I used to play in a Vampire the Masqurade Larp. It was lots of fun. I made some cool friends. It sounded like it was a big deal with chapters over atleast two countries.
Anyone still do that?
Hell yeah!
The Camarilla is still active.
https://www.mindseyesociety.org/
I haven't done a Cam LARP for years, but I do 1-2 LARPS a year depending on what events are happening at the local cons. I have an acquaintance who is part of a huge local post-apoc fantasy LARP that is rather hardcore and I've been toying with the idea of joining because of the rave reviews.
Quote from: Headless;958889I used to play in a Vampire the Masqurade Larp. It was lots of fun. I made some cool friends. It sounded like it was a big deal with chapters over atleast two countries.
Anyone still do that?
You are... kidding... right?
Ok. Assuming you are even more sheltered than I used to be...
um.. Yes. Larping is alive and well. IFGS and Cthulhu Live are still around as is Vampire. There is/was a local group.
In recent years LARPCraft has started advancing and getting broader scope. As have a few others.
What state you in? Theres probably a few local or semi-local unless you are out in the middle of no-where like I used to be.
Theres all sorts of LARPs now ranging from fantasy to SF, and ranging from VERY casual to one requiring full gear. Some of the SF ones require painball or nerf guns.
Not only is LARP more popular than ever, it appears to be at the core of \#WhiteWolf's marketing plans.
I've never done it or had any interest in doing it. I've only ever seen it done on TV and movies, where it was basically being mocked as uncool by writers who probably know as little about it as I do as evidenced by the way they portray D&D on shows like the Big Bang Theory and Community.
So what makes LARP different from what my kids do with their toy light sabers and blaster pistols? Are there actual rulebooks or referees who roll dice to see if you hit? Do you pay to join an organization that sets it up and schedules it or do you just get together with friends and lark about in the park?
Quote from: Headless;958889I used to play in a Vampire the Masqurade Larp. It was lots of fun. I made some cool friends. It sounded like it was a big deal with chapters over atleast two countries.
Anyone still do that?
LARPing is the main reason I stayed far away from VTM in the 90s. Running around the city at night wearing sketchy costumes was not my idea of fun, and the fact many of the players were also in the BDSM community meant sometimes lines were blurred. Also the idea of boffers just killed immersion, not to mention I was taking Chinese sword fighting at the time, so I saw little point in engaging in Nerf combat.
Yep. I still haven't ever done it, but I occasionally encounter people doing them in parks near the university.
"Is that a robber skulking in the bushes?" I think. "Oh, yes it is, but they are also wearing a cowl, cloak and fantasy boots, and carrying a foam flail..."
There was a guy here in Vegas recently who was trying to get a LARP group going. Me and mine weren't interested but I think he got a few takers from other quarters.
Most of the other stuff I know of locally has devolved into sexual variations... like a Gor group I (accidentally) became aware of.
EDIT: Actually, if you include the Renaissance Faire 'guilds' as some form of LARP then there IS a good bit of that going on around here. My friends are quite involved and always seem to have projects going on and things they need to do for The Queen.
It shares some degree of the same sexual aspects I associate with Vampire LARP but it's not a given (unlike the GOR group).
There's still a significant portion of people who play Dagorhir (LARP-based boffer fighting game) here in the Eastern Part of the U.S. In fact there's a large weekend battle in Somerset, PA every last weekend in April called the Gates of Fire. Usually between 200 to 500 people attend annually.
Quote from: Simlasa;958985Most of the other stuff I know of locally has devolved into sexual variations... like a Gor group I (accidentally) became aware of.
Of all the sf fantasy to spark a cult Gor has to be the most poorly written.
I see some kids from the local high school who LARP with foam swords and shields in the park. One time when I was at a meeting on the local campus someone knocked at the door and when I amswered it I was greeted by the surreal sight of a woman in full chain mail. She was part of the campus medievel club and was lost. A bit too hardcore nerd even for me but at the same time got to respect that one branch of the hobby was rooted in the Society for Creative Anachronism.
I have noticed though that the alumni group on campus put on several successful nights of a murder mystery larp although of course it was neither named nor presented as such. That form seems to be the one most likely to crossover and not inspire outright mockery among the plebs.
That infamous 'Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt!' video meme probably didn't help any of the poor high school larpers in terms of bullying and mockery.
