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81-424: A live action role-playing game ( LARP ) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters . The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by real-world environments while interacting with each other in character. The outcome of player actions may be mediated by game rules or determined by consensus among players. Event arrangers called gamemasters decide

162-462: A GM describes the game world and its inhabitants. The other players describe the intended actions of their characters, and the GM describes the outcomes. Some outcomes are determined by the game system, and some are chosen by the GM. This is the format in which role-playing games were first popularized. In contrast, many indie role-playing games experiment with different structures of play, such as sharing

243-521: A GM role through a visual interface called a GM toolkit , albeit with abilities limited by the available technology. Another standard concept in RPGs is the player character, a character in the fictional world of the game whose actions the player controls. Typically each player controls a separate player character, sometimes more, each of whom acts as a protagonist in the story. In contrast to player characters, non-player characters (NPCs) are controlled by

324-419: A broad array of LARPs, including politically themed LARPs depicting dystopian or utopian societies and settings inspired by cyberpunk , space opera and post-apocalyptic fiction. Horror LARPs are inspired by horror fiction . Popular subgenres include zombie apocalypse and Cthulhu Mythos , sometimes using the published Cthulhu Live rules. The World of Darkness, published by White Wolf Publishing ,

405-402: A broader burgeoning " geek " culture in developed societies that is in turn associated with prolonged education, high uptake of information technology and increased leisure time. In comparison to the mainstream video-game industry, which is highly commercialized and often marketed towards a male audience, LARP is less commoditized, and women actively contribute as authors and participants. LARP

486-461: A chapter will organize a battle weekly or monthly, with the various units participating, with occasional supplementary activities such as feasts, overnight camp-out battles, and even annual inter-chapter meetings. The largest annual Dagorhir gathering is known as Ragnarok. It is an annual Dagorhir tradition and in years of late, it has reached heights of nearly 2000 attendees during its week-long duration. The original chapter of Dagorhir, founded in 1977,

567-430: A clear distinction between the real world and the fictional setting, pervasive LARPs mingle fiction with modern reality in a fashion similar to alternate reality games . Bystanders who are unaware that a game is taking place may be treated as part of the fictional setting, and in-character materials may be incorporated into the real world. Many LARPs have game rules that determine how characters can affect each other and

648-479: A collaborative "play to lose" strategy, keeping rules unobtrusive, and often explores emotionally complex issues. The style emerged in Finland and Scandinavia during the 1990s with a focus on "collaborative storytelling around intense human experiences". Wired commented that this style adds "distinct challenges, including the possibility of real emotional harm. To work out issues of how to keep players safe and push

729-414: A few hours, to large public events with thousands of players lasting for days. LARP has also been referred to as live role-playing ( LRP ), interactive literature , and free form role-playing . Some of these terms are still in common use; however, LARP has become the most commonly accepted term. It is sometimes written in lowercase, as larp . The participants in a LARP physically portray characters in

810-405: A fictional setting, improvising their characters' speech and movements somewhat like actors in improvisational theatre . This is distinct from tabletop role-playing games, where character actions are described verbally. LARPs may be played in a public or private area and may last for hours or days. There is usually no audience. Players may dress as their character and carry appropriate equipment, and

891-411: A form of interactive and collaborative storytelling . Events, characters, and narrative structure give a sense of a narrative experience, and the game need not have a strongly-defined storyline. Interactivity is the crucial difference between role-playing games and traditional fiction. Whereas a viewer of a television show is a passive observer, a player in a role-playing game makes choices that affect

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972-629: A hundred Chapters consisting of a total membership in the thousands. On January 20, 2009, the Discovery Channel show, Wreckreation Nation , featured Dagorhir in its episode, "Demolition Derby." The name "Dagorhir" appears to be Sindarin , one of the Elvish languages created by J.R.R. Tolkien . It means "Battle Lord." According to the rules of plural formation, the collective name for participants would be "Dagorhirrim," while two or more individual participants would be "Degyrhir." Dagorhir

1053-512: A large venue. There are only a few fests in the world, all based in Europe and Canada; however, their size means that they have a significant influence on local LARP culture and design. At the other end of the size scale, some small events known as linear or line-course LARPs feature a small group of PCs facing a series of challenges from NPCs and are often more tightly planned and controlled by GMs than other styles of LARP. Nordic larp emphasises

