CoG Needs A LARP Thread

[LordDon]

You could say my downfall started with an MMORP.com article (http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/4399/LARP-Player-Generated-Content.html) about lessons MMO's could take from LARPs. This picture didn't hurt either.

http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/cc346/jerimmortal/633760761831658540-LARP.jpg

Most folks immediately think "Lightning Bolt!" when they think of LARPs.

j_ekugPKqFw

but things seem to be getting more polished as more people get into the hobby. Jonno mentioned in another thread being embarrassed by what the "colonies" consider LARPing. If this is the standard in the UK then I understand the feeling:

G3TEG9KbHSU

I'm seriously considering joining one of the three local groups in Salt Lake based off that video and watching the documentary Monster Camp (http://www.monstercampthemovie.com/). Sure it looks goofy and partially inhabited by basement trolls, but it also looks like a lot of fun. It's like a combination of fencing, camping, Halloween, and Role Playing. All things I enjoy!

Unleash your nerd fury here. Or funny pictures, videos, or whatever other LARP-related internet discoveries.

[Panthera]

LARPing is one of the very, very few places where I draw the line in my rampant nerdery, but I'd never disparage someone for doing it. They look like they're having fun, and that's awesome.

[BigJonno]

Hehehe, I recognise a few people in that video.

[LordDon]

Man, even the Italians have cooler shit than we do.

aVeNw-96vFA

[BigJonno]

Lot's of photos (http://www.disturbing.org.uk/images/lrp/pd/) from a UK system called Maelstrom. It's a kind of fantasy colonial thing, so it's got a pretty unique look and feel.

[LordDon]

What's the feeling on professional companies like Heroquest (http://www.heroquest-larp.co.uk/), Jonno?

[zarathstra]

LARPing is one of the very, very few places where I draw the line in my rampant nerdery, but I'd never disparage someone for doing it. They look like they're having fun, and that's awesome.

Me too, although I do tend to disparage people for doing it. Mostly because every LARPer I've ever met was a either:

a. crazy
b. incredibly annoying.

[BigJonno]

What's the feeling on professional companies like Heroquest (http://www.heroquest-larp.co.uk/), Jonno?

To be honest, I've not noticed a huge amount of difference between LARP events run by for profit organisations and non-profit ones. Cost, quality and customer service have been about in par, in my experience. I can imagine that mid-size events (a few hundred to a thousand people) could get quite unprofessional and clique-ish if run on a hobbyist basis.

[LordDon]

Do you have anything like Belegarth (http://www.belegarth.com/) or Dagorhir (http://www.dagorhir.com/) there? It looks like those focus more on the combat itself over the storylines and yelling "lightning bolt." Almost like it's a sport with medieval trappings.

That's edging out straight up LARP in interest to me right now. Mass full contact combat sounds like fun.

[roboninja]

Me too, although I do tend to disparage people for doing it. Mostly because every LARPer I've ever met was a either:

a. crazy
b. incredibly annoying.

I'm the same way as you both, that's my line in the sand. However, my disparaging comments are more good-humoured. Do what you like.

[Talanvor]

Most folks immediately think "Lightning Bolt!" when they think of LARPs.

You're right. When I saw your thread title I immediately had that voice in my head.

I'm not sure where it ranks but the closest I've been to it was going to Ren Faires.

[J Arcane]

See, I played Vampire LARP. From my perspective all these yobbos running about with sticks look like a bunch of 12-year olds with nerf bats playing weekend warrior. ;)

Though if you really wanted to see some hardcore impressive stuff back in the day, you really needed to take a look at some of the Cthulhu Live! guys. Almost everyone in one of those groups could've been a prop or costume artist for film. Amazing work, sadly all offline now it seems, as the game's gone out of print, bought and then abandoned by FFG.

[Shrinn]

That's edging out straight up LARP in interest to me right now. Mass full contact combat sounds like fun.

That's sort of how I feel on it. Basically all of my friends go to a LARP named LAIRE, and while it sounds fun, it doesn't interest me much. But just combat? That sounds pretty cool. I think there's something called SCA (http://www.sca.org/) that a few people I know go to, but it's a bit of a money sink to start up.

Edit:

This (http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/multimedia/2008/03/gallery_larping?slide=3&slideView=3) is an interview of someone from LAIRE. He goes from his high noble character that recently died to another completely different person and then to his normal self. It's interesting to see.

