Hi folks! My name is Margaret, an artist and avid LARPer from Ontario, Canada. This is my archer character Cassandra Forrest, the Game Warden/Hunt Master of Yorik.
What was your first LARP?
Fantasy Alive in southern Ontario was and is my first LARP. I actually was on the side lines for the longest time as a game photographer before being dressed up in a cloak and given the role of a bandit. It was just the terrifying push I needed to get into the game itself, and I haven't looked back since.
Coming up on 5 years!
Top 5 things to do at a LARP?
Before game McDonald's in costume with friends!
Landing that final kill shot on enemies
Running after anything important (except in the winter)
Tracking! (Even though the Plot team groans a little every time someone does, I like to think I make the RP interesting)
Finding time to be a little goofy between the serious world ending things
Favourite LARP moment last year?
Oh this prize goes to an event in August, where I finally got over being precious about my character and went out to find trouble. Ended up getting involved in a (very rare) children-killed-by-demons hook that set off a real train wreck of events for my character. It's a long story, but I can simplify it: Deaths Delving on dead child, leads to running off alone, leads to discovering a band of assassins on the hunt, leads to getting angry, leads to getting assassinated, leads to getting healed just in the nick of time, leads to shooting one of the town members in a fit of rage (because face it- any body lying on the ground at night looks like an enemy), leads to intense PVP reactions, leads to running away, leads to being chased down by other town members and convinced to stay; leads to sitting in the burned out forge owned by house comrades that have all gone to war, leaving you alone. This series of events lead to the most amazing character development I've ever had, and really hammered home that sometimes you need to rock your character to the core if you want to have a memorable event!
Go on, Brag, tell us an awesome thing you did at a LARP once.
Of all the things I have done, the one that keeps coming to mind is receiving the nickname “Bearslayer”… something that was actually a fluke, but decided to own anyways, since the people around me made such a huge deal out of it anyways. Like, speeches and highly exaggerated accounts. Sometimes you just need to accept the things that make you feel and seem more epic that you might actually be. But that will just be our little secret.
Here. Have a soapbox to stand on. Tell us about an issue very close to you, related to being a lady who LARPs.
The thing that's currently on my mind is the difficult hunt for comfortable, realistic yet elegant female armour. There are so many options for men, but it'd be nice to find a set of armour that isn't over-exaggerated boob-plates, but isn't just a bulky box either? The hunt continues. If there are any lists out there compiling female centric armours/crafters/tutorials out there, I'd love a link.
What are you most looking forward to in your LARP future?
I have the honor of going on The Voyage North by Larping.org to Biccoline this year! It will be an incredibly exciting adventure and challenge, but I get more and more excited about it in talking to all the super helpful and welcoming veterans. 7 days in the woods with real medieval buildings and 3000 people? Absolutely. Yes.
Finally, one bit of advice for LARPs?
I touched on this previously, but my advice to beginner LARPers is this: remember that if your character dies, you won't die in real life, so make sure it's an epic, memorable death that you can rave about later. We get to live in stories as LARPers, let’s make sure they're exciting ones! To Glory!
Want to get involved in 500LARPingLadies? You can find all the information about it here!
U know what my fav au was? The one where annaphas are on the same side as the twelve and are everyone's weird uncles and simon/peter/mary have adorable kids and when jesus and judas can stop being on the run from rome they visit and everyone's a big weird family who has very explosive celebrations. I want more stuff in that one
