The events can be money and time intensive. I arrive the Tuesday before the event to help start with set-up. I am not the first person there. However if you can't dedicate this sort of time to an event there are plenty of people who turn up on the friday night. There are other LARPS that are one day events, one-off weekend events where the whole story is told in that weekend and so on. As for money, I started out buying my kit off Ebay for £3-5 a piece and built up slowly. I started out with stuff that meant I could easily try out LARP and if I didn't like it I hadn't lost too much time or money.
I could easily watch you three gush about larping for a whole series, it's so interesting and you guys are super excited about it! thanks for sharing the nerdy love
I would like to second this statement, i love this sort of video of people just going on and telling epic stories from their LARPs. Thanks for sharing the nerdy love.
Third from me, I couldn't believe an hour passed so fast, I was genuinely both surprised and sad when I heard Mark say 'Wrap it up here.' This was awesome, always wanted to LARP but it involves a very hefty travel cost where I live, and I would be doing it by myself :(
please do! A video on how to get into Empire would be great! Walking us through how to create a character and join/create a group that can get involved in the game would be really helpful!
Hey everyone! Thanks so much for watching and supporting this video! A lot of you have asked questions about getting started, going on your own, buying gear etc. There's way too many of you to answer so I'm going to make a short video talking about some of this stuff next week. :)
I thought I overheard Smith and Trott at one point over the weekend trying to sell marshmallows...good to know I wasn't just going crazy. It's nice to get an account of an event from the standpoint of another nation.
Oh man this sounds great, I definitely wasn't interested in LARP before, but your epic tales sound exactly like something I would be super interested in. Thanks for sharing, I'd love to hear more.
Feel free to find out more about us and Empire in case you may be interested in coming to our game if you are UK based. Please visit our Facebook page facebook.com/groups/528878433989783/ or our Introduction to LRP page www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Introduction_to_LRP.
Anyone who is interested in trying out Empire - we have a team of volunteers to talk to new players, answering questions and helping people get started. There is a facebook group for them - facebook.com/groups/528878433989783/ or you can just email us direct new.player@profounddecisions.co.uk
Great to see a recap of E1 like this! You mentioned the mass weakness against that big lobster - fighting as part of that EMU was one of the best parts of the weekend for me! Always fun to fight against and with Wintermark! I've been going to Empire for the same amount of time as Smith and Trott and what they've said is so accurate, the immersion and RP is just unreal! Great stuff, hope to meet you guys IC at the next event - a friendly Marcher!
How would one go about getting into LARP? Like, I have no idea about any of the mechanics, so where's the best place to learn? Maybe you could do more on LARP in videos if more people are interested?
Look up Momo brien on youtube, she has some great beginners videos for people who want to start LARPing, the mechanincs change from game to game, look up your area to see if theres any LARPs close to you, look up thier website and system, get going, the easiest way to do i, just jump in head-first, what i did, and now i am one of the heds of a LARP orgnaisation, it is an easy hobby to get into if you have the time.
Depending on where you live some resources are better than others. Mechanics vary a little between games but once you have found somewhere larpers are very inviting and will happily help you learn.
So as someone who sometimes has trouble learning maths based mechanics, I recommend learning in play. Most games will have an introduction to combat and local larpers will be more than happy to meet up with you or chat over the internet to help you learn.
Have had some awesome interactions with Trott, Smith and Mark on the field, over the last couple of events. Both selling them cocktails at my IC bar in the Winter Market and doing some last minute trading last event. My favourite moment was when some guy came up to Smith and I when we were having a discussion about trading and was trying to sell us 'herbs' which turned out to be dock leaves. This then prompted Trott to ask the guy how much he was selling his dock leaves for, so that he could price match the sticks that he was selling.
I never played LARP before or knew much about it before the video. I kind of shrugged it off as a weird nerdy thing, but after watching this video it sounded absolutely amazing. The enthusiasm and energy that you guys had just telling us these great stories made me so interested to learn more. Please do more videos about this because it is opening up a brand new interest for me and I would love to hear you guys tell stories and explain how things work! Loved it! Cheers lads
This video was Amazing! Loved to hear all of your experiences of the game. I live in the middle of the USA and all of our events seem to be like you described. These huge bid foam swords for bunting and these hacky sacks for spells. Was hoping for a event similar to the one you went to, but we actually cant even touch each other here! Sad now...
That battle sounds like something that happened at a LARP I was in. About 75 people went out, literally 2 came back, and that evening we went on the Fallen Friends Revenge Tour. We were outnumbered three-to-one but we managed to ambush them, and just as we lept into battle, as a spur-of-the-moment thing I shouted "You want blood?! THEN WE'LL DROWN YOU IN YOUR OWN!" That was later voted Most Memorable Moment of the Weekend.