[BigJonno]

Do you have anything like Belegarth (http://www.belegarth.com/) or Dagorhir (http://www.dagorhir.com/) there? It looks like those focus more on the combat itself over the storylines and yelling "lightning bolt." Almost like it's a sport with medieval trappings.

That's edging out straight up LARP in interest to me right now. Mass full contact combat sounds like fun.

It seems a bit like LARP taken out of context. There's no shortage of combat in most LARP events I've been to and if you just want to fight, there's always the option to volunteer as a monster, which will generally mean loads of combat, getting to use a variety of kit and usually not having to pay. Just fighting takes a lot of the drama out of it, in my opinion. When you're invested in a character, that life or death combat actually means something.

Found this through Shrinn's link. I'm just going to point and laugh.

http://www.flexamail.com/GetImage.ashx?id=4055

I've played some Vampire, it was alright. Kind of ironically, I found it was best when people went into overblown goth stereotypes. When people just turn up in a tracksuit or something and just act like themselves, it's just like a bunch of people sitting in a pub (or wherever) playing the occasional round of rock, paper, scissors. Some of the people I've done fantasy LARP with would tar and feather me for admitting to enjoying Vampire LARP on account of it being a bunch of emo Lestat wannabes with their "no weapons please, we might get sued" rock, paper, scissors shit. ;)

I definitely agree about Cthulhu Live. Never had the opportunity to play myself and it sounds absolutely insane, but by all accounts it just works.

The worst LARP system of all time is the old Star Wars system that involved stopping to roll dice whenever you wanted to do something and suggested that anyone using the sprint skill should move at a fast walk because actually running was too dangerous.

[Panthera]

That's sort of how I feel on it. Basically all of my friends go to a LARP named LAIRE, and while it sounds fun, it doesn't interest me much. But just combat? That sounds pretty cool. I think there's something called SCA (http://www.sca.org/) that a few people I know go to, but it's a bit of a money sink to start up.


I'm in the SCA. It's such a huge organization with so much going on in it that it's really hard to call it one thing or the other - but I'm just in it because they provide a space to fence in. There's two kinds of fighting in the SCA:

1) Those who pile on the armor and hit each other with taped up wooden sticks as hard as they can. You want to know what an SCA heavy battle looks like? Play Mount & Blade.
2) Those who use schlagers, foils and rapiers for a bit more finesse.

I'm part of the somewhat rare 3), the guys who actually take this stuff seriously and study European martial arts using period manuals to try to legitimately recreate the form instead of just throwing guys into the pit until they figure something out. Western Martial Arts is growing - most major cities have a group that's not aligned with the SCA, which is a good thing.

[Panthera]

Me too, although I do tend to disparage people for doing it. Mostly because every LARPer I've ever met was a either:

a. crazy
b. incredibly annoying.

Guilt by association, huh?

[LordDon]

Both these guys are local Belegrim. I want to party with these crazy bastards.

http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/cc346/jerimmortal/DSC_1764.jpg

[Superman's Dead]

I'm in the SCA. It's such a huge organization with so much going on in it that it's really hard to call it one thing or the other - but I'm just in it because they provide a space to fence in. There's two kinds of fighting in the SCA:

1) Those who pile on the armor and hit each other with taped up wooden sticks as hard as they can. You want to know what an SCA heavy battle looks like? Play Mount & Blade.
2) Those who use schlagers, foils and rapiers for a bit more finesse.

I'm part of the somewhat rare 3), the guys who actually take this stuff seriously and study European martial arts using period manuals to try to legitimately recreate the form instead of just throwing guys into the pit until they figure something out. Western Martial Arts is growing - most major cities have a group that's not aligned with the SCA, which is a good thing.

I went to some SCA stuff for a while and fenced, my girlfriend was doing it for years. She was the third type too, and considered going to grad school in Finland to study under a specific rapier master.

It's a lot of fun, if you're in a big city there's a lot to learn about combat from a lot of people. RP wise though...

[Panthera]

I went to some SCA stuff for a while and fenced, my girlfriend was doing it for years. She was the third type too, and considered going to grad school in Finland to study under a specific rapier master.

It's a lot of fun, if you're in a big city there's a lot to learn about combat from a lot of people. RP wise though...

Studying under Guy Windsor would be awesome.

