Information AboutLarp |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT LIVE ACTION ROLE-PLAYING GAME | |
| live-action role-playing games | |
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A live action role-playing game ('''LARP''' or '''LRP''') is a form of Role-playing Game where the participants physically act out some or all of their characters' actions. LARPs are related to Improvisational Theatre , although there is usually no audience. Unless where it is otherwise explicitly stated, this article only covers LARP in the English speaking world. The term LARP also refers to an activity that has different local names with considerable variation in how it is practiced in Non-English speaking countries countries. PLAY OVERVIEW Players take on the role of characters and physically portray them, improvising their characters' speech and movements somewhat like an actor in Improvisational Theatre . This is distinct from traditional Role-playing Game s where character actions are described verbally. Sometimes players create their own characters to play, in other cases the person running the larp creates all the characters. Players may be able to play more than one character, often changing clothes so that it is clear which character they are currently playing. In some LARPs a character can become unplayable if they are killed or imprisoned. The player may have to play a different character when this happens. In other LARPs, dead characters can be brought back to life. Play usually takes place within a pre-defined space. This may be a private building or section that has been borrowed or hired for the purpose, or a public area. In some cases members of the public who are not involved in the LARP may be in the play area, in which case they may either be ignored or treated as part of the fictional setting. Play usually starts and ends at pre-defined times, and may occur over hours or days. Unlike in theatre there is usually no audience, as LARPs are played for the satisfaction of the participants. Beyond these basic common features, LARPs vary greatly. In particular there is a broad spectrum of settings that play takes place in, methods of physically representing the characters and the settings, game rules, and types of activity that characters are involved in. Production Players may dress as their character and carry appropriate equipment, or costume and gear may be portrayed by physical symbols or entirely imagined. Likewise the environment in which play takes place may be dressed to resemble the imaginary setting, and special effects may be used to represent unusual occurrences in the setting. In character versus out of character There is a distinction between when a player is actively representing their character (called ''in character'', ''IC'', ''in game'' or ''in play'') and when the player is being themselves (called ''out of character'', ''OOC'', ''off role'', ''out of game'', ''off game'' or ''offplay''). Some LARPs encourage players to stay consistently IC except in emergencies, while others accept players being OOC sometimes and use devices such as off-game areas, armbands, or gestures to signify when players are currently OOC. Information learned while OOC is usually considered distinct from information learned when IC, and characters making use of OOC information is a form of Metagaming . Simulation and representation |
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