One thing all live action games have in their favor is an immediate emotional thrill; it’s hard to really be scared as your character sneaks through the woods while you’re just sitting around a table eating potato chips. To actually sneak through the woods and really feel scared, even though you know that you aren’t really going to get hurt, is the appeal of the LARP. Free will is encouraged and nurtured and a policy of “the more the merrier” rules its events.

Each player is encouraged to create their own goals and aspirations to encourage as many different plots to be going on all at the same time. Some players want to pass the tests of the Court of Chivalry to become knights, some want to join the thieves’ guild and make their fortune that way, some want to become powerful wizards–and there is no one there telling you that you can’t. Add to this the myriad other plots that are always going on and it’s a guarantee that the only reason for being bored is because you aren’t taking advantage of all that is going on around you.

There are people playing NPCs and monsters, but there is absolutely nothing to prevent players from hunting each other, siding with the monsters, or doing anything they want.

This dedication to making the feel of the game as realistic as possible is that final step that other roleplaying games haven’t made (or can’t make). d8 – Autumn 1995