Welcome to Solitude LARP

Solitude is a live action roleplaying game featuring athletic combat in a fantasy setting. We’re excited to have you join the game. Solitude is a game for players age 18 and up.

PCing or NPCing

Getting started with this game begins with deciding whether you’ll participate as a player character (PC) or nonplayer character (NPC).

As a PC, you’ll create a fictional persona and spend the game roleplaying as that character. As an NPC, you’ll spend the game switching between various roles assigned to you by the game organizer, typically as one of the many enemies of the PCs.

Playing a PC requires a small amount of preparation, but it should be accessible to anyone excited to play the hero in a fantasy world. Playing an NPC requires minimal preparation, and the stakes are low when you’re usually playing a disposable mook. 

Getting Started as a PC

In this game, you play a person who chose to stay on a fantasy world after nearly everyone has left. You should read the Setting page to understand the history of this world. 

Next, read Characters. This document describes what humans and other sentient species are like on this world. It also describes the types of magic users. You should decide what species you want your character to be, and whether you use magic (and if so, what kind). Finally, it covers some assumptions that will be helpful to make your character fit in our setting.

Thinking about all of the above, you should come up with an idea of your character’s backstory and aspirations. You’re highly encouraged to start with a simple concept and let the events that happen during play grow your character. The most important question to answer about your character is: “why did I, unlike most people on this world, stay here when the elves returned to space?” The answer could be profound or simply an accident, but other PCs will probably want to know. The next most important question is “why am I attending this gathering of would-be heroes instead of sticking to a quieter life?”

You should definitely pick a name!

Next, review the combat rules, and then pick a combat class for your character. Your class should match your chosen style of magic and the combat activities you think will be fun. The titles of the classes and the thematic text describing the class are intended to inspire, rather than restrict, your choice. As per the combat rules, you should also pick a Virtue and Vice for your character to call upon for emergency power.

You should familiarize yourself with the combat rules so you will feel comfortable using the powers of your class as well as reacting appropriately when hit by any of the effects listed under “Verbal Effects” in the rules document.

Finally, design a costume for your character. A modest effort in costuming will help you and the other PCs immerse themselves in the world. Do consider that you will be engaged in prolonged athletic combat in this costume.

Getting Started as an NPC

As an NPC, you will not have a single character of your own design, but instead will be assigned a variety of temporary roles, often as a nameless enemy who exists mostly to fight the PCs but sometimes as a helpful ally or other supporting character. As such, you do not need to design a persona.

You should wear to the game an athletic outfit in dark colors. The goal is to be comfortable fighting and have a base layer that you can quickly throw a costume over. Costume parts specific to your role will be loaned to you as it’s assigned.

Importantly, please review the combat rules. As an NPC, you will be assigned combat statistics and powers with each role, and so do not need to read the Combat Classes page.

It is helpful if you at least skim the Setting and Character Lore to understand some of the fictional context of this game, but it is not required. Understanding this context is particularly important if you’d like to play speaking roles rather than just combat roles.