Do any of you play NERO?

I, and my family does. We are in Central Ohio and between the 4 of us, belong to 2 different chapters. There are 4 chapters in Ohio. Both sons have been playing for about 3 years. My husband has been playing for 2 years, and I've been playing for about 18 months. We just came back from a 7 day event. It was amazing!!!

I was in it - and by in it I mean helped run it. I was part of a group of D&D nerds that attended one of the earliest games. After a weekend of prancing around a Massachusetts Boy Scout camp in geek regalia, we asked the head of NERO (a bearded blob named Ford) to assist however we could. Soon we were all involved in making costumes, building props, organizing committees, writings plots, revising the gaming system and other assorted weirdness.

Two of my old D&D crew went on to run the first separate NERO chapter and we all were mentioned in a dedication in the published rulebook. Impressed? Bitch, you had better be!

After two years of magical faggery, standing around in the woods in a rain-soaked cloak settling disputes between 200-pound cat girls and effeminate Drow thieves, I left.

- Desmond the Necromancer

I've LARPed with this particular group before, actually. I've only just NPCed for three or four events, but a handful of friends at my highschool regularly attend and occasionally I putter on up to Seattle along with them. =) I'd do it more if I had any money. I have yet to see this film, but I'm really really looking forward to seeing my friends up on screen.

I might be wrong, but I think I saw parts of the Strega battle in the trailer? Goddammit. I was there for that event, but it was in the middle of freaking winter and I got really sick. I spent that battle in my bunk with a raging fever hallucinating that the springs in the bed above me were swaying like kelp. =(

Anyway, my opinion on LARPing:
I personally think it's a lot of fun, because I think of it as interactive improvisational theatre. You've got a costume, you've got a character and a setting, and everyone is contributing to a story and trying to make it as interesting as possible. =) However, I think it crosses the line when it becomes escapsim, or a sort of self-medication. If you seriously wish and desperately pretend to be your character, then there are almost certainly some real-world issues that are in need of remedy. But, as long as you're doing is as a fun aspect of life as opposed to a replacement, it's awesome. =) Just keep it healthy.

And I'm not talking at the OP in particular, I meant "you" in the general sense. o_O

/2cents.

I play and so does my room mate and most of my friends. We are in the Chicago land area and have roughly four chapters near us now. Five if one starts back up next year as it's rumored to. I met most of my favorite people playing NERO and I love the break that it gives you. It's nice to go and be around friends and not just watch a movie, but create it as you go along. I never played and RPG of any kind before NERO and do view it as improvisational acting. Thats what I love about it. No scripts. Just good clean fun. In fact, my daughter has been paging since before she turned 4 and is nine now. Her only complaint is that she knows the game better then half the players but is still too young to play! lol.

I started to, but I don't live close to any chapters and $4 gas and having to give up an entire weekend have conspired to keep me away. I wish there was a local chapter. I'd be all over it. If anyone is thinking of trying it I would wholeheartedly suggest you do so. It is great fun.

[deleted]

Most of my sword-and-sorcery LARPing has been through IFGS, but I have played NERO and some others from time to time. It has long (25+ years) been a favorite hobby of mine.

I don't do much anymore, though, because there currently aren't any LARP groups local to me and what time I do have to dedicate to the hobby is usually taken up by SCA events and such. I still keep in practice, though...just in case.

"Magician, sailor, adventurer...been there, done that."