But actual medieval sword fighting classes and competitions seem to be catching on with all types lately. So certain elements of larping seem to be crossing over.
Quote from: Headless;958889I used to play in a Vampire the Masqurade Larp. It was lots of fun. I made some cool friends. It sounded like it was a big deal with chapters over atleast two countries.
Anyone still do that?
Yes and like tabletop RPGs there are a variety of different types of LARPS like NEROLarp (http://nerolarp.com/news.php). From 1992 to 2004 I was involved in running boffer LARP events and from 1999 to 2004 I owned a LARP chapter. I got out of it because my wife and I had a second child and I did not have time for it anymore.
Quote from: Krimson;958934LARPing is the main reason I stayed far away from VTM in the 90s. Running around the city at night wearing sketchy costumes was not my idea of fun, and the fact many of the players were also in the BDSM community meant sometimes lines were blurred. Also the idea of boffers just killed immersion, not to mention I was taking Chinese sword fighting at the time, so I saw little point in engaging in Nerf combat.
Those of us in NERO (boffer LARP) didn't look too kindly at VtM LARPs either. Basically a bunch of posers who play rock, paper and scissors. . Not like us boffer larpers who will slog through the mud, rain, and snow with 30 pounds of gear on to get to the adventure wondering whether that barbarian player we picked up back at town is really there to backstab us.
There are different types of LARPS and different LARP Organizations. The one I was involved with was in essence D&D in the woods with a Player vs. Player component mixed in. i.e. it was possible to get away with killing another player characters. The my picture on this site is me dressed as my Endless Star character.
The advantage and problem with boffer LARPS is the live action. It an advantage because it very immersive, it is a problem because there are many standard fantasy tropes that are difficult for us to do. Not the least of which is the fact that staff needs to eat, sleep, and shit. And it take time to get from one side of the site to the other.
Good to know that stuff is still going on.
As for isolation, the thing about living rurally or in a small town is if you lose the one guy (gender non-specific) who's running things, it goes under. That happened with SCA here. And I moved away and lost touch with the LARPers.
The thing about Canada is its FUCKING HUGE! And empty. Halifax is cool but small (and I still live an hour away) its 14 muther Fucking hours to Montreal.
But like I said it was a good time.
From my own observations, Vampire LARP's are less common than they used to be and offer LARP's are more popular than ever. I'm currently involved in a boffer LARP but can't play regularly because I have two small children.
Quote from: Headless;959039Good to know that stuff is still going on.
As for isolation, the thing about living rurally or in a small town is if you lose the one guy (gender non-specific) who's running things, it goes under. That happened with SCA here. And I moved away and lost touch with the LARPers.
The thing about Canada is its FUCKING HUGE! And empty. Halifax is cool but small (and I still live an hour away) its 14 muther Fucking hours to Montreal.
But like I said it was a good time.
That happened in my home town. We had a pretty successful SCA community here, but it all depended on one guy and his loaner armor and influence. He moved away and the SCA died there. It didn't help either that it is a college town and so younger members cycled out every few years.
Obligatory Red Fang:
[video=youtube;VufilzHKTqk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VufilzHKTqk[/youtube]
Quote from: Dumarest;958924I've never done it or had any interest in doing it. I've only ever seen it done on TV and movies, where it was basically being mocked as uncool by writers who probably know as little about it as I do as evidenced by the way they portray D&D on shows like the Big Bang Theory and Community.
So what makes LARP different from what my kids do with their toy light sabers and blaster pistols? Are there actual rulebooks or referees who roll dice to see if you hit? Do you pay to join an organization that sets it up and schedules it or do you just get together with friends and lark about in the park?
1: Yeah. That gets really old really fast.
2: Yes there are rules and GMs. Varies alot but some are more freeform and others are more like a sandbox style modules. There may be NPCs played by staff or even dedicated players, there may be monsters and some of these can be incredibly well done. Most are set at regular schedules by whomevers hosting it.
As for combat. Theres usually a system in place that determines damage from weapons and spells. Some require you to call out the damage as you deal it. Usually no dice are being rolled and its more a point system with fixed damage and often some sorts of resistances.