1134-556: A loosely defined genre of computer and console games with origins in role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons , on which they base much of their terminology, settings, and game mechanics. This translation changes the experience of the game, providing a visual representation of the world but emphasizing statistical character development over collaborative, interactive storytelling. Online text-based role-playing games involve many players using some type of text-based interface and an Internet connection to play an RPG. Games played in

1215-468: A major industry in the form of location-based games using ubiquitous computing . In Denmark , Østerskov Efterskole uses LARP as an educational method of teaching subjects to high school boarding students through interactivity and simulation. LARP groups are also using simulations of current and historical events and topics like refugees and the AIDS crisis to roleplay and explore these subjects. In China,

1296-482: A movement in Western culture towards participatory arts , as opposed to traditional spectator arts. Participants in a LARP cast off the role of passive observer and take on new roles that are often outside of their daily life and contrary to their culture. The arrangers of a LARP and the other participants act as co-creators of the game. This collaborative process of creating shared fictional worlds may be associated with

1377-442: A particular historical or fantastical race or nationality and dress, act, and fight according to interpretation of the group. Due to this melding of both Medieval history and Tolkienesque high fantasy , it is not uncommon for a Dagorhir battle to involve both mundane and fantasy themes and personas. A typical Dagorhir battle might involve Roman Legionaries and Saxon warriors locked in a battle against Orcs and Undead. Dagorhir

1458-411: A real-time way include MUDs , MUSHes , and other varieties of MU* . Games played in a turn-based fashion include play-by-mail games and play-by-post games . Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) combine the large-scale social interaction and persistent world of MUDs with graphic interfaces. Most MMORPGs do not actively promote in-character role-playing, however, players can use

1539-542: A result, some store owners are now curating their selection to fall in line with government regulation". China Daily , a publication owned by the Chinese Communist Party , reported in April 2023 that China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism was beginning to draft regulations for script murder games and "soliciting public opinions". The draft regulations state that "the contents of such games must not smear

1620-745: A role-playing game will generate specific characters and an ongoing plot. A consistent system of rules and a more or less realistic campaign setting in games aids suspension of disbelief . The level of realism in games ranges from just enough internal consistency to set up a believable story or credible challenge up to full-blown simulations of real-world processes. Tabletop role-playing games may also be used in therapy settings to help individuals develop behavioral, social, and even language skills. Beneficiaries commonly include young people with neurodevelopmental conditions, such as Autism spectrum disorders, attention-deficit hyperactive disorder ( ADHD ), and dyslexia . Role-playing games are played in

1701-926: A setting from an established work in another medium (e.g., The Lord of the Rings or the World of Darkness ), while others use settings based on the real world or designed specifically for the LARP. Fantasy is one of the most common LARP genres internationally and is the genre that the largest events use. Fantasy LARPs are set in pseudo-historical worlds inspired by fantasy literature and fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons . These settings typically have magic, fantasy races , and limited technology. Many fantasy LARPs focus on adventure or on conflict between character factions. In contrast, science fiction LARPs take place in futuristic settings with high technology and sometimes with extraterrestrial life . This describes

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1782-486: A wide variety of formats, ranging from discussing character interaction in tabletop form, physically acting out characters in LARP to playing characters virtually in digital media. There is also a great variety of systems of rules and game settings . Games that emphasize plot and character interaction over game mechanics and combat sometimes prefer the name storytelling game . These types of games tend to reduce or eliminate

1863-412: Is out-of-character , meaning they are being themselves. Some LARPs encourage players to stay consistently in character except in emergencies, while others accept players being out-of-character at times. In a LARP, it is usually assumed that players are speaking and acting in character unless otherwise noted, which is the opposite of normal practice in tabletop role-playing games. While most LARPs maintain

1944-465: Is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting . Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting or through a process of structured decision-making regarding character development. Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines . There are several forms of role-playing games. The original form, sometimes called

2025-886: Is a good chance it might change our perception of what live-action roleplaying games are capable of in the future". Most LARPs are intended as games for entertainment. Enjoyable aspects can include the collaborative creation of a story, the attempt to overcome challenges in pursuit of a character's objectives, and a sense of immersion in a fictional setting. LARPs may also include other game-like aspects such as intellectual puzzles, and sport-like aspects such as fighting with simulated weapons. Some LARPs stress artistic considerations such as dramatic interaction or challenging subject matter. Avant-garde or arthaus events have especially experimental approaches and high culture aspirations and are occasionally held in fine art contexts such as festivals or art museums. The themes of avant-garde events often include politics, culture, religion, sexuality and

