What is LARP?

LARPing is short for “Live Action Role Playing” and is a hobby that’s enjoyed all over the world! It’s an opportunity to step away from your normal life and explore new adventures, new places, and new characters.  Most of all, LARPing is a community of people from all walks of life who have come together to share an experience and tell a story.

There are many types of LARPing, but we will focus on “boffer” LARPing — which refers to the boffer weapons utilized to represent the physical objects your character is utilizing. Boffers come in all shapes and sizes. Early forms of boffers were PVC covered in pool noodles. These days, boffers are lighter, more realistic looking, and far safer.

What is Dystopia Rising?

Dystopia Rising is a nationally networked series of games that are all set in the same post-apocalyptic world. Each game is of varying size, but they all adhere to the same rules (which you can download for free). Games are either a single day, or a full weekend-long experience where you portray your character from a Friday night until Sunday afternoon.

You spend all weekend walking, talking, and portraying your character in an immersive world where zombies, raiders, and the struggle to survive are part of your world in a very real way.  Work together with the other survivors to be a part of a living and breathing world!

You want to play, so now what?

This sometimes feels overwhelming, so we have put together a checklist for new players:

  1. Download the rulebook

  2. Join our Facebook group and get to know the community.  Be sure to say hi!

  3. Explore this website for additional information and inspiration

  4. Build a character and check our strains list on this site to make sure it's an allowed strain

  5. Build a costume and any relevant props. Thrift stores and military surplus stores are a great place to start a cost-effective costume

  6. Post to Facebook with any questions you might have

  7. Pre-register for your first event! This is also where you should put your new character's sheet

  8. Familiarize yourself with the location of the event you're attending

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