This wiki page is a primer on live roleplaying for those who are unfamiliar with the hobby. In essence, LRP (or LARP, or whatever you want to call it) is a fun way to spend a weekend by pretending to be a fictional character of your own creation, and play out their stories in an imaginative way. Although there is a lot of information on this wiki, and a lot of detail to the game, you don't need to know the vast majority of it to participate. Once you've read this page, there are a few links to other useful resources help give you an idea of how to get involved with Orion Sphere LRP.

As well as the information on this wiki, we're also happy to answer any other questions you might have, and our community of other attendees are also a very helpful resource to ask questions of and get other people's experiences of attending our events - see the Contact Us page to get in touch or join our various community groups.

You may already be familiar with roleplaying in the context of tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeon & Dragons, but if not the core of it is that you are taking on or acting out a particular role - “inhabiting” a character that you or someone else has created. The way you play the character is influenced by your own interpretations of how they would act and react to the situations they encounter. In most tabletop roleplaying games, each player narrates their character's actions, while another player (a GM or DM), or the dice, respond how those actions affect the fictional environment and other characters within the shared story of the game. In most TTRPGs, the players are all on the same team, and are working together to navigate the story and overcome its challenges.

Live roleplaying is different in that rather than narrating your character's actions, you are physically acting them out. You dress, speak and act as your character while playing the game, as do all of the other participants. If you want to engage in a dual with another character, you call them out, draw your blaster and fire it at them.

The wider game setting is represented by the actions of the organizers and crew, as well as props, costumes and other elements that they put in place for the players to interact with. In a fest LRP game like Orion Sphere, much of the game comes from the player's characters having conflicting and competing goals and mindsets, so that the game is as much about the personal relationships and rivalries that form between players as it is about investigating the setting and challenges posted by the game organizers and crew.

Playing a character is a bit like being in improv theatre - you have an impression in your mind of how your character would act, and use that to play your role, improvising what you say and do. Unlike theatre, at LRP events everyone is both an actor and the audience at the same time, collectively improvising a story together in which everyone is an active participant, working from their own understanding of their characters and a shared concept of the setting and wider story of the OSVerse. The game organizers are mostly concerned with giving the participants narrative hooks to inform and enrich their roleplay - giving them things to roleplay about - and reacting to what the player's charcters are doing to create the feeling of an immersive game world.

At events, you will spend the majority of your time “In-Character”, so for new players its usually a good move to create a character that you will enjoy playing, and is easy for you to roleplay. Thankfully, when you create a character for a LRP game like OSLRP, you get to choose most of the aspects of what they are like, and their personality. For some players, they prefer to play characters which are very similar to their own personality, while others might exaggerate or downplay one or two aspects of themselves, or even play something very different to themselves. While the game imposes some rules about how characters interact with each other, and has some guidelines on characters that might fit well with certain Factions or Species, for the most part you get to determine what your character is like. Don't worry about adjusting your character's personality if you're not having fun though, characters change over time just like with people in the real world.

Live roleplaying has rules just like any other game, to facilitate interactions between players, and simulate the more fantastical aspects of the sci-fi setting. OSLRP's rules are designed to be modular - the core of the rules are just two A4 pages (which can be found here), and the other rules that you need to know will be for your character's specific abilities and skills, or they are written on game items and info cards. Our Referees and Games Operations team are always happy to answer rules questions on the field, and other players will generally be happy to help clarify any confusion about rules or setting details.

Life roleplaying appeals to all kinds of people for a lot of different reasons. For many people, the process of playing another character is enjoyable for it's own sake. By immersing yourself in a fictional character you have created, you can leave behind your real life for a while. For others, being able to affect the ongoing story and make a difference in the setting feels empowering, while others enjoy the costuming, social interaction or the thrill of combat.

Unlike in many other games, in live roleplay there is no ultimate winning or losing - while you may succeed at bringing your character's goals to completion, there is always more challenges to overcome, mysteries to investigate, or stories to meddle with. Since you set your own goals for your character or group, you are able to determine your own metrics for success or failure. Equally, some players attend with no set goals, and just enjoy being caught up in the story and the roleplay happening all around them. There are many different facets to the game, and if you are finding something less enjoyable, you can always pivot to a different area of the game that you find more appealing.

Live roleplaying appeals to all kinds of people, and everyone is welcome at Orion Sphere LRP. We welcome participants of every gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and background. The OSVerse setting has been explicitly designed to give equal opportunity for attendees of every stripe, while acknowledging that discrimination exists, it has been eliminated from the future societies of the OSVerse. In addition to the in-setting design, our Code of Conduct is built to ensure everyone has a safe and pleasant time at events, and that all participants are treated with respect and dignity.