2106-632: Is a new industry is precisely the problem in the eyes of the authorities. Since the Covid-19 case that brought 'script-killing' to national attention, the game has been getting mainstream traction, inviting official concerns and possible future regulations". In October 2022, Polygon commented that Chinese "regulators are beginning to take notice of the genre's mature content. A story published Wednesday indicates that municipal and provincial authorities have now begun regulating content and demanding that some retailers remove certain materials from sale. [...] As

2187-421: Is a widely used goth – punk horror setting in which players usually portray secretive supernatural creatures such as vampires and werewolves . LARP events have a wide variety of styles that often overlap. Simple distinctions can be made regarding the genre used, the presence of simulated weapons or abstract rules, and whether players create their own characters or have them assigned by gamemasters. There

2268-497: Is a widespread activity internationally. Games with thousands of participants are run by for-profit companies, and a small industry exists to sell costume, armour and foam weapons intended primarily for LARP. In 2023, Dicebreaker reported that "China has developed its own LARP phenomenon in recent years. Jubensha is far more commercially successful and influential than anything we have seen before even in Nordic countries – and there

2349-656: Is also a distinction between scenarios that are only run once and those that are designed to be repeatable. While some LARPs are open to participants of all ages, others have a minimum age requirement. There are also youth LARPs, specifically intended for children and young people. Some are run through institutions such as schools, churches, or the Scouts . Denmark has an especially high number of youth LARPs. Some very large events known as fests (short for festival ) have hundreds or thousands of participants who are usually split into competing character factions camped separately around

2430-545: Is based in the Washington, D.C. area, and is known as "Dagorhir Aratari" after the founder's persona, Aratar. Bryan Wiese watched the movie Robin and Marian while reading The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien . He had never heard of medieval reenactment , live action role-playing games or even Dungeons & Dragons but he wanted something to capture the spirit and adventure that could only come from wielding sword and bow. As 1977 rolled by, Bryan ran ads on

2511-433: Is not well known in most countries and is sometimes confused with other role-playing, reenactment, costuming, or dramatic activities. While fan and gamer culture in general has become increasingly mainstream in developed countries, LARP has often not achieved the same degree of cultural acceptability. This may be due to intolerance of the resemblance to childhood games of pretend, a perceived risk of over-identification with

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2592-675: Is often shown in a positive light in mainstream media, with an emphasis on the dramatic and creative aspects. However, even in Norway, where LARP has greater recognition than in most other countries, it has still not achieved full recognition as a cultural activity by government bodies. Communities have formed around the creation, play and discussion of LARP. These communities have developed a subculture that crosses over with role-playing, fan, reenactment, and drama subcultures. Early LARP subculture focused on Tolkien -like fantasy, but it later broadened to include appreciation of other genres, especially

2673-411: Is open to the public, membership is free of charge (though larger events often have a nominal fee charged by the host to cover costs). Groups may keep an “armory” of appropriate weapons for loaning to new members and guests, but members are normally expected to purchase weapons, clothing, and optional armor. Participants are generally members of chapters, called "realms," which are formally licensed to use

2754-437: Is strictly a weapon combat game, with no concept of "magic". Dagorhir also eschews the use of character classes in combat, instead allowing fighters to create and define their own styles of combat. Fighters are free to choose their types of armor, picks of garb, choices of weaponry, and styles of play. Realms and Chapters are organized by geography, and can range from between a handful of participants to several hundred. Typically

2835-409: Is the role of a gamemaster, a participant who has special duties to present the fictional setting, arbitrate the results of character actions, and maintain the narrative flow. In tabletop and live-action RPGs the GM performs these duties in person. In video RPGs, many of the functions of a GM are fulfilled by the game engine . However, some multi-player video RPGs also allow for a participant to take on

2916-653: The Agence France-Presse commented that "a report on China National Radio last month voiced fears that too many of the scripts relied on murders, violent plots and sexual content, but others see the games as a way to get young people off their smartphones and back interacting with each other in real life". In October 2021, the South China Morning Post reported that "advertisements for script-killing are prominent in China. [...] The fact that it

