Why Do I LARP? - The Perspective of a Storyteller

Why Do I LARP? 

I suppose the simple truth is that I LARP because LARP is the one place I can commit larceny without the real worry of being arrested.

You want more than that? Okay then, let me tell you a story.

There was once a kid who excelled at school. He didn’t excel in his studies; in fact, one term he brought home four “F”s on his report card and was nearly asked to leave (it was a private school, so they could do that). I suppose then it’s more accurate to say that he excelled *while at* school. Despite his poor grades, he was smart. In fact, if not for the obvious fact that I’m talking about myself, I might say that he was a creative genius.

Give me a break. If I can recognize my weaknesses, I can also recognize my strengths. And besides, I’m not saying anyone has to agree with my self-assessment. I’m only saying *I* think he was a creative genius.

It’s probably also obvious that this kid struggled constantly with a powerful case of ADHD. This was in the 1980s, so while ADHD was an acronym, it was also, at least insofar as his father was concerned, a four-letter word. ADHD didn’t really exist, and as such his condition went undiagnosed. It wasn’t until the kid was in his early fifties, not a kid at all but an adult with kids of his own, that he recognized the signs of ADHD and saw them in himself.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Back in school, when his teachers discussed the importance of the year 1066, of how to conjugate verbs in Spanish or Latin, or of how to find the circumference of a circle, the kid was somewhere else. He was physically present, and to anyone around him he might have appeared to be hyper-focused, head down, and diligently taking notes. He might have appeared to be a perfect student. In truth he was oblivious to his surroundings and was in fact light years away in a place only magic could reach. In that place, he created worlds. That was where he excelled.

He was never alone in the places he made up. He encouraged his friends to join him, and they often did. He wrote the tales of their many adventures in that far away place, more often than not parodying events that had occurred in this, arguably-more-real world. When they later met he would narrate those tales to them. Most often they’d all laugh, but I’d be lying if I said he didn’t sometimes throw in a dig for some slight against him, imagined or real.

This behavior carried on throughout his life until he was first a young adult, and then an old one. He was distractible, and a strong work ethic was something had by other people, unless fancy, or at least fantasy, was somehow involved. He could, and would, rise to the challenge and complete a story by a given date, if only so that he could read it to the audience of friends-turned-protagonists that would gather at that time. In other words, as he had in school, he excelled at every job he ever held.

Unrelatedly, did you know I once spent two years writing a novel while working as a supervisor at a machine shop.

So, why do I LARP?

I can’t resist a good story. Heck, I can’t resist a bad story. It used to be that once I picked up a book, I couldn’t put it down until I was done with it, which wasn’t always a good thing. It sometimes meant I had a book stuck in my head for months, like a taste I couldn’t wash out. It took some seriously technical sci-fi to break that habit. The sci-fi was good, great perhaps, but I couldn’t wrap my brain around it. It was either give up or never read again.

Just like with books, not every LARP is for every player. Every LARP is different, just as we are all different. If you don’t enjoy a LARP, put it down and read something new. Otherwise, you’ll likely be miserable, and chances are you’ll make everyone around you miserable as well. I’m not sure if that is part of my answer, but it’s worth putting in here.

I was recently asked if I favored the hero or the villain. I had only a moment to answer so I said, “Why choose?” If I’d had longer to answer I would have said that I favored the narrator. But I was on the spot, I had no pre-warning, and that was the best I could come up with in the moment.

That’s LARP to me. I get to tell my own story. Sure, when I’m a player I’m in someone else’s world, but the story, for the most part, is mine. Being a player in a LARP is a little like writing fan fiction. You’re in someone else’s playground and you must play by their rules, but otherwise what you do there is up to you.

I think most people would tell you that they LARP to spend time with their friends. There’s a bit of that as well, but to be honest when I LARP I’m not really with my friends – I’m pretending to be someone else, and I’m spending time with the characters my friends are pretending to be, and some of our characters are not very likeable. Likewise, many of my long-term friends don’t LARP and never have, and because our play style in other games is so different I don’t think we would have much fun LARPing together.

On the other hand, some of the people I know through LARP I only know through LARP. I might not know them enough to trust them with my wallet or my car keys, but I know we’ll tell a great story together. As a player, that is everything I want.

But that’s only half the answer, because I also run a game, and that is where the kid from the beginning of all of this comes in.

So, then, why do I run a LARP?

It's still all about the story, but in my game I write the rules and let others play in the playground. It’s a collaboration; I love seeing what they’ll do. I joke that no plan survives first contact with the players, but in truth watching the players mess with my plans is part of the fun. It lets me play as well, and I write the game I’d love to play in. In addition, while I might not have the best focus and follow-through, I am pretty good at finding those who do. My staff and cast are amazing, and I love knowing that my world is in good hands. Again, we might not know each other outside of LARP, but I know we’ll tell a great story together.

For the record, I’d play a Man of Science/Rogue. See that first line regarding larceny and all.

I’m a stay-at-home dad, and my youngest has just gone off to college. You could say that, except on rare weekends or the occasional but increasingly infrequent call for help, I’m out of a job. I’d like to say my work ethic was better served as a dad than it was in any prior position I held before. My kids still tell me they like me, so I’m guessing so, though for an honest assessment you’re better off asking my wife. But when I wasn’t making dinner or driving my kids to and from school or to appointments, or cleaning the house or the yard, or, if I’m being completely honest, when I wasn’t chipping blocks in Minecraft, I’ve been light years away in a place only magic can reach, and I am creating worlds.

Do I excel?  Personally, I think I do alright, but I guess that’s for others to decide.

John Mangio 

A LARPer since the early nineties and a gamer for a decade more, I’m more comfortable in my own head than in the real world. I’m less interested in the rules than I am in the crafting of an epic tale.