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LRP: Live action roleplaying
LRP. Or LARP. Anyway, live action roleplaying, as made famous by Dungeons and Dragons and maintained as a regular activity by lrp groups like the UK LRP group, Legion of Dreams. It has a great reputation with those that have given it a go, and a terrible reputation with those that haven't. Still, if you're into subculture and underground lifestyle, you can't get much more underground than LRP (live action roleplaying).
Girls speak: best things about LRP
What's great about LRP?
Are rules / costume important?
What events would you start with?
What's crap about LRP?
Do LRP women get a rough deal?
Player backgrounds
Hot tips for newcomers
What is LRP, exactly? Think dressing up, for a few hours or for a weekend, and becoming someone else entirely. Making decisions you'd never get to make in real life. Risking the life of yourself and your friends (no, not in real life, silly! In character! It's all a game!). Sleeping on a rug by a fire under the stars, battling - if you like - in dark woods, solving puzzles or hiding in the local inn and flirting outrageously. Most importantly, laughing and seeing you and your friends change as people and characters before your very eyes.
What is LRP? Basically, people get together to form a play for you, the player, to perform - but there are no words to learn, and although the LRP crew know what the plot is, the players don't. You're told the genre (Lord of the Rings-esque fantasy, 1920s horror, modern-day mystery, cyberomp - the list is endless) and the basic scenario (so-and-so has died and left a will, perhaps, and all his friends and enemies have gathered under one roof to see how the will might affect them...)
It's up to you to choose a character. Journalist? It-girl? Ass-kicking princess? Mercenary? Nosy old lady? Up to you. The only rule, really, is that you pick a character that fits with the tone of the event and one you might enjoy playing, otherwise there's no point. Then you let the people putting on the event know who you've decided to be, so they can work your character into the story. Everyone agrees that at least half the fun is running around trying to find a costume to match.
When you look at it like this, LRP as a hobby is nothing to be ashamed of. Books, fashion and computer games are all a form of escapism. What's embarrassing about escapism? It's glorious! Live action roleplaying just takes escapism to another level, one where everyone knows the score (IT'S NOT REAL, IT'S A GAME FOR CHRISSAKE), and there are so many different-flavoured LRP events around, you're bound to find one at which you'd feel comfortable. Plus you'll really feel like you did something that weekend. Usually you've got the muddy tent to prove it.
To find out more about roleplaying and see if it was underrated classy fun or too silly for words, Mookychick scoured the land for a bunch of wonderful girls who do UK live action roleplaying regularly, to see if they could sway critics from an attitude of 'Hell no, we won't go' to 'LRP? Yes bebeh, put it right there. Mm, yeah. There. Oh, that's goooood...'
Next: What are the 3 best things about LRP if you're a girl?
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