Diary of a Croatian larper

One of our two biggest LARPs in a year starts right about... this very moment. However, due to work, I'll be going there tomorrow. It's gonna be a sleepless night for sure. If you're still in doubt... Come to Jaska 7, it's gonna be epic! I'm reviewing it as soon as pics will be online.

Right now I'm on my way to the filming of the show "8. kat" on HRT, Croatian national television. 8. kat (meaning: 8th Floor) is a Croatian talk show resembling the popular Oprah Show. I'll be talking about LARP of course :) And there will be several members of Ognjeni Mač in the public. In full LARP gear. The show will be played on TV in about two weeks, and will be available here  for a while. I'll attempt to get a recording which I can link somewhere else then :) There will be other guests, reenactors, trekkies, cosplayers, writers etc. - basically everyone who's working on making the imaginary worlds come alive. LARP got some serious TV coverage now, especially considering we were also filmed during SFeraKon last weekend. Update: Here's the video: And that SFerakon video I mentioned is here:

It was a weekend before Jaska LARP, but it was not filled with preparations for it as usual - instead, lots of us LARPers went to SFeraKon, largest & oldest sci-fi/fantasy/horror convention in Croatia. Next years' SFeraKon will also be Eurocon . Yes, we had a quite attractive stand there. Guys from Ognjeni Mač, Croatian LARP association (which I'm a part of) who were keeping the stand did a good job in getting the visitors interested in LARPing. It's probably our most successful con presentation ever. Reason 1 is purely a great job they did. Reason 2 is... we just re-started our convention attendance. Until last year, we were regulars on every SFeraKon and Istrakon (second largest convention in Croatia, but considered by many to be more fun), but for various reasons we missed last year's SFeraKon and Istrakon, as well as this year's Istrakon, which is kind of a shame - but probably a reason we were so successful this year, we gave some people chance to rota

Continued from Part 1 The problem with being a so-called Perfect LARPer is - it's inefficient. There are very few people who can do all that, do it well, and not burn out. The proper solution is diversification. Everybody is good at something and can help in his or her way - that solution requires more people, more cooperation and teamwork, but it has a better effect overall. Every experience is valuable. That's one of the reasons why small LARPs who remain a one-man-show don't achieve their full potential - the singular organizer can't do everything on his own and do it well. Players who learn that it's the way LARPs should work and try to emulate the one-man-band skill set will waste an awful lot of time and achieve less overall. Like I mentioned earlier, everybody's good at something. And everyone knows something which will help him improve his LARP or his LARPing experience - and by doing so, he'll also improve other peoples' LARP experience

If you've spent some time LARP-ing, then you are probably aware of it. You're supposed to try to become The Perfect LARPer. What makes The Perfect LARPer? You're a great roleplayer You can set up a camp on your own which will look better than anyone else's camp You're probably running some LARPs on your own You're a fighter-type character You can fight well, and carry a respectful-looking armor and a lot of gear with you You've made all that gear yourself You've sewn your own tent You're cooking your own food at LARPs - and cooking it well You're always bringing tons of stuff on every LARP - for you, your camp, and your friends You primarily hang out with other LARPers IRL You've introduced lots of new people into LARP You're promoting LARP in any way possible When you're not LARPing, you're preparing for your next LARP (continued in Part 2 )

This week I opened a new portal specifically for Jaska LARP. You can check it out on http://jaska.larp.hr It's in Croatian, not in English. However, there's a translate function which uses Google Translate. It translates the site into a bad English version - but it's understandable enough. Feel free to check it out and if you have any comments, you can post them there. Oh, and in another news: we got an Amazon Associate store now. I've listed there some books and movies I recommend - they're great! :) You can visit the store by clicking here .

My post from two days ago might be misunderstood as promoting Power play. As in getting as strong as possible, munchkinism, creating godly characters etc. It is not so. As I have said, roleplay is and always should be the best measure of someone's actual effectiveness. Researching LARP across the world, I have found out about various LARP communities, systems, and how they handle stuff. Croatian LARP, evolved mainly from Amtgard, is very American in its style. Which means rigid rule system, good selection of classes, some competitiveness, and yes most of our weapons are boffers. At the time, it was probably the best system to implement: it's rather easy to learn for new players - especially in a country that was unaccustomed to LARP, equipment is cheap to make etc. Note that I don't believe that one system is inherently better or worse than other. Every LARP system has its beauty, what makes it exciting and fun, and its flaws. High competitiveness commonly leads to

Let's face it - getting a strong LARP character is not simple. But first of all, let's define what strong means in LARP terms. First part of the puzzle is, of course, your character level. Or the skills your character has. Basically, something that's written on paper, which grows as your character experience grows, and it's represented in some manner by what your character can do. It's the most obvious "power" your character can gain in-game. Second is your physical condition. While it gives its most obvious benefit to fighter-type characters, everyone benefits from it. Sneaky characters require some physical skills to sneak around effectively. And casters need it too - it allows them to run faster and longer. The guy wearing armor and shield will tire sooner. Third and most powerful is your roleplay. Good roleplay is like a shining star, Alpha and Omega of everything your character does. There's a lot to write about that. It can ensure your su