My favourite video so far. Seeing how much you enjoyed larping/role playing makes me very happy. From now on I will use this as a "welcome to role playing" video. I am sure I will be able convince some of my friends to try out role playing with such an amazing "booster" Keep the videos coming, please! You are trully an amazing group.
I absolutely love listening and watching people talk about something they love. This was a great pick me up video and I hope that you do one after every event because it was great!
This is both the nerdiest and damn coolest thing ever!!! I was excited throughout the whole video. Would love to participate but I live in Ireland and i've never heard of LARPING events over here 🙁
This was an incredibly enjoyable video to watch. I found myself smiling at different points throughout just because of how passionate you all seemed about it and the way you described everything. It was brilliant. More of these would be amazing, I'd definitely watch and support them as well as some videos on how to get into LARPing. Thanks for the great content!
i was at that battle i remember running in front of you to get you through the gate, its awesome listening to your stories tho. the healer you talked about was from foxdon in navar and we had over an hour of mourning, it was the best larp experience ive had so far, it was genuinely emotional
Mark, that was fantastic. As a complete noob to larping, this gave me some great insight and left me with enough interest to want to take the time to research the questions that I now have :D. Hope you do more podcast type stuff lick this, always love finding something that I can listen to whilst out and about, especially if it will make me laugh out loud, like this did, in public spaces :P hahaha. Thank you :)
Oof, this is a fantastic video. Loved every minute of it - seeing your genuine love of the game was very engaging. Seeing more members of Ashenhall in the next video would be excellent.
This was awesome! Some videos talking about LARPs get a bit rambly but this was great. The pictures were cool too! Empire sounds amazing. Side note. Not all of us LARPers in America use clunky boffer weapons. I use swords similar to what you guys show in your video in the LARP I play. It all just depends on the style of the LARP you are playing. I hope you make more LARP videos!
Really great talk chaps, was very interesting listening to you guys talking about LARP. Being a historical reenactor LARP seems similar in a way mostly through the sense of community it brings, socialising and escaping from the everyday world for a weekend. At the same time from what you guys share LARP seems really cool with the larger roleplay emphasis and opportunity for night attacks and a bit more free reign. LARP also seems a lot bigger funnily enough I mean 500vs500 is huge by UK standards! Fascinating discussion and really cool listening to your tales from the event!
This was so amazing! I would love if you guys did this more often (I realize it's limited to events but it would still be frickin cool if you did one of these whenever they happened) and it would be great if you could bring in the other members of your hall to tell their stories as well, as they've probably been doing it longer.
Awe this is great! Ever since I heard mark mention that he larps in high rollers I was hoping for a video ever since. I personally live in canada and play NERO larp. Thanks For posting this thoroughly enjoyed this and hope you post more.
I watched Trott and Smiffy walk towards my tent selling food, only to run out just before they reached me! Also, I wondered if you were wearing a wig Mark, your hair looked amazing!
My only experience similar to this was a civil war re-enactment where I had to wear very uncomfortable clothing, be instantly "killed" on the front line and have to lay there quiet and play dead for like 2 hours. I really didn't enjoy it and never looked into other events after that, but the event in the video looks extremely interesting and fun. Thanks for sharing and giving me a reason to look into this stuff again Mark.
I really love this kind of chat session you guys created. I'd love to see more discussions like this, if you were to make a podcast all about your Larping experience. I'd love to hear it. Please make more. *^*
So the plan is to do these after each event, as well as another one to answer the most common questions. I don't think we could do a more regular set of content than that though.
I've always been intrigued in LARP, but I never got around to trying it out. Now, I'm more intrigued than ever after watching this video, and I'm looking forward to giving it a shot one day (hopefully sooner rather than later). Also, I really enjoyed this video, and I hope you all sit down and do this again after then next event.
Oh and thanks for giving me keen for playing the priest game. This will be my first Empire in 3 years (I stopped for health reasons) and I've been nervous about the new character.
Hi, my name is Dave but I share an account with my fiancée Michelle. We don't have Empire in the United States, but back in the 1990s, the original LARP was hugely popular in my area: the historical reenactment group SCA. There were no fantasy elements like orcs or in-game magic but participants assumed a persona that could have lived some time between the fall of Rome and 1650 AD. Even though the main action took place in a European setting, a few of us had Asian personae -I was Takeda Yoshimitsu, squire to Sir Viscount Lei Chang Yen. We had (and still have) many events to attend throughout the year, ranging from full emersive weekend events like the Estrella War to the weekly Fighter Practice. The weapons used are rattan (for safety) but the armor is very realistic and has strict safety standards. One of the cool memories this video brought back was that of literally thousands of armored LARPers marching into battle, and then enjoying each other's company around the campfires, eating medieval food and sharing medieval drink. My cousin lives in a different part of the US , and she played in a LARP called NERO (New England Role-playing Organization) in which fantasy elements were present, like beanbag magic and calling out damage while boffer fighting. She wore a mask to portray a "black panther Saar". In any event, I think fun can be had with any LARP rules system and one is largely limited by geography.
