fight, there's a group for you. If you want to play a detailed character with other skilled roleplayers, there's a group for you.
