The most common reasons that people participate in live action role playing games is to express themselves through a character that they have created, or to be a part of a larger fictional story. Unfortunately these two points of view don’t always go hand in hand.
Expressing yourself through your character means that you must stay in character and this isn’t always easy when you have story events, other characters, or aspects of the game that you find interesting on a personal level distracting you from your characterization.
I know that for me staying in character is a habitual routine and if I break from that routine I find it hard to maintain the focus required for staying in-game. My resolve to stay in character can be broken down when others fall off the band wagon and make a comment that was purely out of character.
Here are two techniques to help you keep focused on staying in character even if you encounter some distracting moments.
Focus your character through a piece of costuming. This technique is physically based which makes gives it the advantage of providing you with a constant reminder. Chose a piece of costuming (an accessory works best) and know that when you put on that piece you are 100% in character.
If you need to go out of character, even for a minute, then remove the piece so that it does not become ‘ok’ to speak out of character while wearing that piece of costuming. You can train yourself to view the game through your character’s perceptions, and persona by training your mind to activate the character persona whenever that article is worn.
Listen in character. Sometimes it is hard to maintain focus on your character persona if you are not actively playing that character. One way to get around that is simple to always be actively playing that character during your gaming session. When you speak you speak as that character and then when the focus is off you be sure to listen as that character.
This allows you to immediately react to the words being said or your surroundings in the mental state that your character would be in rather than having to stop and think ‘how would my character react to this.’
Sometimes you may be overwhelmed and react to the situation but when you look back you wonder if your character would have reacted this way. If you are always actively playing your character then the answer is ‘yes!’ By staying in character you remove your ability to think on behalf of your character – instead you are thinking as your character.
Do you have a way that you use to stay in character? I would love to hear them! Feel free to post your tips in the comments below.
All the best in your future LARP endeavours,
Kevin Tjia
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