yknow what i do have thoughts about this and i still cant sleep so here it is: should you LARP characters outside of your race?
i am specifically talking about race, not ethnicity, in a LARP setting where you are portraying the character yourself. you SHOULD make characters of different races and ethnicities in your rpgs, writing, art, etc. and there are lots of resources and guidance on doing so respectfully.
so, should you LARP characters outside of your race? i think a good baseline is "no, if..." there's nuance to this, including whatever nuance is a part of the rpg your larp is running. here's kinda of how i think about it from the perspective of two different larp systems
#1 - vampire the masquerade - parlour larp, political and personal horror game, the formats I've run/played in are very conversational and serialised. race and ethnicity are terribly handled in the core rulebooks, and not much has been done to rectify those issues. newer core systems sort of omit or write over vtm's racist past but it 100% persists through the rulebook writers and the players/STs. i have kind of a unique position on this having been a diversity hire for By Night Studios, but this company only cares about appearing non-racist without putting in any actual work (surprise surprise).
anyways, all that to say, race is very relevant for the characters, as vtm takes place in a modern setting that mirrors real life and real history. i view playing a character outside of your race in this system as something you can do, but it needs a lot of care and nuance (especially if you are white and you want to portray a non-white character). I've had players ask me about playing a character outside of their race before, and here's my advice for doing so/some questions to ask yourself or your players before larping a character outside of your race (tbh these can be used for ttrpgs as well):
- why? in vtm, there are a lot of (racist) lore reasons why your character might be a certain race. ask yourself if portraying a different race is a meaningful change that makes sense with your character's backstory and identity and not just "well this group is always [insert race]" (ex. i notice this most often with ministry, ravnos, banu haqim, samedi characters where the player defaults to making them a certain race because 'thats what the book says')
- follow up, is your reasoning racist? really question why your character *needs* to be a certain race, in VTM and WOD/COD in general. honestly in most rpgs.
- is this your first character? if yes, then make your character the same race as you. better to get a feel for larping first imo and then once you have the hang of it u can revisit other ocs who are a diff race than u are.
- are you drawn to playing a certain race/repeatedly making characters that are one race that isn't your own? aka, are you fetishizing a certain racial group? ask yourself why *you* want to play a certain race, and what racist beliefs you need to work through first.
- is your portrayal of this race a full, complete character, or are they a stereotype? if you notice stereotypes in your character, it might be a good idea to evaluate what internal biases led you to those character choices. and definitely don't larp a stereotypical character (this also applies to portraying other marginalized identities at LARP, such as disabled or queer characters).
- how does this change the game for your character? or, how does it impact them? if you don't have a clear answer here, stick to your own race. let me be clear: under no circumstance should you try to portray your character using makeup/costumes/props/etc.
I'll use my own oc, Yvonne, as an example of what I think this should look like. Because I am brown, Yvonne's whiteness impacts her only in my own mind: How I think about how she presents herself, her own biases, her relationships, deciding on her financial position, etc. I did not explicitly say she was white when I introduced her in character, or make a name tag that said 'white character'. It's a part of her backstory and it mildly impacts the roleplaying choices I make for her, specifically her own view of herself. That's it.
- So, if no one knows that your character is a different race, how does it impact the game? If you can't answer that question, then you don't need to play a character outside of your race at LARP.
#2 - local boffer larp - I won't specify the system for anonymity's sake, but it was a fantasy boffer larp with a very specific setting that did not have race/racism detailed (which is another topic altogether). point being, no one character build had racist lore, and the setting was not related to modern earth or even historical earth. in this type of LARP setting, i think it is inappropriate to make a character outside of your own race. there is no need, no value to the story, and really veers into fetishization of other races (why do you want to? ask yourself, please)
anyways, for the most part i think "no" is fine enough. your dm/gm/st doesn't need to explain, especially *especially* if they are Black, Indigenous, or a person of colour and you, the player, are white. but if you are going to explore playing a larp character that is a different race than your own, i strongly urge you to ask yourself these questions and do research so that you are doing so appropriately.
well its 1 am. idek how poorly written this is. if you have comments or additions please add them as I'm sure I've missed a lot, but tbh I'm really not looking for opinions from white people.
