I got into Live (Action) Role-Playing (LRP) more or less by accident. I went once, to monster which is where you play a simplistic non-player character (NPC) who basically exists for the player characters (PCs) to slaughter and enjoyed it so much, despite the many bruises, that I went back the next week to monster again. I got hooked.
My basic explanation of LRP is over-simplified but usually I say: Spending the weekend running round in a field or a forest, hitting and being hit by latex-coated foam weapons, with alcohol, mostly, and camping. There’s more to it, of course, but anyone who genuinely wants to know more will ask, the majority just look bemused and change the subject.
My first LRP was the Lorien Trust system which has been around in the UK since the early nineties. Within the system, there’re a number of Factions (including the Harts faction which I’m a member of) who all put on events throughout the year in addition to the four ‘mainline’ events: The Great Edrejan Fayre (formerly The Heartland Games), two faction Moots and The Gathering. The Moots are hosted by a different faction each year, this year the Jackal faction is hosted Moot 1 and we, the Harts, hosted Moot 2.
I play Traxden, a Beastkin of the Lynx variety. She’s part of House Mortimer’s Beastkin guard and basically follows the orders of the head of the household, Lord Robert who we Beastkin call The Mortimer. Trax is mostly a fighter but she also spends a lot of time listening and picking up news and gossip to share with the boss. Most often, she’s found either bodyguarding Lady Violet (The Mortimer’s sister) or making tea in the faction command tent.
As of September 2007, I have a second system: Maelstrom. It’s very different from the LT as it’s player led (nobody writes a plot for it, if you want something to happen, you go out and make it happen) and revolves around trade and politics more than combat. I play Lady Rebecca Farnsworth, a master-crafter of surgeon’s implements and complete girl. She doesn’t fight (although she does have a pistol that she’s yet to learn how to use), she’s a young widow (keen to be married again) and she wears fancy dresses. It’s not just an excuse to dress up…honest.
