Monday, October 3, 2011

SCA vs LARPing

A lot of people mistake the SCA for LARPing. They are not the same

LARPing ins Live Action Role Playing. This is where a group takes a game like Dungeons and Dragons, a turn based game that uses dice and printed out characters with their stats on it, and they bring it to life.

They take bean bags and padded PVS piping and use them as weapons. They call out the damage that their weapon does and use a turn base strategy in hopes that they did enough damage to "kill" the other player. They stay in character the whole time and use fantasy rules and mythology to live like that character. Such as Dark elves and Tolkien style Dwarves. Pure fantasy

The SCA is a historical re-enactment group. Much like the "Revolutionary" or "Civil War" groups.

They recreate the middle ages to the best of their abilities to learn and teach about that time in history. They DO create a persona, like a character in LARP, but that character is based in history. Like King Henry. With their persona being someone that would have lived in the periods 600AD-1600AD. They do not recreate a specific person but someone that may have lived in that time.

They research the history of the time frame they choose. Such as clothing, food, jobs, and lifestyles. These are brought into the persona so as to have a chance at possibly bringing the age of chivalry to life once more.

In creating this persona they are alike but that is where the similarities pretty much end.

In the SCA you learn the historical significances of what life was like. They do Arts and Science demonstrations for schools as well as groups such as the "Boy Scouts of America".

The SCA also recreates the fighting styles that were used in the middle ages. They do not use real steel swords however. They use rattan with is a grass that looks like bamboo. However instead of being hollow, it is a fibrous and mostly solid. Used alot in the framing of wicker furniture.This is used instead to attack one another on the feild of honor. It leaves bruising but rarely causes any real damage because of the armor of the combatants.

The rattan is used to simulate the wooden swords that were used to train armies and squires so they would only earn bruises and not get cut before learning to use the real sword they would use in the field.

The armor used in the SCA is usable and mostly to historical standards with the acception of the use of some modern materials to simulate the looks of historical armor without the weight.

This differs again from the LARP where they use fantasy designs for the most part and a lot of these armors would never have stood up on a real battlefield where the SCA armor would have and, in some cases fared better that it's historical counterpart.

The helmets are a geat example of this. You must remember that the lower the gauge # for steel the stronger the metal. The SCA standard helm can run 12-14 gauge. This can be run over by  a small pick up truck and may not bend at all. Where the standard helm, if one is worn at all, for a LARPer is 18 gauge. I personally can push in on the sides of this and bend it in with my bare hands.

The actual fighting that is done in the SCA is classified as a form of martial art. The fights are not choreographed and the winner is the one that best the other on the field.

Then there is the living at an event. A LARPer will do what the person in charge tells them and spend the evening in character. Pretending that they are a wizard or rouge and attempt to finish a quest that is set upon them so as to win a game.

The average SCA person, or SCAian, takes what they have learned about there picked time and place and attempt to live in the style of that period. While talking to friends about everyday things like thier jobs and what the family is up to. Not playing at trying to finish a game but just enjoying friends.

I admit there are some simularities and they both have thier merit. However, The SCA is more about learning about history and sharing your knowledge. Where LARPing is a game based in fantasy. The SCA is a way of living with history and learning from it. LARPing is over at the end of the game and you did not learn more than the game wanted you to know.

Whichever you choose, have fun. Just remember that they are not the same.

I hope that you enjoyed the breakdown and maybe I have enlightened you a little. So the next time you see a group of SCA fighters in the local park practicing, remember that they are practicing and training a real martial art. Just like if you were kung fu dojo.

Not playing a game.

Thank you for letting me ramble.

7 comments:

  1. ery nice my friend, it gets the point across well, I cant tell you how many times Ive been asked if what we do is like the movie Role Models... I hate that movie by the way. I go to a regular fighter practice on Sundays, it is in a public park and pretty much every one who is walking around there has to stop and watch, and while at first they look mildly amused, once they realize that this is full speed, non choreographed heavy combat with out padded weapons or punches pulled, the amused look goes away and a look of awe takes over. I love explaining to Mundanes what we do.

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  2. As a Sustaining Member, you will still receive your Kingdom newsletter. We are not doing away with the newsletter; we are offering a new option for delivery. Your membership fees go to support the operations of the non-profit organization that oversees the national and international activities and rules of the game.

    Funny, the official pages refer to it as a game ...

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  3. There are a lot of larps that aren’t anything like what you describe above and the SCA certainly falls within a broader definition of larping that is described on Wikipedia:
    "A 'live action role-playing game' (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically act out their characters' actions. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by the real world while interacting with each other in character.

    The outcome of player actions may be mediated by game rules or determined by consensus among players. Event arrangers called game masters decide the setting and rules to be used and facilitate play."

    The SCA pretty much ticks all those boxes except instead of "characters" we have "personas" and instead of "game masters" we have the "autocrats and marshals". All the SCA Kingdoms are part of our fictional world in which we have non-historical Crown Tournaments to elect our in-game rulers.

    Kind regards,

    Derek Tomes
    AKA Sir Inigo Missaglia (KSCA – Kingdom of Lochac)

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  4. I agree with Derek. LARP is LARP, its all a fantasy play world.

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  5. I have to say that everyone here is right

    While both qualify as Live Action Role-Playing (You are playing a role, in live action), SCA is far more educational, and involved with history

    But as a LARPer, and with great respect to SCA members, I take great offense at the use of the term 'fantasy play world'. We're not toddlers. We're all bloody well serious about what we're doing, no matter what it is.

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  6. As an SCAer from way back, I'd say that there are things that both types of groups could learn from one another. When I began in SCA, there WAS a GREATER emphasis on creating a Persona & being IN character at ALL events, even just Fighter Practice. That's rarely the case where I live. People show up to our events in mundane clothes, using their mundane names & personalities, & more emphasis is on fighting than on anything else. It may be different in other realms, but our group could use some lessons from the LARPers in keeping in character! Way back when SCA was getting widespread & starting out, it WAS more like playing a game & having fun being someone other than your mundane self. I wish it had stayed that way!

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