2997-667: The Society for Creative Anachronism . The earliest recorded LARP group is Dagorhir , which was founded in 1977 in the United States and focuses on fantasy battles. Soon after the release of the movie Logan's Run in 1976, rudimentary live role-playing games based on the movie were run at US science fiction conventions. In 1981, the International Fantasy Gaming Society (IFGS) started, with rules influenced by Dungeons & Dragons . IFGS

3078-586: The human condition . Such LARPs are common in the Nordic countries but also present elsewhere. In addition to entertainment and artistic merit, LARP events may be designed for educational or political purposes. For example, the Danish secondary school Østerskov Efterskole  [ dk ] uses LARP to teach most of its classes. Language classes can be taught by immersing students in a role-playing scenario in which they are forced to improvise speech or writing in

3159-465: The retronyms tabletop role-playing game or pen and paper role-playing game are sometimes used, though neither a table nor pen and paper are strictly necessary. A LARP is played more like improvisational theatre . Participants act out their characters' actions instead of describing them, and the real environment is used to represent the imaginary setting of the game world. Players are often costumed as their characters and use appropriate props, and

3240-405: The tabletop role-playing game (TRPG or TTRPG), is conducted through discussion, whereas in live action role-playing (LARP), players physically perform their characters' actions. Both forms feature collaborative storytelling . In both TTRPGs and LARPs, often an arranger called a game master (GM) decides on the game system and setting to be used, while acting as a facilitator or referee. Each of

3321-461: The Chinese market research firm iResearch , script murder games are "the third most popular form of entertainment for Chinese people, after watching movies and participating in sports". The popularization of script murder games and industry growth in China has led to both national and governmental attention with the Chinese government considering formal regulation of the industry. In September 2020,

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3402-600: The Covid-19 pandemic emerged". During the COVID-19 pandemic , "Murder Mystery Game" (MMG) apps allowed people to play jubensha digitally and were "available to millions of people across" China. Dicebreaker reported that following the easing of pandemic restrictions in China, "more than 45,000 [jubensha] shops" opened with "nearly 10 million active players. It is estimated that soon the Jubensha market will reach 23.89 billion Chinese Yuan". Voice of America commented that, per

3483-518: The Dagorhir name and related designs and documents. Participants are asked to sign and notarize a release form before joining a battle. There is no list or estimate of the total number of Dagorhir members. An informal online effort to list members during the 2010s counted 1,486 people, with several realms not included. The largest national (inter-realm) Dagorhir event is Ragnarok. Attendance at Ragnarok from 2008–14 has averaged about 1,500, with

3564-513: The GMs than players do. In a tabletop role-playing game, a GM usually plays all the NPCs, whereas in a LARP, each NPC is typically played by a separate crew member. Much of play consists of interactions between characters. Some LARP scenarios primarily feature interaction between PCs. Other scenarios focus on interaction between PCs and aspects of the setting, including NPCs, that are under the direction of

3645-617: The GMs. LARP does not have a single point of origin, but was invented independently by groups in North America, Europe, and Australia. These groups shared an experience with genre fiction or tabletop role-playing games, and a desire to physically experience such settings. In addition to tabletop role-playing, LARP is rooted in childhood games of make believe , play fighting, costume parties , roleplay simulations , Commedia dell'arte , improvisational theatre, psychodrama , military simulations , and historical reenactment groups such as

3726-421: The LARP before play begins and facilitating the players and crew to maintain the fictional environment during play. Participants sometimes known as the crew may help the GMs to set up and maintain the environment of the LARP during play by acting as stagehands or playing non-player characters ( NPCs ) who fill out the setting. Crew typically receive more information about the setting and more direction from

3807-505: The U.S., Canada, Britain, Mexico, Puerto Rico , Germany, Australia, and Japan. Unlike some other battle games or LARPs , there is no use of magic . Dagorhir is a full-contact, live-action combat game, and combatants engage each other in battle with foam-padded boffer weaponry and equipment. To keep battles organized, realistic, and safe, the three main tenets of The Dagorhir Manual of Arms – safety, playability, and realism – are enforced by heralds (referees) during battles. The rules of

