Jeremiah

Looking at my calendar, and judging from work, it looks as though I'm going to be LARPless for the next two months. That's nothing compared to the four years I went without game, but now that I've found LARP again, it's hard to pull myself away.

Of course, then I realize it's only two games I'll be missing, and that helps, even if one of them is labeled as "the most important game of the season."

Bah, nothing important could possibly happen that weekend!

(I want to play!)

Saturday night, I was ready to leave game and make the 2 hour trip back home. I wasn't having fun, I didn't feel appreciated, and there was no part of me that wanted to be there.

The fact that I had had too much sun, and not had anything to drink in six hours also may have had something to do with it. The nausea and headache should have tipped me off.

It was close to midnight, and I told the person in charge of NPCs that I needed to take a breather. I sat down, and sipped a large glass of water.

There was no magic that suddenly made things better, but as I sat there on the couch, watching those around me, and drinking my water, I realized why I was so cranky. I kept drinking slowly, and felt my mood turn more toward "meh" than "Boo!" This was a good thing, despite the overall "meh" feeling.

At the end of the game on Sunday, I was glad I stayed. I had fun, and while there were some problems, there was nothing I could do about them, so there was no point in worrying. It was a good time.

I won't be going back for a few months, but only because we have too many plans that happen to fall right on the dates that Xanodria is happening. I'm looking for a new LARP in the PA/NJ/MD/DE area, so if anybody knows of one, just let me know.

I'm concerned, however, that I won't find a group so full of fun, interesting, and relatively normal people. Every group has their slightly "off" folks, and this is no exception, but I've never been to a LARP where the vast majority of folks are people I'd hang out with outside of game.

Now the question is, would they hang out with me? Am I a "normal," or am I "off?"

No idea, but I'm suspecting the latter.

I'm done rambling. This was supposed to be short.

Moral of the short story: Drink lots of water in 85+ degree weather. And not just when the sun is out.

Shade's LARP List has long been touted as one of the most complete and useful lists of LARPs around the world in existence.

This is simply because it is, from what I can see, the only list of LARPs from around the world in existence.

If there was one iota of competition against Shade's, somebody who knew how to run a database-driven site, maybe somebody that could actually make the database, oh, I don't know, have some structure to it, Shade's LARP List would be no more.

But it is what I have to work with, alas.

So I'm slowly crawling through the list, using ctrl+f and typing in nearby state names in hopes that I'll find something within 2 hours (or so) of northern Delaware. A little luck, but only through the forums, not the list itself.

So, here's the list of LARPs I want to check out, with hopes that more will be added soon:

7th Kingdom IGE - Rare, a relatively nice web page. It's just over two hours away according to Google Maps (oh, how I LOVE Google maps for finding LARPs, it's become SO much easier), so that's good. Their system looks fun. Will have to check them out.

Knight Realms - Cheesy name, but all in good fun. They have a very in-depth system, which isn't that easy to follow when reading on the web, but with a basic understanding of what's going on it seems as though somebody could just jump right in. It looks fun, and while it's a little farther away, it's less than 3 hours, so that's close enough.

And...that's it.

Do you know of LARPs in my area? Have you played in any? I'd love to hear what you thought; going to a LARP that I know a little about is always easier than going in fresh. Granted, I've gone into almost every single LARP without a clue as to what was going on, so that previous statement is pure conjecture on my part.

One of the things that many LARPs ask you to do when you play the monsters is "role-play the hits you take." So, if you're hit in the arm they want you to act as though maybe it stung; shake it off before charging back into battle. If you're hit in the torso, act it out appropriately. If you die, die well.

Supposedly this adds a level of realism to the game, immersing the players in a world where they truly are the heroes, saving the day against us monsters. It sucks them deeper into the shared story, allowing them to become their characters. In theory, this is fantastic.

In practice?

Well, I've found that role-playing your hits can break the very immersion that the people in charge are trying to create! It seems counter-intuitive, but the truth is that if you're acting hurt when somebody hits you, they think you're really hurt.

For example, I took a well-placed spear blow to the chest during game. I staggered back half a step, and fell to the ground, "dead." I thought it was a pretty good death, and so did the person who struck me, because he immediately stopped fighting, came down to his knees and started asking if I was okay; that he was sorry he hit me so hard.

