LARPing?

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So, a friend of mine at the office invited me to join her LARP group. They meet once a month to play out a continuous story. I've watched a couple videos they posted on their Facebook page, and I'm honestly not sure if I want to go. I'm a huge nerd, and I've wanted to try finding a local D&D group to join, so you'd think this would be right up my alley. But I watch the videos of these full grown people dressed up in cheesy costumes running around in public places with foam weapons yelling "Magic missile! Magic missile!", and it just looks embarrassing. Even if I wasn't worried about someone I know seeing me, I feel like my subconscious would be too embarrassed for me to go all in, you know what I mean? It's like, I'm not ashamed of my nerdiness, but this is just too public. Still, she's a really good friend and I don't want to hurt her feelings by saying no. Has anyone here ever LARPed before, and did you have fun? Is it something I'd get made fun of for?

I did it a couple of times way back when I was still at college. Same as you, it wasn't what I would have chosen, but several friends were into it, so I agreed to tag along.

I have to be honest, I did feel like a complete and utter plonker running around bashing people with rubber weaponry - especially when the local dog walkers would wander through the middle of the "battlefield". I also found the whole experience of trying to stay "in character" very difficult, though I was never a D&D player, so maybe that would be more your thing. The other people all seemed to take it so seriously, which just made it harder for me not to crack up laughing the whole time - I just couldn't shake my mental images of Monty Python's "Holy Grail" movie!

Having said all that, it was rather fun - like being a kiddie all over again for an afternoon. If you fancy it, but you're a little shy about it being so public, maybe you could find a reason for your character to wear a helmet or mask that hides your face - that wouldn't be out of place in the game, I wouldn't think.

One piece of advice. Do not on any account be a fool like me, and let someone talk you into borrowing their genuine metal chain mail vest to make your costume more authentic - I felt like I had run a marathon after ten minutes wearing that thing!!

I've only played a little bit of D&D, and that was when my college friend was trying to teach me to play. My work schedule never let me play for more than an hour or two, though, so I never got into it much. Still, I think I'd like that more than LARPing just because everything but the words you say are in your imagination, so you don't have to dress up silly and actually BE your character. Plus, you're usually in your or somebody else's house, not some public place where everyone can look see you. Also, I write stories as a hobby, so the idea of interactive storytelling has always sounded awesome.

I, personally, cannot WAIT until my 2 year old son is a little older so that I have an excuse to re-introduce myself to the world of D&D.

My late brother and I LARPed before it was called anything. We called it sword fighting and pretending, while being embarrassingly old and not telling anyone about it. The last time I remember doing it, I was 14 and he was 16, and he got mad at me for slapping him really hard with my sword. I was "immersed in the storytelling."

If you CAN do it, why on earth not? It will probably make your D&D games better because you can more accurately plan them. For example, you'll have a better idea of what a 10 mile hike will feel like for a person with a constitution of 8. Or whatever.

I would need a dispensation from the general rules if I were to LARP, as D&D currently doesn't support negative Charisma scores...

My voice can be rather high-pitched, though. Does that mean I get to cast Wail of The Banshee at will?

Hahaha! Looks like we need to create a new tabletop role playing game:

WPRP: Wrong Planet Role Playing

Attributes:
-Charisma points, which may be negative
-Constitution, which may be negatively affected by sensory input, such as an unpleasant floor or sounds
-Special Interest points, an attribute unique to WPRP
-Error Detection points, another new attribute: the higher the point level, the easier the character can detect that "something is off" with another character, situation, or environment

I had to Google 'LARPing' out of curiosity! It does look pretty funny, but I'm all for adults having an excuse to act like kids! I'm guessing video games and soon VR will give adults an outlet for this stuff. I can't imagine VR roleplay will feel any different to dressing up in real life and going out to slay pretend dragons. The dragons will just look more realistic in a digital setting.

I want to join the SCA.

I have a friend from my karate class who invited me to LARP. I also found out about a group at a convention who does LARPing. I think it sounds fun!