Animals in Larp. Not the fake bears, or plushy beanie babies people have become akin to, but real live breathing animals.
But a number of Larps do allow PC's to bring animals. I googled it and was surprised by the variety of dogs, ferrets (yes ferrets), horses, and birds that you can find coming to events with their human companions. They can add tremendously to the ingame atmosphere of almost any game.
BUT.
Is it worth it?
Boarding animals to attend a Larp event can get pretty pricey. Boarding my two dogs runs about $80.00 an event. Some friends of ours have three large dogs and it is WAY pricey. Luckily, mine are small and yappy, which apparently equates to cheap boarding.
I've brought my dogs to Exiles before and it wasn't an issue. I was worried about them running off and boy were they barkie, especially during combat, because they were so excited.
They can, very much, add to the ingame atmosphere. Have a game with Familiars? Totally rad.
Maybe it is just my old age, but I'm terrified of having animals at Larp and them getting hurt/hurting someone. In the end, I'd rather throw the extra bucks and board them.
In the case of my yappy yappy dogs, they come back exhausted from playing all weekend. I get the added bonus that I missed them and am happy to have them back - for the 45 seconds it takes before they go insanely barking at the passersby outside. :-)
What do you think? Should animals be allowed at Larp? Case by case?
I would say it would have to be case by case. Obviously a horse would be amazingly awesome, but what if there's an injury. Also most dogs would probably do well, but what if they get loose and get over excited and attack someone or plain just get lost? Cats could be cool, but the same issue ifvthey get loose. Birds might be easy to do except for the pooping. But as long as their flight wings are clipped, it would be easy to keep tabs on them. Overall I would say that it would need to be a case by case. With some serious insurance waivers.
ReplyDeleteI would be very apprehensive. I'm thinking mostly dogs in my head, but larger dogs can injure people if they get too exited, and I would worry about smaller dogs getting stepped on or injured in battle.
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