[BigJonno]

One of the things I plan to do now I'm in a big city is to learn to use a sword properly. I know a little kendo/kenjutsu, which is great for LARP as it's mainly slashes (you can't thrust with LARP swords because it buggers the tips) and involves pulling your blows at the last minute (don't want to get your katana wedged in some dude's skull in the middle of a pitched battle.) If there's one LARP fighting trick that everyone should learn, it's being able to swing at full speed and then pull your blow before it connects. Most people are worried about hurting people or damaging their kit, so they swing a little slow. Going in full pelt scares the shit out of most people and if you can do it safely, there's nothing wrong with it.

But I'd much rather study European sword fighting techniques because I abhor how so many people obsess over Asian culture while ignoring their own.

[Krispy]

One might say I LARP every time I put on a uniform, don an airsoft gun, and attempt to escort some hostages being held by Dominican rebels.

[BigJonno]

One might say I LARP every time I put on a uniform, don an airsoft gun, and attempt to escort some hostages being held by Dominican rebels.

You'd be amazed at how many people who do airsoft, even milsim stuff, but will laugh at LARP. It's the same bloody thing! And one day I will have my cyberpunk or post-apocalyptic LARP with airsoft guns. One day!

[Krispy]

Yeah, but playing airsoft with ex-military just makes you feel fucking cool. :cool:

[LordDon]

I dunno, seeing the armor of some of the Belegarth guys, I'd feel pretty fucking cool swinging swords with them. (Even if they're just foam)

[Badger]

You'd be amazed at how many people who do airsoft, even milsim stuff, but will laugh at LARP. It's the same bloody thing! And one day I will have my cyberpunk or post-apocalyptic LARP with airsoft guns. One day!

I recently went on a costume hunting mission on a western theme (thanks Red Dead, Appaloosa, 3-10 to Yuma etc.) ready for potential parties later in the year and in my quest, stumbled across some stunning airsoft replicas of classic Wild West pistols (http://www.justpistols.co.uk/hws_nma.htm). If I still had the cash, I would blatantly rock the local skirmish site in full gunslinger attire :D

Reminds me of the cosplay / airsoft crossover a bunch of intrepid Russians did at a disused airbase, Fallout style.

[Scull]

As a long time LARPer, I have to say that all of you who think LARPs are "too geeky" just haven't had the experience. It is a blast to play with others in a LARP, especially when people are really into their characters and having a good time.

I've played in Vampire LARPs, which are so character and drama heavy that it makes most soap operas look like Saturday morning cartoons. I've played in Fantasy LARPs where everyone was running around doing the whole Lightning Bolt thing and fighting evil monsters. Many of which were in incredible costumes. And I've done a couple of "realistic" LARPs where shit was taken way too seriously, and no one playing ever knew they were LARPing, they just though military and spy tactics were fun to re-enact with paintball/airsoft guns.

Every childhood game of cops and robbers or cowboys and indians is a LARP, and anyone who says LARP is too geeky, needs to get out and actually try it. It is a blast.

[divinechaos]

Do I have to fight if I go to one of these things? 'Cause my character would be a Spanish King that just wants to fuck all their women and I'd walk around the battles playing my guitar and sing songs to lure the women into my castle. I don't think that's any less manly that pretending to stab someone with a foam sword.

[TheFlyingOrc]

Everything I've ever seen with LARPing is a bunch of awkward people convincing themselves that they're having fun while not actually having that much.

[BigJonno]

Do I have to fight if I go to one of these things? 'Cause my character would be a Spanish King that just wants to fuck all their women and I'd walk around the battles playing my guitar and sing songs to lure the women into my castle. I don't think that's any less manly that pretending to stab someone with a foam sword.

Well, cut the Spanish part (unless you find a game that is actually set in Europe) and the King part (because that's the LARP equivalent of the guy on WoW who runs around claiming he is the GodKingEmperor of the Alliance, despite being level 4) and you're golden. It's a good idea to carry a weapon in case you get mugged or something, but a lot of people LARP who have no interest in combat. Having musical types around is always good, especially when they can actually play. The LT (the system featured in that video in the OP) has a Bard's Guild and I'm sure a lot of other systems have similar stuff.

Everything I've ever seen with LARPing is a bunch of awkward people convincing themselves that they're having fun while not actually having that much.

That's a shame.

[Vandabo]

I wish there were more Cowboy-era airsoft weapons available, because I think it could be pretty fun doing a kind of LARP type thing with old west weapons and characters. One could just use spring guns (the only problem is that the revolvers blow usually) to simulate single action firearms, but it would be so much cooler with period replicas.

[BigJonno]

I wish there were more Cowboy-era airsoft weapons available, because I think it could be pretty fun doing a kind of LARP type thing with old west weapons and characters. One could just use spring guns (the only problem is that the revolvers blow usually) to simulate single action firearms, but it would be so much cooler with period replicas.

