Category Archives: Costume

Zephyr De Rondell, captured by Charlie Moss

Differences

Five years ago, I would have told you that liked playing the IoD games, but what I really enjoyed was running and crewing games.

Four years ago, I would have told you that I was looking forward to Empire, but what I really enjoyed was running and crewing games.

Three years ago, I would have told you that I enjoyed Empire, but I was considering changing over to crew because what I really enjoyed was running and crewing games.

Two years ago, I would have told you that Empire was finally starting to click for me, but what I really enjoyed was running and crewing games.

One year ago, I would have told you I was having a blast at Empire, but there weren’t any other games I was looking at playing, and what I really enjoyed was running and crewing games.

This year, things changed. I went to Future’s End and came away from that event with more energy and desire to play it again than I can recall ever experiencing from a game before. That led to me dropping IoD completely because it was a drain on my time for no reward. I’ve started playing Stargate and realised I was going to keep playing it when on the drive back I said “And next time, I’ll be playing with a compound fracture” and Fraser pointed out that I’d said I’d be playing the next one. This year, I got my Imperial Title in Empire, got over every problem I faced and produced the best results from a game I have ever had (thanks to a glorious mistake, but it worked!). I then promptly died at the next event but I have so much energy for going back and playing that my main worries are actually that I’m not going to look good enough for Dawn – not over what I’ll do.

I’ve also stopped being an active element in No Rest for the Wicked. After running By Schisms Rent Asunder, I went on break, and I’ve not really phased back in yet. I’ve done some things here and there, but mostly I’m letting the others handle things, and it feels good. It’s making me question how much I do enjoy running events, and what I want to be doing when I do run them.

There actually is no question about it: I do enjoy running events and I do enjoy crewing them, but I’ve also learned to love playing them as well. I’m going to take a longer break from running things than I anticipated (I still have three events on the cards to run[1][2]), but I’m going to keep back from being an organiser for a while longer[3]). The love for playing events is something I’ve been missing for a long time – I’m not sure I’ve ever really had it in the entire 12 years I’ve been LRPing, so it feels good to finally be feeling like this.

If you’re reading this, thanks to Kelly, Fraser, JD, Cat, Cherry, Rob, and the others who’ve made me come around to enjoying playing games instead of just running them.

Footnotes   [ + ]

1. my birthday party, one for No Rest, and one for Stargate
2. The Stargate one may actually be pretty far in the future
3. If you’re reading this Rob, I guess you were right.
Larperlei Reinforced Leather Jerkin

No Rest Costume

So I’m playing the next event, and I’m looking into my costume options for Trysten. I’ve asked the lovely Ms Bell to make me some layers, but I’m looking at getting this reinforced leather jerkin from Larperlei. (This tabard may also be in consideration but I prefer the jerkin, I think.)

My problems with ordering this are essentially two-fold: the first problem is budget, the second is timing. If I order it today, I might have it in hand in time for the event (November 6th). I get paid in a week and a half and I still have to pay for Empire food and travel.

To put that in perspective, if I order it this week, I’m on a tight budget for the next two weeks, but I might have it for the event. If I don’t order it this week, I almost certainly won’t have it for the event.

The general costume idea would be to have a tunic, with this jerkin over the top, then a surcote over the top of that. I’m liking how it looks in my head (bit hard to tell how it would look in reality. My other options would be to either not have it at all (which removes any armour from the character), try using my old leather jack from my LT days and see how that suits (I already know it won’t look as good), or try using the leather top I picked up (which isn’t quite the right size for me (but that wouldn’t be noticed under the surcote) and is black which detracts from the general colour theme I’m building I think.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Input welcomed.

The Winter Solstice

This weekend I’m off to Empire. First Empire event of 2015, first of the Winter events I’ll have been to. It’s also my first field LARP event as a player this year.

Currently I’m fretting a little over the things I don’t have. I can’t find my scaled brow prosthetic, so I might be reduced back to just make-up, which I’d really prefer not to do. I can’t find my rune bag – but that’s an accessory I can live without. I don’t have as much in the way of Demijohn liqueurs as I normally do as I’m a little skint right now. I also don’t have the final piece of my mage armour[1], so I’ll be throwing something together in a hurry – possibly just by wearing my big coat on the battlefield.

