LARP

Get ready for LARP season with renaissance costumes

The end of February is not too far off, which means that Live Action Role Playing (LARP) season will be here before you know it! Many groups like to hold their first events of the year during March. This means that it is time to dig out your Medieval costumes, oil up and polish your Medieval armor, and to start practicing with your boffer or latex weapons.

What is LARPing? LARPing is a type of roleplaying that takes you away from a gaming table and actually places you inside the role of your actual character. When you create a character, you actually come up with their personality, put on a Renaissance costume, and head out to a location, such as a campsite, to act out how your character would respond to the situations that are presented to you.

In most cases, there is a game staff that comes up with the story, villains, and other characters to help immerse you within the world of the game. Then you spend the entire length of the event acting out your character as you come across various scenarios. It is both a unique and entertaining experience.

If you are thinking about attending a LARP and are in need of a costume or armor, make sure to visit our site to see all of the fun options we have available.

"What? Me hungry!" said the barbarian

As you may know, in the past we have had some of our readers submit their funny LARP stories to us so that we can share them with everyone. For newer readers, LARP stands for Live Action Role Playing, and it is a game where you actually become your character and roleplay him or her out in a physical setting. Depending on the organization you are with, there can be combat with safe-for-combat weapons, while other games use other methods. It is a great place to utilize Medieval and Renaissance costuming.

This particular story starts in the town’s Medieval Tavern. Most of the players had gathered for the Saturday afternoon feast and were enjoying merriment and games. Since everyone was going to be in one location, the game directors had organized a valuable piece of information to be released to the players by way of a good old fashion tavern fight.

While everyone was enjoying their meals, the two people who were “staging” the fight were throwing taunts toward each other, gearing up for this elaborately planned affair. The tension was running high as the players were waiting to see what exactly would happen in the following altercation.

Just as one of the participants got up to draw their sword, something unexpected occurred: A player, taking the role of a barbarian, did not wish to have his meal interrupted by petty barroom antics. Before the person initiating the fight could even draw their weapon, this barbarian picked up his club and used a skill that knocks someone out for ten minutes, thus adverting the fight.

Once complete, the barbarian sat back down, looked up, and realized that everyone was looking at him. He simply shrugged his shoulders, that were covered by his Medieval Barbarian wrap, and said, “What? Me hungry!”

Please feel free to share your own funny LARP stories in the comments section!

Baby, it's cold outside

Last time we wrote to you about how if you belong to one of the LARP groups that continues to hold events well into the winter, that there are certain precautions that you need to take. We gave you tips such as how you should bring extra socks to wear under your Renaissance boots, or bring some coffee or tea to drink to stay warm. But since newer LARPers can overlook what is needed to stay warm and safe during the winter, we thought of one more tip we wanted to pass on.

-Space Heaters: Some camps have cabins with electricity. Even though the aspect of most LARPs is to maintain the most authentic feel as possible, nobody will fault you for keeping an electric heater in your cabin. It is an excellent idea to warm up and dry off when it is cold out. However, you must always remember to keep flammable materials a distance away from the heater. The heater should be kept in the middle of the room and things like paper, cloth, leaves, and so forth should be kept away so that a fire doesn’t start. If you want to use the heater to dry out clothing, lay the clothing on the ground or over a chair but keep them far enough away so that they don’t get hot. Consider unplugging the heater when not in use. Also consider not leaving the heater on all night or when you are not in the cabin.

By keeping all of these things in mind while you are at and event, you will be taking steps to prevent fires through improper use of electrical heaters.

Does the weather stop your LARPing?

Now that we are well into November, most Live Action Role Playing or LARP groups have packed away their gear for the last time until the spring arrives. However, there are some groups that trek well into the winter to partake in this fantasy gaming hobby. If you are part of a group that still has events lined up for the year, we wanted to take some time to give you some winter LARPing reminders:

-Wool Cloaks: Renaissance wool cloaks are your best friends for the winter. Not only are they a dashing costume option, but they will help take the chill out of the air.

