Thoughts from an Old Larper

I was sitting around today, because well for one I couldn't move from turkey overdose and two I think I was trying to get my mind off of desert mmmmmmm, but anyway I was thinking about some ideas and such for larping. This is not a thread that is written to call anyone a bad larper, I am just throwing examples outthere in a visual sense that anyone can easily find themselves I just decided to link them here. This is mearly to reflect upon and think how you can have more fun and so can others.

The reason we all come to Larps are differant, and our backgrounds in gaming may have started in various ways, mine started at about the age of 10 or 11 playing Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. I use to watch the cartoon as a kid, reflecting now 20+ years later it was not a good cartoon but life does that sometimes. Anyway we are all linked by one thing, we are geeks in some for or fashion which is not bad at all. I am a proud geek!

I have been to quite a few differant states and played a large variety of larps over my geeky life and some have been great and some not so. I played Amtguard when I was in TX and the games itself is not bad nor are the rules, it was the group that I had to deal with. To them it was a game of combat and running around in regular clothes, not what the game is about just the group near me sucked. Now mind you i like to miss it up and fight myself but they were missing the point. Live action role playing...sigh anyway. That was my worst experience but I could not find anything else in the area short of Vampire games in Austin. Which were not bad at all mind you, they Rped more then worrying about combat because lets face it the system for any of the Vampire games suck!

Now then we come to the extreme of larping which is Europe, I have not had the  pleasure but one day i will, they seem to worry more about atmosphere and RPing then combat, which is fine by me.

I guess for me, I love getting lost in a character and a world...to forget about my real life BS and come to Travance as it were. So if you get time look one youtube or at other games all across the world and compare them to your character and your larping experience and think what can I do to improve. Now I know we are not all Oscar winning actors and actresses but try. Larping has gotten so much easier to get clothing and weapons today because of....the internet, yes I said it I lived in a world without it!!! Yes shocking how I live in the dark ages but i did. Ebay and the explosion of larp stores is amazing and cheap too. It takes time to assemble a costume I know so don't worry about it, just try and ask for opinions and guidance from the old timers, and I dont just refer to Charlie by that remark.

Not bashing anyone just to examples:





I may make this into a regular posting thingy, this is not meant to bash anyone or start any fights and I am not Trolling so please any comments lets make em positive.

xoxo

Ahh, Euro-LARPS... I dream of one  day attending Drachenfest.  The costumes, the combats, the rules-lite systems... one day I will get there.

The concept: play anything you want, as long as you follow the game rules, which are online, if you would like to see how simple they are.  Join the faction that most suits your temperament, there are over ten to choose from.  Then the factions battle for who will control the world for the next year.
Each faction has it's own guarded and protected camp, plus there is a town where the factions can mingle in safety.





Keep in mind that they only run once a year, for a long weekend or so, 4-5 days, so they can blow their whole budgets on one event. Over here it would take a meta-LARP, a game where each LARP in the area brought their players and formed a faction, to get the kind of numbers they get over there.

T

Oh, by the way that is NOT a mispelling, Jeff wasn't thinking of tasty foods (dessert), he has been over "there" so many times, that now he dreams of the desert, with all it's sand and spiders and scorpions.  Weird, but true.

And camels.

And so we continue the saga.....

The one thin for me that always seems to take away from a characters costume are three things. You could have an awesome upper costume and then destroy the whole look by wearing blue jeans and/or sneakers. If you are willing to spend the money for the look try something as simple as sweat pants, black works really good. Also go to your local Wally World (Wallmart) and pick up some balck work boots or your local army navy surplus and get an old pair of combat boots.

Ahhhh and my favorite love the T-shirt, Larping shirt or so cheap these days you can grab one off line for about 20 bucks. That or the many people that sew out there these days is incredible, just ask around KR. Heck I can even whip out a fairly good looking cloak myself for about 10 bucks.

I know we are not all Lottery winners but these are a couple things to sweeten up then garb and get more into the character. I know when I dress the part I feel more like the part, it improove my role playing and just makes it better for everyone. Thats really it this week.

xoxo