Making LARPing Easier

by Zoe

After this past weekend, I realized, in the two years that the husband and I have been LARPing, it's just become astronomically easier. When we first started, we had loads of unorganized stuff, piles of costume changes, and food that didn't pack well. Now? It's a few totes, a bag, a backpack, and a cooler of food. In short, it's simple and easily transportable. I think this comes with experience: you slowly learn what does and doesn't work in terms of convenience and expediency. With that being said, I wanted to share a few of my organizational tips, and invite others to do the same. Most of these tips are targeted at PCs and NPCs. However, if you staff a game, you could take this organizational system, and expand it to a much larger frame. Oddly enough, they're also some the same organizational tips for seasonal fieldwork...

From Xephyr with an "X": The Ultimate LARP Calendar

Many of us have had the pleasure to work with Dave or Xeph Inkpen. They bring a special something to LARPs that ranges from good sportsmanship to finely made costumes to wonderful IG characters. Xepher and Dave know how to LARP, and this tool, a collaborative LARP calendar, is a really good tool to organize and market your LARP experience.

If you don't have a google account, it would be a good idea to get one. Xephyr is using Google Docs--> Google Calendars to create and share this calendar. Google Docs, which we've been using for Mickey's Invictus, is a great tool, and I highly recommend it. It's an easy way to share with individual communities, and allow everyone to contribute and edit at once. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you have the most flexibility if you have a gmail account. So! Go get one, even if it's character/LARP specific. As it gets more widely publicized, and more people get google accounts, it will be easier to join.

Here is the current link for the calendar: Ultimate LARP Calendar

Xephyr will soon be finishing the calendar, and adding a "how-to" on her site xeph-ink.com. Besides offering the calendar, Xephyr's site also offers a range of LARPing goods and artistic works. Check it out to get some swag for your new adventurer. Or use it as inspiration to see what you can do with LARPing, creativity, and drive.

Edited to add: Xeph has got the site up and running, and the link has been updated. Contact her if your LARP is not represented!