Haven't watched the video yet, but I just wanted to say I was really hoping someone in the yogscast would post some videos of you lads larping after the hatboys mentioning it on stream a few times. A 53 minute video! Thanks for uploading this Hulmes.
Amazing video. Loved the down to earth chat. Always wanted to get into Larp. Sadly there isn't a community in my area and I'm too antisocial to try and start one. Great job guys. Even though this channel is a bit smaller you put some great work into making great videos. Keep it up!
i jumped ship from Imperial Orcs, but the reasons were obvious, the mask was a pain to wear almost all the time, especially for someone who wears glasses, im new to the mark though
This was actually super cool. As someone who is absolutely terrible at anything like this, hearing more about these amazing stories and adventures would be amazing :)
I love listening to UK larpers talk about their times at events (really is fun and soothing to listen to while drawing). I hope one day I can attend one because there really aren't enough close enough nice ones here in the US and if you want to attend one you have to either fly or drive 3 or more states over. Getting a van to move your equipment and such is usually picked over trying to fly all that to a different state. It's like 100$ per luggage case on a plane. Usually 1-3 days drive to farther events here if it isn't in your state and depending on the state you could still be doing a full one day drive in your own state. I think I'll just enjoy listening to your talks because that's the only good option for most of us in the US. Also I heard most event planners/owners have trouble getting a location to take them. Maybe because of the way larp is viewed here is not very positive. There is definitely a player base here that would love a more organized and serious game but with the weird safety rules and how large the US is coupled with the way larp is viewed here there just isn't enough good events to justify attending them. However it should be mentioned that majority of larp here is called "boffer". Even if you don't use pool noodle duct taped weapons they are still called boffers. I guess no matter what your weapon is made out of as long as it isn't metal then it's called a "boffer". This probably means that many people won't look into small local events because it says "boffer" even if they're actually using latex/ or other sturdy made products like Calimacil weapons. I really enjoy larp channels like this since I don't really have any reason or ability to attend anything here in the US. Channels like this are my minor lifeline lol. Hopefully like videogames, anime and conventions maybe one day we'll get an upsurge in actual good larping too. I do plan to attend some local larps but that'll have to wait for a bit longer.
Great video, and really relatable, being pretty new to empire myself. I also went out on that skirmish, although thankfully I *just* managed to get back alive.
It sounds pretty cool how you speak of it, unlike the local stuff my brother had been part of, where my brother managed to overrun the "heroes" of the game, and the leader just undid everything because the story didn't go where he wanted it to. Kinda sounded railroaded to me. So hearing your stories make it sound a lot more... open, and immersive too. Makes it intriguing...
I really liked this video, reminded me why i love the bigger LARPs, and why i try and get other younglings into it with the kids LARP me and some others arrange once a month. No but other than my shameless self-promotion, damned good video, liked it a lot, sounds like a really cool LARP, wish i could go to britain sometime to go to one of the events. Edit : That and you had some clearly amazing character moments like the time after the battle and the revenge part, sometimes the fighting parts leads to the greatest RP.
Absolutely loved watching this...so, so interesting and honestly, got me hyped to try out larp. Hope to someday! In the meantime, would love to kind of, live the experience through you guys if you make more of these...haha
This video was amazing :) please do more! I really want to go to England now just to try out that Empire larp, in my country a lot of larps turn out to be very cringey. Please do more!
This was my first Empire and I was super overwhelmed. I loved it but there was so much to take in. Probably didn't help I got killed on an earlier Sat skirmish with a drake (After being one of the ones to lead the troops). But the plus side of that I got to attend my own funeral as the whole of Dawn had a mass vigil for the fallen. I'm pretty sure every house lost someone. My house was reduced to half.
I'm a member of skirmish crew, who, by the sounds of it, was crewing that revenge mission. You interrupted 'The Tale of the Raven' with one of the toughest ass-whoopings I've received, as a professional receiver of ass whoopings.
This was a great video, I've always wanted to know what LARP was like and what sort of stuff happens, so it was really insightful for having the two fairly new players talk about their experiences and options of the game. I'm way too shy to do this, but it certainly looks fun!