In some death is permanent. In others theres a chance to be raised IF someone comes along in time who can. And in others theres a neat little system where you have to draw a marble from a bag. If you draw the wrong colour your character is gone. And each time you die another kill marble is added.
Equipment varies alot too. Some are street clothes and the most basic of boffers. Others are more elabourate and and require good costumes, real armour, and foam latex weapons.
Quite a few are hosted on parks and theres usually a fee to participate. Most are weekend deals. But one local, Kanar, has an annual week long event each year.
Personal favourites are
IFGS: After Treasure Trapped it is probably one of the oldest LARP organizers around. A good system and one of the first to require more intricate boffers that actually look the part. Some are on par with foam latex ones in looks.
Cthulhu Live: Call of Cthulhu RPG based. Pretty good system and some of the prop makers I've seen go all out! Combat lite for obvious reasons.
LARPCraft: This is a relatively new organization that has been promoting better costuming. They have hosts all over the place.
Kanar: This ones local and I like the system and look of the videos of gameplay up so far. Unfortunately its a bit too far out for me to attend yet.
Over in Europe there are some absurdly elabourate LARPs hosted. Check out College of Wizardry, Fairweather Manor or Hell on Wheels for three examples.
[video=youtube;C3RSPVCdkDA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3RSPVCdkDA[/youtube]
Quote from: Sergeant Brother;959041From my own observations, Vampire LARP's are less common than they used to be and offer LARP's are more popular than ever. I'm currently involved in a boffer LARP but can't play regularly because I have two small children.
That happened in my home town. We had a pretty successful SCA community here, but it all depended on one guy and his loaner armor and influence. He moved away and the SCA died there. It didn't help either that it is a college town and so younger members cycled out every few years.
Do you live in my town?
There are also a lot of systemless LARPs that focus on storytelling versus any mechanic. For LARPs, they tend to be my favorite.
Hard to get into a game unless you know people. I tend to save it for cons versus anything else.
Quote from: Charrua;959072There are also a lot of systemless LARPs that focus on storytelling versus any mechanic. For LARPs, they tend to be my favorite.
Hard to get into a game unless you know people. I tend to save it for cons versus anything else.
We usually call those "Parlour Games" or somesuch. They are fairly popular at conventions. Usually little to no combat. All socializing.
Way back in the 90s I was in a huge one that took up the whole con pretty much. Mirror Universe Deep Space 9. Everyone was handed out a character, some goals and was usually part of some group or faction.
Also pretty much how the early playtests of the Vampire larp were too. More like an enormous parlour game. No rules other than stay in character when not attending something. Apparently some play the finished V-Larp like that too. Mostly socializing and little to no combat.
One of my favourites was a time travel one that took up the whole floor section of MiniCon. No combat, no rules there either.
Great stuff but rather different from LARPs.
Quote from: Headless;958889I used to play in a Vampire the Masqurade Larp. It was lots of fun. I made some cool friends. It sounded like it was a big deal with chapters over at least two countries.
Anyone still do that?
Kinda of... ...not, ...but kind of. Did join SCA and dress up at various Renfests when I was much younger i.e. early eighties. Still really enjoy attending Renfests, just not dressing up so much... Also never did join any Vampire groups though. In the latter half of the eighties, the Vampire LARP clans were mostly composed of Goths who were not old enough to actually get into nightclubs and join the real parties, and them youngsters had to content themselves with dressing up at private parties, as well as dressing up and playing at being Goths at conventions. This was common until around 1995 or so, when Vampire and LARPing actually became more mainstream and popular.
Even as late as 2003 I remember us having discussions and banning LARPing as a Convention approved activity for PentaCon. This was on account of there always a small group of LARPers that seemed intent on doing just plain illegal stuff, and in seeing how much morally questionable/objectionable stuff they could get away with while they were attending an event without the supervision of their parents. This, of course, has legal implications for us, ...and none of us Convention organizers wanted to end up being sued in civil court because little Jane Vampire ended up being taken advantage of, due to her lack of judgement in hanging out with dirtballs or other lowlife whose only goal in life (other than dressing up for conventions) was to see if they could get someone else nailed for being stupid, so we just didn't do it.
About three years ago, our art director at my club started a Cosplay group, and then she left, However it was so popular with our club members we continued the Cosplay program. As such, for the last three years I have been escorting this group to Indiana Comic Con. We participate in the costume contest, attend geek and celebrity panels, and generally have a good time. I might have some photos laying around from ICC 2017 which was held just three weeks ago.
