Diary of a Croatian larper

I came back from Crolarp and woke up from a nap I took earlier... As I mentioned earlier , tomorrow I'll be heading to Germany for Drachenfest and afterwards ConQuest of Mythodea, two biggest larps in the world - I won't really be able to write articles in that time, and I need to resume packing soon. But in the meanwhile, the first Crolarp, the biggest Croatian larp of this year certainly deserves a review. While not the biggest Croatian larp ever, it was certainly the biggest Croatian larp since Summer Sessions . It was visibly bigger than Jaska 8 last year. The quick count given to me by Mladen at the end of the event was 76 people. That would make it bigger than this year's Jaska 10 and Rajski Vrhovi XVI  put together. People from all over Croatia came to visit, plus some international guests: Gareyth, and representatives of two Serbian groups, Green Banner from Novi Sad and Guard of Ravens from Belgrade. Players separated into six camps total: The Barb...

Two days ago on Sunday a small event was held called "Royal feast". A couple of hours of indoor roleplaying, it was a prelude to Crolarp which starts this Thursday, bridging the story arc from Rajski Vrhovi last week. It was a cheerful and relatively peaceful event, with a couple of in-game incidents but overall the mood was very pleasant. There was plenty of food, drink and song going around to set a good mood, with a decent roleplaying and even several new people who never played before, some of them with impressive character portrayal. Edit: Watashi's photos And high spirits continued until the next day when GAIA association announced that they are pulling their support from Crolarp. They will not be participating in storyline design. A lack of communication was cited as the reason. Much drama ensued, and it will probably not be resolved anytime soon. In the meanwhile, the organization of Crolarp will fall entirely upon the Zagreb groups: Ognjeni Mač and Shire of Kr...

It will all start the upcoming weekend. Crolarp . The common project of several Croatian LARP groups, and likely to be the biggest Croatian LARP this year. But it's just a start. When I return from Crolarp and sleep through the night, it will be time to go to Germany where I'll spend two weeks in two biggest LARPs in the world   Drachenfest and ConQuest of Mythodea . It will be an unforgettable summer. This blog might get a little slow while I'm attending all those events, but I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories to tell once I return...

Start a LARP! It's easy - use your imagination, and create your world and way of playing. However, you might have some reservations about doing it from scratch. Not a problem! There are, luckily, available resources on the internet which can help you run a LARP. You'll find everything, from ideas and advice (such as on this site), free fantasy rules (such as Simple LARP system and others), and even some pretty much complete deals whether you want to run one-shots or campaign style larps. Various larp sites around the world can be your resource to start a LARP. Other LARPs might also let you use their rulesets. Or you might use them without their knowledge, which they might be OK with or not. Some LARPs organize themselves in networks or franchises, and you can open a chapter, utilize already existing resources and connect to various players around the country or world who run games under that system. Examples are: Amtgard - a battlegame society, full contact, sporty ba...

It's true that most Croatian fantasy LARP is either Amtgard or using Amtgard rules , or some variant thereof. And that has been the case for the last 15 years, since the beginning of Croatian LARP until Terra Nova started this year. That's why the question of rules is a big one to most Croatian players. But there have been other ideas in the early years that made attempts to change the scene. Today's article is guest-written by one of the insiders in the early Croatian LARP scene, Tomislav Šimat. He's been there since the first Summer Session, and his vision of LARP was different - some would say ahead of the times. Nine years ago, a new croatian system (NeCroSys in short) was created. This is its story - as well as an insight into an early age of Croatian LARP  and how it came to be at all... In mid-'90s a group of Croatian role-players gathered in the ruins of an old fort near Kutina for a game in a (more or less) authentic environment. They liked the game b...

It has been prepared for quite a while now. First rumors of the Fallout LARP appeared a couple of years ago, several people got excited and started getting the gear... But nothing happened. Then two years ago, some rules started circulating around, and finally the first Fallout LARP was scheduled for June last year... only to be canceled. It has now been announced again for August 10-12. Organized by Mario, one of the oldest active LARPers in Croatia, Fallout LARP looks to be the first event to utilize airsoft weaponry in Croatian LARP (it might bridge some airsoft people and larpers). Rule system is available in Croatian only, and it's a class-level system in a similar manner to Amtgard. There are some interesting modifications though, including exams that players have to solve in order to level up... It will be held very close to where I live - about five minutes away by car. It could be an interesting experience, and hopefully it won't get canceled this time around. ...

It is interesting to note that today's mainstream fantasy LARP in Croatia has very different social dynamics on the event than what it had before. Today, most games run with relatively small numbers. Players which consider one LARP their "home LARP" usually camp together when visiting another organizer's game. But until half a decade ago it was not about the organizers... It was about the clans, and things were running differently. Clans were most prominent in what I called Second Age in my recent Croatian LARP history article . They performed several vital functions which are usually missing from today's Croatian LARPs. While breaking and factionalizing the game, they were also enriching and diversifying it. They recruited players not for the larp, but for the clan - they had their own RP and agenda, visual identity (colors, flags, livery etc), camp organization etc, and - storylines of that time usually being weaker compared to what they are now - clan rela...