What is the Difference between Re-enacting and...

[Gentleman of Fortune]

Alright... what is the difference between Re-enacting/Living History and Live Action Role Play (LARP).

Anyone?

I don't know so I am asking.

GoF

[CaptainJackRussell]

Hello, GoF,

well, at reenacting/living history you always try to be historically very accurate, and you mostly do actions for an audience using real weapons and need almost no rules.

LARP is, as you said, Live Action Roleplay. It can have various settings. You may play a fantasy-setting, a more historical one, some players are roleplaying with a StarWars/ StarTrek-Setting. While playing, there will be no audiance. You really take the role of your chosen Character, have given him a name, a job, a background, and now you let that figure live, which means: You!!! are enjoing, more or less well-guided by gamemasters and following games rules, adventures. If you have to fight, all melee-weapons are made from foam and latex, looking quite real, but are rather harmless. Firearms are sometimes simulated with toyguns and marbles, which you blindly pull out of a bag to see the result of your shot, sometimes (especially for Sci-Fi-settings) they use paintball- or airsoft guns, in our rules firearms do not real harm. They hit automatically, and you should play this like running agains a wall of glass. It's more stylish for a pirate setting. Fact is, if you want to smuggle anything into a british fort to free the prisoners, you indeed have to do. To play your role just for your and your friends joy. Whole wars where fought with fantasy settings, orcs plunders human villages and are driven away by heroic knights or something like that.

Me, I'm playing a pirate setting campaign as a Captain of a pirates ship, the Roisin Dubh, and I have eight real played crewmen. Otherwise 163 virtual ones, just "left behind on board". The second campaign I play is a dark future one.

It's a quite funny and awfully expensive hobbie.

Greetz,

Jack

[Patrick Hand]

what is the difference between Re-enacting/Living History and Live Action Role Play

I got thinking about this..... but your not going to like the answer.......

The only difference is the quality of the garb, gear and clothing/uniforns.....

After the LARP or reenactment is over, eveyone can go home.... no one realy gets killed, or maimed, catches a disease....

Intent, may be a difference, a LARP is for fun, and reenacating may be edicational, but if it wasn't fun how many people would do it.... so reenacting is also done for the fun....

LARPs have rules that are agreed on to play, and reenactments have rules to play... 10 foot rule for women that dress as soldiers, a set time period, and a specific place... but if you think about it so do LARPs.... (ok maybe not the 10 foot rule.... but that's bairly inforced at a reeneactment anyway.....)

LARPs have a senerio.... "Your party has to get the gold from the Orcs..." at a reenactment, may have a historicaly baised senerio, but you still are only playing a part....(no matter how accurately you do it...)

Maybe it's just snobbishness ... "I'm a reenactor... all my gear and clothing is 100% correct.... not like the S.C.A. ...." Then the Scadain... "I'm doing full contact combat.... not like those LARPers who just play with foam swords..." I think snobbishness may be a part of it, but I don't think it is really the "driving" force .....

No matter how period correct I can make everything, I'm still not realy a Pyrate......

[blackjohn]

Re-enacting, in my mind, takes a specific event from history and recreates it.

Living history... to me this is more or less the same. Though I tend to look at living history as less historical event driven. For instance, people recreating life on a colonial farm are doing living history, while a specific event such as the Battle of Boone's Farm would be a re-enactment.

LARPing is just a form of roleplaying, but instead of doing it around a table with miniatures, you do it in real life, in costume. But there are sets of rules that are followed, etc, just like in a face-to-face tabletop rpg.

Cosplaying... a handy term you didn't include, covers people who dress up as whatever and pretend to be whatever. I believe most of our colleagues here would fall in the cosplayer category.

[Gentleman of Fortune]

hmmmm.... ohhhh.

I have heard a lot recently about LARP (In my mind I read... long range recon patrol) and I did not know if it was a sub movement/culture or what.

Now I.... know.

GoF

[Captain Jim]

No matter how period correct I can make everything, I'm still not realy a Pyrate......

You mean...you're not a real Pyrate? I'm...I'm...crushed. Next you'll be telling me that Cascabel isn't a real Pyrate either...

[Cap'n Pete Straw]

What? Did I hear someone say "Cascabel isn't a real Pyrate"?

God, I hate this pub. Disappointing bad news everywhere. Nest you'll be trying to tell me that there's no such thing as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, leprechauns, and eskimos.

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Awww c'mon Patrick... I know you've Pyrated SOMETHING off the net, or at least took a government ink pen or something!