I was once Prince of Indianapolis!
Anyway, the two major differentiations seem to be BOFFER & NOT-BOFFER.
I wrote up several session reports of non-boffer LARPs from Origins & GenCon. I think the convention ones tend to fall in to two categories: NPC railroad vs player-driven. The first has lots of NPC "helping" to run it. They tend to have plot and suck balls. The other side are the player-driven ones that just give you a character with motivations and everyone lays in, trying to do their thing. Maybe a GM introduced event or two.
The player-driven ones were some of the best experiences I've ever had gaming. The NPC railroad ones were some of the worst.
Good LARP: http://fortressat.com/articles-gaming-scene/2687-origins-session-report-4-the-price-all-men-must-pay
Good non-tradiitonal LARP: http://fortressat.com/articles-gaming-scene/2683-origins-session-report-3-national-security-decision-making-game
Bad LARP: http://fortressat.com/articles-gaming-scene/2670-origins-session-report-2-victims-ball-3
Boffer LARP: https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/69108/item/1728071#item1728071
Good LARP: https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/69108/item/1728079#item1728079
It's the Magna Carta, baby!
I played in a Houses of the Blooded LARP for over two years, but it is sadly defunct. Tons of fun for a time, but it devolved into something best avoided (when the original showrunner passed the torch) and suddenly: people stopped showing up (including myself)...
Lots of cool stories and neat reasons for costuming and character immersion (my primary drives with LARPing).
Quote from: Omega;959055Personal favourites are
IFGS: After Treasure Trapped it is probably one of the oldest LARP organizers around. A good system and one of the first to require more intricate boffers that actually look the part. Some are on par with foam latex ones in looks.
Cthulhu Live: Call of Cthulhu RPG based. Pretty good system and some of the prop makers I've seen go all out! Combat lite for obvious reasons.
LARPCraft: This is a relatively new organization that has been promoting better costuming. They have hosts all over the place.
Kanar: This ones local and I like the system and look of the videos of gameplay up so far. Unfortunately its a bit too far out for me to attend yet.
Over in Europe there are some absurdly elabourate LARPs hosted. Check out College of Wizardry, Fairweather Manor or Hell on Wheels for three examples.
Agreed. Northern Europe has a huge cosmopolitan role-playing scene - especially larp, which is nearly mainstream in some places. Eastern Europe and Russia also have a huge larp scene, that overlaps with the reenactment crowd, allowing for some thousand-person larps. Some collaboration for them have made for what are now being called "blockbuster larps" with great scenes and costumes and significant budgets. College of Wizardry is a series of Harry-Potter-inspired larps set in an actual castle in Poland. Fairweather Manor is a Jane Austern larp in a real manor house. Hell on Wheels is a western larp. Also check out Monitor Celestra - a Battlestar Galactica larp set in an actual battleship - and Legends of Arabia, set in Abu Dhabi.
There are some people in the U.S. trying to do similar. There is New World Magischola - a Harry-Potter-inspired offshoot; and Event Horizon, which just took place in the Bay Area. cf. This summary of blockbuster larps:
http://leavingmundania.com/2017/03/30/brief-incomplete-history-blockbuster-larps/
Currently, the U.S. is still predominantly outdoor medieval fantasy larps using foam-padded weapons (aka "boffer larp") and World of Darkness larps, but there are also plenty of interesting small larps. Intercon is a pure larp convention in the Boston area, and Wyrd Con is in the L.A. area.
Personally, I enjoy many smaller larps that have mechanics but where the mechanics are minimal but there are still key events and problem-solving to get through - rather than primarily socializing or primarily combat. I agree with bryce0lynch that player-driven games (which are generally PC-vs-PC) have been better than NPC-driven games, in my experience.
"boffer"? :confused:
Quote from: Dumarest;959145"boffer"? :confused:
Sorry for the jargon. Resolving combat in part by using padded foam weapons. There are still rules, so character stats and armor make a difference, but actual hitting with weapons is part of combat.
Quote from: jhkim;959149Sorry for the jargon. Resolving combat in part by using padded foam weapons. There are still rules, so character stats and armor make a difference, but actual hitting with weapons is part of combat.
