Lizzie Stark

I’m at work on a narrative nonfiction book about Live Action Role Play, also known as LARP. The book, tentatively titled Leaving Mundania, is the story of LARPers, self-described geeks who come from a variety of backgrounds and occupations.

I’ve interviewed a chaplain who becomes a monomaniacal villain to understand how the addicts he counsels feel, an ex-army man turned high school history teacher who plays a succubus on weekends, and an ex-gang member who transformed his gang-mentality into art, to name a few.

Each chapter of the book will focust on a different aspect of LARP, from costuming to relationships, to playing evil characters to the people who run the games.

In a nutshell, LARP is like a murder mystery weekend that stretches on for years, like a Dungeons and Dragons game plus improv theater, like a Lord of the Rings movie or Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode as enacted by a cast of costumed amateurs without a script.  Essentially, LARP is well-organized make-believe for grownups.

At this point in time, I’m primarily following two LARPs: The Avatar System, a game that spans many genres, and Knight Realms, a boffer-style medieval LARP. I’m also going to follow a cadre of tabletop players who also organize several intermittent LARPs.

Over the coming months I will use this space as a reporter’s notebook on LARP.  I’ll post thoughts and anecdotes about LARP, links to other sources, and other musings as they occur to me.