Diary of a Croatian larper

I've larped in Germany before, three times on ConQuest and twice on Drachenfest. These are the biggest larps in the world, arguably very different from smaller larps that most people are used to. Ever since my first time there, I've been hearing about Katakomben - a larp tavern in Cologne (or Köln, for those of you using the German name of the city). So I decided to visit the Halloween event they had. Katakomben is organized as a monthly larp event, and it's played in a fort on the outskirts of the old city, close to the South Bridge over Rhine river. Once a month, the interior of this fort is decorated and plays a part of the in-character tavern... which can appear anywhere, and change layout... I took the photos during the day, as during the event itself (6 PM - 2 AM) it was dark and very dimly lit - plus, characters were already role-playing, and I felt bad taking my phone out. However, a photographer Kira Hagen was there, and made a lot of character portraits  so...

To put it simply, Rick is one of the most awesome, friendly and helpful larpers I've ever met. The first time I contacted him was in April 2011, as someone who's interested in going to Drachenfest. Rick was just starting the Grand Expedition to Drachenfest and Mythodea, which is nowadays probably the best-known English-speaking group on those two larps. We didn't go in 2011, but we met him live when we went there this year. I was not in the Expedition (Petar and Martin were), but I did get to meet Rick and spend some time with him and the Expedition. Anyways, Rick is awesome - get him a drink if you see him. Apart from the Grand Expedition - which is probably a topic of interest to everyone who wants to visit Drachenfest and ConQuest of Mythodea, has trouble speaking German and would like the RP involved - Rick is also involved with the newest, upcoming big UK larp, Empire. Find out more below... 1. Thank you for your time! Could you tell us a bit abou...

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 t...