The Luminary Roleplay Society

The Luminary Roleplay Society (LRS) is a community of roleplaying enthusiasts in the San Francisco Bay Area.  We seek to use Live Action Roleplaying games (LARPs) as a tool to allow players and writers to explore improvisational roleplaying, story writing, characters, emotions, and new experiences.

The LRS hosts LARPs and LARP writing workshops at local conventions and other venues.  We are interested in collaborating with other roleplaying groups across the Bay Area and beyond in achieving these goals.

If you are interested in joining the LRS, send a request email to the address below and we will get in contact with you. In the email, please let us know who you are, where you heard about our organization, and whether you have LARPed with us before (at an LRS event or otherwise).

Upcoming Events (send us an email for more info including location): 

NOTE: The LRS has procured a Zoom account – if having access to this will help you run online LARPs please let us know and we will see if we can help. 

Note that sending us an email and getting on our mailing list will provide the most up to date info. See also, the CALENDAR. Websites do not always get updated in the most timely manner.

6/5/2021, Strong Female Character: Strong Female Character is a biting comedy about “strong female characters” from all across popular media gathering to rise up, led by Lysistrata, because seriously, these creators can do better. The game will run on Satuday June 5 on zoom from 3:00pm PST until 5:30pm PST. It’s meant for 3-10 players and will employ for its safety techniques open door, cut and break, consent-based play. Players of all genders are welcome, choice of characters will be limited to those who, broadly, fall on the feminine end of the gender spectrum. 

6/6/2021, Drawing out the Demon: Drawing Out The Demon is a creative, silly comedy about 12th century French artists who correspond while creating their big masterpieces about animals they’ve probably never seen before, questionable skill, a variety of friendships and deep and abiding passion. The closing live session one plays an art historian presenting your artist’s work more or less accurately to a group of (not-so-)esteemed colleagues. The game will open with character creation on Sunday June 6 from 2:00pm to 3:30pm PST, after which one will casually correspond over the course of three months, and we close with an art history conference on Sunday September 5 from 2:00pm-4:00pm, with optional debrief afterwards. Open door and cut and break will be employed during live sessions, in between the GM may be contacted if problems arise. Preference for medium can be indicated during your application. 

7/2021, Mini-LARP festival: Lots of short LARPs! Watch email for details. 

8/2021, Dialect:  Dialect is a game about an isolated community, their language, and what it means for that language to be lost. In this game, you’ll tell the story of the Isolation by building their language. New words will come from the fundamental aspects of the community: who they are, what they believe in, and how they respond to a changing world.

11/2021, Grand LARP 2020 (now 2021!) – The Children of the Gods: Welcome to the world of Cengea. The Gods have gifted the people with magic, but at a cost – the ravages of magical devastation roams across the land. Only a chosen few students can manipulate the path of these magical storms before their magic fades with age.

Until recently, a treaty ensured a tenuous peace. The three nations agreed that the storm should hit each nation in turn, sharing the burden. Although the storms took their toll, no one nation suffered too greatly. That all changed when the treaty was broken and one nation was betrayed – and although architects and diplomats struggle to repair what was lost, their work won’t be completed by the next Time of Deciding.

Our story begins at the center of the known world. Here at the College of the Gods, students are trained in the rituals necessary to change the path of the storm. Instructors maintain the veneer of impartiality – but in reality, the faculty is composed of the best operatives each nation has to offer, all vying for control of the magical disaster. But despite their efforts, no nation has the complete picture, and new interests conspire to change the fate of the world. Where the magic will ravage next – and what consequences it will have – are for you to decide. (note: due to the costs and logistics of running a multi-day event with custom characters for each person, the initial cast will be finalized in the spring-time. Those interested afterwards will be accepted on a space available basis. This event also has a participation fee, although financial assistance is available.)

Given the nature of LARPing involves, well, live action, some events have currently been deferred and have no scheduled date – they are listed below.

(DELAYED DUE TO SIP) High Obon: The Nara Shrine now stands empty on the third, final sunset of the 10th High Obon with a unknown Second Crisis,a new unprepared Head Miko, and three powerful Oni parades vying for power. High Obon is an MIT-style four-hour one-shot LARP for 12 players. 

(DELAYED DUE TO SIP) Conflux: It is the year 2650 CE, and the Earth is in shambles. The remnants of humanity are banding together in the Alliance of Nations as powerful elementals engage in internecine warfare. It has taken a hundred years of adaptation and experimentation, but humans may finally possess technology that could tip the balance between the elemental factions.