A live action role-playing game LARP is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters. The outcome of player actions may be mediated by game rules or determined by consensus among players.
Event arrangers called gamemasters decide the setting and rules to be used and facilitate play. The first LARPs were run in the late s, inspired by tabletop role-playing games and genre fiction. The activity spread internationally during the s and has diversified into a wide variety of styles. Play may be very game-like or may be more concerned with dramatic or artistic expression. Events can also be designed to achieve educational or political goals. The fictional genres used vary greatly, from realistic modern or historical settings to fantastic or futuristic eras.
Production values are sometimes minimal, but can involve elaborate venues and costumes. LARPs range in size from small private events lasting a few hours, to large public events with thousands of players lasting for days.
Some of these terms are still in common use; however, LARP has become the most commonly accepted term. The participants in a LARP physically portray characters in a fictional setting, improvising their characters' speech and movements somewhat like actors in improvisational theatre. Arrangers called gamemasters GMs determine the rules and setting of a LARP, and may also influence an event and act as referees while it is taking place.
Unlike the GM in a tabletop role-playing game, a LARP GM seldom has an overview of everything that is happening during play because numerous participants may be interacting at once. For this reason, a LARP GM's role is often less concerned with tightly maintaining a narrative or directly entertaining the players, and more with arranging the structure of the LARP before play begins and facilitating the players and crew to maintain the fictional environment during play.
