You've decided to go play at a LARP, and now it's time to create your LARP character. But how does that actually work? And what's involved in the process? In this and the next blog, I'll walk you through the step-by-step process of creating your first LARP character, first on paper and then physically.
Step One: Get to Know Your LARP
The first step is to know what's possible in the world of the LARP you want to join. Pretty much every LARP association or organization has a website with the world's history on it. Sometimes there's also a peoples' book available, where you can read about the different races and peoples that exist in this LARP world. It's important to read this kind of information thoroughly, so you understand what the possibilities are and how the relationships between certain peoples and classes work. In many fantasy worlds, for example, elves and dwarves don't get along very well, but this certainly doesn't always have to be the case! Besides, in LARPs inspired by history, there's often a clear distinction between characters of different social standings. While reading about your LARP world, you'll often get a sense of how the world works and what you'd enjoy playing. Take notes while reading the world history about things that interest you, things that inspire you, and pay attention to things you're not interested in, so you can avoid them.
Step Two: Get Inspired and Form Your Concept
Now that you have an idea of how your LARP world works, you can get inspired for your LARP character. You might have already spotted elements while reading the world history and rule system that you'd like to explore further in the game. Definitely include these in creating your character.
Most LARPs are inspired by a mix of different books, films, series, games, mythologies, and historical periods or events. While reading, you might have recognized something or felt a certain vibe. It can really help to dive deeper into media that fits your LARP character's world. This way, you can get ideas about how people interact with each other, the relationships between different social groups, what kinds of professions existed in a particular era, different ways to resolve conflicts, and so on. All these broad ideas together can create a concept for your LARP character.
Step Three: Write Your LARP Character's Background
After creating a rough concept for your LARP character, you can come up with a background for your LARP character. Besides helping the game masters and storytellers connect the story within the LARP to your character, it can also guide you during the game itself. For example, if you meet someone from a certain area in the world, it can help to know whether your LARP character would interact with them in a friendly or hostile way.
When writing your background, there are a number of things that are really important to think about. The most obvious details are your character's name, the race or people you want to play, and the profession or class your character has. But if the LARP you're going to play has a pantheon, it's also important to think about which god you follow, and whether you follow a god at all. These are important elements that can influence what choices your character would make IC.
You can also flesh out your background by deciding which region or place in the LARP world your character was born in. Always consult the world history or peoples' book of your LARP so you also know if the region where your character grew up has connections with other areas, or if there's maybe even a war going on between your birth region and another area. This can really add depth to a character.
Finally, it's helpful to write down a (brief) life story of your LARP character. Think about important, defining events, such as the death of a family member, an abduction, a broken relationship or a marriage, a birth, and so on. Come up with a reason why the character you're playing left home and would join an adventuring group or settle in a new village, depending on the type of LARP you're going to play. You can also, to help the game masters and storytellers write plot that specifically connects to your background and thus creates the most beautiful and epic IC moments, think of a few important people who have played or do play a role in your LARP character's life, whether these people are still alive or have passed away.
Step Four: Playing Goals
Think about what you want to achieve within the game. Think about what you as an OC want to achieve or learn, like getting better at speaking in large groups or improving your combat skills, but especially what your LARP character IC wants to achieve: what drives your character to stay within the IC group? Does your LARP character want to take on a position of power? Or become a renowned priest? Or does your LARP character want to focus on life as a warrior and take on an important position in the army? You don't necessarily need to share your long-term goals with others, but it's definitely useful to note them down somewhere, including the various steps that lead you to this goal. During play, you'll probably end up on a side track, have your goals adjusted, or even completely changed, but having such an overview can help you find connections within the game and guide you when you get stuck. Then you can always ask yourself: what's the best thing I can do to achieve my short- and long-term goals?
Step Five: Skills
The final step to completely finish your character (on paper) is putting together your skills. Most LARPs work with a skill system where you can buy skills with experience points you collect during an event by working well with other players, solving problems and/or puzzles, defeating enemies, or creating other beautiful moments in the game. For starting players, a certain number of experience points is often given to buy your first skills with. These skills are described in the rule system or in a special document with all the skills. Sometimes it's necessary to learn another skill first before you can learn a certain skill. For example, for a skill that lets you brew alchemical mixtures, you might first need a skill that has to do with knowledge of plants and herbs. Additionally, skills can sometimes only be learned IC, from for example a master. This is always described in the document where you can choose the skills for your character.
When choosing your skills, also take your OC abilities into account. For example, if you have mobility issues? Then you might prefer skills where you don't have to run across a battlefield. However, this doesn't necessarily mean you can't fight. In a high fantasy LARP, for example, you could play a mage, where you can stand at a distance (or even sit down) and bombard your enemies with spells. Or if your upper body allows it, you could try archery or crossbows, so you can still participate in combat.
You can also use the lack of OC knowledge and skills to help create gameplay. If you don't know much about construction outside of LARP, but you'd like to play a craftsperson, then look for a craftsperson IC who can teach you the tricks of the trade. That way you'll have an immediate connection, something to do during the quiet moments during an event, and you might even pick something up OC as well!
Now that you've thought through and written down all this information about your character, you're ready on paper to start your first event with your new character. But a LARP doesn't just happen on paper and in your head, it happens physically. So it's also important to think about what your character looks like and what props and weapons you have with you. The next blog focuses on the physical creation of your first LARP character.
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