So, you've decided to take the plunge and try out LARPing - welcome! I've been LARPing for over 15 years and have been both a player and a director (though, in the interest of full disclosure, my LARP of choice these days is LIONE / End of Seasons, of course!), and I wanted to pass on a few tips to you soon-to-be and seasoned gamers who maybe wanted to give LARPing a shot. Quick shoutout to emoney and salamndstron for their ideas. Onward!

Find a LARP

First and foremost, you have to find the LARP that's right for you. Check online and in local game stores to get an idea of what LARPs are in your area. Pick a place (or ideally a few places) that are not TOO far away - it'll break your heart later on if you love the game but can't spend 5 hours getting there. After you've got a few juicy leads, check their websites to see if you can download a rulebook; if not, contact them and see if they'll send you one. This won't always pay dividends, but if it does it can be the first real step in determining if this is the right game for you (aside to you other LARP directors: can you please just put your rules in PDF on the website? We're not making that much money selling "fancy" rulebooks). Additionally, read through their website and available materials and get a sense of the world they have created (fantasy? sci-fi? Cthulhu?). Be sure it jives with the games you like to play.

Next step: participation. Contact the LARP, let them know you're a new player, and ask if they have "scripting" or "casting" for their game (scripting / casting is a term for players who play the NPCs that you'll meet during the course of a weekend). Most LARPs have a scripting or casting policy that works on a reservation system - first come, first served. Check to see if there are any openings available, what the cost is, and if you need to have a membership to get started (and, if you're under 18, if it's cool to play). Provided you're comfortable with what they tell you, go to the LARP and check it out - as an NPC, you'll get great exposure to their game mechanics, role-play and fighting styles, and the various personalities you'll have to deal with, all without any risk to the character you'll later play.

Oh, and if you're a little bit on the fence about LARPing and you see people taking pictures or video, politely ask them to exclude you for the time being - you might find that LARPing isn't for you, and there's no need to have a video up on Facebook in the meantime.

Playing the Game

So, your first experience was bang up, you met some cool people, and you're ready to play!

First, you need to know your character. Start by writing a history for yourself - your character's memories, motivations, and mores - and try to put a little twist in it (what we like to call "flavor"). Leave an opening for further plot development in your write-up (it gives the people who run the game something to work with). Decide on any mannerisms you might have - a nervous tic, an accent, even a limp when you walk - and include that in your history if possible. Remember that you're going to be stepping into someone else's shoes for a weekend, so don't play a character or belief that you're not at least partially comfortable with. Once you decide on a history and mannerisms, you need to be consistent in your worldview and actions - this will enhance your experience as well as the other people you play with.

For the sake of example, we will use a character a friend of mine played named Ichor Clanslayer. Ichor was a half-orc warrior. In order to put a twist on things, he wrote in his character history that he was a learned man (most half-orcs in this game didn't know how to read or write) and a paladin-like good guy (most half-orcs had, uh, loose morals). He also left himself an opening - he was prone to insane rages where he would wake up in a different place, unaware of what happened to him (this plot piece allowed the people who ran the game to write content for him right out of the gate).

By now, you should have a pretty good idea of what your character looks like. If you can, spend a little bit of money on looking good, and make your costume non-anachronistic - take off your watch, don't wear sweatpants or t-shirts unless they're under something, and cover your sneakers or hiking boots with cloth or tape. You can find a TON of great, cheap costuming stuff at the local Salvation Army or Goodwill, and sites like Instructables have all kinds of cool ideas to really spice your stuff up (and I don't mean to blow the whistle on a LARP director prop secret, but after Halloween closeout sales are out of this world). Be as unique as you can be. And be consistent in your look - once you have your costume established, it will be the way that most people remember you.

In the game that Ichor played, for example, half-orcs had to wear tusks and grey or green face paint. The player bought grey and white makeup (for easy and painless personal make-up, we always used Mehron) and painted white tusks on his lips (he didn't have the money for fake teeth in the beginning). He also put black shoe-polish in his hair (in his character history, Ichor had burned his hair off to atone for one of his rages) and wore a kilt that the player made by cutting up a leather jacket from Goodwill and attaching strips to a belt. Wrapping furry cloth (available at almost any craft shop) around his shoes and shoulders gave him a barbaric look, and a two-handed sword he rented from the game completed the ensemble. As a final touch, he bought a pair of reading glasses from a drugstore and punched out the lenses - he would put the glasses on whenever he had to read. This affectation of a giant half-orc warrior putting on glasses to read was the real master-touch to the costume - those are the pieces that identify you to others and draw people in.

Costume and character? Check. Now it's time to pack for the event. If it's a weekend game it will most likely be at a campsite, so be aware of what weather conditions are going to be like, what (if any) sleeping arrangements there are , if there are any bathrooms and shower facilities, and if there's any food and potable water on the premises to purchase. LARPs go on rain or shine, and I can't tell you the number of times I've chased a group of players out of a cabin and into the rain in the dead of night, or had a fight that lasted an hour in the blistering heat. Bring snacks (try to bring some fruit. I've never seen a LARP serve fruit. Ever.), cold or warm weather gear, extra socks, rain gear, and a sleeping pad and bag at the very least. Lots of people buy a tote from a Big Box Store and put their LARP stuff in there for easy storage and packing (but, when you get home, MAKE SURE you wash the stuff in there - I could tell you some stories...) Finally, see what the policy is on flashlights - some LARPs like them, some don't - and just try to play by their rules.

This brings me to the actual game side of things. You've made the trek, unpacked, and assumed your character. No matter what happens - DON'T CHEAT. If you get a reputation as a cheater, people won't want to play with you, and you'll find yourself with less and less cool stuff to do. The biggest instances of cheating I witnessed revolved around preventing the death of someone's character (by not taking damage or fudging the amount of time your character is unconscious or bleeding to death) and around in-game money. If your character dies, those are the breaks - take a walk to calm down if you're upset (it happens to everyone, believe me), and come back to the game as soon as you can. If your character dies and someone searches you, empty your pockets - you'll have more fun getting those goods back in the long run. If you think you see someone cheating, don't accuse them directly - quietly and politely inform a director, and let them sort it out. And take yourself "out of game" as little as possible. We all need a break from this role we're playing, of course, but I've seen plenty of people take themselves out of game to prevent their character from being hurt or killed. Resist that urge, and let your character weather the slings and arrows of fortune, outrageous as they may be.

Finally, you should talk to EVERYONE you can while you're in character - get people to know you, and get to know people. Don't be afraid to get into scrapes or situations - that's part of the fun - and don't always wait for content from directors or the people running the game in order to have a good time. LARPs usually run with a giant overarching plot for the weekend or event, and a bunch of micro-events sprinkled liberally throughout - keep this in mind, and try to get involved with the overarching plot and as many micro-events that you can. You'll be exhausted (I guarantee it) but you'll also be immersed - and that's what the real goal of all this is.

After the Event

The event is over, and you're home with your head swimming. Make sure you write a character update (what your character did, what happened to him or her, what he or she is going to do next) and send that to the appropriate people at the LARP. Do this earlier rather than later - you'll give them more time to potentially write targeted content for you. If you're playing a game with weapons or spell packets, do a little maintenance on both - make new ones to replace the ones you lost, and patch up any holes in your weapon so you don't injure anyone. Expect to be a little sore for a few days afterwards if you're playing a physical LARP with a lot of fighting and running. And drop a line to the people you just met - I guarantee you'll have a lot to talk about.

And, for the love of God, make sure you unpack that tote!