3888-407: The characters, and the absence of mass marketing. In US films such as the 2006 documentary Darkon , the 2007 documentary Monster Camp , and the 2008 comedy Role Models , fantasy LARP is depicted as somewhat ridiculous and escapist , but also treated affectionately as a "constructive social outlet". In the Nordic countries, LARP has achieved a high level of public recognition and popularity. It

3969-436: The definition of role-playing games. Although some amount of role-playing activity may be present in such games, it is not the primary focus. The term role-playing game is also sometimes used to describe other games involving roleplay simulation , such as exercises used in teaching, training, academic research, or therepeutic settings. Both authors and major publishers of tabletop role-playing games consider them to be

4050-441: The development of criminal law. During a LARP, player actions in the real world represent character actions in an imaginary setting. Game rules, physical symbols and theatrical improvisation are used to bridge differences between the real world and the setting. For example, a rope could signify an imaginary wall. Realistic-looking weapon props and risky physical activity are sometimes discouraged or forbidden for safety reasons. While

4131-483: The environment is sometimes decorated to resemble the setting. LARPs can be one-off events or a series of events in the same setting, and events can vary in size from a handful of players to several thousand. Arrangers called gamemasters ( GMs ) determine the rules and setting of a LARP, and may also influence an event and act as referees while it is taking place. The GMs may also do the logistical work, or there may be other arrangers who handle details such as advertising

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4212-409: The event, booking a venue, and financial management. Unlike the GM in a tabletop role-playing game, a LARP GM seldom has an overview of everything that is happening during play because numerous participants may be interacting at once. For this reason, a LARP GM's role is often less concerned with tightly maintaining a narrative or directly entertaining the players, and more with arranging the structure of

4293-622: The fantasy LARPs that followed there. The first recorded LARP in Australia was run in 1983, using the science fiction Traveller setting. In 1993, White Wolf Publishing released Mind's Eye Theatre , which is played internationally and is the most commercially successful published LARP. The first German events were in the early 1990s, with fantasy LARP in particular growing quickly there, so that since 2001, two major German events have been run annually that have between 3000 and 7000 players each and attract players from around Europe. Today, LARP

4374-401: The fictional timeline in a tabletop RPG often progresses in game-time , which may be much faster or slower than the time passing for players, LARPs are different in that they usually run in real-time, with game-time only being used in special circumstances. There is a distinction between when a player is in character , meaning they are actively representing their character, and when the player

4455-475: The game as "Dagorhir Outdoor Improvisational Dark Age Battle Games", had a more theatrical bend to his dream. The new flood of players had an attitude that was more sport like. To combat this change, the Dagorhir Handbook was formalized. This included costuming requirements in an effort to encourage the players to think of it more of a theatrical game. In the early eighties, a young man who went by

4536-452: The gamemaster or game engine, or by people assisting the gamemaster. Non-player characters fill out the population of the fictional setting and can act as antagonists, bystanders, or allies of the player characters. [REDACTED] Media related to Role-playing games at Wikimedia Commons Dagorhir Founded in 1977 , the Dagorhir brand has been licensed to groups in a few other locations, with hundreds of members spread throughout

4617-525: The games' communication functions to role-play so long as other players cooperate. The majority of players in MMORPGs do not engage in role-playing in this sense. Computer-assisted gaming can be used to add elements of computer gaming to in-person tabletop role-playing, where computers are used for record-keeping and sometimes to resolve combat, while the participants generally make decisions concerning character interaction. One common feature of many RPGs

4698-829: The horror genre with the rapid uptake of the World of Darkness setting in the 1990s. Like many subcultures, LARP groups often have a common context of shared experience, language, humour, and clothing that can be regarded by some as a lifestyle. LARP has been a subject of academic research and theory. Much of this research originates from role-players, especially from the publications of the Nordic Knutepunkt role-playing conventions. The broader academic community has recently begun to study LARP as well, both to compare it to other media and other varieties of interactive gaming, and also to evaluate it in its own right. In 2010, William Bainbridge speculated that LARP may one day evolve into

4779-403: The language they are learning. Politically-themed LARP events may attempt to awaken or shape political thinking within a culture. Because LARP involves a controlled artificial environment within which people interact, it has sometimes been used as a research tool to test theories in social fields such as economics or law. For example, LARP has been used to study the application of game theory to

