Welcome To A New LARP Season

OVERVIEW

Are you ready for an exciting year of LARPing? Pre-season is a great time to assess and plan. In this blog, I offer advice on the 5 must-do actions for every new year that will ensure you have a great year of LARPing.

1. Check out New LARPs - We discuss tools to find a LARP.
2. Pre-Register for Events - Plan your year and help out your game runners with an early RSVP.
3. Spruce up your Character - Fix or replace costumes, weapons, makeup, and accessories.
4. Prep your Gear - Make a list or use one of our user-tested/approved PC/NPC packing lists.
5. Reflect on last year for inspiration - What were the highlights? Share your thoughts with an American LARP Award nomination of your favorite games, events, and characters.

CHECK OUT WHAT’s NEW - FIND A LARP

A new year and new season are great times to search for what’s new in LARPing. One of the most common internet searches is “Find a LARP near me” Here are several tools including one in LARP Portal that will help you find LARPs by location and genre.

1. LARP Portal - our tool lists over 500 US and Canadian games and supports searches by name, game system, location, genre, and more. In 2025, we plan on releasing a new version with the help of our improved player experience team.
2. LarpHack - If you are looking for a new game in New England, Dave Inkpen publishes LarpHack. He recently published his annual blog that features 13 new / starting LARPs.
3. Come Try a LARP - This is another site that allows you to select by location and genre.
4. LARP Finder - For an international list of LARPs, you might want to try LARP Finder.

Here are a few new games that we think you may want to check out.

1. Home | Chronicles of Ashenfall- First event November 2024 in Connecticut
2. Camp Blackwater LARP | Linktree - Starting in 2025/2026 in North Carolina
3. The Dial Of Ruin LARP - Starting in 2025 in Southern California

RSVP or REGISTER FOR EVENTS

Pre-season is a great time to review the year’s events for games that you PC, NPC or staff.

My wife and I do a lot of planning in January each year. We map out our whole year scheduling vacations and time off around our haunted house and LARP events. If you do likewise and know what events you plan to attend, I strongly recommend that you register for the events.

It will not only help you, but it helps out the games to know what their count is and who specifically can and cannot attend. Even if you are not a planner, all PCs and NPCs are encouraged to register within the logistic system the game uses as early as possible.

SPRUCE UP YOUR CHARACTER

Is it time to replace any costume pieces or buy a new weapon? Do you play a race that uses makeup? Pre-season is a great time to assess your physical game items. Costumes and weapons can have lead time of several months and pre- season is typically the busiest.

I am usually too tired after an event or even at the end of haunt / LARP season, so I take January and February to inventory and restock my makeup and replace anything I have lost or damaged for my costume.

In our last blog, LARP Weapons Merchant, I featured many weapon vendors and their typical lead time. Check them out and place an early order post-holiday to ensure you have it in time for the season opener of your game.

And it wouldn’t be fitting if I didn’t remind everyone to check if you have banked, unspent or available points to spend on your character. We wrote a similar “Get Ready for the Season” article in our newsletter last year which was focused on character skills and attributes etc. Check it out to be even better prepared.

PREP YOUR GEAR

Do you have your own event packing list? I'm a computer programmer so it doesn't surprise anyone who knows me to learn that i have a database of packing list for each character i play or games i staff. I list specially props in addition to costuming and personal items. I have painful memories of the time I forget my sleeping bag in early March at an unheated site or broke my glasses and didn't have my spare pair. I've shared my lists with others and last year we published PC and NPC checklist on our public pages.

It's gratifying to see the number of hits we get on those lists. Check out our pre-made checklists for PC and NPCs and let us know if we have any must-have critical items missing.

My last piece of advice will help you stress less before an event, at least it does for me. Invest in new gear and personal items well in advance of the season opener. Consider preparing a "LARP GO Bag" that you leave packed and readyfor events.

CLOSING

The blog servers as a remainder that LARP Season is abiut to kick off and that with a little bit of planning, you can reduce stress and inprove your enjoyment. We featured 5 steps for planning and highlighted 3 new games to check out.

CALL to ACTION

If you know of a new LARP that is not in LARP Portal, want to join our "improve player experience" project, or have any feedback about this article we'd love to hear from you. Please reach out to feedback larportal.com

If you are a game owner or thinking about starting a game, let LARP Portal simplify your administrative processes and give you and your players more time for LARPing. Contact us at demo@larportal.com today for a free demo