LARP in Italy

First and foremost it is important to stress that the Italian LARP situation is fragmented in many different styles, even more than in the rest of Europe. Fantasy Larp is still heavily influenced by its tabletop cousin, expecially when it comes to the creative part. Only in the last four years there has been an increasing attention towards true roleplaying.

Despite several efforts to build a national campaign in 1999, LARP in Italy consist of many different realities operating on different levels. The high parochialism between regions and even between organizations that operate in the same city should be noted. Most often these associations do not only not cooperate but even hinder each other whenever possible. Local groups usually keep their distance from bigger, nation-wide associations, most often because veteran organizers are reluctant to work together. Hopefully the new generation of organizers will prove to be better than their predecessors.

There is usually no cooperation nor any monetary support coming from any local government, most often due to their narrowminded attitude, and also because of inability of LARP associations to organize their actions effectively.

Common Elements of Italian LARP are:

• No national organization, but nation-wide Club
• Several regional groups often work against each other
• Used to long games from 1 to 5 days
• Characters are created by the player without any support from the organizers
• Political campaigns with a lot of fighting, Heroic Fantasy.
• Plot as main tool used to develop the campaign’s main story
• NPCs are the most common resources to manage the campaign
• Costumes and props are used to simulate particular effects and creatures
• Imagination is used to make up for situation or elements that were not realized (e.g. Look there, what you see is an Orc)
• Individualism is the rule, even among long standing teams
• Latex weapons and hard fighting, good skilled swordsmen
• 80/20% between Males and Females
• Average players age 22 or so
• The big games are held by a new generation of larpers

WELL KNOWN ITALIAN ASSOCIATIONS

1. Elementzero
2. La Festa del Drago
3. Valhalla Viking Victory
4. Era del Caos
5. Time Riders
6. Circolo delle Rune
7. Gruppo Luce Nera
8. Mistara & Dintorni
9. Ranaan
10. Federazione Fantasy
11. GRVITALIA
12. Le Spire del Drago
13. Festa di Pimavera
14. Seconda Fondazione
15. I Vicoli di Malastrana
16. Comitato Altrove

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