4860-448: The late 1990s due to competition from online MMO RPGs, role-playing video games , and collectible card games. However, TTRPGs experienced a resurgence in popularity between the mid-2010s and early 2020s due to actual play web series and online play through videoconferencing during the COVID-19 lockdowns . The tabletop format is often referred to simply as a role-playing game . To distinguish this form of RPG from other formats,

4941-502: The limits of the form, the community gathers at Knutepunkt , an annual meeting that is as much hardcore game jam as academic conference". Script murder games, also known as jubensha ( lit.   ' scripted murder ' ), are murder mystery LARP games that emerged in China. Typically, script murder games can be experienced in a tabletop game format or a format which combines larping and escape rooms . Players are given different script options and are assigned characters to play through

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5022-533: The local radio station WGTB. Bryan then became "Aratar Anfinhir the Stormbringer" and Dagorhir was born into its first incarnation (as yet unnamed). The club grew and in 1980 a Washington D.C. community TV show PM Magazine ran a half-hour episode where the host of PM Magazine spent a day at a Dagorhir battle game. After that point interest in Dagorhir exploded in the D.C. Area. The explosive growth of Dagorhir took its toll on Bryan Wiese. Bryan, who had coined

5103-679: The manual of arms, as well as those pertaining to combat, are upheld by an effective honor system which applies to all players. Dagorhir is a battle gaming group which is more akin to a wargame than a live-action roleplaying game (LARP). Dagorhir members have stated that they find the phrase "live-action roleplaying game" to be unfitting. Though many members of the community would disagree with this assertion. All weapons and equipment used during combat are inspected for safety prior to each battle, to ensure that they comply with safety rules. Although early Dagorhir weapons were typically constructed from crude materials such as couch foam and broomsticks when

5184-400: The murder mystery; these games often occur at dedicated gaming stores where players pay to participate. The style become popularized in 2015 "when reality shows with names like 'Lying Man,' 'Dinner Party Seduction,' and later 'Who's The Murderer,' showed celebrities playing whodunits" which led to the development of jubensha clubs that run games in this style. Roleplaying may be seen as part of

5265-637: The name of Falcon took the Dagorhir game to Cleveland , Ohio. Then in 1983, PM Magazine broadcast the TV episode to a national audience. The result was the founding of The Realm of Middle~Earth in Illinois . Dagorhir began to spread throughout the Mid Western U.S, and inspired spin off organizations, including Belegarth Medieval Combat Society . Dagorhir has enjoyed extensive nationwide growth in recent years, expanding to an international membership of over

5346-402: The nation hold events open to the public, and first-time fighters generally have their battle fee, if there is one, waived. While all local battles are open to any participant, there are battles such as a Crown War, that decide the "king" or "queen" of a realm. Then there are larger-scale regional events which typically draw over 100 fighters, as well as national events, of which Ragnarok remains

5427-438: The number of players in a LARP is usually larger than in a tabletop role-playing game, and the players may be interacting in separate physical spaces, there is typically less of an emphasis on tightly maintaining a narrative or directly entertaining the players, and game sessions are often managed in a more distributed manner. Tabletop role-playing games have been translated into a variety of electronic formats. As early as 1974,

5508-451: The organization was in its infancy, modern-day weapons are usually made from combinations of both open and closed-cell foam bonded to a fiberglass or PVC pipe core. Participants may also elect to wear protective armor, which gives users an advantage in battle. Fighters are organized into units of various sizes, organized along social lines and that generally fight and socialize together and are a club or fraternity of sorts. Units typically adopt

5589-845: The other players takes on the role of a single character in the fiction. Several varieties of RPG also exist in electronic media, such as multiplayer text-based Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs) and their graphics-based successors, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Role-playing games also include single-player role-playing video games in which players control a character, or team of characters, who undertake(s) quests. Role-playing video games may include player capabilities that advance over time using statistical mechanics. These electronic games sometimes share settings and rules with tabletop RPGs, but emphasize character advancement more than collaborative storytelling. Some RPG-related game forms, such as trading/collectible card games (CCGs) and wargames , may or may not be included under

5670-447: The outcome of an action symbolically, for example by rolling dice, playing rock paper scissors or comparing character attributes. There are also LARPs that do without rules, instead relying on players to use their common sense or feel for dramatic appropriateness to cooperatively decide what the outcome of their actions will be. LARPs can have any genre, although many use themes and settings derived from genre fiction. Some LARPs borrow

