Today, I went to my first LARP (Live Action Role-Playing game). It was with a bunch of my mother’s LARP friends. We were playing Arkham on 5 Sanity Points a Day, a Cthulhu/eldritch-themed game. To go with the theme, I arrived with my Cthulhu schoolbag filled with 2 folders, a notebook, and a giant plush Necronomicon. Everyone loves the Necronomicon. It’s so cute!
When I was given the blurb about what to expect, my brain materialized an assumption: lunch was going to be at Pupusita Express and therefore be yummy; I would recognize some of the people there; and the LARP was going to be fun/weird/creepy/scare-your-pants-off-fandom, so I prepared myself… I wore shorts instead of pants.
When we got there, we were given instructions and a choice between characters. I ended up with Jackie Meadows, the hyperactive ten year old kid. So tough to play, right? Everyone joked it was typecasting.
I read my character sheet. Jackie was so skinny, hitting something wouldn’t do damage, so my special fighting ability was I could curl up on the floor and say, “I’m hiding, you can’t see me,” and they couldn’t see, touch, or harm me. However, in that maneuver, I wasn’t allowed to move or make any noise except childish whimpering. Humph.
My character also couldn’t resist lying. She would add a touch of exaggeration to everything she said. That was fun!
Jackie had a puppy, named Killer. He was so small she carried him everywhere. He was a Doberman, but since Jackie told tall tales, I told everyone he was part werewolf. Ha!
Everywhere we went there were “souvenirs”. Someone handed me a toy gun. I also received a plate. At one point we went somewhere and they confiscated Killer! I walked past the table, then told the people helping with the game what I was going to do. As I walked past I retrieved my dog. My puppy!
I love LARPs.
