New Player Section

What is Live Action Role Playing (LARP)?

Fantasy live role playing was created when a group of role players wondered what it would be like to actually play their table top role playing characters for real. The idea quickly took hold and plans were set in motion to try this out. In 1982 a club called Treasure Trap opened, operating from Peckforton Castle, a 19th century mock castle in Cheshire.

This club founded most of the basic concepts and ideas still used in live role playing today. During the four years of Treasure Trap’s existence, many players who attended Peckforton started up their own clubs around the country. These clubs continued to expand and some are still running today. Although each club or company has its own set of rules, most of them are based on the same underlying principles.

In Britain there is now a wide variety of live role playing available, from small clubs running short linear adventures or modern horror weekends to ourselves, the Lorien Trust, running large scale battle and theme weekend events during the summer. As the main Lorien Trust events became more established, a sanctioned event system was established. This system allows smaller, subsidiary events to take place using the Lorien Trust’s rules system, game world and campaign. Any club or organisation may run a sanctioned event, provided they gain permission to use the rules system, game world and campaign for each event.

Live Action Role Playing, LARP or Larping as it more commonly known is a mix of game playing, acting and disturbance sports e.g. re-enactment or paintball. You don't need to be good at any of these, you just need to be willing to try all of these.

Larping is defined, as a disturbance sport by the government as it is a physically demanding interactive activity with combat orientated content. Combat in the Lorien Trust System and most Larp events takes place with Foam Weapons designed specifically for the events and by the use of vocal spell casting, which is part and parcel of the rules system.

It is a game in it's very nature, but unlike most games live role-play does not end when you win, because you can only ever win a small piece at a time. The game keeps going even when there is no one playing in this way. It is like a story unfolding and every one who plays the game helps to write this story. When you LARP you are part of this, how you win your piece of the story is up to what you do and what you want.

It is acting or role-playing because when you play the games you take on the role or part of your character. You are no longer John Doe, you are whoever you want to be whether it is a warrior or a wizard or the local butcher. Your ability to act is not important, your willingness to try to be what you want is to portray it. For a look at what we do, follow this link.