Saving the world on a Sunday afternoon
Each larp game has different crews of people performing different roles.
The players pretend to be their characters. They will hopefully go out on a mission, solve a problem, and save the day!
As the monster crew have to carry the club kit around all day, at the end of the game the players carry the club kit back to the car park to say thank-you.
The Games Masters or GMs are the people who write and run the adventure. They decide what the encounters will be, stat the monsters and tell them what to do, and respond to the players’ antics. There are usually one or two GMs for a game.
GMing can be exciting but it is also a challenge. If you wish to have a go, you can ask an Experienced GM if they would help you run a game, or if they would let you help them run theirs.
The monster crew pretend to be the goblins, zombies, villagers and other monsters or NPCs that the players meet and interact with throughout the day. The job of the monster crew is to give the players a fun challenge – hopefully, the players will win.
At BathLARP, we ask people to monster sometimes as well as play their own characters. If there aren’t enough monsters for a game, the players who have monstered least may be asked to swap sides and be monsters for the day. A general rule of thumb is to try and volunteer to monster for every one or two games you play so everyone gets a turn – in the case of new players on their first character there’s a bit more leeway due to limits on games that their characters can actually play.
Mixed in among the Players, Monsters and GMs are the First Aiders and Responsibles. There should be a Player First Aider and a Monster First Aider on any given game who are responsible for administering First Aid and keeping a log of any incidents and near misses on a game.
There will always be at least one Responsible on a game; they have the larger task of making sure that everything that needs to be done under the terms of the club’s insurance policy are done. This includes things like safety briefings, weapon checking and bow competency – things that help keep people safe. They don’t have to do everything themselves, just make sure that it’s done by someone competent.
Sometimes people want to come along to larp but can’t join in as a fighting monster for some reason. Spectators or ‘camera monsters’ are usually given a high-vis jacket and follow the player crew taking pictures or watching the action.
Any committee members who are present are always available to help resolve OOC issues upon request.