LARP it UP, baby

Sword-bearing vampires are running amuck in the Indiana Memorial Union. For the IU Live Action Club, it's just another Friday night.\nLive Action Role Players, or "LARPers" as they call themselves, take the dice rolls of Dungeons & Dragons to the next level, actually acting out their characters. \nAs Margaret Lion, IU instructor, a.k.a., Ta'aam, asserted, LARP is akin to "Dungeons & Dragons smashed together with improvisational theater." \nThis improvisational quality also stretches into LARPers' custom-made costumes and set pieces: "Blood" is handed out as red carnival tickets, while the Hoosier Room's drab decor must double as the set for a medieval market.\nGames regularly last three to four hours, with everyone remaining more or less in character for the duration. Armed with protein bars and energy drinks for stamina, these costume-clad enthusiasts take over a room in the Union every weekend to act out their imagined worlds. A number of different LARP groups organize a variety of games based on fairies, wizards, vampires and werewolves. The game this past Friday based itself on a system called "Lion, Lilly & Sword," a scenario that describes a clandestine community of vampires in France in 1348. \nThough dressing up in costume to act as vampires seems like child's play, the crowd last Friday looked at its scene as a hobby like any other, undertaken with great earnestness. During the game, you could hear the occasional hiss of "Stay in character!" while the participants argued over historical accuracy. Like any game, LARP has complex rules, both spoken and unspoken, that dictate its unfolding action, such as combat and mind-reading. Keeping everything believable within the game's constraints dictated everyone's actions. \nThe excitement, though, came from bending the story with ad-libs and lateral thinking to create more unpredictable scenarios that drive the action forward. A rather banal scene of a few LARPers standing in a circle talking disguised secret intrigues and plotting against old nemeses and mysterious newcomers. \n"It's all about using your imagination as an adult," said Lion.\nLARP may seem like a fringe activity, but it wouldn't be fair to describe its participants as shut-ins. If anything, this small gathering of 12 people embodied a fair cross-section of the Bloomington community, with IU instructors, IU students, a Taco Bell manager and a few high school students among its participants. The high schoolers in attendance were a bit inexperienced at the game but still extolled its virtues. \nRachel Little, a student at Aurora Alternative High School, a.k.a., Elizabeth Videl, has only participated for three months, less than half the time of a typical player, but she already feels at home.\n"We all respect each other and love each other," she said. "We're like a family."\nCaitlin Holahan, an IU freshman, worried that the games might be childish. Instead, she found a mature and thoughtful community where she can "escape the regular rules of society." Her character, a vampire spy named Victoria, provides an outlet for a life she can't pursue in reality. \n"You can go into danger and save countries like James Bond. We can do what we wish we could," she said. \nThis community, however, doesn't just provide escapism for its members. The real-life interaction is arguably more important than the role-played action. David Michel, a.k.a., Durkopf Stroykovich, has been LARPing for 12 years and has participated in this group for "the last seven or eight months."\nA full-time IU bus driver, Michel confidently strode in character and credited LARP with helping him break out of his shell. He described himself as a "geek" and "nerd" who has played Dungeons & Dragons for 20 years, as well as other role-playing games such as Whitewolf and the various Star Trek and Star Wars variants. \nMichel enjoys the interactive feel of LARP. Formerly shy and depressed, Michel has learned that LARP provides more than just stress relief. \n"LARP is great social interaction for people who are more withdrawn," he said. "It can be easier to interact with a character than with a person."\nWhat does LARPing offer someone who has never so much as glanced at a 12-sided die? It's hard to say. Perhaps your average student doesn't need the escapism LARPing provides. Yet, as Michel noted, video games and comic books, once the domain of nerds, have entered the mainstream. And as one LARPer put it, LARPing involves far more social interaction than an average barely conscious night at Kilroy's. \nUltimately, LARP represents just one more of Bloomington's communities just beneath the surface. \n"Some people cruise the bars. Some people go watch basketball games," Holahan said. "I come here"