Live action role-play, more commonly known as LARPing, is making its way back to Keene State College.
“It’s the closest thing to doing [Dungeons and Dragons] in real life,” commented senior Haley Rogers, member and secretary of the LARPing Club. The club, which was first started years ago, was revived by two former students last year. Rogers worked with the students to help get the club back up and running.
Ryan Hueber, a senior and another member of the club, said he was intrigued by the similarities between LARPing and Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). He said he had never played D&D before, but wanted to and this club seemed like a great place to get acquainted. Hueber described LARPing as a form of community and added it was the first and largest community he joined at Keene State.
Rogers described LARPing as live-action role play where participants create characters with certain abilities and they play games and have different types of battles. With only one rule of having no noble titles, participants are given the creative freedom of choosing their character. They can pick the class and certain abilities they may want. With their character chosen, they can go on quests, which are storyline-based games, as well as participate in the various battles using their abilities and set skills.
House of Bedevere, coined by previous members, is the group name of the club. This name is a reference to Monty Python, a British comedy trope from the 1970s. When asked about the name, Rogers was unsure of the complete origin, but said she is “happy to live out that legacy.” She added there is a discussion of doing a Monty Python screening to raise money for the club.
Keene has its own LARPing group known as Caerbannog. Gabe Morse, a junior and member of the club, said Caerbannog is for the entire Keene community. This group meets in-person in Wheelock Park on Saturdays at noon where they host tournaments and other social events. During the tournaments, which are based on the type of foam weapon, hits are used for scoring and the bracket system is used to determine who battles who. There is also the Arts and Sciences (A&S) tournament, which involves all things crafty which participants have made within the past six months.
Members are welcome to join the tournaments and quests, said Morse. They can also go to the weekly meetings for a more relaxed, social setting. The club is full of a “bunch of super friendly people who are really accepting,” said Morse.
House Bedevere meets in room 126 in the Science Center every Tuesday at six p.m.
“There’s a little bit of something for everyone…there’s exercise and strategy and creativity and crafting,” stated Rogers. The meetings offer a social setting, a space for people to get to know more about the LARPing community on a smaller level while also engaging in creative projects. In previous meetings, they made spellballs which are props used during role-playing games. They also made foam weapons for tournaments; this is something they are hoping to do again once they have the budget for it.
When members were asked about the reason for joining, they all gave similar answers about finding a sense of community. Gabe Hong, a sophomore and president of the club, said that the club has helped him “feel more grounded and connected to something.” It also provides a space for socialization and the prospect of meeting others with similar interests, according to Hong.
Member and sophomore Elizabeth Fahel said she was able to meet and make a lot of friends by joining the club. When asked what LARPing is to her, Fahel said, “To me, it’s a way I can be in contact with people who have similar hobbies.” She was introduced to the club via the Student Involvement Fair last semester and has been a member ever since.
Skylar Tourville can be contacted at
stourville@kscequinox.com
