Start a LARP 2: Simple LARP System

Three days ago I wrote an article about starting a LARP. I got contacted by a few people, and decided to expand that article into a full series of articles, to cover the basics of what you need to start a new LARP. And yes, you can do it even if you never played, even if you have a minimum of space, a shoestring budget, and only a few friends.

The most important thing you need to play is a ruleset... Or is it? Nordic larps seem to do fine without a written system of rules. But instead they depend on the social code of conduct and a set of techniques, which can take a while explaining or getting used to.

There are many different rulesets out there, and most are quite long, elaborate and complex. I've seen people interested in LARP, but scared away by the size of the rulebooks.

So, the question remains... What is the best way to introduce people to LARP? I decided to write a rule system using the following guidelines:

it has to be fantasy (which is the most popular sort of LARP)
it has to be simple to learn quickly for a person who never LARPed
it has to be flexible enough to offer interesting choices for quite a while
max. one page of text (so it's both simple to learn and economical to print and share)

And so, Simple LARP System was born. Available in English and Croatian. It's my gift to you, dear non-LARPers, to help you start a local LARP scene. Use it, modify it if you like, share it with your friends or publicly on the internet... You are free to do so.

I'd love to hear comments about it, and especially if you're using the system.

There's no more need to wait. Or to question yourself if you can do it. You can. Start a LARP.

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Diary of a Croatian larper

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