Arm Yourself - Where do you Get Your Weapons?

Let’s face it, you picked a combat LARP because you wanted to get some aggression out and beat down your friends, or maybe you have the more noble goal of wanting to learn a martial art. Perhaps you just want a bit more exercise, after all you can burn around 500 calories per hour having a great time beating on your friends.

No matter the reason you want to beat your friends, you’re going to need something to beat them with, otherwise you might want to look into joining the MMA.

Where do get those Wonderful Toys?

There are a few great ways to your hands on some wonderful weapons, and there are plenty of ways to do that. Each has their own pros and cons, and you should probably look at them all.

1) Make Your Own

Making your own weapons is always a great option, and probably the go-to option for

most players. It’s the lowest cost, and you can get it exactly how you want it. I encourage everyone to at least learn how to make their own weapons. Every game out there has different rules for exactly what goes into their weapon construction, and there are a  lot of great resources and tutorials on the net, but they can be a little hard to find, so I thought I’d through out a couple of links to get you on your way. They are game specific, but if you go with the most padded weapon you can make, you’ll probably be fine in any game.

NERO - Nero has the most basic weapons of any game I’ve explored. Their weapon construction is pretty simple, and can be found here.

DAGORHIR - Dagorhir is a heavy combat game, and their weapons are built for that. There are some great techniques out there for building their basic weapons. If you go that route, they’ll be useable in most combat games. The weapon construction tutorials on their site will probably do you well for most games. Bonus, you can find an amazing tutorial for Wynar’s Plasti-Dip Weapons on their forums.

Of course the best way to learn to make weapons is to get with the Combat Marshals in the game you play. Sometimes they even offer classes at events.

2) Get them Made by a Fellow Player

I’ll admit, that I’m not the greatest boffer-smith out there. I can make a basic functional weapon, and it’ll pass inspection and do well in combat, but it’s ugly. That’s my short coming, I suppose, and I accept that. I do, however, have some truly talented weapon builders that I fight with, and they can make some weapons that aren’t just functional, they’re works of art.

Just about every group that you’ll fight with will have a person, or people, that have perfected the art of boffersmithing, and they’ll usually be willing to hook you up, sometimes to make a little bit of money, and sometimes in exchange for something you’re good at that they might be lacking in. The world of boffer fighting is a world run on the barter system.

3) Buy them Online

They can be expensive, and there is no real chance for customization with them, but if you can’t make your own, and you can’t find someone to help you out, it is a pretty decent option. There are hundreds of sites out there to buy weapons from, but I personally recommend commissioning something from Wynar. His prices are pretty reasonable and his work is amazing. Of course, you’ll be paying for the work that goes into a custom weapon, so expect to pay $50-$100 for a sword.

For less money, and less customization, you can also go with some of the nicely made weapons over at Forged Foam. Their prices are pretty decent, and they come highly recommended in some of the boffer communities. I have not personally bought weapons from them, so most of my information is second hand.

A Note About Latex Weapons

Most combat heavy games will not let you use a latex weapon. They are designed for more role play based games, and tend to lack in the padding and other features combat games require, such as thrusting tips. That being said, they are about as good looking as you can possibly expect to find, but that price matches the glam.

Now, go get your hands on some foam and start learning how to be a bad ass.

Bring Extra Socks and 8 Other Practical Tips for Events

It’s the night before you head out to a big event, and you’re getting your things together. You go down the list and double check all of the necessities; you’ve got your garb and weapons ready to go, you remembered to pack your tent and sleeping bag, and you’ve even filled your cooler with food and beverages. Seems like you have everything under control, but do you really?

Preparation is about the Basics

When you’re packing for your big event, make sure you cover the small stuff, too. Making it through a camping weekend isn’t just about the big stuff, and there are a ton of things that can make you take time from enjoying an event and need to head deep back into the mundane world, dressed funny and smelling like a street urchin. Make sure you pack these 9 things to keep you in the game and going.