Hello Nathan, If you are interested in joining us at Empire we have many resources available to help you get involved, even if you are shy :) We have a guide for new to LRP people here www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Introduction_to_LRP and a Facebook group where new players can ask questions and seek advice and help on getting into the game. facebook.com/groups/528878433989783/
LARPing is nigh impossible to explain to someone who has never done it. The brain fools itself so well once youre in it it becomes the most immersive experience possible even if costumes or the location isnt 100%, but trying to get a feel for it by hearing descriptions or watching movies? Nah. I bet you the "lightning bolt" larpers are really immersed too, and more the credit to them for doing that without all the expensive armour and outfits.
Pretty sure I went out onto that skirmish with you guys on the Saturday. I was one of the Navarri who'd been sent to go with Wintermark as a scout and I'm pretty sure I was next to Smith when it all went to shit. Thankfully I managed to get back out but I think I was near you when you went down.
So cool! this made me look into larping in my area and I found some well established events that I never knew about! Definitely going to look further into it 😊
Always wanted to give LARPing a try but none of my pals are really interested. If y'all can make more videos like this so that I can live vicariously through you, that'd be great.
I luv this video, reminds me of the times I had when I did play lorient Trust larping system. now after your videos and others I've seen I am job thinking I might want to try empire system. so I hope to experience similar memorable times. Thank you.
Ah Larping. Mark, did this back in the 90s. Always a fun time, especially after the event at night around the campfire. So much funny shit goes down after hours, it's almost bacchanalian at times. Ever check out the insane as shit The Battle of Nations? That's a blast to watch.
Great vid, I was loving this....and then you started talking about the woodland monster. that was me, just me, not lots. glad that felt a bit creepy....
ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS & BASIC TIPS FOR GOING TO EMPIRE HERE: th-cam.com/video/AsC2K1wFjFI/w-d-xo.html
I never actually realised how cool LARP can be
It gets a bad reputation, and there are some parts which are very UNCOOL, but it's a great experience and a lot of fun. :)
The larps that have full weekend events and everyone puts a lot of effort into them can be fun, gut also very time and possibly money intensive.
The events can be money and time intensive. I arrive the Tuesday before the event to help start with set-up. I am not the first person there.
However if you can't dedicate this sort of time to an event there are plenty of people who turn up on the friday night.
There are other LARPS that are one day events, one-off weekend events where the whole story is told in that weekend and so on.
As for money, I started out buying my kit off Ebay for £3-5 a piece and built up slowly. I started out with stuff that meant I could easily try out LARP and if I didn't like it I hadn't lost too much time or money.
Rea Christofi You can't say "LARP" and "cool" at the same sentence.
I like reenactment a lot more.
I could easily watch you three gush about larping for a whole series, it's so interesting and you guys are super excited about it! thanks for sharing the nerdy love
I would like to second this statement, i love this sort of video of people just going on and telling epic stories from their LARPs.
Thanks for sharing the nerdy love.
Third from me, I couldn't believe an hour passed so fast, I was genuinely both surprised and sad when I heard Mark say 'Wrap it up here.' This was awesome, always wanted to LARP but it involves a very hefty travel cost where I live, and I would be doing it by myself :(
I never hired an assassin. I just want to make that clear. But I could.
Hahahah Lisa! XD
Sometimes it is actively encouraged. Mac comes at a discounted drunk Irish price. Just saying.
Assassinations, weddings, battle guardian, cider seller.... Is there anything Mac *can't* do??
Be taken seriously? Grim is a bad influence. Just saying.
Poor Grim. I really am going to have to keep an eye on you two.
I am loving this story telling Mark. I'd love to see more of these in the future!
We'll do more after the events I think!
please do! A video on how to get into Empire would be great! Walking us through how to create a character and join/create a group that can get involved in the game would be really helpful!
I’ve been playing empire for 9 years but the impact you and this series has had on empire is massive
Hey everyone! Thanks so much for watching and supporting this video! A lot of you have asked questions about getting started, going on your own, buying gear etc. There's way too many of you to answer so I'm going to make a short video talking about some of this stuff next week. :)
na-ah
make a long one...
make long ones
looking forward to that, I've just had a mosey around some larp gear websites for the first time and fuck me, i can feel my wallet cringing.
Tabletop Weekly thinking of taking my friend here for his stag do! Would love to know more about it, thanks for this vid as well!
Whoo!
Will there be more of these? because this was top :)
I thought I overheard Smith and Trott at one point over the weekend trying to sell marshmallows...good to know I wasn't just going crazy. It's nice to get an account of an event from the standpoint of another nation.
Yeah I think a few people had that reaction. What nation are you?
I'm a League priest, so I saw a completely different side of the event to you folks.
You really capture how fun larping is with your enthusiasm.
Oh man this sounds great, I definitely wasn't interested in LARP before, but your epic tales sound exactly like something I would be super interested in. Thanks for sharing, I'd love to hear more.
