What Really Happens At A LARPing Convention

What you need to know about Dexcon, a raucous, five-day roleplaying game conference.

A roleplayer dons his mages robes at Dexcon 15.

Image by Brian Feldman

A tabletop role-playing game like Dungeons & Dragons requires little physical action besides rolling dice or moving figurines around on a board. In live-action role-playing (LARP), participants move around and converse in real time, rather than take turns. It’s like Second Life come to (real) life. And Dexcon 15 — a gaming convention held over five days last week at a hotel in New Jersey — is a LARPer’s dream.

While Dexcon also plays host to board game and tabletop RPG enthusiasts, it’s the LARPers that are the most fascinating. Roleplaying requires players to assume the identity of a fictional character and progress through a narrative. The stories they play through are controlled by the Game Master (GM), who is responsible for explaining where players are in the story, how their actions play out and the consequences thereof, and providing other details. At their core, roleplaying games are improv that require its participants to interact with and rely upon each other and to be resourceful and strategic.

Take wargaming, which is done with miniatures in an arena. Most of the participants brought their own, handmade sets. The wargaming room was also home to a large 50-by-20-foot arena where larger models could fight it out. A massive “Warhammer 40K” battle that began at noon showed no signs of stopping by the time I left the convention six hours later.

Figurines from Warhammer 40K dominate the wargaming arena.

Image by Brian Feldman

Another LARP was set in the universe of Joss Whedon’s Firefly, which served as a prequel of sorts to the TV series. The organizers wrote out detailed personas and skill sets for all of the players and then set them loose. Pretty soon, LARPers were chatting with each other and forming alliances. “You lookin’ for a ship?” asked one LARPer whose character was named Doc Banyon. “I got ships that can go all the out past the Outer Rim.” Some players showed up in full browncoat gear while other were slightly more relaxed about the affair.

Firefly LARPers negotiate a plan of action.

Image by Brian Feldman

Another LARP, “Ex Arkana”, involved magicians attempting to solve puzzles. It combined LARPing with the structure of a collectible card game, so while players were free to perform whatever actions they could think up, whether or not they succeeded at those actions was dictated by their numerical skill levels. Throughout the game, a character was thrown (“thrown”) against the wall and charred to a crisp, players got frozen in place, and demons started entering through one of the room’s doorways. “There is a smell of sea water and metal that has filled the room… And chunks of demon blood,” the game master narrated.

While most of the LARPers stayed in character, adding accents and small character affectations at will, they seemed okay with breaking to help other players out with rules or follow what was happening. In other words, they took it seriously but not too seriously. One player, Daniel Lapidow, explained that appeal of roleplaying is that “You can do whatever you want.” Lapidow, who is 20, said that he got into LARPing about three years ago and does it pretty frequently, and that he initially was introduced to RPGs by playing Magic: The Gathering in 7th grade and then working his way up to D&D and then LARPing.

LARPers remain frozen in place.

Image by Brian Feldman

Here are more photos from Dexcon 15:

One sword is never enough.

Image by Brian Feldman

He meant business.

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This was probably the youngest convention-goer.

Image by Brian Feldman

Brony LARPers

Image by Brian Feldman

Battle-ready.

Image by Brian Feldman

Image by Brian Feldman

don’t mess with security.

Image by Brian Feldman

These people were part of a medieval acting troupe.

Image by Brian Feldman

Minitaures in the wargaming arena.

Image by Brian Feldman

Painting miniatures.

Image by Brian Feldman

These attendees were playing with miniatures they made out of LEGO.

Image by Brian Feldman

This man ran the “Ex Arkana” LARP.

Image by Brian Feldman

I never found out what happened to that woman’s mouth.

Image by Brian Feldman

He was electrified and thrown across the room.

Image by Brian Feldman

Victorian costuming was encouraged for this particular LARP.

Image by Brian Feldman

Opening an umbrella indoors is bad luck, but she seemed cool with it.

Image by Brian Feldman

I’m not sure how getting on the table helped this particular situation.

Image by Brian Feldman

He was shot.

Image by Brian Feldman

Negotiatin’.

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Cowering.

Image by Brian Feldman

Pro tip: If you see these guys in a hotel lobby, DO NOT follow them.

Image by Brian Feldman

Seriously, it’s a bad idea.

Image by Brian Feldman

I ended up in a dark room with a strobe light, recordings of screaming people, and a fake electric chair

Image by Brian Feldman

(It’s not a real electric chair.)

Image by Brian Feldman

Don’t worry. There was a brony LARP as well. It was one of a handful.

Image by Brian Feldman

Using your imagination is key here.

Image by Brian Feldman

My Little Pony attracts fans of all shapes and sizes.

Image by Brian Feldman

This guy was a total renegade during the Firefly LARP.

Image by Brian Feldman

There were tons of sign-up sheets on the walls in case you were looking for a game to join.

Image by Brian Feldman

Unfortunately, the Ghostbusters/Men In Black RPG session was cancelled.There were also RPGs based on The Avengers, Hunger Games, and Mass Effect, among others.

There was a vendor section where you could buy games, costumes, figurines, and books.

Image by Brian Feldman

This author has written at least 70 novels.

Image by Brian Feldman

There were tons of tables where people were playing games and having a good time.

Image by Brian Feldman

Some of the models were store-bought while others were handmade.

Image by Brian Feldman

There were lots of tiny pieces.

Image by Brian Feldman

This guy fell on the higher side of the con’s age range.

Image by Brian Feldman