Extra Socks

Ok, you’re going to be in the woods for 2 days so you would think that 2 pairs of socks will cover you, right? No! When you’re tromping around a field, sword fighting and running from zombies, your feet are going to get sweaty and skanky. If they get too gross, not only are they going to stink up the inside of your tent, but you’re going to get foot rot and loos hunks of flesh. It happens, but it’s avoidable.
I generally pack an extra pair of socks for each day I’m going to be at the event. I might not need them but they sure do come in handy when I do.
Back in December of last year I went to an event in the snow and almost froze my toes of even after we were inside. I had extra socks in the form of thin little athletics, but they just made my feet dry. That day I was given a pair of big thick, heavy cotton socks. They melted my feet into balls of happy goo and changed my life forever.
Now, I make sure to pack those socks when I head to any event. Chances are I won’t need them in July, but you never know when you’re going to fall in a creek and need something to keep you warm and going.

Toilet Paper

This one seems more obvious than it should. You need to go to the bathroom. You need to clean yourself when you do, otherwise you are going to smell like a sewer rat. That might be a little too in character. Take some tp with you into the woods, and you’ll thank yourself later. Again, you might not need it, but it’s better to have it than not. Even if there is a bathroom or port-a-potty on site, you are better off having this around in case of an emergency.

Trash Bags

We have a rule in Eldaraenth, you leave an event site better than you found it. That means policing and cleaning your camp regularly to make sure there isn’t any trash floating around mucking up the place. It’s best to bring two types, also. Grab some plastic grocery store bags to keep around in places where you might need to seal the trash away, especially if you have to break out the aforementioned toilet paper. Another great place to have something like that hanging is where you prepare your food, especially meat.
Make sure you grab some bigger trash bags, too. You can put the smaller trashbags inside them when they are full and put most of your general camp trash in them as you go along. We like to keep one at all times near our water station.

EXTRA WATER

There is no such thing as too much water at an event. Dehydration is a real worry, especially for the guys wearing heavy armor or the ladies strutting around in corsets (or vice versa). Most games will provide water for players, but it can be hard to keep it stocked up good and full when you’ve got a bunch of people all pulling from the same tank. Just do yourself a favor and bring extra water with you. You will drink it.

Sunscreen

I am a pale, pale man. I burn through my garb sometimes. It’s a good idea to sunscreen up. I like the kind that sprays on, and you can sometimes get it with bug spray built into it. Two for the price of one, I’m sold. Use it, and prevent melanoma.

A Tarp

I have a friend who is an outdoorsy kind of guy. He taught me a very valuable lesson. Bring a tarp (or two) when you go camping. One under your tent can help keep it warmer, keep the dew out, and get you a bit more off the ground, and one on top of a tent will work a million times better than the best rain flap out there. Also, if you forget your tent poles, a tarp and some rope makes a fairly decent lean to.

Extra Blankets

It can get cold out there at night. If you need them, they’ll keep you warm, and if you don’t they’ll make the ground a little more comfortable. I recommend putting one down under you anyway, because getting off the ground will help keep you warm when it is freezing cold.

Tooth Brush

People forget this one all the time. Morning breath can ruin everyone’s day. Bring one, and some toothpaste while you’re at it. At least grab some mouthwash.

Wet Wipes

This one never occurred to me for years. I just thought “Hey, I’ll go home and shower for two hours, so why worry about stinking at the event.” Then we had a new player come into the game and it changed my perspective. She brought wet wipes with her to the events and cleaned herself completely each morning. It was like, “wow, she doesn’t smell like a hobo!”

The List Goes On

There a a lot of little things that can be added to the list. Do you have any advice for new players, or maybe a simple recommendation for some of your veterans?

NPCs - The Fun Break from your Character

Generally when you go out to an event, you’ll want to play your character. After all, that is the point, right? Sometimes, though, it might not be easy to fit your character into what is going on with the rest of the event, or to make things run smooth the person running the event could really use a hand. That’s when you find yourself playing one NPC or another, sometimes single handedly staring down a party of players, waiting for the beat down.

It can be frustrating and annoying when our turn to NPC comes up, or it can be a nice break.