Feel free to find out more about us and Empire in case you may be interested in coming to our game if you are UK based. Please visit our Facebook page
facebook.com/groups/528878433989783/ or our Introduction to
LRP page
www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Introduction_to_LRP.
This is everything I have ever wanted!
Hah thanks! Glad you enjoyed an hour of three nerds talking about their pretend adventures. XD
I wants to LARP now.
Do it. No seriously try it out.
Anyone who is interested in trying out Empire - we have a team of volunteers to talk to new players, answering questions and helping people get started. There is a facebook group for them - facebook.com/groups/528878433989783/ or you can just email us direct new.player@profounddecisions.co.uk
Damn, Smith looks fine as hell in mail.
Please talk more about this, it's actually really interesting to hear about the system and stories from the event.
Great to see a recap of E1 like this! You mentioned the mass weakness against that big lobster - fighting as part of that EMU was one of the best parts of the weekend for me! Always fun to fight against and with Wintermark! I've been going to Empire for the same amount of time as Smith and Trott and what they've said is so accurate, the immersion and RP is just unreal! Great stuff, hope to meet you guys IC at the next event
- a friendly Marcher!
How would one go about getting into LARP? Like, I have no idea about any of the mechanics, so where's the best place to learn? Maybe you could do more on LARP in videos if more people are interested?
Look up Momo brien on youtube, she has some great beginners videos for people who want to start LARPing, the mechanincs change from game to game, look up your area to see if theres any LARPs close to you, look up thier website and system, get going, the easiest way to do i, just jump in head-first, what i did, and now i am one of the heds of a LARP orgnaisation, it is an easy hobby to get into if you have the time.
Jacques Brangeon theres Wikipedia which is absolutely massive
Depending on where you live some resources are better than others. Mechanics vary a little between games but once you have found somewhere larpers are very inviting and will happily help you learn.
So as someone who sometimes has trouble learning maths based mechanics, I recommend learning in play. Most games will have an introduction to combat and local larpers will be more than happy to meet up with you or chat over the internet to help you learn.
Search for local LARPs on Facebook, or check out your local nerd-conventions and see if anyone's there advertising :)
Have had some awesome interactions with Trott, Smith and Mark on the field, over the last couple of events. Both selling them cocktails at my IC bar in the Winter Market and doing some last minute trading last event. My favourite moment was when some guy came up to Smith and I when we were having a discussion about trading and was trying to sell us 'herbs' which turned out to be dock leaves. This then prompted Trott to ask the guy how much he was selling his dock leaves for, so that he could price match the sticks that he was selling.
I never played LARP before or knew much about it before the video. I kind of shrugged it off as a weird nerdy thing, but after watching this video it sounded absolutely amazing. The enthusiasm and energy that you guys had just telling us these great stories made me so interested to learn more. Please do more videos about this because it is opening up a brand new interest for me and I would love to hear you guys tell stories and explain how things work! Loved it! Cheers lads
Love the video guys; really happy to see my photos put to such good use!
Thanks Tom! Your work is always amazing and really helps sell Empire!
This video was Amazing! Loved to hear all of your experiences of the game. I live in the middle of the USA and all of our events seem to be like you described. These huge bid foam swords for bunting and these hacky sacks for spells. Was hoping for a event similar to the one you went to, but we actually cant even touch each other here! Sad now...
That battle sounds like something that happened at a LARP I was in. About 75 people went out, literally 2 came back, and that evening we went on the Fallen Friends Revenge Tour. We were outnumbered three-to-one but we managed to ambush them, and just as we lept into battle, as a spur-of-the-moment thing I shouted "You want blood?! THEN WE'LL DROWN YOU IN YOUR OWN!" That was later voted Most Memorable Moment of the Weekend.
My favourite video so far. Seeing how much you enjoyed larping/role playing makes me very happy. From now on I will use this as a "welcome to role playing" video. I am sure I will be able convince some of my friends to try out role playing with such an amazing "booster" Keep the videos coming, please! You are trully an amazing group.
Wow, this is so interesting! Sounds like so much fun too. I'd love to do something like this, deffos gonna look this up!
There's loads of systems across the UK, may have one local to you, this is just the one we do. :)
holy shit. this was magical to listen to. please do this again when you can.
I absolutely love listening and watching people talk about something they love. This was a great pick me up video and I hope that you do one after every event because it was great!
This is both the nerdiest and damn coolest thing ever!!! I was excited throughout the whole video. Would love to participate but I live in Ireland and i've never heard of LARPING events over here 🙁
This was an incredibly enjoyable video to watch. I found myself smiling at different points throughout just because of how passionate you all seemed about it and the way you described everything. It was brilliant.
