Hi!
Sorry, I didn't have that much time since I'm back and rather wanted to play UT than write in the forum.
Anyway, here we go...
Regarding to the questions from Sentic and Ghost, I think I need to explain how it all works.
The whole LARP (Live Action Role Playing) idea arised from the good old pen & paper roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, for example. There, you create your character on a sheet, write down all his attributes, advantages, disadvantages, skills and quirks, his visible description as well as his background story. Usually, you play in a fantasy world (for example the Forgotten Realms) which is described in detail in available books (the continents, the countries, the races, their properties, their political relations to other countries and races, cities, mystical and magical places and the like). The character creation (and the game) follows a rule system that all players have to obey (for example D&D 3.5). Usually, you start with few character points that you can spend to "buy" certain bonuses for your character (like increased strength, if you play a fighter, for example). For each solved quest, killed monster or special success (like a disabled trap) you get additional points to spend later on. Thus, your character becomes more and more experienced and his abilities increase.
Besides the players, there's the so called game-master. He creates the basic story for the game, which plays in the chosen world. The GM narrates the current situation and is the interface for the players to interact with their environment. He will also act as NPCs (non-playing characters) in case the players wish to talk to persons they meet in the game world. Here's an example:
GM: Following your quest to find the lost amulet of the mighty sorcerer Adalphas, you enter the dark forest behind the swamps, aware of the fact that only few have returned from there. Rumors say that strange creatures live in the woods and almost nothing is known about them. As you step inside, the path quickly dissolves under your feet and you feel the cold crawling up your legs. Darkness surrounds you and you hear no birds singing anymore. In front of you between the trees, there's a shimmering blue light and mist rises from the ground. As you twinkle with your eyes, you suddenly see some humanoid silhouette standing in the light. It seems to wait for you. What do you wanna do?
Player 1: I slowly pull my sword out of the scabbard and ask the Elf if he can see who it might be.
Player 2 (the Elf): "Yes, it's a human and he's wearing a robe". I shout into the darkness: "Who are you? What do you expect us to do?".
GM (acting as the unknown person, the NPC): "I'm Talaron and I knew you'd come. All of you will drop your weapons or I'll rip your souls before you can even attack".
[...]
This is classic pen & paper roleplaying. It all happens in your imagination and is solely verbal. But as RPGs became more and more popular, people started to think about playing it live instead of just talking and rolling dice. The idea of LARP was born. It is basically the same as pen & paper, with some differences, of course. A team of people organises a LARP convention (short: Con). They arrange the location, create a story with several side-plots, hire NPCs (usually other players who agree not to play freely, but at behalf of the GMs) and act as referees in the game.
As a player, you can simply register for the event by paying the fee to participate. You have to create and send in the character you want to play, according to the rule-system chosen for this particular event. In case, you already played a character before, you can also simply convert it. Depending from the rule-system being used, you usually get a certain amount of character points for each real time day that you have played this character on a LARP already (so called Con-days). These points can be spent for certain abilities that build your character. For example, as a magician, you can get spells, as a fighter you can get the ability to use a sword, as an adventurer, you can get "history and legends" (for additional information about what happened in the country before you came there - this usually helps to solve the plot), etc.
Once, you're there, have your tent built up and wear your in-time clothes, you're ready to go. At this point, you go "intime", which means, you no longer act as the person you're in real life, but only as the character you try to incorporate. The first thing usually is to get to know the other characters and evaluate their attitude. You can also go and explore the intime-world. But you have to be careful, because there's always danger around. Normally, you're just a traveller in a land that belongs to others. There can be orc tribes around, dark elves coming at night or simply an attack from bandits in the forest. But you can also find old and magical places, special herbs in the woods, friendly NSCs giving quests or information to you, etc. It all depends from the story, but usually, there's a lot happening and many things to do.
When it comes to a fight, there are also special rules to obey. You have just limited health points and each hit you take decreases them. Some weapons take more points, some less. Additionally, you can wear armour or a shield which can absorb some of the damage. It's all quite simple in general. For the wizards, each spell is also described in the rules. First of all, you have to act as if you were really casting a spell. That means, you have to speak some mystical words and gesture accordingly. A good player takes some seconds for this (rather than casting a spell immediately, which is bad play). At the end, the wizard names the spell he casted and points at the target player. An example would be "slow down". Either, the spell has a fixed duration given in the rules (e.g. 2 minutes) or it lasts as long as a certain condition is fulfilled - for example as long as you concentrate at the target player. In some cases, you also have to throw something at the target to hit it (for example a softball for a fireball spell).
At this point, cheating is possible, of course - just like at counting the hits taken and counting down your hitpoints. But it is all different from UT. You play this game
together and usually do not compete each other. You'll have the best game if everybody acts realistic. No one needs "heroes" running around and ignoring any effect being cast upon them. Such players will be completely ignored by the others soon and would not take part in the game anymore. Besides that, there are GMs around during the fights, watching everything happening. They can check if your character is really capable of a certain spell or tell a character to fall if he took too many hits and didn't do so on his own. In any case, acting realistic gives the biggest benefit. Players doing so are admired by the others. And if you are a warrior and are being wounded, there are always beautiful female healers around to take care of you.
Or imagine, you're a sorcerer and turn someone into stone. Others find him there, completely motionless. They will try to find out who did it and must find a way to reverse it. It simply produces great fun and a good game for everyone. This is what LARP lives from!
Well, in case you want to learn more about it, just search the web. There are lots of information available.
At this specific event, the ConQuest of Mythodea 2007, Sonja and I had lots of fun and were really successfull. I have been elected to be one of the three council members of the magic council. So I was one of the three leaders of the Magic camp (there were camps for each element - Fire, Water, Earth, Air and Magic). And from then, there was no free second for me. There were always diplomats from the other camps, information had to be gathered, actions to be directed, etc. I almost had no time to eat.
But therefore, I experienced very much and had many important things to do and decice.
Unfortunately, because of this lack of time, there was no opportunity to make any photos. So I'll just post a photo of Sonja and me from another LARP event and some photos from this one, made by other players.
Coco.
P.S.: Most of the photos are copyright by Thilo Wagner.
