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There are two main kinds of LARPing, says Robertson. First is boffer, which revolves around dressing up in armour and using foam weapons to fight with other participants. This is the kind that has made its way into movies like Knights of Badassdom and Role Models. The other is theatre or parlour LARPing, which is more intellectual and social and less about beating each other up. This type is more akin to improv, where challenges are resolved with strategies other than fighting. Rolling dice or playing rock-paper-scissors are sometimes used to solve some disputes.

Even though LARPing is just a game, it has other impacts on people’s lives.

“LARPing has been so good for my confidence levels,” Robertson says. “It’s imaginative, it’s creative, it’s social, it’s intellectual.”

One of the most potent experiences he’s had while LARPing is looking around a room and realizing that he wasn’t thinking as himself, but as the character he was playing. “It’s a way to explore different aspects of yourself … that you didn’t necessarily know were there.”

LARPing was responsible for getting him his day job as a video game writer at Beamdog.

LARGE is new to the Edmonton LARPing community, joining the likes of Underworld Kalidor and 4th Dimension Labs, two other local groups. It got its non-profit status last January, but planning began last fall. It is run by Robertson and two others — Adam Conway, the secretary, and Cory Hodgson, the treasurer — and is volunteer-based. They are expecting about 60 members to show up at this weekend’s LARGEcon. Players are usually in their 20s or older, with a surprisingly large amount of women, and are mostly creative types of people who are looking to engage in a story.