More of these would be amazing, I'd definitely watch and support them as well as some videos on how to get into LARPing. Thanks for the great content!
I swear I come back and watch all these larp videos every few months, and I get hyped for it each time but never end up going
Wait! Wait! I dropped my glasses!
InWhichIDie Invest in contacts.
Yogpod reference, nice.
i was at that battle i remember running in front of you to get you through the gate, its awesome listening to your stories tho. the healer you talked about was from foxdon in navar and we had over an hour of mourning, it was the best larp experience ive had so far, it was genuinely emotional
Never thought I'd ever want to LARP but hearing about all these cool stories is making me want to give it a go. Great video!
This was super entertaining! I'd love to hear more from you guys and the rest of your crew regarding this event and future ones! :)
This sounds EPIC. It's like a fantasy world - but it actually excist! I would love to hear about the next event too.
Mark, that was fantastic. As a complete noob to larping, this gave me some great insight and left me with enough interest to want to take the time to research the questions that I now have :D.
Hope you do more podcast type stuff lick this, always love finding something that I can listen to whilst out and about, especially if it will make me laugh out loud, like this did, in public spaces :P hahaha. Thank you :)
Oof, this is a fantastic video. Loved every minute of it - seeing your genuine love of the game was very engaging. Seeing more members of Ashenhall in the next video would be excellent.
This was awesome! Some videos talking about LARPs get a bit rambly but this was great. The pictures were cool too! Empire sounds amazing.
Side note. Not all of us LARPers in America use clunky boffer weapons. I use swords similar to what you guys show in your video in the LARP I play. It all just depends on the style of the LARP you are playing.
I hope you make more LARP videos!
Great video! Loved hearing about your adventures and can't wait to hear more of your quests!
Really great talk chaps, was very interesting listening to you guys talking about LARP. Being a historical reenactor LARP seems similar in a way mostly through the sense of community it brings, socialising and escaping from the everyday world for a weekend. At the same time from what you guys share LARP seems really cool with the larger roleplay emphasis and opportunity for night attacks and a bit more free reign. LARP also seems a lot bigger funnily enough I mean 500vs500 is huge by UK standards!
Fascinating discussion and really cool listening to your tales from the event!
This was so amazing! I would love if you guys did this more often (I realize it's limited to events but it would still be frickin cool if you did one of these whenever they happened) and it would be great if you could bring in the other members of your hall to tell their stories as well, as they've probably been doing it longer.
Awe this is great! Ever since I heard mark mention that he larps in high rollers I was hoping for a video ever since. I personally live in canada and play NERO larp. Thanks For posting this thoroughly enjoyed this and hope you post more.
Skirmish crew represent , glad you lot had a great time fighting us and whils I cant attend next event I will hope to meet you in battle at E3
Great video! I loved seeing you guys geek out! Would love to see more larping stories!
I LOVE YOU GUYS' PASSION! Omg the story about Smith's character dying was so cool. I mean horrible, but COOL! Larp sounds awesome
It was incredible hearing about your larping experiences! Hope to hear some more!
I watched Trott and Smiffy walk towards my tent selling food, only to run out just before they reached me! Also, I wondered if you were wearing a wig Mark, your hair looked amazing!
My only experience similar to this was a civil war re-enactment where I had to wear very uncomfortable clothing, be instantly "killed" on the front line and have to lay there quiet and play dead for like 2 hours. I really didn't enjoy it and never looked into other events after that, but the event in the video looks extremely interesting and fun. Thanks for sharing and giving me a reason to look into this stuff again Mark.
I really love this kind of chat session you guys created. I'd love to see more discussions like this, if you were to make a podcast all about your Larping experience. I'd love to hear it. Please make more. *^*
So the plan is to do these after each event, as well as another one to answer the most common questions. I don't think we could do a more regular set of content than that though.
I've always been intrigued in LARP, but I never got around to trying it out. Now, I'm more intrigued than ever after watching this video, and I'm looking forward to giving it a shot one day (hopefully sooner rather than later).
Also, I really enjoyed this video, and I hope you all sit down and do this again after then next event.
I love listening to this and recognising descriptions of my friends in your stories!
Haha, I think a lot of folks did the same. LARP stories are always good to hear from the "other sides/nations". :D
Oh and thanks for giving me keen for playing the priest game. This will be my first Empire in 3 years (I stopped for health reasons) and I've been nervous about the new character.