The problem with that is safety, too easy to plink someone in the eye. That's why I reckon cyberpunk would work better for airsoft-based LARP, EVERYONE wears shades. ;)

[Vandabo]

The problem with that is safety, too easy to plink someone in the eye. That's why I reckon cyberpunk would work better for airsoft-based LARP, EVERYONE wears shades. ;)

Real cowboys squint too hard to let a measly plastic bb in.

But seriously, a pair of shooters glasses would be a small price to pay to re-enact some old west shootouts.

Cyberpunk would be fun too... hell they already have an airsoft version of Deckard's pistol from Blade Runner. I think it costs a few hundred though.

[BigJonno]

Real cowboys squint too hard to let a measly plastic bb in.

But seriously, a pair of shooters glasses would be a small price to pay to re-enact some old west shootouts.

Cyberpunk would be fun too... hell they already have an airsoft version of Deckard's pistol from Blade Runner. I think it costs a few hundred though.

I want one!

[BigJonno]

Got a link to this on Facebook from a friend. It's a fest system based in Germany which attracts people from all over Europe. Probably the best LARP video I've seen.

<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GzwdHlWeHWs&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GzwdHlWeHWs&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

[LordDon]

That's bad ass, Jonno! You guys go big across the pond.

I finally got around to hitting the local Belegarth group and my god what a workout. I was drenched in sweat by the end with sore arms and legs. A total blast. The wife and I are already discussing constructing weapons and garb.

[Hawkzombie]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/5028244325_eae984febd_d.jpg

[LordDon]

See my sig.

[Hawkzombie]

Sorry, But that image and text get me everytime.

That video Jonno posted was enough to get me to like LARPing

[BigJonno]

I mentioned this in another thread, but I'm going LARPing again in November! It's a small event (about 50-100 people, I believe) but the guys I'm going with are crazy hardcore. It's sci-fi and based on the Mutant Chronicles tabletop games (strangely enough, there is a movie based on it as well. Avoid the movie, it's terribad and bears very little resemblance to the game.) The short version is that humanity unleashed evil badguys that were imprisoned on an undiscovered planet on the edge of the solar system. They have magic and nasty mutants and also cause electronic technology to be incredibly unreliable. Earth has completely gone to shit, but the solar system has been colonised. Big corporations control just about everything.

I'm going to be a member of the Bauhaus corporation. Think WW2 Germany mixed with Tsarist Russia. The system uses LARP melee weapons and NERF guns (although modified and painted to look cool and not, for example, bright orange.) The even has 24 hour time in, so from the Friday evening to the Sunday afternoon, we'll be in character. The means being attacked by mutants and anyone else we piss off in the middle of the night. The level of kit that people in my group are bringing is astounding. One guy is supplying a massive tent, worth over £1000, so that we can sleep communally. Another has bought a portable generator and several radios. One guy is putting together a Bauhaus "radio station" that will play appropriately German/Russian music and faked news broadcasts throughout the event. I believe we'll also be fielding three full suits of power armour.

I can't fucking wait. I will update with pictures of kit as I buy it.

[MagGnome]

My friends and I used to LARP when we were kids. We didn't call it that back then, but there was a large field near my house where we had several forts/"castles". We'd run around pretending to be knights, wizards, explorers, etc. It was a lot of fun!

There is a place in the Mall of America that is basically a LARPing experience for kids. It's called Magiquest (http://www.magiquest.com/). It looks kind of lame, but I could see young kids enjoying it.

I love going to the Ren Fair, so I should check out a LARP event sometime. There's something about a cute guy in medieval garb that really does it for me... :D

[LordDon]

Nerd Update!

So I started a blog about my adventures (http://garbfoambeer.blogspot.com/) in foam fighting. I've made a set of swords and I'm already starting on a second. We've found our way into our local Belegarth and Amtgard groups and have met a bunch of great folks. Belegarth seems to attract this strange demographic of the athletic geek and most don't look like your stereotypical basement troll covered in cheetos and mountain dew.

This last Saturday I showed up for my first Amtgard park day, without garb, and they geared me up for the battle game with other people's stuff. The guy who owns the armor says it's a little small for him and to pay for his new set he's selling it to me for pretty cheap. I don't think I look half bad in it, though I've got my own tabard to wear under it now.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/Lord_Don/doninleatherplate.jpg

[BigJonno]

Looking good there, Don. :D

It's funny you should mention the less typically nerdy looking LARPers as my new acquaintances break that mould, for the most part. One of them is a seven foot copper while another is muscular with long blonde hair and played Baby Superman in Superman IV. (How random is that?)

