"LRP IN THE U.K."
(To the tune of "Anarchy in the UK" by the Sex Pistols)

Peckforton. Here in the United Kingdom, the name means home for the Live Roleplay hobby. Peckforton Castle was where the first adventures with any degree of professionalism were run, over 20 years ago. A group of D&D players, sitting around a table, reached the conclusion that being able to walk 100 miles in a few moments but then have to spend 3 hours resolving a 1 minute fight was just plain silly; their solution, fight it out in the back garden with fencing equipment. Soon the equipment was padded, and the group became Treasure Trap. When they got permission to use Peckforton, the hobby was truly born.

Many of the current organisations can literally trace their genealogy from Peckforton. The Lorien Trust, probably the biggest LRP organisation in the world with between 3,500 and 4000 players at their main annual event, was started by two of the Treasure Trap refs, Rob Donaldson and Andy King. Mr King still runs The LT as it is known. Labyrinth, the main full time professional site outside London, was started by an ex- Peckforton player, as was Broadsword on the South Coast; my own club came from Broadsword. The list goes on and on.

So, what is Live Roleplay like now in the UK ? An interesting and in some ways divisive question. Starting at the 'top' of the food chain, you have the big two, or three. These are The Lorien Trust, who run 4 big events a year, and countless smaller ones. There are many UK players who do nothing else but LT events. Then there is Curious Pastimes, a smaller organisation started by ex-LT senior staff who felt they could do better. They run 5 big events a year, and again some of the players do nothing but that system. Next there is Omega, another smaller breakaway from the LT with a high degree of interaction and downtime play, which goes into the socio-economics and diplomacy of a fantasy world. If you want to really know what it would be like to have the Orcs up the valley controlling your water supply, here you can find out. All three are 'Events' orientated, with full long weekends and battles (less so at Omega). Advantages include a lot of people to roleplay with, taverns, fortified camps with guards, Lords and Ladies etc, competitions, huge battles (the LT battle is the biggest I'm aware of outside re-enactment) and the ritual circles, where mages can show off their acting and magical prowess with a full range of special effects including portals, smoke, lighting, sounds, you name it, many a theatre would be jealous of some of the set ups. With hundreds of people attending, organisers can indulge themselves in fantastic props, costumes and set ups; a Pyramid with rooms full of traps was one recent example. Disadvantages include plot not covering everyone (too many people), over indulgence in alcohol by a few, concentrations of power by small groups, and injuries on the battlefield (unfortunately, with so many people, some injuries are quite likely). Quite a number of UK and European players see these events as conventions, a chance to buy new kit, and see old friends, as well as see what is new in the hobby, or bring along and show off one's latest project.

Further down, one comes to the Organisation level. This is dominated by Fools & Heroes, who used to be the pre-eminent force in the hobby until overtaken by the three above. They are spread all over the country, with clubs in most major areas, some better than others. They also have big events, called 'Fests', such as Summerfest which used to be the biggest event anywhere until the LT came along. Then the clubs also run half day adventures, normally linears with the classic monster crew and players type idea, straightforward plot encounters, traps and such like; what us old timers would call 'a proper adventure'. The players and monsters swap round after half a day so as to give everyone a chance to play. Fools & Heroes are also invariably Cheap, with adventures costing very little, although you do need to take out membership if you plan to stay. They also have an interesting system regarding kit, as I understand it; players are expected to have a costume of a reasonable standard within a set number of adventures (fair enough) but they are also then expected to build and maintain a monster costume shortly thereafter as well. Not a bad idea; saves the club having to fork out for it all.

Smaller organisations do exist, such as The Adventurers Guild, which seems to be a lose affiliation of clubs around the country with a common code of practice and a news letter, Heroquest, which has been going a very long time and is well thought of as a good basic club with everything well balanced for most levels of roleplay, Shadow Realms, my own organisation which is now opening another branch, in Cardiff, very soon, and Dumnoni Chronicles, which seems more a way of life than a club, and is as close to Celtic re-enactment as you are ever likely to get; they even use genuine archaeological finds on their costumes !!!! All of these organisations are essentially glorified clubs, or lose collections of them. They have a club system, rather than a simplified battle system like the big organisations, and the emphasis is on individual character development; the quest to become a hero (or anti-hero). They are, in my opinion, the lifeblood of the hobby along with the individual clubs, and so far have fought a successful rearguard action against being simply bulldozed by some big organisations. All of these groups put on their own events, in some cases several a year, as well as run normal linear adventures. They are, in effect, a microcosm of the hobby as a whole.

The small, independent amateur clubs such as the previously mentioned Broadsword are fewer in number now; once there was a club or two almost everywhere one tried to find one; now one is quite fortunate to find a club. Those that have survived generally have a good base of long serving regulars who operate the club with the owner, and maintain the feel of the roleplay in the club. The feeling is often one of 'family', and even after a long time away one can expect a happy welcome when one returns to the fold. The Independents made the hobby; they fanned out from Peckforton and Treasure Trap and the Labyrinth, and recruited the kids of the 1980s and 1990s, and now those same kids run the hobby. The independent clubs are often at the leading edge of technology in LRP as this newer generation discover that their job has brought them into an area that might benefit the hobby; pyrotechnics, plastics, radio communications, theatre arts, I have met practitioners of all of these things who are my age and in the hobby, and have put their new found skills to use for the hobby. Some of these clubs will, over time, evolve and go professional. So long as they maintain the pioneering spirit, long may they survive.