5751-721: The record being 1,627 at Ragnarok XXIX in June 2014. Ragnarok XXIII in June 2008 had more than 1,400 attendees, with over 650 actually fighting at the height of the event. Ragnarok XXIV, which took place in June 2009, attracted nearly 1,600 attendees. From 2001–9 Ragnarok was held at Spring Valley Campground in Cambridge, Ohio . However, after Ragnarok XXIV, the site of the event changed to Cooper's Lake Campground in Slippery Rock , Pennsylvania. Attendance since Ragnarok XXIX has grown to around 2,000 participants. Groups across

5832-460: The responsibility for creating setting details and NPCs among all players. The first commercially available RPG, Dungeons & Dragons ( D&D ), was inspired by fantasy literature and the wargaming hobby and was published in 1974. The popularity of D&D led to the birth of the tabletop role-playing game industry, which publishes games with many different themes, rules, and styles of play. The popularity of tabletop games decreased in

5913-517: The same year as the release of Dungeons & Dragons, unlicensed versions of it were developed on mainframe university systems under titles such as dnd and Dungeon . These early computer RPGs influenced all of electronic gaming, as well as spawning the role-playing video game genre. Some authors divide digital role-playing games into two intertwined groups: single-player games using RPG-style mechanics, and multiplayer games incorporating social interaction. Single-player role-playing video games form

5994-444: The script murder game industry ( jubensha ) has continued to grow since 2015. The New York Times reported that in 2021 "the number of scripted murder enterprises registered in China totaled about 6,500, a more than 60 percent increase from the prior year, according to state-run media". The Agence France-Presse reported that "the live action murder mystery market appears to have captured the imagination of China's urban youth before

6075-687: The setting and rules to be used and facilitate play. The first LARPs were run in the late 1970s, inspired by tabletop role-playing games and genre fiction . The activity spread internationally during the 1980s and has diversified into a wide variety of styles. Play may be very game-like or may be more concerned with dramatic or artistic expression. Events can also be designed to achieve educational or political goals. The fictional genres used vary greatly, from realistic modern or historical settings to fantastic or futuristic eras. Production values are sometimes minimal, but can involve elaborate venues and costumes. LARPs range in size from small private events lasting

6156-422: The setting. The rules may be defined in a publication or created by the gamemasters. Some LARP rules call for the use of simulated weapons such as foam weapons or airsoft guns to determine whether characters succeed in hitting one another in combat situations. In Russian LARP events, weapons made of hard plastic, metal or wood are used. The alternative to using simulated weapons is to pause role-play and determine

6237-408: The story. Such role-playing games extend an older tradition of storytelling games where a small party of friends collaborate to create a story. While simple forms of role-playing exist in traditional children's games of make believe , role-playing games add a level of sophistication and persistence to this basic idea with additions such as game facilitators and rules of interaction. Participants in

6318-492: The traditional Chinese culture or contain inappropriate materials involving obscenity, gambling, drugs, and other elements that could go against moral standards". The regulations also include additional rules for minors such as not allowing "underage customers on school days" and that "children under the age of 14 must be accompanied by their parents or other guardians". Role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game , or abbreviated as RPG )

6399-420: The use of dice and other randomizing elements. Some games are played with characters created before the game by the GM, rather than those created by the players. This type of game is typically played at gaming conventions , or in standalone games that do not form part of a campaign. Tabletop (TTRPG) and pen-and-paper (PnP) RPGs are conducted through discussion in a small social gathering. In traditional TTRPGs,

6480-423: The venue may be decorated to resemble the fictional setting. Some live-action role-playing games use rock paper scissors or comparison of attributes to resolve conflicts symbolically, while other LARPs use physical combat with simulated arms such as airsoft guns or foam weapons . LARPs vary in size from a handful of players to several thousand, and in duration from a couple of hours to several days. Because

6561-592: Was named after a fictional group in the 1981 novel Dream Park , which described futuristic LARPs. In 1982, the Society for Interactive Literature , a predecessor of the Live Action Roleplayers Association (LARPA), formed as the first recorded theatre-style LARP group in the US. Treasure Trap , formed in 1982 at Peckforton Castle , was the first recorded LARP game in the UK and influenced

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