And magic is usually handled by saying an incant correctly and throwing a pack of bird seed (or beanbag) if the packet hits the target the spell takes effect.
Quote from: jhkim;959141Monitor Celestra
Sweet Christmas! I would have been totally onboard with that one if it was held locally in my area.
I used to play in a Vampire LARP here in Roanoke from 2010-2012 and it was not very good. Most of the players were annoying and pretentious Goth burnouts in their thirties who wanted to relive the glory days of 1996 when the Roanoke LARP scene was a big deal. I disliked the Goth subculture before joining that LARP. Afterwards, my dislike became a burning hatred.
I had a falling out with them in October of 2012 and I have since moved on to better LARP's like the one I sporadically play in based in Staunton. I'd attend that LARP more often, but I lack transportation and Staunton is a two-hour drive from Roanoke.
Quote from: Dumarest;959145"boffer"? :confused:
Theres a couple of types but the general concept is foam padding over a semi-rigid core like a bamboo or fiberglass rod.
The most basic basic ones are little more than pool noodles.
(https://musicandzombies.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/l.jpg)
The more advanced ones are shaped.
(http://www.idec2016.org/openspace/images/workshops/19/boffer.jpg)
and decorated.
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/33/3a/d8/333ad8ba2dd29d28531a5084fd377534.jpg)
The IFGS ones require a cloth cover over the surface.
(http://img08.deviantart.net/d2d0/i/2009/256/5/0/new_belegarth_sword_by_drakeir.jpg)
Past that you get into the foam latex weapons which are a different animal as it were. This is the sort of stuff used in movies too like Lord of the Rings.
(https://larpwarriors.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/4/image/1800x/040ec09b1e35df139433887a97daa66f/e/l/elven_sword_large_1.jpg)
LARPing is popular here in New Zealand with regular large events. White Wolf based LARPs did die away over 15 years ago though.
That one sword reminds of the one He-Man used.
Quote from: Skywalker;959241LARPing is popular here in New Zealand with regular large events. White Wolf based LARPs did die away over 15 years ago though.
There is a documentary called "The Mordavian Truth" about a New Zeland LARP and apparently was broadcast on TV too? One of the rare LARP documentaries that doesn't looking down on the games.
As said, LARP is probably more developed in Europe than it is in the US. A friend of mine runs Profound Decisions (https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/home) which aims to be a high quality festival LARP with a defined world, complex characters and a continuing world across multiple years. It is very much player driven, so the PCs are the mover and shakers of the game, not high powered NPCs as is the case in some games.
The quality of kit is very high across the board and outstanding in some cases. They have a full, in-character tavern that can be moved between sites as needed and have had a full size combat arena with a 6-foot palisade in the past. They have over 100 staff members playing monsters and other NPCs, with literally tonnes of costume, armour and weapons to kit them out appropriately.
There is also a club scene here in the UK, though I haven't been involved in that personally for a few years now. Even there, I would say things are perhaps a little more developed than the US scene, if only through the opportunity of having a significant number of kit manufacturers to utilise and a taste for more immersion through high quality kit.
The Vampire LARP did have a pretty big scene here in the UK, too, mostly formed around large clusters of RPers, like university towns. It doesn't get much discussion currently on the UK scene in my experience but I may just be too far out of it. I do know that people tend to prefer a significant Action aspect in their LARP here, so the Mindseye Theatre systems weren't as favoured since there is an aversion to contact in that system.
Quote from: dbm;959348As said, LARP is probably more developed in Europe than it is in the US.
Not more developed. Just some have access to sites and production values that most others dont. You get those with some Cthulhu Live LARPs too with really high production. But even in Europe theres your bog standard boffer games going on. And every other type including parlour games.
Quote from: Omega;959513Not more developed.
What I'm thinking of is that, whenever Americans talk about LARP, 99% of the time it's either Nero or Mindseye. To someone over here, that
looks like there are only a couple of active systems around. Over in Europe there are many more LARPS of different sizes and diversity. Maybe it's just a skewed perception.
Quote from: dbm;959519What I'm thinking of is that, whenever Americans talk about LARP, 99% of the time it's either Nero or Mindseye. To someone over here, that looks like there are only a couple of active systems around. Over in Europe there are many more LARPS of different sizes and diversity. Maybe it's just a skewed perception.