-Extra Socks: Nothing is worse than cold feet. Take several extra pairs of socks with you in case you step in a puddle, it starts to rain/snow, or you are just moving around a lot. The last thing you want to do is wake up and have to put wet socks back on.

-Coffee/Tea: Packing some sort of hot beverage is an excellent way to warm yourself up. If your camp has a “Tavern,” you can ask the person tending the tavern to heat it up for you then serve it to you in a period-appropriate cup. They also make those self heating drinks now that you can keep with you in your cabin before you go to bed.

-Fire Consciousness: Although a fire will keep you warm, just make sure you follow safe procedures. Keep everything in a fire ring, pit, or place, don’t go to bed leaving a fire unattended, and if you are having a dry winter, make sure that sparks don’t catch your clothing or dry leaves on fire.

Hopefully with these tips you’ll stay warm and dry while LARPing in the winter.

Direct hit! ...Oops.

Every so often we hear from our customers who love to Live Action Role Play, or LARP. LARPing is an activity where you actually become your character and physically go to a camp site to role play out the scenarios your character encounters. You even wear Renaissance costumes to help create the atmosphere of a long ago age. Sometimes people share LARP stories that are a bit on the humorous side with us, and now we want to share them with you.

At one LARP, a small army of vampires wanted to attack the tavern where most of the towns members were. Knowing that they were outnumbered, the vampires tried to thin out the town’s numbers with some basic artillery.

As they emerged from the woods in the dead of night, they started launching waterskins full of acid at the town. This is of course what they were called in game, in actuality they were water balloons. As the attack commenced, the vampires sent forth a wave of zombies to help mop up what the artillery was hitting before the main force of vampires attacked. Unfortunately for the vampires, the launcher wasn’t working properly an a number of the water balloons exploded well before they made it to town. Near the end of their ammo supply, one balloon went flying and scored a direct hit, completely dousing one of the players. However, the vampires later discovered that the only dead-on hit they scored was on one of their own zombies.
At least he was already “dead,” right?

Do you have any stories? Share them with us!

If you are thinking about going to a LARP, you are going to need to develop a character. A LARP is a completely immersive gaming experience where you literally become your character and go to a camp site and to act out what your character would do. It can be a very entertaining experience that gives you the opportunity to meet a lot of interesting people.

When developing your character, you will normally have decide upon a character class or a skill path. A common skill path found at LARPs is a Wizard or a Mage. Below is a list of pros and cons that you can consider if you were thinking about playing a Mage, so that you can make an informed decision.

PROS:

-You have access to spells. The further down the path you go, the more powerful these spell can become.

-Spells are essentially a ranged attack, so you don’t have to be right next to the enemy to hit them with the spell.

-You will be highly valuable in specific situations depending upon the type of spells you can cast.

CONS:

-Most LARPs represent a spell being cast by throwing “spell packets.” Spell packets are little squares of fabric that are filled with bird seed, then tied off to form weighted packets. Since you can’t actually make a fireball come out of your wand, you have to throw these packets instead. Throwing these packets in a combat situation makes it difficult to effectively wield your weapons.

-You won’t have a lot of access to skills relating to fighting as they are reserved to fighting classes.

-If you can cast spells designed to protect players, you may be pestered a lot by other characters.

Every class is going to have its ups and downs. So long as you have fun playing the character, you can always work around the cons. If you are in need of a Medieval wizard costume, we’ve got you covered here at Pearson’s.

Stay hidden in these cloaks

If you are a LARPer looking in the Medieval cloaks section, that means one of two things.

One: You want to stay warm and dry.

Two: You’re playing a rogue.

Although the darker Medieval cloaks you can find at Pearsons are very adept at helping you hide in the darkness, that doesn’t mean you are all in the clear. If you don’t practice other stealthy actions, people will be alerting the night watchman. Here are some tips you can use while you are out at the LARP to try to remain hidden while you are sneaking around.

