Play

Make-believe for adults

by Laura Siegel

Start with Dungeons and Dragons. Mix in some improv theater. Add a rough script, one Game Master, and a group of eager actors, and you'll end up with LARP -- a live-action role-playing game. A convention showcasing this make-believe for adults comes to Chelmsford this weekend in the form of Intercon XV.

Join in and you may find yourself descending into the Temple of RA, where only yesterday a coterie of Kindred burst into flames. Or you may enter into the universe of Star Wars, or travel to the chillingly eccentric town of Edsel, Nebraska.

LARP writers create plots and tell the players where their characters are, what they know, and what their goals are. With the help of a Game Master -- a director of sorts -- the players make up the rest.

So who does this? "Your everyday people," claims Ilene Patroe, a technical writer who is helping to organize Intercon XV. Many LARP aficionados are college students, computer programmers, or former theater people, and many spend a fair number of their weekends role-playing -- or coming up with costumes for their next game.

"Anybody who's a live-action role-player is really into costumes," says Patroe. "You'll probably see people in Victorian garb" for the game set on a Victorian airship. Participants can find anything from light sabers to elf ears to medieval gowns online, and many sew or build their own costumes.

The highlights of the convention will include a midnight dance and the debut of a mysterious new game -- Etherlines Two: The Morning After.

"I know what happens in Etherlines One," says Patroe, "but I can't tell you."

Sponsored by the Live Action Roleplayers Association (LARPA), Intercon XV takes place this weekend, March 10, 11, and 12, at the Radisson Hotel and Suites, at 10 Independence Drive in Chelmsford. Opening ceremonies begin at 7 p.m. Friday, and games run Friday from 8 p.m. to midnight, Saturday from 9 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is $40 at the door for the whole weekend, including refreshments. For more information, see the Intercon XV Web site at http://xv.ldbw.com.