[Patrick Hand]

at least took a government ink pen or something!

But I haven't stollen anything on the Ocean or rivers or anywhere the Admarilaty controlls..... so Highwayman... maybe...... but untill I rip someone off on the Ocean...... sorry.... not a real Pyrate yet......

Dang..... location....location...location........

[Fox]

Ooh, I once stole a key-ring from the Golden Hind, does that make me a pirate?

[blackjohn]

I'm trying to remember if I swiped anything from the survey ship I was once on... I did take a skull and crossbones along, just in case. And the morale onboard was low enough that maybe, just maybe...

[blackjohn]

hmmmm.... ohhhh.

I have heard a lot recently about LARP (In my mind I read... long range recon patrol) and I did not know if it was a sub movement/culture or what.

Now I.... know.

GoF

Oddly, Matt's Legio XX website is on larp.com. I believe he does that because he gets free hosting. If you go there, you'll get a good idea of what larpers do.

[Capt Thighbiter]

" haven't stollen anything on the Ocean or rivers or anywhere the Admarilaty controlls"

Thighbiter looks up at the sky and whistles most absently.

Do dinghys count?

http://thebrigands.com

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Well, I just got into this pyrate thing a couple months ago, but back in the early eighties, my best freind and I took a rental canoe,(borrowed without asking) , and paddled out to a party around a pontoon and crashed it, drank as much beer as we could, made off with a couple of drunken floosies and left in THEIR boat. Does that count?

[Cire]

Ooh, I once stole a key-ring from the Golden Hind, does that make me a pirate?

Was this before, whilst, or after working there? I suppose if you weren't working there at the time, it might just count.

[Cascabel]

What? Did I hear someone say "Cascabel isn't a real Pyrate"?

God, I hate this pub. Disappointing bad news everywhere. Nest you'll be trying to tell me that there's no such thing as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, leprechauns, and eskimos.

I can accept not being a real pirate, and maybe even Santa Claus being fake..... But the Easter Bunny ??!!

I happen to know him personally, and I even know why he hides his eggs Why, the next thing you know, someone will cast doubts about the Tooth Fairy !!!

>>>>> Cascabel

[Phillip Black]

Well, I just got into this pyrate thing a couple months ago, but back in the early eighties, my best freind and I took a rental canoe,(borrowed without asking) , and paddled out to a party around a pontoon and crashed it, drank as much beer as we could, made off with a couple of drunken floosies and left in THEIR boat. Does that count?

Well if it doesn't make you a pirate, it still makes you a role-model!

[blackjohn]

No matter how period correct I can make everything, I'm still not realy a Pyrate......

I think of myself as an "Experientialist." I want to experience things, things out of the ordinary, things in a historical type setting. I'll admit, I'm selfish that way. I don't care as much about the public as many re-enactors. At times I don't like the "zoo animal" mentality of some events. I'd rather be sitting alone on a beach drinking rum in pirate clothing than doing 3rd person explantions of how my flintlock works. I can have fun doing that, and did just this last Tuesday, but I need a mix of that with experiencing things.

As for pirates, and not experiencing the true pirate lifestyle... I think that's one of the reasons I like buccaneers so much. My own experiences are closer to those of the 1680s buccaneers than 17teens pirates. I've spent alot of time on the water, and I've spent alot of time on land, with alot of experience in land battles, albeit re-enactments.

[kass]

Hi guys,

Greg, I'm not going to answer your question because I think it's already been answered perfectly. But I'd like to add my perspective to the mix.

I'm a reenactor and living historian. I reenact when there's actually a reenactment going on. That means that the group I'm with is doing Washington's Crossing of the Delaware, I've got my part and I play it. If we're doing the Battle of the Bulge, I'm in the trees shooting at Nazis. If we're doing the Seige of Straalsund, I'm throwing kitchen garbage from the walls onto the invading Imperialists (Germans).

But there are things I do that aren't reenactments. There, I'm a living historian. For example, at Pennsbury Manor, Willliam Penn's summer house North of Philadelphia, I'm not reenacting anything. I'm one of the Penn's housemaids and I show visitors around the house and grounds and tell them about Pennsylvania in the 1680s-1700. At the Bachmann Publick House in Easton, I'm a resident of Easton in the year 1753. I talk about how I came from Ireland as an indentured servant when I was eight years old, and how I am now married to a brewer and keep the books for the business because my master taught me to read and write...

