LARP: Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
|||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
LARP | A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically act out their characters' actions. The first LARPs were run in the late 1970s, inspired by role-playing games and genre fiction. The activity gained international popularity during the 1980s. | ||
LARP groups have highly varied approaches to rules, costume, degree of physical acting out, participation, focus of character activity, and genre. LARPs range in size from small private events lasting a few hours to huge public events with thousands of players lasting for several days. | |||
[[Image:Larp.jpg|thumb]] | [[Image:Larp.jpg|thumb]] | ||
== | ==LARP rules== | ||
Some LARPs have game rules that determine how characters can affect each other and the setting. These rules may define characters' capabilities, how those capabilities can change over time, what can be done with various items in the setting, and what characters can do during the downtime between LARP events. Because referees are often not available to mediate all character actions, players are relied upon to be honest in their application of the rules. There are also LARPs that do without rules, instead relying on players to use their common sense or feel for dramatic appropriateness to cooperatively decide what the outcome of their actions will be. | |||
LARP rules are used to represent characters' actions and determine whether they succeed or not. The rules can be classified by verisimilitude, i.e. how closely the player's action resembles the fictional action being performed. This difference is most clearly visible when comparing LARPs that use physical combat and those that use symbolic determination of combat. However, the same principle applies to social influence and intellectual problem solving, which can also be based on the actual skills of the player or handled by symbolic rules. | |||
LARPs with physical combat rules use foam weapons, airsoft guns, laser tag guns and similar, to represent weapons, and are often known as boffer or live combat LARPs. Sometimes relatively harmless versions of real weapons such as blunt metal swords or firearms loaded with blanks are used as representations. In LARPs with physical combat the physical skills of the player play an important role. On the other hand, symbolic rules involve momentarily pausing role-play in order to determine the outcome of an action, for example by rolling dice, playing rock-paper-scissors or comparing character attributes. In symbolic combat systems weapons may be represented by cards or physical replicas. Sometimes realistic weapon props and physical contact between players are not allowed. | |||
==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||
Revision as of 11:43, 11 November 2008
A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically act out their characters' actions. The first LARPs were run in the late 1970s, inspired by role-playing games and genre fiction. The activity gained international popularity during the 1980s.
LARP groups have highly varied approaches to rules, costume, degree of physical acting out, participation, focus of character activity, and genre. LARPs range in size from small private events lasting a few hours to huge public events with thousands of players lasting for several days.
LARP rules
Some LARPs have game rules that determine how characters can affect each other and the setting. These rules may define characters' capabilities, how those capabilities can change over time, what can be done with various items in the setting, and what characters can do during the downtime between LARP events. Because referees are often not available to mediate all character actions, players are relied upon to be honest in their application of the rules. There are also LARPs that do without rules, instead relying on players to use their common sense or feel for dramatic appropriateness to cooperatively decide what the outcome of their actions will be.
LARP rules are used to represent characters' actions and determine whether they succeed or not. The rules can be classified by verisimilitude, i.e. how closely the player's action resembles the fictional action being performed. This difference is most clearly visible when comparing LARPs that use physical combat and those that use symbolic determination of combat. However, the same principle applies to social influence and intellectual problem solving, which can also be based on the actual skills of the player or handled by symbolic rules.
LARPs with physical combat rules use foam weapons, airsoft guns, laser tag guns and similar, to represent weapons, and are often known as boffer or live combat LARPs. Sometimes relatively harmless versions of real weapons such as blunt metal swords or firearms loaded with blanks are used as representations. In LARPs with physical combat the physical skills of the player play an important role. On the other hand, symbolic rules involve momentarily pausing role-play in order to determine the outcome of an action, for example by rolling dice, playing rock-paper-scissors or comparing character attributes. In symbolic combat systems weapons may be represented by cards or physical replicas. Sometimes realistic weapon props and physical contact between players are not allowed.
External Links
- Darkon - A documentary-movie about LARPers