A writer at Ars went to a Live Action Role Playing (LARP) event and wrote about in an article aptly titled Game of foam. The event in question was run by Darkon
The LARP group has already been covered in a movie:
In the article, the author provides some great insight into the LARPing community and why this style of game play is captivating to a growing number of people.
“Video games, they’re fun—but I like creating my own fun,” said one Darkonian I met hours later, after parking the minivan and unloading our gear. He identified himself as Warboss Gutsmangle, leader of the Darkon orc nation known as Waaagh Gutsmangle. “Nothing against video games, but I can come up with better things than programmers for my character to do, and being able to have this sort of limitless role-play opportunity appeals to me more.”
The questions most programmers ask (in fact most people ask) how do they track damage. The answer is rather simple and makes sense, as long as you aren’t playing with jerks who’d lie about hits:
Weapons have color-coded damage associated with each class: cutting weapons (swords) are white or black, thrusting and piercing weapons (arrows, daggers, spears) are red, and blunt-damage weapons (maces, flails, staves) are coded yellow. Each color causes a certain kind of damage depending on where it lands on the body and how many times one has already been hit. Those who have been around long enough to rate wearing armor have to do mental math to track the damage their armor takes on each part of their body before they lose a limb or drop dead on the field. The dead go to Hades (off the field) and respawn for the next round, or they can be healed or resurrected on the field by someone with those powers.
Interested in trying out a LARP event in the Toronto area? Check out Epoch and Underworld LARP.