Its skewed. Really skewed.
Just local to sunny Michigoom here theres at least 6 different LARP systems going that I know of.
KANAR
LARPCraft
Cthulhu Live
Wastelands
Final Haven
Waypoint
CARPS
Sharded
SOLAR
Endgame
Alliance
Oth those Solar seems to be known in a few states and as mentioned before LARPCraft is steadily growing. They have a bunch of videos up now. Pretty sure theres an IFGS local. I know they have groups all over the US. Pretty sure Alliance is multi state too now. But been ages since looked into it.
Dragorhir is a local combat sim. Think theres a few others.
Cool, it's good to have a vibrant LARP community :)
Quote from: dbm;959536Cool, it's good to have a vibrant LARP community :)
Some have been running a while. Kanar is as of last check on hold, but will be back. That is the one that holds the yearly week long events. Its been going since 1993.
Sadly Exiles, a sort of Western Larp over in Ohio closed down a year ago.
Quote from: Omega;959513Not more developed. Just some have access to sites and production values that most others dont. You get those with some Cthulhu Live LARPs too with really high production. But even in Europe theres your bog standard boffer games going on. And every other type including parlour games.
Parlour Games as you're defining it seems very demeaning. Just a hint from someone that LARPed a couple times but visible physical handicaps seem to be very offputting to many of the movers and shakers in the other facets of the scene. Other then that I now understand why WW is hard targeting this facet of role playing it's ridiculously big in Europe especially Scandinavia. In the US it's typically more prevalent in cities/towns with a strong college presence and population demographic. But it's everywhere if you care to search and add in a bit like the cosplay and Ren Faire subscenes and LARP is totally alive and doing quite well. Thank you very much.
Um. No its not demeaning. Its the term the hosts were using before and after LARPs came into play. You are the first I've ever seen in 40 odd years of playing these things to take offense at the term.
Quote from: Omega;959664Um. No its not demeaning. Its the term the hosts were using before and after LARPs came into play. You are the first I've ever seen in 40 odd years of playing these things to take offense at the term.
I don't give a damn if I'm the first that said it to you. Know this, it's demeaning and I'd slap you right in the face if you used it face to face with me. That term is a pure British English term for inside/board games played by the upper middle class and rich in the Victorian era. It's offensive in the context you're trying to use it in. LARP isn't hangman or hide and seek and related games. It's at least a couple steps above with a few twists.
Uh huh. Sure.
Also, Omega had an 'L' made with his hand on his forehead. You can't understand him.
Are you offened by 'Parlor Games' cause of the cultural destruction wroght by Aristocratic Victorian and Edwardian England. Destruction first and foremost visited on their own rich indigenous cultures?
Or are you offened becuase 'Parlor Games' is what my parents were playing with there friends for birthday partys and such when the got together to solve a mystery in a box. And what they are doing can't possibly be as sophisticated as your LARP?
A bit of both? Parlor games are a frivolous distraction for a degenerate culture, while LARPing is Serious Business.
Honest question. The snark came off a bit thicker than I intended. I was going for snark, just not that much. :p
Quote from: Marleycat;959654Parlour Games as you're defining it seems very demeaning. Just a hint from someone that LARPed a couple times but visible physical handicaps seem to be very offputting to many of the movers and shakers in the other facets of the scene.
Quote from: Marleycat;959668I don't give a damn if I'm the first that said it to you. Know this, it's demeaning and I'd slap you right in the face if you used it face to face with me. That term is a pure British English term for inside/board games played by the upper middle class and rich in the Victorian era. It's offensive in the context you're trying to use it in. LARP isn't hangman or hide and seek and related games. It's at least a couple steps above with a few twists.
Um, I think you've mistaken this site for rpg.net, where folks find words like 'butthurt' (both in 2010 (https://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?548280-Use-of-the-term-Butthurt) and 2015 (https://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?764224-Can-we-just-never-use-the-term-butthurt-ever-again)) and 'tinker's damn' (https://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?798268-Query) to be #Triggering, and violence is an appropriate response to words you don't like.
Sorry, I have little patience for that kind of bullshit, but just enough to ask: What
should we call small scale one shot indoor LARPs?
