LARP: My First Experience with Roleplaying

At least there weren't any costumes while I was doing it

I was doing a Google search just now and found a roleplaying forum in the results.  Brings back memories, haha...

I remember my first role playing game.  It was not a positive experience.  Please know that I have absolutely nothing against people who are into LARP.  That being said, my experience with it is definitely in my list of top 10 embarrassing moments.

When I was 13, I belonged to a club.  It was actually where I met Ex-BF and his cousin.  I don't think Ex-BF and I were going out yet, and either way he definitely wasn't my Ex-BF at the time.  So for clarification purposes, in this post Ex-BF shall be referred to as K and his cousin shall be referred to as H (btw, this has absolutely NOTHING to do with any profile names that may or may not be on Facebook >_>).

So anyway, the club that night was taking place at a member's house.  We'd ended early for the night so we were just hanging out before going home.  K and H, who were super hyper on caffeine, were shooed outside by the adult members.  Oddly enough I had had no caffeine whatsoever, and if memory serves I was doing my best to sit quietly...despite this I was also shooed outside about 5 minutes after K and H.

I go out on the porch and see K and H randomly running around the yard acting like crazy people, which at the time I attributed to too much coffee.  The conversation that followed was similar to this:

Me: Hi.  What are you guys doing?

K: We're roleplaying.

Me: What's that?

K and H stop what they're doing to look at me incredulously.

H: You don't know what roleplaying is?

Me: No.  How do you play?

H: Well, I'm ______ and *pointing to K* he's ______ and we're looking for the dragon ______!

Me: ...What?

K and H sit by me on the porch and proceed to tell me all about the elaborate fantasy world they're pretending to be in.

K: So that's what roleplaying is.

K and H look at me waiting for a response.

Me *long pause*: ........so basically, it's like make believe?  Like what little kids do?

They glare at me, apparently offended.

K: No, it's roleplaying.

H: It's really fun!  Want to play with us?

Me: Uh...no, that's okay.

K and H go on monologues about how great roleplaying is and beg me to join in the fun.



So at this point I have two options.  I could (a) join them as the next door neighbors, who are having a party, stare at me and question my sanity, or (b) tell H and K that I refuse to make a fool of myself by participating in this so-called "roleplaying", because apparently they won't take a simple no for an answer.

Guess which one I chose?

Me: Okay, I guess I'll play.

K: Great!  So you need to come up with a name.

Me: What's wrong with Katie?

H: You can't use your real name.  That's not how roleplaying works.

K and H help me come up with a name.

H: Since this is your first time, we'll help you out.

K: Yeah!



And that was how I got dragged into running around the yard pretending I'm walking along some rocky terrain on some medieval fantasy quest.  Oh yes, I tried my best to stay quiet in order to avoid the peculiar looks I was getting from the next door neighbors, but K and H insisted on my participation; whenever I stayed quiet too long, they would ask me a question like, "Do you think we'll find the dragon soon?"  Or they'd give me tips on how to roleplay better -_-"

I knew they meant well, but it's difficult to appreciate that when an 8-year-old is staring at you and saying, "Mommy, what are those people doing?"   And then his mom starts to stare at us.

Eventually I just couldn't take it anymore.

Me: I'm bored.  I think I'm going to sit on the porch.

K: You can't quit!

H: We're so close to finding the dragon!  Just a bit longer!

K: Aren't you having fun?

Me:  *What I was thinking* No, this is ridiculous.  Can't you see that those people are staring at us?

Me: *What I actually said* Yes, I'm having fun.  I'm just kind of bored.

Note: I have a big thing about the "image" I keep up.  I could either keep up my image of being sane for complete strangers, or I could keep up my image of not being rude for my friends.  I chose the latter.

H: That's okay!  When we find the dragon it's going to get a lot more interesting!



About a minute later, we come across a cliff with a log to cross (which was actually just a stick lying on the ground).  We must be very, very careful while crossing, as it's instant KO if we "fall" off the log.

I see my chance and take it.  I do an exaggerated fall off the stick, trying to make it look as natural as possible.

Me: Oops, I fell off.  Looks like I'm out of the game.

H: No!  You can't die!

K: Yeah, we're having fun!  We'll undo it so that you didn't die.



So I ended up tripping and falling off the stick for about 4 MORE TIMES until even they were questioning whether I was doing it on purpose.  And I'm doing this all while dealing with the peculiar looks from the neighbors.  I don't think I was ever so happy to have my mom drive by to pick me up.

"So what were you guys doing out there?" my mom asks as I get into the car.

"Oh, just hanging out," I say casually.  Hey, I've just dealt with enough embarrassment for a lifetime; there's NO WAY I'm telling my mom about the bizarre "roleplaying" incident my friends managed to drag me into!