Monday, April 15, 2013

I'm teaching you about LARP


When I heard about larp first time, I imagined crazy people in weird costumes running around in the woods. So I went into the larp-world without any hope of having fun. Luckily, it turned out to be very different from what I thought and I was stuck after my first larp.


LARP is short for Live action role playing. You choose a character to play, and interact against other participants like an improvisational theater without an audience. You dress up and act like the character you've chosen. You write a backstory about this fictional character to make it feel more alive and send it to the organizers who gives you a plot to play on at the larp. For example, find a magic red necklace that a woodelf is carrying. Some other person might have gotten that same mission to make the larp as interesting as possible.



There are many different kinds of larp, medieval, future, science-fiction, steampunk, fantasy, vampire but I only participate in medieval fantasy larp. In those larps we play fairytale figures such as witches, goblin, orcs, and various types of elves, etc but also ordinary humans. Every race have their own guidelines which often is described on the specifik larps website so you know how to play your role and why. However, it is not required to play that way. Do you feel that your gnome character wants to be best friends with an orch you can of course try it but it is not certain that the orch have the same attitude...
If you want to start larping the best way is to check your city for the nearest larp and maybe find people who want to take you under their wings the first larp. :D These are great swedish facebookgroups to start with and talk to people: here and here



A fantasy larp usually last between 2-5 days. It takes place in the woods and all the participants are living in tents, wooden houses, or pavilions. (We built or own house though so this is where I live)


EVERYTHING is supposed to be medieval. This means that you can not run around waving with your phone or so. If you want to be offlarp for a while, then whisper to the person you want to talk to and ask if they want it. But quiet, and in a tent.


What makes larp both educational and a fun experience is just that you live out in the woods and cook all your food over an open fire. If I larp, it's a proof that anyone can do it. When I was younger I was involved in the Scouts but quit because we had to sleep in the woods, haha! And look at me now. :P

When you are out in the woods as your character the feeling is almost magical at times, especially if everyone plays their roles believable.



There are some guidelines to follow such as whether you can kill anyone. The weapons are made from foam and latex. A character can only be killed by a cut to your throat. You must also have a very good reason to kill the character. This is to prevent ruining other peoples larpexperience unnecessarily. This must also be approved by the organizer.

There are various reasons why people of all ages choose to larp and I think there is something for everyone. I knew from the beginning that my reason was to get away from the real world for a while. But it could simply be that you just are fascinated by everything medieval and want to wear the clothes.
Hunter, princess or magician, it is you who decide and anything is possible.


16 comments:

  1. Håller med föregående talare! Men... jag har alltid varit "blyg" och haft scenskräck, så även om jag hade velat så tror jag inte jag hade klarat av att lajv'a. Har en bild i huvudet av att jag skulle brista i asgarv eller något... det känns som om det bara hade varit pinsamt!
    Hur känner du när du lajvar? :D

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    1. vet du vad jag är faktiskt en ganska blyg person, så jag måste erkänna att jag klarar inte av att spela människa på lajv. Jag har provat ett par gånger men trivs inte eftersom jag blir osäker då. Så jag spelar oftast skogsvarelser eftersom jag då pratar med en annan röst och har massa smink och en rejäl utklädnad. DÅ kan jag leva ut och spela riktigt crazy :)

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  2. Thank you for sharing these infos :D I had no idea what larps were before.
    Well, it sounds like a very exciting experience, and I like the idea of acting; what I don't like is a medieval lifestyle XD I couldn't live in the woods for five days, I'd definitely go crazy after a while. But I guess it's perfect for someone who wants to take a break from the world once in a while. I bet you have great fun there!
    Also, your red dress is really pretty <3 did you sew it yourself?

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    1. Haha I thought too that I wouldn't be able to handle it actually xD so i started with a short larp (3 days) before I tried a longer one. And it was fine, the first day is kind of weird everytime but after that it feels like I'm been living in the woods forever ;D but I tell you this, when i get home I'm so thankful for a bath, toilet and a warm apartment!

      Thank you! No I didn't make it myself, it's from ebay actually :D

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  3. Jag lajvar ju också och jag brukar jämföra det med de lekar man hade som barn, men att det finns tydliga regler som alla måste följa. :)
    Lajv är nog en fantastisk upplevelse och man behöver inte vara öppen och sprudla av energi för att passa på lajv. Det är en fördel att ge din karaktär vissa drag som du själv har, då är det lättare att knyta sig till den (Lite som svar åt Sandra).

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    1. Ja precis, jag håller med :)
      Jag är ju ganska blyg av mig så jag tycker inte om att spela människa alls, då vet jag inte vad jag ska säga eller göra. Skogsvarelse is the shit, då kan jag bara vara helt knäpp och allmänt dryg, haha! Jag tror det finns nåt för alla, det kanske tar ett tag att hitta sin karaktär bara.

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  4. Det ser skitkul ut! Och vilka fina kostymer!

    Ps. En liten sak bara: Det heter "teach" när man ska lära någon annan/lära ut något. Det heter bara "learn" när man ska lära sig något själv :)

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    1. Åh, det hade jag faktiskt ingen aning om :D (jag har aldrig varit bra på grammatik på varken svenska eller engelska, haha!)Jag ska ändra det!

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  5. Ibland saknar jag verkligen lajvande. :)

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  6. That actually looks like a lot of fun! But I bet you're glad for a warm shower and soft bed when you get home!! :D

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    1. It is SO much fun!
      And yes it's like being in paradise taking a shower afterwards! The weird thing though is that I sleep very bady the first night at home because I miss the sounds from the forest :'D

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  7. Do you have plans for your tent/cabin? or can u give me basic instructions? Love your blog

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    1. No sorry I haven't :/ It was my husband who built and I can't find the instructions we followed. Its basically 8 parts that lean against each other, so it's easy to take down a build up somewhere else. The most important part is that the "top" parts fit perfectly. And the front and back are also 2 large parts that we just screwed into the walls.Here is a better picture of the front http://dayviews.com/lesthi/451201214/
      I'm sorry I dont have any tutorial for this :/

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