Unlike many of my friends in the hobby, I think the most boring thing in the world is sitting around in historical clothing with my mates. I CRAVE talking to the public. Get me started on a favourite subject and you'll have to stick an apple in my mouth to shu me up! I love doing first person, but I enjoy explaining things in third person as well. My biggest turn on is sharing my knowledge. I really love this stuff and I want to tell people all about it!

LARPing, I've done that too. It's fun. I like it because it's ore physical than what I typically do at reenactments. But I don't care for "closed" events. There too much of the exhibitionist in me. I like to perform for a crowd!

[Edward T. Porter]

Well... there´s already said some things about Larp...

Just look here to read about Larp in different Countries: Larpwiki.org

Most of the Larpers (and I´m one of them) like to see themselves as a subculture... but we´re just more or less nerds like Reenacters and Living Historians

In Germany we have about 10 different rulesystems... I dont know exactly most of them are too stupid and too fantasy based for me!

My favourite one is: You can, what you can!

-No Points... just playing and acting. If you want a reaction from other Larpers, you must convince them by your action/acting and not cause you may have some fighting or magic or healing skills standing on a piece of paper

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Well, I just got into this pyrate thing a couple months ago, but back in the early eighties, my best freind and I took a rental canoe,(borrowed without asking) , and paddled out to a party around a pontoon and crashed it, drank as much beer as we could, made off with a couple of drunken floosies and left in THEIR boat. Does that count?

Well if it doesn't make you a pirate, it still makes you a role-model!

Aye, it's a thankless job... but it has ta be done. :)

[Jib]

Could you define one as more "outward directed" and the other as more "inward directed"?

Living history and Re-enacting is more like playing a part. More acting for others to observe and discuss with.

LARP is more inward. You do it for yourself. It's all about your imagination and where it leads you and those you play with.

What do you think?

[Hawkyns]

I'm with Blackjohn on this. I'm a living historian and a re-enactor, but I don't need the public for what I do. while I enjoy a good battle and punch up as much as the next guy, I enjoy more experiencing as much of the lifestyle as I can. At 3 am on the deck watch of the Half Moon, there's not another soul to see me, but I doing the same thing that some other sailor in a past age did- watching for hazards, watching for fire, staving off boredom, and fighting to stay awake. No radar, no alarms, just me, the sound of the wind and water, and the stars.

I've spent more hours than I can count talking about weapons to the public and it is a definite part of the game. Somebody has to educate people, the schools surely aren't. but it's not all of it.

Finding the way they did it, living with no more than they did, putting up with the hardships as they did and learning how to get around them. The sense of accomplishment of living without 20/21st technology is my greatest joy here.

That's where I think LARP fails. There is too much back up, too many safety nets, too many places where modern life intrudes into the game. The risk, and therefore the adrenaline and the accomplishment are missing, when you know that you'll be sleeping in a warm barracks, that breakfast is likely to be the same food you normally eat for breakfast, and that the sword being swung at you is foam and will do no real damage if you miss the parry. Every LARP I've dealt with is designed mostly for people who want to play at the game, rather than taking the real risks of living the life.

Hawkyns

[CaptainJackRussell]

That's where I think LARP fails. There is too much back up, too many safety nets, too many places where modern life intrudes into the game. The risk, and therefore the adrenaline and the accomplishment are missing, when you know that you'll be sleeping in a warm barracks, that breakfast is likely to be the same food you normally eat for breakfast, and that

Well, Hawkyns,

come over here and join one of our LARP.

No more safety then abolutely needed (foam weapons, sure), no warm barrack (as long as the plot and setting do not require), and our food is absolutely not what we have every day...

We slept more then once in tents at 20° below, had Zweiback (a kind of hardtack) and bacon for breakfast, and your wine ration in the evening had to be earned...

So and similar is the way we play.

but I agree, most LARPs are just like fantasy-touched camping. But there are some players which choose another way. and we have a lot of fun...

Fair Winds,

Jack

[Coastie04]

I think there's another aspect here that people aren't mentioning. There's also being a tour guide in historical clothing. It's not really living history, but often is closely related. When I've sailed on the Lady Washington, it's a combination. When we're giving dockside tours, we're tour guides. We answer questions and educate people. When we sail, we turn into living history, although there's obviously a bit of tour guide at the same time. During maintenance, it's living history (much of which happens during dockside tours, so the crew is split between living history and tour guides explaining it).

Just my thoughts.

Coastie