Sport or LARP?

It is an age-old debate. Are boffer / foam-fighting organizations sports or LARPs (live-action roleplaying games)? If you ask most members of such groups, most would probably respond that it is a sport. In fact, Way of the Sword bills itself as a "combat sport." LARPs are for those who are doing full immersion, as in the infamous lightning bolt video. "We're not doing that," the sporting enthusiasts would say. "We don't have magic. We are engaged in an athletic competition! Thus, we're playing a sport."

I've long thought that this argument is poppycock. Yes, boffer fighting is an athletic endeavor, but it is also so much more.

We can easily see that in the old Dagorhir Handbook. Let's take a look.

Scroll down to page 4. How does the "What is Dagorhir?" section begin? With a fantasy story. It sets the tone by showing that Dagorhir lets you step into a story.

It then describes Dagorhir as "A game, a sport, a martial art . . . a chance to live an adventure." The sporting enthusiasts will lock onto the second descriptor. "It even says that it is a sport!" But notice that the description begins with a "game" and ends with "a chance to live an adventure." This shows, as I said, that boffer fighting is so much more than a sport. It begins with a game. What kind of game? Well, it doesn't specify but the final part implies what it is. You are living an adventure, a fantasy adventure no less. This sounds an awful lot like a roleplaying game, one that uses live-action - in other words, a LARP.

There are more clues. Go to page 7 - a history of Dagorhir. How did the organization begin? The founder wanted to re-create the battle scenes from Lord of the Rings. In other words, he wanted to play the role of the kinds of characters he read about in a fantasy novel. Again, sounds like LARPing.

Scroll to page 9. Before we get to any game rules, we now find a section on characterization. There is a short piece of fiction before we get to the crux of this section.

To set the mood and re-create the atmosphere of battle it’s very important that each participant become some character he or she has made up. Just as in improvisational acting, you should always act out your part; accents are recommended if they sound believable.

Nothing about sport here. It's all about playing a role. This section continues for another 6 pages.

On page 15, we get to costumes. This section begins with the statement that the "battle costume is the single most important factor in re-creating an atmosphere of fantasy in Dagorhir." Once again, the Handbook emphasizes the concept of playing a role in a fantasy setting.

The Handbook then continues with advice on making weapons, starting a chapter, and organizing and running events. The actually rules don't appear until page 54.

So let's recap:

• Dagorhir initially defined itself as more than a sport
• Dagorhir was founded as a way to roleplay epic LotR battles
• Characterization was considered crucial to create a medieval atmosphere in which to roleplay those battles
• Costume (garb) was considered essential to characterization. (Think about it. If we are not roleplaying, why wear medieval garb? We could just as easily fight in soccer jerseys or HEMA gear).

It seems clear to me that Dagorhir was originally envisioned as a kind of roleplaying game. It may not have magic, but that just means it is set in a grittier world. Nevertheless, it is still Live Action Role Playing.

You may ask, what about other games? Surely they are sports. The thing is, Dagorhir was the first boffer combat organization, and pretty much inspired all the others. By looking at Dagorhir, you see the very origins of boffer combat. What are those origins? LARP.