Hi, my name is Dave but I share an account with my fiancée Michelle. We don't have Empire in the United States, but back in the 1990s, the original LARP was hugely popular in my area: the historical reenactment group SCA. There were no fantasy elements like orcs or in-game magic but participants assumed a persona that could have lived some time between the fall of Rome and 1650 AD. Even though the main action took place in a European setting, a few of us had Asian personae -I was Takeda Yoshimitsu, squire to Sir Viscount Lei Chang Yen. We had (and still have) many events to attend throughout the year, ranging from full emersive weekend events like the Estrella War to the weekly Fighter Practice. The weapons used are rattan (for safety) but the armor is very realistic and has strict safety standards. One of the cool memories this video brought back was that of literally thousands of armored LARPers marching into battle, and then enjoying each other's company around the campfires, eating medieval food and sharing medieval drink. My cousin lives in a different part of the US , and she played in a LARP called NERO (New England Role-playing Organization) in which fantasy elements were present, like beanbag magic and calling out damage while boffer fighting. She wore a mask to portray a "black panther Saar". In any event, I think fun can be had with any LARP rules system and one is largely limited by geography.
Haven't watched the video yet, but I just wanted to say I was really hoping someone in the yogscast would post some videos of you lads larping after the hatboys mentioning it on stream a few times. A 53 minute video! Thanks for uploading this Hulmes.
Was awesome seeing this from those perspectives. Pretty much how I show larp off to people now. Really well done.
Amazing video. Loved the down to earth chat. Always wanted to get into Larp. Sadly there isn't a community in my area and I'm too antisocial to try and start one. Great job guys. Even though this channel is a bit smaller you put some great work into making great videos. Keep it up!
Wintermark represent
Ye boi!
Tabletop Weekly unfortunately a load of my friends jumped ship from the mark to dawn for reasons which has left me a bit lairy about going back to it.
i jumped ship from Imperial Orcs, but the reasons were obvious, the mask was a pain to wear almost all the time, especially for someone who wears glasses, im new to the mark though
Wahay! three people!
What might encourage you back? There are plenty of awesome people who would be more than willing to talk to you about joining a group.
This sounds like SO MUCH FUN. And combines my two favourite things: acting and medieval fantasy realms. Now to find the Aussie version!
This was amazing Mark! I would really love more o these after your next LARP.
This was actually super cool. As someone who is absolutely terrible at anything like this, hearing more about these amazing stories and adventures would be amazing :)
watched this when it first came out. been to empire twice now and can say it is amazing
I love listening to UK larpers talk about their times at events (really is fun and soothing to listen to while drawing). I hope one day I can attend one because there really aren't enough close enough nice ones here in the US and if you want to attend one you have to either fly or drive 3 or more states over. Getting a van to move your equipment and such is usually picked over trying to fly all that to a different state. It's like 100$ per luggage case on a plane. Usually 1-3 days drive to farther events here if it isn't in your state and depending on the state you could still be doing a full one day drive in your own state.
I think I'll just enjoy listening to your talks because that's the only good option for most of us in the US. Also I heard most event planners/owners have trouble getting a location to take them. Maybe because of the way larp is viewed here is not very positive.
There is definitely a player base here that would love a more organized and serious game but with the weird safety rules and how large the US is coupled with the way larp is viewed here there just isn't enough good events to justify attending them. However it should be mentioned that majority of larp here is called "boffer". Even if you don't use pool noodle duct taped weapons they are still called boffers. I guess no matter what your weapon is made out of as long as it isn't metal then it's called a "boffer". This probably means that many people won't look into small local events because it says "boffer" even if they're actually using latex/ or other sturdy made products like Calimacil weapons.
I really enjoy larp channels like this since I don't really have any reason or ability to attend anything here in the US. Channels like this are my minor lifeline lol. Hopefully like videogames, anime and conventions maybe one day we'll get an upsurge in actual good larping too. I do plan to attend some local larps but that'll have to wait for a bit longer.
Great video, and really relatable, being pretty new to empire myself. I also went out on that skirmish, although thankfully I *just* managed to get back alive.
Omg this sounds so cool, great video. I watched and thoroughly enjoyed every second of it! :)
and dont forget all the people in the camp just pounding it! always so many people dtf on larp events
It sounds pretty cool how you speak of it, unlike the local stuff my brother had been part of, where my brother managed to overrun the "heroes" of the game, and the leader just undid everything because the story didn't go where he wanted it to. Kinda sounded railroaded to me. So hearing your stories make it sound a lot more... open, and immersive too. Makes it intriguing...
Imagine 500 CHRIS TROTT'S running at you out of the trees, dual wielding foam swords... I would shit my pants
This video was great!! I am attending the event at the end of July and this has really helped me understand the game more!! Thanks guys!!
I really liked this video, reminded me why i love the bigger LARPs, and why i try and get other younglings into it with the kids LARP me and some others arrange once a month.
No but other than my shameless self-promotion, damned good video, liked it a lot, sounds like a really cool LARP, wish i could go to britain sometime to go to one of the events.