Playing an NPC can give you a chance to try something new with a character or to give you a little escape from the same old character rut you’ve been stuck in for a while. Besides, it’s not very likely that you’re going to get to spend time sitting in the woods in a bear suit by playing your character.

Make it your Own

The next time you draw NPC duty, don’t think about it as your turn on a chore wheel. Instead, think about the NPC you’re going to be playing that day as a brand new character that you get to have fun doing whatever you want with for the rest of the event. Your real character has consequences to deal with, but the NPC usually just has a set of orders that need to be dealt with. Other than that, sew a little chaos.

As memorable as the in-character moments are to most players, a well played NPC will be just as fond a memory. Players like to tell stories about that time So-and-so played the annoying goblin, or how they crapped themselves when they heard the roar come out of the woods.

And who wouldn’t when this guy is coming right for you.

LARP in the Moment - Getting inside your character’s head.

Archi pushed Relevar back against the wall, his fingers twisted in the neck of his long tunic. Relevar’s hand slid inside his spell pouch, wrapping around the components to a spell. Soon, the every one else in the room was on their feet, their hand reaching for weapons they had smuggled into the tavern. Relevar relaxed his shoulders, there was now way he could take down all six of them men and come out unscathed, he would wait for a better time.

Archi continued to stare him in the eyes, hate boiling behind them. Relevar just stared back at him, a sly grin on his face. It wasn’t considered a crime in these lands to murder a drow, even one that had defected from the empire and joined in the aid against them. According to the law, his plan would be considered murder, not justice.

A loud cough was heard from the door to the private room and the bar’s owner, a half-ogre that could wield the large club at his side with the same skill as even the most seasoned warrior made a motion as if to say, “Take it outside.” Archi pushed Relevar back one last time and stormed out. Relevar looked around the room at the man’s companions, trying his best to let them know that Krunk had just saved all of their lives, while silently thanking the ogre for saving his own before heading outside himself.

He crossed the threshold of the bar, passing into the mundane zone as he did so, and saw Archi waiting for him. “Dude, that was freakin’ awesome.”

Getting into the Moment

When you set out to role-play a character, you generally have one goal: to spend some time being someone other than yourself. Try as hard as we can, most of the time, we find ourselves just responding to the things going on around us as we ourselves would, without really thinking about how our character would actually react. You can spend all of the time in the world on creating an awesome character for yourself, but all of that time is wasted if you don’t at least try to give it life and form in the game.

Those times when everything does start to click, though, end up becoming legendary. Those are the interactions that are going to get talked about around the camp fire and at mundane get togethers. Those are the moments that people will remember for years. They are the moments that turns the simple stick-jock into the hardcore role-player.

They are few and far, between, however. How can we strive to make them happen more often?

Encourage the Role Playing

A lot of time at events is spent socializing out-of-character or just playing games to get some more fighting in. If you are really looking to get in the mindset of your character, you have to get away from the mundane and get into the game world. Get away from the registration area, or the mundane cooking fires and head out into the in-character zones. You’ll never get there if you’re not even trying.

When you do find someone out there that is willing to role-play, jump into an in-character conversation with them. It doesn’t matter how good they are or how good you are, like everything else, getting into character is a skill that develops with practice, so practice it!

Know Your Self

The more different from yourself your character is, the harder it will be for you to get there. Of course, the more challenging your character is to play, the better stories you’re going to get out of playing it. Keep to something simple in the beginning. If you’re new to roleplaying, than your best bet is to stay as close to your comfort zone as possible. Try starting out as a human warrior. Just about any game will let you change it later, and usually there is a grace period.

If you’re a veteran, or you feel confident in your ability to pull something off, go ahead and give it a shot. Get together with your story tellers and the sky is the limit.

Volunteer to NPC

Playing an NPC gives you a chance to practice roleplaying something different than your normal character, plus, there are never enough people around to be NPCs. Just by volunteering you are helping out the game. Most of encounters that take a great deal of skill are going to be passed on to players that have cultivated those skills already, but even if you do get put in the position of playing something you aren’t ready to play, no one is going to complain. After all, if they want to gripe about the NPC players skills, they could have volunteered to NPC themselves.