I've been stocking up over the past few days. At the military surplus fair I picked up a helmet, balaclava, gas mask and a set of hefty forearm guards. I have an impressively large foam dart gun that resembles a giant sci-fi pump-action double-barrelled shotgun. I also got a pair of leather gloves and this morning I bought a set of knee/shin guards from ebay. I've spent less than £100 so far and all I really need now is a new pair of boots and some new black combats, both of which I needed anyway.

[MagGnome]

This thread needs pictures of these "athletic geeks". ;)

[Spockrocket]

That's sort of how I feel on it. Basically all of my friends go to a LARP named LAIRE, and while it sounds fun, it doesn't interest me much. But just combat? That sounds pretty cool. I think there's something called SCA (http://www.sca.org/) that a few people I know go to, but it's a bit of a money sink to start up.

Edit:

This (http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/multimedia/2008/03/gallery_larping?slide=3&slideView=3) is an interview of someone from LAIRE. He goes from his high noble character that recently died to another completely different person and then to his normal self. It's interesting to see.

I used to go to LAIRE and I remember that guy. There's a reason his character's last name was Doomwalker. If you put yourself on his shitlist, you were gonna die. Horribly.

I need to go again. It's a bit of an addiction, plus the last time I went I finally put together a decent costume for my character and it would be a shame not to use it again.

[LordDon]

This thread needs pictures of these "athletic geeks". ;)

For you, Mags, for you.

http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/cc346/jerimmortal/5016337371_4e3f70b09f_b.jpg

http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/cc346/jerimmortal/40662_417458521023_641366023_4854493_5327104_n.jpg

http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/cc346/jerimmortal/ArmageddonVIII100.jpg

[Panthera]

Hot damn. Those guys are waaaay better looking than your average SCA crowd.

[LordDon]

Forgot this guy from our local Amtgard (http://www.amtgardinc.com/) group:

http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/cc346/jerimmortal/DSC_0021_3202f.jpg

http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/cc346/jerimmortal/DSC_0006_0472b.jpg

[MagGnome]

I'll be in my bunk.

[Panthera]

Forgot this guy from our local Amtgard (http://www.amtgardinc.com/) group:

Thank you.

[BigJonno]

My knee/shin guards arrived today! It occurs to me that in the event of a zombie apocalypse, I now have a nice collection of sturdy armour.

[Drayven]

is that Vin diesel?

[MagGnome]

Thank you.

Care to join me in my bunk? :D

[LordDon]

is that Vin diesel?

No, but he gets that a lot.

So I've started a blog detailing (http://garbfoambeer.blogspot.com/) my noobish LARP experiences. I'm in full swing now, boys, making garb and everything.

http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/cc346/jerimmortal/75818_1555795068128_1632757028_1285394_946840_n.jp g

[MagGnome]

I should join something like this. I've always had a thing for cute guys in medieval garb.

Typing that reminded me of the night I went home with that stripper. :D

[LordDon]

There's an Amtgard chapter, Starmount (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/starmount_mn/), in St. Paul.

There's a Dagorhir chapter, Osgiliath (http://osgiliathmn.com/), in Minneapolis.

[MagGnome]

Cripes, you weren't supposed to actually look that sort of thing up. :p

[LordDon]

No excuses Mags, I want to see pics of you in some garb, dammit. =D

[MagGnome]

I looked into those groups. It seems like both of them are fairly small (I think one listed 39 members). Furthermore, they do their events in Como park. I'm not LARPing in such a public venue! :p

[LordDon]

I looked into those groups. It seems like both of them are fairly small (I think one listed 39 members). Furthermore, they do their events in Como park. I'm not LARPing in such a public venue! :p

That's about normal for a chapter. You don't get tons of people until you go to events, where multiple chapters get together. In my experience so far the general public stopping and pointing hasn't been too bad. A lot of parents and kids will stop and watch us for a while and we'll even get the occasional person come up and ask what we're about and if they can try.

I'm surprised how un-self-conscious I feel about it. It helps when you have cool-looking gear.

[MagGnome]

It certainly explains the occasional sighting of a person in medieval garb on the bus. I saw a guy the other day who was likely coming from something related to this.

