Some of you have probably already heard of the concept of LARPing, aka Live Action Role Playing. This video collection is for anyone who just HAS to see more (read: all of you). For those of you who are new to the concept of LARPing, it’s basically Dungeons & Dragons for people who think Dungeons & Dragons isn’t realistic enough. So instead of sitting around a table rolling dice, they dress up in wizard’s cloaks and knight’s armor and head to the woods to duke it out with foam swords and invisible spells. Without further adieu, here is your complete guide to the shocking, mysterious world of LARPing.

To kick things off, here is a real scene of LARPers in action. (I apologize if I feel the need to keep repeating that this stuff is real.)

LARPers tend to take their hobby very seriously, and form tribes that align into kingdoms that fight other kingdoms within elaborate empires. These people will often gather for entire weekend-long epic battles (aka camping trips) at State Parks, where they are free from any evidence of the real world. Aside, perhaps, from the occasional Park Ranger arresting someone for drinking and driving a centaur. Here are a few LARPing tribes:

In 2006, a feature-length documentary about LARPing, called Darkon, was released. I had the pleasure of seeing it via Netflix, and it is easily the best documentary out there about people playing make believe in tunics and pantaloons. I highly recommend it. Below is the trailer. Remember: none of these people are actors. These are adult people who spend their weekends answering to names like Mystigon, Gorgoloth and Fairybella. And their weekdays sharpening their foam swords in anticipation.

Darkon inspired one of the main plot lines in David Wain’s hilarious comedy film Role Models, starring Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott and Jo Lo Truglio. Here are some clips from the LARPing sequences. (Video NSFW)

One of the main characters in Role Models meets a girl through LARPing. Believe it or not, this occurs in nature as well. There are reportedly thousands of human women who are avid LARPers.

It turns out that there is actually another documentary about LARPing, called Monster Camp. This is one of its heroes. He LARPs as a moth that can eat people’s minds.

LARPers battle using an honor system. You are expected to keep track of how many blows you receive and fall down dead as soon as you think an immortal elven mage would realistically perish. All weapons are relatively harmless, and the idea is that no one is supposed to actually get hurt. This idea is often put to the test.

If you need more LARPing action than this post can provide, you’ll be excited to know that there is an upcoming feature film entirely about LARPing called Unicorn City. This is the trailer. One can only hope it gets released in IMAX 3D in order to do it justice.

So that’s LARPing in a nutshell. If you are interested in enlisting with your local LARPing tribe or kingdom, I suggest you get a psychological evaluation first. Not that there is anything wrong with LARPing. It’s just always good to make sure you can safely distinguish fantasy from reality before wielding your first foam sword or spell book.