The idea of using some of Jeremy’s cast-off skin for my Naga scales has just occurred to me, but I think that might not work as well as the idea suggested. Might be worth an experiment though – I can see if it’ll take make-up to colour it. My worry is that it would tear easily, but Naga probably shed scales as well, so I can find an IC reason for it.

I’m not as revved up for the event as I’d like to be. My keen is low, and I’m not sure what I’ll be doing on the field as Sólsetur. I have a letter to deliver, some people to see, and some rituals to do, but I don’t really know what I’m doing as a whole. I may angle towards taking over as Thane for something to do besides sit around and occasionally do a ritual.

I don’t know. Playing events can be odd for me – I feel more comfortable in a ref/crew role in the main, and while I can write my own characters and play them, finding goals and things for them to do can be tricky for me. I don’t know why I find it easier to do that for an NPC I write than for my own characters, but I do.

Tonight we’re packing the car, and tomorrow morning we’re off to the new Empire site. Hopefully without getting mired in traffic. We’ll see.

Footnotes   [ + ]

1. I didn’t think I’d be coming to this event, so I didn’t commission it and by the time I knew I wasn’t coming, it was too late

Characters and Costume

Recently I’ve been thinking about characters and costume. Namely about new characters for the Isles of Darkness, my newly concepted character for No Rest for the Wicked, and my slightly older concept for Stargate.

The thing about LARPs is that they need costume to make the characters feel real, and the thing about costume is that it can get expensive. My current main NPC for No Rest for the Wicked has £200-300 worth of costume I bought just for him – and that’s not even my own character.

So what am I thinking to pick up? Well, let’s start with the No Rest for the Wicked character, Trysten Martinus Ariakin. Trysten is an Imperial Knight, a warrior who glories on the field of battle encased in a machine of war perfectly synced to his reflexes. His costume has to reflect who he is, and the practicalities of his profession. I’ve made him more augmented that strictly necessary with extra nerve grafts for speed and agility. The forearm plugs from these need phys-repped (as do his neck plugs) and they need factored into his costume as well. What this means is that I’m looking at a sleeveless top under a more military jacket – practicality under uniform.

Sleeveless top: Punk Rave Steampunk Zipped Tshirt
Jacket: Punk Rave Embroidered Velvet Jacket (for dress occasions), Necessary Evil Loki Jacket for everyday
Trousers: Necessary Evil Mephisto Trousers
Plugs: something like these may be the basis of my hard-plug sockets Plumbsure Diaphragm Washers


Next up, my Requiem character for the Isles of Darkness – Charles Morganti. He’s a Daeva Invictus/Crone, which means he should be making a statement with what he wears, but may be open to bending tradition. He’s around 200 years old, so his tastes run a little more to the Victorian than modern day, but he’s been around long enough to adapt to more modern dress. I picked up a nice black (could be charcoal) shirt from a charity shop, and I may match it up with my black brocade trousers. While charity shopping, I found a (ladies) coat that would have been perfect if it wasn’t too small and that has sent me on a quest for the perfect coat for the character. I may have found it, but it won’t be cheap.

Coat: The Dark Angel Allerton Jacket
Trousers: also from The Dark Angel, but not available at the moment


My Forsaken character for the Isles of Darkness – as yet unnamed – is a Storm Lord living in the country. Various aspects of the character were unclear to me until I found a tweed-lined green bodywarmer in a charity shop. This has solidified the idea of who he is in my head, as obviously he’s landed to some degree, has lots of money and a shotgun collection, and is known for hunting at odd hours on the moors. Thinking about it, I may need to go back an buy a flatcap from the charity shops as well.


My current Lost character concept for the Isles of Darkness is a tribute to Delboy Trotter, CMOT Dibbler, and other such characters. A hawker of wares who can buy or sell anything for the right price, and has a range of Gen-U-Ine products guaranteed to do something, even if it’s not what you needed.


A character I haven’t really spoken about at all before now is my potential Stargate character. I’ve crewed a couple of events, but it’s only relatively recently that I picked up the concept. He’s an “analyst”, specialising in languages, branched out into some covert ops. Still playing around with the idea.


So I think that without even trying that puts me at £300 of new kit to buy this year, and I find myself wanting to buy it all now when I should really be spacing this out over the year. It’s a little annoying when that happens. And that’s not including the new weapons I’ll inevitably want to go with them (like the £115 custom rapier I just received from Skian Mhor).