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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, try to get costume that will be able to cope with a variety of weather. Many of the Faction costume guidelines encourage layering, which is adaptable for lots of different conditions. A good pair of waterproof footwear, as well as a few changes of socks, is always a good idea. It is also a good idea to bring some form of eye protection.
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-long event, everyone needs food, drink and a place to sleep. Although some of our attendees like to book into a nearby hotel or B&B, most attendees bring a tent with them and camp. Most players will camp in one of the four designated Faction camping areas in the main in-character area, but depending on the site we also try to set aside an accessible camping area and an out-of-character camping area. Orion Sphere LRP does not have special camping rules for in-character and out-of-character tents or “period” tents. Depending on the individual site, we may be able to host some attendees in indoor bunk rooms - these are usually assigned on the basis of medical need or other accessibility requirements. A good, multi-season sleeping bag, pillow and an underlayer is also important to getting a good night's sleep, even if you have been assigned a bunk space, as these will rarely supply bedding.
In general, our events will have a caterer who will supply meals to attendees who purchased a Meal Ticket before the event, as well as drinks to all attendees. Alternatively, players can bring their own food and drink, but you will need to bring your own cooking equipment. It is a good idea to bring more food than you would usually need, as live roleplaying can be an energetic activity and it is important to eat enough to compensate for the extra exercise.
A lot of live roleplaying games involve combat, using latex weapons and blasters to fight against other participants. The rules provide a framework for fighting, to simulate your character's ability to deal damage, perform special attacks, and resist harm with armour or natural toughness. These rules let you know what to do if you get hit with an attack, and how to respond. As well as the game rules, we have special safety rules to make sure combat is as safe as possible, while remaining a tense and thrilling experience.
Combat at Orion Sphere LRP tends to be a mixture of gunplay and melee combat, usually in groups of no more than 10-15 participants on each side. These skirmish-level combats tend to be less risky in real life than the large-scale battles of other fantasy fest LRP games. The most important aspect of LRP combat is that it is representative - you are not trying to land hard blows, so everyone fighting with melee weapons must pull their blows so that they land with virtually no force on impact. If you are completely new to LRP combat, we encourage you to ask other players in your Faction, or your Faction NPC, to give you a quick tutorial on how to fight safely.
Combat at Orion Sphere LRP is generally fairly easy to avoid - combat-heavy missions will usually be signposted in the mission description, and combat encounters in the main In-Character area will generally have plenty of escape routes. We also have a special signal for attendees who are unable to safely engage in Combat.
Unexpected character death is an infrequent occurrence at OSLRP, but does happen. If it does, you don't need to worry - you can create a new character at any point during an event, and we'll help you as much as we can to get back into the game quickly. Character death can also be an opportunity to try another part of the game that your previous character didn't have much interaction with.
This is a list of other wiki pages that are useful to give you an overview of the game, but its also worth joining our Discord Server or Facebook Groups and ask questions about the game that existing players can give you the benefit of their experience. Both can be found on the Contact Us page.