-Stick the edge of fields. If you have no other choice but moving through a field, don’t walk through the middle of it, stick to the edges. At night, peoples eyes play tricks with them and staying near the edge of field, especially if it is wooded, helps play into this. The dark background of the forest will help obscure you so long as you move carefully.

-Look for big trees.  If you must move through the woods move slowly and carefully. Quick movements will always draw attention. Try to plot your path from big tree to big tree. If someone happens by, you can try to use your cloak to help you blend into to the dark or into the tree. If there is a source of light, make sure to stay to the opposite side of it so you don’t end up being highlighted.

-Watch where you step. If you can find a softer surface to walk on, you’ll make less noise. Branches, dry leaves, and heavy gravel are all poor choices. Pine needles, dirt paths, grass patches, and minimal gravel are better choices. If you aren’t sure, ease your weight on to the surface to see if any noise will be made before you use your full weight.

With these tips, hopefully you will remain invisible to your enemies.

Perfect for rogues

If you are reading this blog, there is probably a good chance that you have LARPed, or you are planning on LARPing. LARP is an acronym for Live Action Role Playing game. LARPing is an interactive experience where players literally become their characters and act out scenarios in real time rather than from a video game console or computer screen.

When players arrive, there is usually a staff that runs and directs the gameplay. They help to set up the scene that the players will be using to interact. Players can create characters based upon the games rules and can take on roles such as a fighter, rogue, mage, or cleric. Depending on the game, there may even be live combat with foam or latex weapons.

The Renaissance clothing found at Pearson’s also works wonderfully as LARP costumes. For example. The dark cloak that you see here can be an excellent tool for rogues trying to sneak around in the dead of night. The wool material will not only keep you hidden, but also warm and dry. See what sort of mischief you can cause as a rogue with the LARP costumes you can find at PearsonsRenaissanceShoppe.com.

Eat right at your next LARP event!

It’s finally here: Your very first Live Action Role Playing, or LARP, event. You’ve been waiting for this weekend for months and during that time you’ve been planning out your character from top to bottom. You’ve studied the rules and you can not wait for what you assume will be one of the best experiences of your life.  All you have to do is pack.

What will you take? You’ll want to pack your LARP costume, your boots, your boffer weapon, some sleeping gear, toiletries, and any makeup you may need. But don’t also forget about food.

LARP food can be tough to pack because you’re not sure what you should bring. You could bring packaged food that you cook in a kitchen, but that isn’t always on the Medieval theme. Now, nobody will tell you that you can’t eat the food that you bring, but when you are just looking for a snack, you may want to think of something you can use that is more appropriate for the time period.

The easiest way to have an authentic snack are fruits, cheese, and nuts. Many travelers in the Medieval era needed food that gave them energy and was also easy to carry. A small satchel full of various nuts fits this bill perfectly. Fruit like apples, grapes, pears, and cherries were also ideal traveling snacks because they would last longer than meat. The same can be said for small pieces of cheese.

Lighten your gear for summer

Now that we are into the Spring/Summer months, the way that you pack for LARP events will change. You will exchange your heavy wool robes for lighter cotton shirts. You won’t pack quite so many layers. You might even consider wearing a Scottish Tartan kilt just so you don’t have to wear heavy and warm pants.

Just remember that it is important during events where the temperatures are high, that you don’t get over exhausted or dehydrated. Don’t be afraid to remove extra layers of clothing even if it detracts from your costume. Please remember to drink adequate water so your body can continue to cope with the extreme heat. As a reminder: Soda does not count as a hydrating liquid. Soda actually dehydrates you due to the caffeine. Don’t rely on soda as your primary source of beverages.

If you keep your costumes light, seek shade, and keep drinking water, you will have a much more enjoyable LARPing experience.