Live roleplaying can be challenging for participants with disabilities. We strive to make Orion Sphere as accessible as possible, but may not always be able to make all the accomodations we would like to. We have a Disability Working Group who we consult with on potential changes or rewords to the game to maximise accessibility. If you have specific accessibility needs, then we encourage you to email us so that we can identify what additional assistance we can provide.

Live Roleplaying does have some kit requirements to get the most out of our events. At a minimum, you'll need costume for your character, camping gear or alternative arrangements to sleep, and a weapon or some other props to use your character's special abilities and skills.

Costume is an important part of live roleplaying as it helps everyone to maintain their immersion in the sci-fi setting of the OSVerse. Your costume should be appropriate to your character and the setting, so at a minimum we request that you do not wear clothing with obvious modern-day logos or branding. Each Faction has guidelines on the general style of costume for its members, and a pinterest board for inspiration - each Faction's costume guidelines is fairly broad, and designed to be relatively easy to find kit for online, in charity shops, or even make your own!

There are a wide variety of specialist Live Roleplaying costume traders or swap groups online, and we usually have a couple of traders and equipment makers at our events who sell various props, LRP-suitable weapons and other kit. Asking in one of our community groups is usually a good way to get started with building a costume. There are a number of 3D printer designs that we have made and released, so if you or someone you know has access to a 3D printer, then those can be an easy way to get some good-looking sci-fi props.

As our events are held outdoors in the British countryside,

Most live roleplaying events in the UK use specially made melee weapons that are constructed from foam and latex and are designed to be as safe as possible. We have strict safety guidelines on weapon construction and condition, and every weapon must be checked each event to ensure it conforms with the rules and has not deteriorated. As a result it's much harder to create your own weapon than it is to create your own costume, especially if you are new to live roleplaying. Importantly, you don't necessarily need a melee weapon to participate at an event - some characters avoid getting into combat, or exclusively use blasters.

We recommend buying a melee weapon from a professional live roleplaying weapon manufacturer, either online or trading at an event. If buying online, its best to ask other members of the community whether a given outlet is a reliable source of weapons that conform to UK construction guidelines. Ultimately, there's no substitute for holding a weapon to get a feel for the weight and the balance, so the best way to find the ideal weapon is to browse the trader stalls at an event.

OSLRP uses NERF-style blasters to simulate energy weapons and other sci-fi firearms. In general, if you pick up a standard blaster in a shop or second-hand it will be safe to use at an event, but it's best to ask online on our Discord Blaster channel about the specific blaster you are intending to use, as well as if you're intending to make or modify your blaster. With the huge variety of blasters that have been made over the years, it's hard to make specific rules that cover all of them. More likely to be an issue is the ammunition you buy for your blaster. OSLRP only allows “Elite-style” darts, half-length darts, and the larger “Mega” darts at our events. Gel balls, spherical rounds, discs, etc are not used at Orion Sphere events. Additionally, your darts must have a compressible head to be permitted at events - some cheap darts have a solid rubber head that we consider unsafe for use at events.

For a weekend live roleplaying event, everyone needs somewhere to sleep, as well as food and drink. While it's possible to book into a nearby hotel, most players bring a tent with them and camp. At Empire there is a large area set-aside for camping that is adjacent to the main arena where the game actually happens. If you have a period tent that is suitable for the setting then you can pitch that in the main arena and use it in-character, but that's not something we recommend new players worry about for their first event.

You will need to think about food and drink for any live roleplaying event that lasts longer than a few hours. You can bring your own, but there are a number of professional caterers at every Empire event who sell a wide range of options. How does fighting work? Edric Fighting.jpg

Many live roleplaying games involve combat, with players taking up latex weapons to actively fight against other participants. Our game rules provide a framework for fighting so that you know what to do if you get hit. At the events there are opportunites to take part in thrilling large-scale battles with a thousand participants that complement the social and political conflict of the field at Anvil.

There are important safety rules for fighting, the most important of which is that everyone taking part must pull their blows so that they land with virtually no force. Our new player team schedule an opportunity to try out combat before the event starts, which is highly recommended if you have never done live roleplay fighting before. It only takes a few minutes to learn, and plenty of players will be happy to show you how even if you miss the new player meeting. Do I have to fight?

Fighting can be exhilarating but it's not for everyone. Many Empire players choose to avoid combat, preferring to focus on the social and political side of the game. Although you can never be sure what will happen to your character, most people who attend our events have little trouble avoiding combat if they make an effort to do so. Our rules make provision for people who can't, or don't want to, take part in combat. What if my character dies?

It's quite unusual for your character to die unexpectedly in Empire, but it can happen if you go on a battle. But don't worry if it does, you can create a new character at any point during the event and we'll help you as much as we can to get back into the game as quickly as possible. The easiest thing to do is to make a new character in the same nation or even group as before, especially if you die unexpectedly in the middle of an event, but you can use character death as an opportunity to try another part of the game if you are feeling adventurous.