However I have
no patience for 'movers and shakers' who make people with visible physical disabilities feel excluded or uncomfortable
because of those disabilities. That's a separate problem entirely, and one that definitely needs to be addressed more than it is.
Quote from: Marleycat;959668I don't give a damn if I'm the first that said it to you. Know this, it's demeaning and I'd slap you right in the face if you used it face to face with me. That term is a pure British English term for inside/board games played by the upper middle class and rich in the Victorian era. It's offensive in the context you're trying to use it in. LARP isn't hangman or hide and seek and related games. It's at least a couple steps above with a few twists.
Take a chill. There are numerous party/parlor games like How to Host a Mystery that are widely used and are a form of live action roleplaying.
Quote from: Omega;959114We usually call those "Parlour Games" or somesuch. They are fairly popular at conventions. Usually little to no combat. All socializing.
Way back in the 90s I was in a huge one that took up the whole con pretty much. Mirror Universe Deep Space 9. Everyone was handed out a character, some goals and was usually part of some group or faction.
Also pretty much how the early playtests of the Vampire larp were too. More like an enormous parlour game. No rules other than stay in character when not attending something. Apparently some play the finished V-Larp like that too. Mostly socializing and little to no combat.
One of my favourites was a time travel one that took up the whole floor section of MiniCon. No combat, no rules there either.
Great stuff but rather different from LARPs.
Quote from: Anon Adderlan;959694What should we call small scale one shot indoor LARPs?
Well, you could simply call them small-scale one-shot indoor larps. Also, the term "parlor larp" does get used a fair bit for small-scale, one-shot, indoor, non-boffer larp. That was the title of a series of published larps around 2004-2006 (the Parlor Larp series from Shifting Forest Storyworks), but also has generally been used more broadly for a small larp that can be played in a single room.
http://www.vermillion.games/parlor-larps/
Note that parlor larps aren't necessarily rule-less or non-combat, though. The Shifting Forest series used a rule system with fairly deadly combat, where PCs died pretty regularly.
I haven't heard the term "parlor game" used by organizers or participants for such larps. It seems like a bad idea to me, since "parlor game" in modern times is used as a general term for games such as Charades, Fictionary, and Mafia. It mostly seems to be a catch-all for mainstream games that are played indoors but don't fit into other established game genres like board games or card games. Using it for larps would make for a lot of misunderstanding.
It seems like Omega is using "parlor game" even for large-scale, multi-day larps, though - which doesn't fit the established usage of either "parlor larp" or "parlor game". His usage seems to be for any mostly rule-less, non-combat larps - but I don't think that fits. I think any larp played in a room fits the broader definition of parlor game, regardless of the amount of combat, but all larps are quite different from Charades.
It's a little off topic but it occurred to me today that a mock trial is essentially a LARP.
I've been thinking about getting into carrying LARP gear for a couple years but there's nowhere to play locally and I'm not sure I'm up to organizing people on that scale to make it happen. Between my family, my job, and my store I'm insanely busy as it is.
Quote from: jhkim;959711Well, you could simply call them small-scale one-shot indoor larps.
You mean
'small-scale one-shot indoor live action roleplaying systems'?
*inhale*
Quote from: jhkim;959711It seems like Omega is using "parlor game" even for large-scale, multi-day larps, though - which doesn't fit the established usage of either "parlor larp" or "parlor game". His usage seems to be for any mostly rule-less, non-combat larps - but I don't think that fits.
Well as long as we agree on what 'roleplaying game' means I think we'll be OK.
Quote from: David Johansen;959788It's a little off topic but it occurred to me today that a mock trial is essentially a LARP.
Real trials are little different.
Quote from: David Johansen;959788I've been thinking about getting into carrying LARP gear for a couple years but there's nowhere to play locally and I'm not sure I'm up to organizing people on that scale to make it happen. Between my family, my job, and my store I'm insanely busy as it is.
Managing LARPs which require gear are a
huge commitment, and #Boffer LARPs differ considerably in what they consider to be 'legal' gear. So if it's not on your bucket list or something I'd just avoid it.
Im using the term parlour game for those that dont have any rules. The other term thats been used is Social game.
LARPs have a structure and rules to abide and usually combat. Parlour/Social games dont have those elements aside from "stay in character" and tend to be no combat.