[BigJonno]

Thanks for warming up the thread for me while I was away. :D

So, I'm back from Mutant Chronicles Mars. I had an absolutely fantastic weekend on so many levels. Overall, it was loads of fun; lots of running around, shooting at mutants and getting into arguments with the Imperials.

(Quick explanation: Mutant Chronicles is set in the far future across a mostly terraformed solar system and almost everything is run by four megacorporations; Bauhaus, Imperial, Capital and Mishima. My corp, Bauhaus, are German/Russian/Italian/Scandinavian/general Continental European in flavour. Imperial are British. As a result, we range from lively rivalry to all-out war. We're also the two biggest corporations at the event by far.)

I met lots of really nice people. Most people there were from an organisation called Seaxe & Sorcery, who are a tabletop group that run a lot of LARP events. Many have known each other for years. I was a little worried that it'd feel a little clique-ish, but my fears were completely unfounded. Even when I wasn't with my friends who were long-time members, people clocked me as a new guy and a made a point of introducing themselves and generally being welcoming and friendly.

As for what I actually did in-character, well, I died. Quite heroically as well. The basic premise of the weekend was that everyone was investigating strange happenings in a contested region of Mars. By Saturday afternoon, everyone was trapped in a single location, defending it from waves of mutants and other manifestations of the forces of Darkness. By around 10pm, I had already been shot, stabbed and clawed several times, nearly died at least twice and received more medical attention than you'd see in an entire episode of ER. Certain events had left me feeling a little reckless, so when my Major ordered us out to rescue people who had been teleported out of our position by magic, off I charged. I was happily gunning down mutants when one rushed me and hacked me down, doing enough damage to take me to the "you cannot be healed by any means" point. I spent the rest of the night helping out the monster crew and getting to know some of the people who ran the event.

I brought in my new character mid-morning on Sunday. My original one had been a military scientist with lots of support skills (I spent large amounts of time repairing weapons and cooking up combat drugs and stimpacks.) My new guy is a melee combat monster, one of the most capable in the system at present as everyone else concentrated on guns. We spent most of Sunday morning getting pounded by a robot with an almost impenetrable shield. It was eventually determined that the shield could be overloaded with enough small arms fire. The plan that was eventually formulated involved a small group of people diving out of a helicopter (all pretend, of course) to disable the robot after its shields had been brought down by the rest. Guess who was the first to volunteer? :cool:

The four kamikaze troops were led off by a ref to have the details of our attempt explained to us. We had to play rock, paper, scissors to determine the outcome of our attempt. As long as one of us was successful, we would destroy the robot. A draw would result in probable death and a loss would mean completely and utterly blown to smithereens. We were allowed to confer before we called it and we made sure that at least one of us would be successful.

I managed to get probable death, along with one of the others. We destroyed the head of the robot, got caught in the ensuing explosion and then the self-destruct mechanism engaged and we were dragged to safety. The medics got to the other "probably dead" guy first and pumped him full of stimpacks, getting him to his feet with no problems. I wasn't so fortunate as medical supplies had run out. What followed was a brilliantly role-played scene where people were fighting to keep me alive with fake CPR and mouth-to-mouth. Our guys had brought a whole box full of real medical supplies, including a drip bag, bandages, syringes and the like and a "defibrillator" that was actually one of those electric muscle toners.

The good news is that I survived. The bad news is that I'm not allowed to make any kind of in-character communication for the next month as my character is in a coma. Next event I'm going to be turning up with a heavily-scarred face and an eye patch.

It was the best LARP weekend I've experienced. As it was so small (I think around 50-60 people) there was always plenty to do and the small ref team could cover things well, so it felt quite intimate and tailored, like a tabletop session. The organiser, Paul, seemed to genuinely care about his players and their characters, having worked with people in the run up to the event and offering me loads of suggestions when I was creating my new character.

I'm planning on attending Seaxe & Sorcery's fantasy events next year as well as the MCM one. Bauhaus are already planning our own one-day meetings for next year and we have a big list of stuff that we'll be doing for the next proper event. I've also been invited to join a local viking re-enactment group that meet every Sunday, which will mean I'll finally be getting some regular exercise and should be a lot of fun. It'll also mean I should be kicking some major arse in LARP, because very few people bother to learn to fight well.

[LordDon]

You got any pics? Sounds like it was a blast.

[BigJonno]

You got any pics? Sounds like it was a blast.

I believe there were some taken. I'll link to them when they're put online. I hope someone got shots of our guys in power armour, because they looked awesome.