I kept refreshing the page every 15 seconds. I wanted a ticket to New World Magischola so bad. What LARPer (live action role player) wouldn’t want to spend days immersed in a game that allows you to go to wizard school?

My persistence paid off and I got the ticket – an awesome Christmas present from my husband (thanks, Rick!). As I started to enthuse about the upcoming experience, people started asking me questions like:

  • Why is this game different from the types you normally go to?
  • What do you want to accomplish there?
  • Are there lots of complicated rules?

And that got me to thinking about why I was so excited about trying a type of LARP I haven’t experienced before. Fundamentally, there’s so much to be excited about in terms of setting and plot, but when I thought about it, most of the things I’m looking forward to are even simpler than that.

Light Rules System

Hailing from the Northeastern United States, I’m used to 200+ page rule books.

There are things I like about it – a good rule book is made up of plenty of lore and character customization options, for example – but it’s also a bit onerous. It isn’t exactly easy to confidently drop in on a game and understand what’s going on. I often focus so much on the mechanics that I lose the chance for creativity and immersion, and only at my home game do most of the mechanics really feel second nature.

I’m not really sure what to expect out of a system with less rules. My fears include not knowing how to name a spell, not having the right words ready, letting someone else define too much of my own character’s background, etc. I’m not a ‘fake it until you make it’ kind of person, though I do like to master lore and role play confidently.

In rules-heavy systems, I feel like I’m usually one of the ones who pushes limits or goes too far out of the box, which has made me very hesitant when it comes to establishing my own lore and groups into existing settings. But in New World Magischola, the game owners have made it clear that they’re looking forward to building this world with us.

I have no idea how this will work…but I can’t wait to find out!

Wizard Classes and the Do-Over

Being a nerd, I miss school.

I make my living as a blog editor and especially in that capacity, I’m all about finding a niche and living in it. I learned that skill in college along with personal branding. I loved college. Now I’m an ace at those life skills. If I could go back and do it again, I totally would. Those were my glory days!

And have you ever seen the movie “Never Been Kissed” with Drew Barrymore? I feel like that movie is my life sometimes. If I could go back and do it all again, I’d ace school – academically, socially, you name it. I wouldn’t be so hesitant or shy. I would have been way more assertive, especially when it came to stuff like taking extra classes. I would have lied about having my period way more often to get out of swimming sessions in gym class, even though I suck at lying.

As my character heads to wizard college, I look forward to giving her a more provocative and assertive background than the one I had.

That alone will help me find some closure in my real life, and Iook forward to it.

Full Immersion and Character Development

People feel varied ways about full immersion in LARP. I can see how being fully immersed in a combat or intense emotional RP scenario is dangerous, and my method is to set my character’s limits stringently according to my own. That way, when I’m fully immersed as my character, I never cross out of character boundaries.

I’ve had a few full immersion moments that resulted in some really fantastic character development. I’ve felt betrayal and scorn; the physical embodiment of loyalty, and a building rage. These aren’t things I’d ever felt to that extent myself.

One thing I find challenging in rules-heavy systems are being immersive in day-to-day scenarios. I enjoy writing, eating, and playing card games in character, but that’s not always possible at the games I play. While I look forward to ‘big’ moments at New World Magischola, I’m just as eager to experience some daily life moments as my character.

Music and Dancing

I love music, and while I get to incorporate a lot of real life skills and passions into my day job (I’m seriously lucky), I don’t exactly host an open mic during lunch hour. At New World Magischola, I’ll be able to work on provided and original music alone and collaboratively – and I can’t wait.

And while I may be the world’s worst dancer, I am looking forward to the social dynamics that will be at play during the ball that happens in game.

Plus, I’ve already made new friends just by showing an interest in the music scene at NWM (and by that I suppose I mean the scene we’re creating).

Player Development

I really enjoy learning things about myself or my own capabilities through LARP, and I think this game will stretch those creative muscles in new ways. I’ve played magic users in other types of settings, but not in any world like this one.

I’m very curious about what type of spells my character will want to use and I look forward to exploring whether she relies on those powers to make up for deficiencies, learn new things, socialize, or to just improve herself. In real life, I’m fascinated by certain superpowers and abilities in other settings, media, and games; now it’s time to find out why.

Interested in learning more? Check out the website and consider backing their Kickstarter campaign!

Images: Learn LARP LLC Media Kit, used with permission.