Diary of a Croatian larper

This weekend will be full of events by LARPers and for LARPers - and funnily enough none of those events is actually a LARP. A photo from a training earlier this year. Today will be a bit greener, but similar. Today is a battle training starting at 10 AM CET in Maksimir park. Off-game weapons practice - fighting methods and some good old sweating to keep the condition up. Of course, battle training is a bit controversial subject - not every character is a weapon-wielding behemoth in a prime physical condition - some go weaponless, some wield an arsenal of deadly spells, some avoid combat - but whichever character type you play, battle training is good for you. Because exercise is good for you. There was a scheduled LARP barbecue at Bundek lake tomorrow. May 1st is an international workers' day (Labour Holiday in Croatia) and here it's an official non-working holiday (since it falls on Sunday this year, it's one lost opportunity to dodge work, shucks). It's not as ...

LARP Jaska 7 starts in three weeks from now. Along with regular summer Jaska event (scheduled for July 21st - 24th) it's the longest and most action-packed fantasy LARP in Croatia. Unfortunately due to my schedule I think I'll miss the Thursday. Which was so far always fun, usually more relaxed than either Friday or Saturday. Well, unless you count that orc invasion on Jaska 6, but stuff like that is usually rare on Thursdays. Orcs on Jaska 6 Back on topic. So I'll be there starting Friday. And I've been thinking about posting several updates straight from Jaska LARP, to inform you what's going on. What do you think about that idea?

Fantasy LARP seems to be the dominant genre in Croatia. For a whole lot of years it was the only LARP style available. A couple of years ago some vampires appeared (Camarilla LARP), although they seem to have gone underground recently (if you're an active Camarilla LARPer in Croatia, or know someone who is, please let me know). Recently though some new initiatives have started: Fallout and Battlestar Galactica LARPs. Maybe they'll kick off a sci-fi LARP scene in Croatia once they get rolling. However that remains to be seen. I'm holding my fingers crossed. The future seems interesting... Oh and I know it's completely unrelated but commenting on this blog is now open for everyone, so feel free to comment ;)

On Saturday two days ago it was nice and sunny. Perfect time for a quick LARP. Never mind that it was a day before Easter and that we all had egg painting and stuff with our families. The amount of people who attended was a bit over 20, which is awesome considering the date. It was a 42nd short LARP in Maksimir park in Zagreb, organized by Udruga Ognjeni Mač. They take only a couple of hours, no entry fee, and they're done on no budget at all - but they still manage to be awesome most of the time ;) and keep the story going between our big LARPs. This is one of those times. I was one of the NPCs - we changed roles rapidly this LARP, which explains why our costumes were underwhelming, especially considering our big LARPs. We were first playing some peasants, rebuilding the village of Bijela Vriština (White Moor) which was recently recaptured from the undead, when a scripted fight broke out between two peasants about the ownership of a certain meadow. Players got distracted, ...

Happy Easter everybody! Got anything planned next week? Because there's a planned barbecue by LARPers, for LARPers on May 1st, the international workers' day, at Lake Bundek in Zagreb, Croatia. It's being organized by Udruga Ognjeni Mač. Everyone is invited - LARPer or just supporter. I'm feeling quite excited about this because I hope that it will mend some fences between LARPers in Croatia. Plus, there's gonna be food! Beer! Strippers! OK, maybe not strippers. But you get the picture. It's gonna be fun. If you're nearby don't miss it. Edit: Due to weather, this has been cancelled since. Instead, there's gonna be a chilli evening at Ognjeni Mač headquarters.

The development of LARP in Croatia in the last 15 years has been rather sluggish. First LARP system in Croatia was Amtgard. It influenced Croatian fantasy LARP greatly - every fantasy LARP so far has been using Amtgard rules or rules derived or evolved from it (but still mostly backwards compatible). LARP in 1997. Most LARPs used some form of "house rules" which were made to be more agreeable to the audiences. LARPs from Udruga Ognjeni Mač have gone furthest in this, with more flexible (though more complex) rule set making much more varied character types possible. Lav Petrovič is a barbarian/mage barkeep. You don't wanna make him angry. LARP development is not always simple. Some people would prefer all things - and the entire scene - to stay just the way it is or to return to the way they were. But that's never possible. People change, people stop actively LARPing, more new people always arrive and start LARP-ing. There are always new ideas. So sometimes it be...

LARP-ing is serious business! And so is blogging. So what did I do? I purchased a proper domain for this blog. From now on, you can follow us on http://www.crolarper.com I hope you like the new domain name. I do. You know what it means? Dedication. It means I'm gonna put some time and effort in this blog to make it awesome, interesting and informative. I'll even be so bold as to call it a stepping stone for LARP in Croatia. Because after Ognjeni Mač webpage this is the second LARP-related domain on Croatian webspace. And the first one that was paid, and paid by a private person. I'm sure the investment will be worth it, even though it was made so early in this blog's lifecycle. But hey, it'll make you more accustomed to the address right from the start. Blog you later! :)

Exactly 1 month ago I organized a LARP feast. Well, to be honest, offgame it was a party for my and my son's birthday (which is on Mar 25th, yup, my son and I got the same birthday - how awesome it is?) organized as a LARP. With proper in-game story that happened. However, my son got his first LARP weapon (for his first birthday) and he loved it. My wife with my son Which made me think about children of LARPers in general. How interested are they gonna be in LARP? I mean, LARP is kind of like other geeky activities. Like children in Trekkie or Warser families. (We are that too, but shush!) I personally believe that they have a greater chance of developing same or similar interests than children whose parents aren't into LARP. Any of you with personal experiences who can shed some light on it?

Welcome, dear readers, to this blog! It's gonna be my LARP-related diary. There's the "About this blog" page you can check out for some general info about why this blog exists and what can you expect. I'm personally quite excited for starting this blog. And I hope you, dear readers, choose to be a part of it by reading it and asking any questions you might have. I live, breathe and think about LARP every day. Well that's about it for now as a welcome post. Read you later ;)