The immersion for him was completely broken, because he thought he had actually hurt me. This happened multiple times, all because I was pretending to actually be hurt by their strikes as directed by those in charge. Now, this is a nice compliment to my acting skills, but still had the opposite intended effect.

So what's the solution? Do you not play up the hits, just remain stoic in the face of massive (in-game) damage until finally you crumple (carefully) to the ground? Do you keep playing the hits and hope the players finally "get" that you're okay, you're just playing your role? What happens once they get it? Do they not realize when you really ARE hurt?

I don't know that there's a solution. I like playing up my hits, as it adds a bit of realism to me, as the monster, but I just don't know if it really ends up helping the game.

I started the weekend as the survivor of a prolonged siege of creatures with zombie-like abilities (if you get "bitten," you turn into one) and zombie-like limitations (door handles? How do those work?). The adventurers stumbled into town, saved the day, and went about their daily lives. For the next hour, any time somebody opened the door (it made a high pitched squeaking noise upon opening, and a loud bang when shut) I would freeze in place, turning only my head to look at the door, remaining completely still until I heard it close again.

Shell-shock after 4 days of being under siege by some horror creatures is completely reasonable, I would assume. My little "Freeze and watch the door" act did not go unnoticed, which is great. I love feeling like I'm bringing something to a game each and every time I go. Just add a touch more immersion, a little more fun. That's my goal each time I go, and I think I succeeded this time.

Just sharing, thinking out loud.

Whew. That was a long, exhausting, hill-climbing weekend.

It all started when I decided not to go to Xanodria. See, work was pretty crazy, and things were just too busy for me to take the weekend to go have fun. Add to that the fact that I was having bouts of wanting to be left alone, and you've got a pretty good mix to come up with a reason not to go.

I fought through the ennui, got in the car, and when I was about halfway there decided I was definitely going.

It was well worth it.

I love this game, but they need to do something about the killer hill that dominates the landscape. Maybe if I donate some dynamite, they could level it? My legs are KILLING me! Even my finger muscles are sore!

Growing up, I never would have guessed that I was going to have a hobby that kept me active. After a brief role as a bodyguard, I realized that if I want to continue to do this (and have a good time) I must get in shape. Even just standing in one spot, looming, gets tiring after a while.

When it actually came time to save the person I was guarding, my sword arm was so tired from just holding the sword that I almost dropped it. I have never felt so much muscle strain from so little action. It was amazing and eye opening.

For the record, I did save the guy I was guarding. I simply switched hands, and even though I am not left-handed, I was able to adequately hold off the four bandits. Yeah, that's right, I'm bad ass. (That and I had magic on me making it so their weapons couldn't affect me.....mostly the magic rather than the bad-ass-ness. *sigh*)

So, weight lifting, sit ups, push ups, and a lot of treadmill going up a steep incline. I think those are the areas I need to focus on. If I get good at that I'll actually begin working on the specifics of speed, sword fighting, and agility.

Man, who would have thought that FUN would be so much WORK?

For my first time at a weekend-long LARP in over 5 years, I'd like to think I comported myself well. I was running through the woods, gathering information for bad guys, sneaking around in the dark, and attempting to assassinate a well-protected target like a pro. Or at least like somebody who has done it before, but not in 4 or 5 years.

The people were fantastic; welcoming and friendly to a new player who felt a bit out of his element when they went out to a bar Friday night. The game starts on Saturday and goes until Sunday, roughly noon to noon, a full 24 hours in game at all times, so to blow off a little real-world steam they head out to the bar Friday night. It's a nice way to help keep people who haven't seen each other in a month to stay in character during game. Normally not my scene, I felt quickly at ease with these folks at the bar.

The system of the game is quick and easy to explain to somebody who plans on playing cast (NPC/Monster/Townie characters): If you are hit in a limb, you lose the use of that limb. If you are hit in the torso, you fall to the ground and are bleeding out or dead. Simple. There are armor rules, and magic weapons, and things that make it slightly more complicated, but still easier than any NERO-esque game I've ever played in. Also, the game becomes more deadly, meaning that the adventurers are often more willing to talk things out, and roleplay, rather than get injured themselves.

One of the best things about the game? You will never hear the call "What do I see?" The monsters going out to face off against the heroes of the game actually look like monsters. I've never had my face in so much makeup in my life. I'm still pulling out some blue and purple from my ear. It was awesome. The makeup department and costuming department are both well put-together and fantastically run.

Oh, and the food? Fantastic.