Edit : That and you had some clearly amazing character moments like the time after the battle and the revenge part, sometimes the fighting parts leads to the greatest RP.
Absolutely loved watching this...so, so interesting and honestly, got me hyped to try out larp. Hope to someday! In the meantime, would love to kind of, live the experience through you guys if you make more of these...haha
I think we'll do one each event, as a little recap podcast.
Awesome! Looking forward!
I've wanted to see this ever since I heard Smith and Trott were talking about it in their videos, so cool
What a cool thing to do, great stories! You guys should make the next video in character, as if you were telling tales of your battles to each other!
This video was amazing :) please do more! I really want to go to England now just to try out that Empire larp, in my country a lot of larps turn out to be very cringey. Please do more!
Loved this video! Some really good battle stories you can only get for stuff like this
It was so awesome seeing you guys there! You probably don't remember it but I was the malitiaman who stopped you on the friday night outside the hub.
So this is just a Podcast and it's awesome more of this please
Mark this is so rad. Thanks for sharing it with us! xoxo - MissBeazus
50+ minutes :D praise be to our Lord and Saviour Comrade Hulmes!
This was really interesting to watch. Good job Mark
I was one of those people who thought LARPing was really cringy and silly but damn i'm getting excited just listening to this. It sounds so amazing!
This was my first Empire and I was super overwhelmed. I loved it but there was so much to take in. Probably didn't help I got killed on an earlier Sat skirmish with a drake (After being one of the ones to lead the troops). But the plus side of that I got to attend my own funeral as the whole of Dawn had a mass vigil for the fallen. I'm pretty sure every house lost someone. My house was reduced to half.
This was amazing to watch/listen to hope to see more!
Ooh! More of this! Haven't LARPed in sooooo long... gives me a bunch of nostalgia.
Might have to give this a bash, you guys make it sound like really good fun
I'm a member of skirmish crew, who, by the sounds of it, was crewing that revenge mission. You interrupted 'The Tale of the Raven' with one of the toughest ass-whoopings I've received, as a professional receiver of ass whoopings.
This was a great video, I've always wanted to know what LARP was like and what sort of stuff happens, so it was really insightful for having the two fairly new players talk about their experiences and options of the game.
I'm way too shy to do this, but it certainly looks fun!
Also, took a look at the wiki and holy crap the political system is so deep!
There are so many people in LARP that have mental health problems. It's a very inclusive hobby. I'd recommend you try it.
Hello Nathan, If you are interested in joining us at Empire we have many resources available to help you get involved, even if you are shy :) We have a guide for new to LRP people here www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Introduction_to_LRP and a Facebook group where new players can ask questions and seek advice and help on getting into the game. facebook.com/groups/528878433989783/
You guys are awesome! I wish I saw this video prior to E2. When my hall is back at E4, we'll finally say hello to you're hall. :)
This was class. Would love to hear more about your adventures
This is such a cool and interesting video, so glad you made it.
LARPing is nigh impossible to explain to someone who has never done it. The brain fools itself so well once youre in it it becomes the most immersive experience possible even if costumes or the location isnt 100%, but trying to get a feel for it by hearing descriptions or watching movies? Nah.
I bet you the "lightning bolt" larpers are really immersed too, and more the credit to them for doing that without all the expensive armour and outfits.
loves hat films. sees video of larp is bored. sees the three most amazing guys. BEST FINDING EVER
Pretty sure I went out onto that skirmish with you guys on the Saturday. I was one of the Navarri who'd been sent to go with Wintermark as a scout and I'm pretty sure I was next to Smith when it all went to shit. Thankfully I managed to get back out but I think I was near you when you went down.
Well done on getting out!
I love that of all the people in Empire, the 1 person I know is in one of the pictures you use.
So cool! this made me look into larping in my area and I found some well established events that I never knew about! Definitely going to look further into it 😊
please do more of these. This was great
Always wanted to give LARPing a try but none of my pals are really interested. If y'all can make more videos like this so that I can live vicariously through you, that'd be great.
This vid was great fun. Thank you!
can't like this enough. looks like so much fun!
I luv this video, reminds me of the times I had when I did play lorient Trust larping system. now after your videos and others I've seen I am job thinking I might want to try empire system. so I hope to experience similar memorable times.
Thank you.
totally starting empire after this sounds so awesome
Ah Larping. Mark, did this back in the 90s. Always a fun time, especially after the event at night around the campfire. So much funny shit goes down after hours, it's almost bacchanalian at times.
Ever check out the insane as shit The Battle of Nations? That's a blast to watch.
This is brilliant
Great vid, I was loving this....and then you started talking about the woodland monster. that was me, just me, not lots.
glad that felt a bit creepy....
This sounds and looks amazing, especially when you get friends to go with you.