Finally, of course, there are the Professionals. There are not, in fact, that many in the UK. Labyrinth has a fantastic 3 miles of limestone caves just outside London, possibly the best underground site in the hobby, but is often accused of being the 'fast food restaurant' of the hobby, as it's adventures are usually in very small zones, with few props or monsters, and the quality leaves something to be desired. They also run adventure holidays, which I am told are a lot better, and take in the fantastic scenery of the Peakdistrict. Personally I have always wanted to go on one of their adventures where they row across the River Thames to a Fortress in the middle and storm it, but alas so far I have not been informed as to when they hold them. Labyrinth is also the most advertised and reviewed club in the UK. It runs 6 days a week, as far as I am aware.
Chimera Leisure is an entirely different kettle of fish. It runs a wide variety of campaigns, mainly event based, ranging from ones based on David Eddings books to a new BB Gun game based on Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six books. They vary widely in numbers, although they are generally well received, but they are expensive by UK standards. Locations used are normally very very good; castles are used often, as are period Youth Hostels and Scout camps. I'm not sure if they have hired SAS headquarters in Hereford for the Rainbow Six games, but knowing them, they probably have.
Lastly, although by no means definitively, there is The Portly Pixie. Pixie has been running a long time, about 14-15years or so apparently, and have just announced the opening of a 'National Live Roleplay Centre' in the Midlands. This will be a full time permanent site catering exclusively to the hobby. Strangely, another site has just opened in Leeds with the same aim, and it would appear to be vastly bigger, but we shall see; indoor sites are always welcome (it rains A LOT over here, as you may know) and I get the feeling one can not have too many.

So, what makes us innovative compared to the US and Europe; well, a chap called Mike Stringer turned up at a now extinct club called Trouble at Mill one day having painted his sword with liquid rubber; now we all use Latex weapons, and in fact can order them on line, over the phone, or from catalogues of bits. In reality, a large number of us can now make our own. We also have safe foam tipped arrows to fire at one another, including from siege weapons such as Ballista. We have purpose built sites, and have done for many years; Trouble at Mill, Kingdom of The Skull, Portly Pixie, The Tower, The Alternative, all have been going for years and can greatly add to the enjoyment of the hobby. We have a very high level of costume building, including genuine film and TV props and costume makers, and proper armourers with access to the Royal Armoury for inspiration etc. Masks wise, we are quite good at making our own within the hobby, as commercial companies on the whole don't want to make masks how we want them, but at least one company here does nothing but Roleplay masks, from Minataurs to Kobolds. We also seem blessed with a large number of fantastic settings in which to play; The UK happens to have the odd castle or two, here and there ;-) Not to mention ancient forests, caves and islands. This would probably explain why the more Celtic groups love including Stonehenge like props in their repertoire; trust me, a large fibreglass standing stone that actually vibrates and gives off a very low frequency hum is quite awesome when you come across it.

We have plenty of companies over here who cater to us; weapons builders, costume makers, armour makers, blacksmiths, period tent makers, even jewellers such as Alchemy, which is a British Company even though you guys can get it in the US and Europe. We have any number of forward thinkers regarding where we go and what we do next; I have just filled in my census form from Curious Pastimes Renewal, which asks for new ideas every year, and then goes away and tries them. We have even had magazines that cater for the hobby, one indeed available in any half good newsagents, and several on-line. On the whole, our public image is good; the press like to see us as 'youth finding things to do instead of causing trouble'.

I can hear the cries already, of 'but we do all of that' from you. However, I have to say that the vast majority of US LRP stuff that I have seen, whilst good, has involved those funny 'dobber' sticks which you hit one another with, and multi coloured bean bags for arrows and thrown weapons. Also, almost everyone seems to be a knight, in re-enactment standard issue plate armour. The one or two sites I have found on the Internet where this is not the case are largely Drow ones , and they do look good, but they look good in the same way the Drow over here did 5 years ago (that said, many Drow here have not improved much since). Over here we also tend not to get so fanatical about the in depth psyche of the system, the raison d'etre of it's denizens and the deep motivations of the characters; a few might, but on the whole we just try to have fun and keep it realistic, in so far as one is able in a fantasy world. As for Europe, well, there are many things that they do over there that we would love to have a shot at; I have heard about the club in Scandinavia who have several Longships they use on their events, and the clubs in Germany who hire entire villages and castles, and set up effectively their own principality for the duration of the event. That said, much of the technical expertise regarding weapons, costume and props is still purchased from us here in the UK, and those clubs that achieve these amazing things seem to be rather more the exception than the rule.

You may have noticed I have not touched on such areas as Vampire, Sci Fi or modern day roleplay; this is simply because I have attempted to stick to what I know about, ie Fantasy. I've no doubt that a lot of you will remain unconvinced by the arguments I have set out, and as ever will believe that there is no way that tiny little Britain can possibly be ahead of the US at anything. If so, go ahead, be my guest, but just keep in mind that in my opinion we are, and so far no-one has been able to prove otherwise. Over to you.

Back to SR Media

 

© Shadow Realms LRP 2000