The Tolkien Effect

2002-2004 were the years of highest fantasy larp growth in Croatia, the unprecedented growth when the population of larpers doubled in three short years. This growth coincides with the release of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, from December 2001. to December 2003.

Peter Jackson's trilogy - an adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic - had a tremendous impact on the industry, popularizing the fantasy genre (both in literature, onscreen, in video games and in role-play), and making it it more mainstream and commonplace.

The Hobbit, which comes out this week, could make another impact. Probably not as much as LoTR, but significant enough to contribute to an increase in the general interest about fantasy in the next three years as movies come out (probably helped by the ongoing Game of Thrones on HBO, which already caused a spark of interest of its own).

This is a likely window of opportunity for all fantasy larps to gather as much interested people as possible and ride the popularity of the Tolkien Effect. Use this to enrich the hobby - get your friends to larp.

On a side note: I'm going to the movie screening this Wednesday evening with my wife. I also purchased the Kindle version of the book - interestingly, cheaper than the price of a movie ticket.

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The 15 rules of larp

The following 15 rules (warning: strong language) were written some years ago in Great Britain, and have been pretty much generally accepted on the British larp scene. Especially popular is rule 7 - widely known by its number and commonly considered to be the most imortant rule of all (and I agree). Even the biggest British larp forum has taken Rule7 as its name. The rules have been originally created by the Drunken Monkeys and edited by Rick Wynne who added some extra stuff in the explanations to make them more understandable to international audience (it still contains some British larp lingo though), more work-safe and to throw in his two cents. (copy of the original wording is available here ) 1. Don’t play a mighty warrior; play a warrior and be mighty. Don’t label your character. As soon as you say that you are the best swordsman in the land someone will come along and kick your ass. Just get into the mindset of the person and role-play it out. 2. No one cares about you

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Diary of a Croatian larper

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