For several years I have known that a close friend of mine participates in Live Action Role Playing (LARP) as a hobby. It was initially my friend’s sheer dedication to LARPing that fueled my fascination. But, I never had an opportunity to genuinely discuss LARPing with him. Also, he had never really “opened up” to me about LARPing. Therefore, as an outsider who had such a friend that could let me document the world of LARPing, I did not hesitate at the opportunity to do so. Through that opportunity, I discovered that LARPing is much more than just a hobby.

My close friend, posing with his LARPing attire and weapons

In general, role playing games are defined as intellectual entertainment for a group of people, reproducing hypothetical situations in the form of scenarios (Vorobyeva 69). What makes LARPing different from tabletop or electronic roleplaying games, like Dungeons and Dragons or Skyrim, is that LARPing requires physical interaction with a real-world environment. This means that LARPing demands a much larger mental, emotional, and physical investment than other role-playing games. This is because the environment is entirely user generated. A LARPer doesn’t just sit back and allow a game on a screen or piece of cardboard to say what is going on. They use their imagination, creativity, and willpower to live action role play. My close friend describes LARPing as full-contact fighting using foam weapons, period costume, and staying “in-character”. This differed a great deal from what I thought LARPing was. To me, LARPing was as simple as people playing dress-up and hitting each other with foam weapons. Apparently I’m not the only one who had that opinion. In regards to my own and other outsiders’ opinions, my friend said, “They aren’t wrong. We dress up and hit each other with foam. But, I was actually the same way before I actually tried it. Once you get past the stigma and give it a shot, it’s the most fun you’ll ever have.”

Two LARPers engage in a duel

Why would someone participate in LARPing? This is one of the main questions I sought to answer in my documentation of LARPing. As it turns out, it is quite striking that so many people can come together to participate in an event. Some people treat LARPing as a sport, frequently training and working on team tactics. Others do it because they love the combative aspect of LARP. A large number of people participate because they feel like it is the only time they can really be themselves and take on a completely different identity. There’s even a group of veterans that participate because LARPing helps them overcome their PTSD. For my friend, it is a combination of several factors. Initially, he began to participate because he found the combative aspect appealing. This made sense to me, because I knew my friend liked to do mixed martial arts, but I wasn’t sure how he got into all the other “stuff” that LARPing requires. For him, it has evolved to the point where he participates not only because he enjoys the battling, but because he also loves the character development and comradery that comes with LARPing. With this comes a large time dedication required outside of the main LARPing events. For example, he spends several hours practicing, sometimes on his own. Also, he builds new weapons and attire for his character.

Practicing fighting technique, alone

 Getting into the LARPing community was one of the first steps I took to being able to discover, and authentically document the world of LARPing. Through my close friend, I was able to gain access to several local community LARPers. I was able to witness firsthand, the way the LARPers interacted with each other. It was clear that a common bond between them was present. They talked about building new weapons, fighting techniques, and the next major event they would be attending.

Preparing for battle

The event that they were talking about was Winter War, where over 500 LARPers gather to do battle over a weekend. Preparing for such an event requires practice and planning among the small LARPing communities that will attend. During the course of the gathering, I discovered that within the larger community of LARPing, there is smaller sub-communities. Such sub-communities include groups that focus more on role playing and groups that focus more on battling, for example.

“Skulls are important in the community, they represent sacrifice”

The power to change the traits of the alternate character, the way they perceive their alternate world, and what they do is entirely up to the creator. The way LARPers uses that power varies greatly. Some LARPers participate as a character that already existed within them, LARPing just empowers them to bring that character out. Other LARPers use their power to live an experience that helps them overcome depression. One of the LARPers I met was happy to describe his characters and why he created them. His main character was an assassin, which was known for not being polite, not of nobility, and not proper. This character represented the rebellious side of the LARPer. That LARPer had given the character the name, Shirako, which was an online name for a character the LARPer already had. To some, naming the character is a big deal. By giving the character a separate name, it means the player can fully abandon their “real” life and be enveloped by their new persona. It gives a distinction between when LARPers can and cannot bring out their characters. The name also provides another example of an aspect of the LARP world that individual players have total control over. My friend goes by the name of Gano Al’Snow. When I asked Gano to describe the meaning behind the name, he did not hesitate to go into detail. He said, “Gano is Argentine slang for the trickster. Al’ is from a book series called Wheel of Time that stands for royalty, and Snow is from Game of Thrones meaning bastard. So, I’m the bastard of a royal line.”

At one point, when asking about characters, I was reminded by a LARPer I met through my friend that I am still an outsider to LARPing. I had asked what his character’s name was to which he responded, “I’m known by my reputation alone”.

 “I’m known by my reputation alone”

Artist’s Statement

I decided early on that I wanted to keep the people depicted in the photos anonymous. Therefore, I decided that no faces would be displayed in the photographs. I liked the heightened level of vagueness that my decision added. Also, the people depicted in the photos were happy that I decided to leave their faces out. I tried to do a mix of candid action shots and posed shots. I believed that variety would allow for a real documentation of LARPing, because it is not just the action I was focusing on. Due to time constraints, it was difficult to get more photographs. Pictures such as the making of the LARPing weapons would have been good to include. I had to choose from a much smaller selection of photos for this project than I would have liked to. Also, I did not have the chance to photograph any larger, group events which I think would have been great to include in the photo narrative. I used a DSLR camera to take the photographs, which I think turned out well given my lack of experience. I used the program GIMP to edit the photos. Increasing contrast was the main editing I did for the photos. Increasing the contrast created a much bolder and high intensity level in the colors. I thought that increasing the intensity of the colors would also increase the intensity of the photographs themselves. Finally, I was able to interview several LARPers about their experiences, but I ran out of room and decided to limit the amount of that material I include. One way I could’ve included it would have been to change the direction of the photo narrative so that it was more focused on the interviews I did, instead of just the overall theme of LARPing.

Help Received:

Interviews with LARPers, professor and peer feedback, works cited

Works Cited

“Leaving Mundania Inside the Transformative World of Live Action Role Playing Games.” Kirkus Reviews. 80.6 (2012). Print.