I didn't realize how much I missed going to LARP until I started playing again. I'll be going to the next game in 5 weeks as long as nothing else comes up. I hope I can bring new people with me to the game. There were somewhere between 70 and 80 players, split relatively evenly along NPC/PC lines. I'd love to be able to say I was there for their first 100 person game. That would kick ass, much like my foray back into the world of fantasy did.

My friend Brett invited me to go to an Alliance Ohio game with him next weekend. I talked about it with my wife and unfortunately we've come to the conclusion that it's a little too far, and comes right on the heels of the game I'm playing this weekend. Include into this the fact that my mother is currently living with us and I can understand why my wife would prefer I not disappear two weekends in a row.

But I am looking forward to this weekend. I'll be leaving tonight, probably before dinner. I haven't packed yet, and am a little nervous about figuring out where all my old LARP stuff is, but I'm pretty sure I'll be fine; I'm a master at last-minute packing.

I've never played in a LARP that is as organized as Xanodria seems to be. They've sent me a packet with all my NPC rolls spelled out to me, the times I'll be playing each one, and a quick summary of how they expect the weekend to go. They've also included a history packet so that I'll have knowledge of the last around me. So far I'm impressed, but I guess we'll see how it goes once I get there.

I have to work, study the manual some more, and pack for game. Then I drive for 2 hours and lose myself in a world of fantasy. I hope.

Cross your fingers for me. If this sucks, I'm going to really regret not waiting until next weekend to go to Ohio with my friend. So, let's hope it doesn't suck.

After a while, I got tired of running around the woods beating on people with padded weapons. Oh, it was fun, but I was looking for more to my experience. I wanted to embrace the shared world that we were all creating, make it come to life, make it seem real. I still wanted to save the day, maybe help a few damsels in distress, but the cry of "Oh no, goblins" had started eliciting a response in me akin to "Oh no, another round of goblins that are here for no purpose other than to die by our blades. Help, help. Blah."

I traded in my current character, retired him completely, and made a wizard. I was head cook for the weekend events, so having my rogue/assassin running around behind the scenes wouldn't be good, and wouldn't make sense for his character. Trading in characters helped me make a relatively powerful wizard who specialized in NOT specializing. He had a smattering of knowledge from every school of magic, and preferred to just stay indoors, chat with customers, and cook. He was fun!

The first time I played him, a character who wants nothing more than to stay away from combat and entertain his guests at the Inn, he died twice. Once because other characters claimed they were out of game when a battalion of big bad guys came calling (and so I was the only one in the room, a wizard with almost no combative magical skills), and once because some ogres came in to make trouble, sort of like the mob.

I worried that being a character who didn't want to fight might very well be impossible. Could it be that the only important part of this game I enjoyed so much was combat? Wasn't there anything beyond it? Everyone talked about roleplay, but only seemed to want to do it when there was a monster around. The other players just didn't seem to care.

Would I ever find the "more" that I was looking for?

May 2nd will be the first time I've been to an actual LARP in probably 2 years. I've done Dagorhir, which is a great group of people to go out on the field and fight against, but it's not a LARP, it's a Battle Game. There's no main plot connecting moments together, no real roleplaying once the game is done, it's just getting together, getting dressed up in cool garb, and beating on one another in the field.

It's fun, but it ain't LARP.

So I'll be trying a game I've never experienced, Xanodria, out in Eastern Pennsylvania. Money's a little tight, so I decided to NPC the first game, which they allow you to do for free. I prefer playing a PC the first time I go to any game, but at $70 to PC, and not having a rulebook to look at, I just can't justify it. At least while I NPC I'll be able to learn the game, see what kinds of people are there, and what to expect if I do ever get around to being my own character. The game seems very complex, so hopefully this will help me pick up on the intricacies.

I'm really excited to go. I've asked lots of questions on their Facebook page, and signed up to NPC. I think I'm ready to go for a weekend and enjoy myself.

But.

At the same time there's this general trepidation building up in my gut. What will the people be like? Will the game actually be fun, or will it be a dud like so many others I've experienced? Are the people divided into their own cliques, impossible to enter, or are they as open as the folks were at NERO way back when I started playing? Heck, will these be people I even want to get to know? Will it be 5 guys in a field, with sticks, or will it be what I hope it is?

Just pre-game jitters, and walking into the unknown. Hopefully they fade away once I'm actually at the game.