Live action roleplay or live adventure roleplay used to be represented by the initials L. A. R. P. but has now gone much further, introducing some new words into the language:

Larp = live action role play / live adventure role play. OR "belonging to" or "used in" live action role play: e.g. larp costume, larp kit, larp character.

Larper = One who live action role plays.

Larping = live action role playing.

OK - so much for the vocabulary but what is it?

Seen (or read) Lord of the Rings? It is fantasy and has magicians, warriors, strange races and monsters. Table Top Role Play made possible a way to partially experience this through such games as Dungeons and Dragons.

Some folk wanted to go further and actually act out the games with combat. Over a period of time this developed into the many systems that are now spread around the world. Possibly the largest is the Mascarade, a system that became popular (amoung Goths in particular) following a table top series of games by White Wolf based upon a 'World of Darkness' In this world are Vampires, Werewolves, Mages and rather nasty Fey as well as other horrors. The Vampire part became extremely popular and groups have set up all over using a common set of rules.

However for many larp means sword and sorcery and there are many different systems. Some are run by large organisations like the Lorien Trust and others by single individuals. For example some friends and I run a system called Mayfest, that is used at an annual live role play festival called Mayfest that is run - you will be amazed to know - each year in May. Numbers are around 100 people, including families. The festival is run as a collective, i.e. everyone helps out at some time or other. It is aimed at folk who have not a lot of cash (students, families, etc.) and is non profit making. Other festivals can have thousands of people. These are not cheap but there is usually a wide range of activities and a huge battle to take part in.

As well as sword and sorcery, live role play takes in many other genres. Murder Mystery is one quite well known. Thrillers, Cyberpunk, Cuthulu, Buffy, Wild West and quite a few Manga based systems are all out there to be enjoyed.

Live role play most commonly takes the form of linear adventures, a couple of hours up to a few days long. They involve combat (or avoiding it) as well as puzzle solving. One finds that often disbelief is suspended so some emotions (like fear) are safely experienced.

As I said above, I and some friends run an annual festival. My role is to prepare and run the plot. Mayfest is different from many other systems in that the plot is reactive rather than proactive. This means that it will react to what the players do even if that in turn means that I am having to continually rewrite it. In other systems, at festivals, players are 'led' by referees to ensure that the plot follows a pre-defined script. My way is harder!

So why do I do it? There are a number of reasons. I feel good as I am providing a service to people who otherwise would not be able to experience a live role play festival. I socialise with people I like. I get to act and fight and run away just as much as the players and so have fun. Mainly though I do this because the live role play I go to is completely different to the rest of my life and thus makes a totally refreshing change. Running the festival also makes, to my mind, a worth while challange and so, when loads of people are going home having had a great time I feel a sense of achievement. It is addictive you know!

Final Note: If you want to learn more about Live role play go to: www.larpweb.co.uk - a site that explains the hobby, gives advice to those starting and provides various resources to those within the LARP world. For more about Mayfest look at www.themayfestsite.co.uk - Currently the mayfestlarp site is not being looked after and we have lost contact with the guy that used to maintain it so please do not use the forums on the mayfestlarp site but use instead themayfestsite where the forums follow quite a new style.

Recently I started playing in the Twilight Realms system. The plots here are proactive but I do not have to write them!