Don’t Sweat It

The best experiences come on their own, and sometimes when you least expect it. Don’t try to force it to happen, that defeats the entire point of trying to make it as natural as possible. In my time as a LARPer I’ve learned that the absolute best role play moments just spring up on their own. It isn’t the big plot points that create these special moments, it’s the players interacting around them that are really important.

It doesn’t have to be Big

The above story is from my own time in Eldaraenth. The entire conflict lasted only a few minutes, followed by myself and the other player giddily talking about how awesome it was outside afterward. It wasn’t even something that happened at a full scale event, but just at an in-character get together held at a player’s house. It is a story that is still told by both the players that witnessed it, and is one of my best memories from the past twelve years of playing the game.

That small moment also defined the character interactions between the two characters for years following it and had a pretty significant effect on the direction the two characters went from there. It didn’t seem like much at the time, just another argument between two strong opinioned, loud men, but it came to define a relationship and even a little bit of the story.

So, get out there and spend some time in-character. It doesn’t even matter if you’re good at it. When those intense moments come, even the worst roleplayer will suddenly have that perfect accent that has always alluded them, or that stare at just the right angle.

Just remember, it’s all a game, so afterwards, head back to the mundane area and revel in it for a while. Gamers in general, and LARPers particularly, can be some pretty dramatic people. It’s good to keep grounded.

Okay, you’ve been to your first event, gotten your hands on some basic garb, and even spent some time finding the perfect inspiration for your character. Now, you’re ready to take the next step and figure out exactly who you are. Where do you begin? What do you need to know?

5 Steps to Writing a Character History

1) Learn About the World

Not all LARPs have the same game world to them. Some characters just don’t fit in, that doesn’t mean that a little creativity can’t be applied to make it fit, but you’re probably best off learning the basic make up of the world and working to fit it there. You don’t want to play an Airship Pirate in a Sword and Sorcery LARP, and you probably don’t want to play a Muskateer in a post apocalyptic Zombie LARP.

Your best bet is to get with the friends you’ve made and start with something that fits in easily with them. You can always branch away from that later on, when you’re more confident and comfortable with the way the world works.

2) Know the Basics

Know the absolute basics of your character. These are pretty much the things that will come up in game quickly, and you can spend time fleshing out everything around them. The basics are usually pretty easy, too, because they’re the important things you’ll need to know just to play the game:

• What is your character’s name?
• If there is a choice, what is your character’s race?
• How about the class?

In addition to those, you might want to add a couple of details, like

• Where was your character born?
• Where did you learn your class skills?

3) Add Some Background

Once you’ve got the basic details down, you can start working to really flesh out your background story. Of course, the more you know about your character and motivations, the easier it is to role play. It is important in this step that you work with your game officers a little bit and make sure you’re not putting anything into your character background that goes against the game’s established story.

If you’re having trouble figuring out what you need to know, you might want to take a look at Dread Pirate Rose’s List of 100 questions to Ask About your Role Playing Character

4) Go Out and Play.

The absolute best way to build your character is to spend time playing it. Get out there and role play! Make friends, enemies, and the occasional bad decision. People learn who they are by living, and your character will do the same. Chances are, if you don’t know something about your character now, you’ll learn something about your character while you’re on the field. Maybe you’ll learn that you really are afraid of dragons, even if you don’t want to admit your afraid of anything.

5) You’re Never Really Done

From my experience, anything you put into your character background now will change a year from now, and probably again two years from now. The longer you play one character the more they grow, both in who they are now, and how they got there. Sometimes you might decided to change a detail that didn’t quite fit, and sometimes the game will change them for you, revealing secrets you didn’t even know about your character. That’s part of the fun of it all.

Don’t Worry if It Isn’t Perfect

Life is dirty and messy, and the best characters are no exception. Your history doesn’t have to be an immaculate best selling novel ready to hit the shelves. It doesn’t have to answer every question about your character. The only reason it exists is to help you, and your game officers, to get more involved in what’s going on. Don’t sweat it if you aren’t Tolkien. Just do what’s best for you.