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 specific location): 

As of March 2022, we are back to running in person events as well as online!

NOTE: The LRS has procured a Zoom account and has access to full google workspace accounts (IE unlimited length google hangouts) – if having access to either of these (or some other resource!) will help you run online LARPs, please let us know and we will see how 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.

7/23/2022 Mini-LARP festival: Our annual event featuring a delectable buffet of short, small LARPs to sample. Lots of short LARPs! Watch email for details. Location: in person, Peninsula. 

8/27/2022, 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. Location: in person, Peninsula

9/11/2022, GM Brunch: Come and chat about writing games! Whether you’ve written lots or want to start or are just curious about LARPs, please come and join us! Location: in person, East Bay 

10/1/2022, Krazny Oktyabr: The year is 1983, and the Soviet Union’s biggest and newest ballistic missile submarine, the Krazny Oktyabr, is on its first post-shakedown cruise. It’s the first submarine ever with a mixed-gender crew, and after four weeks underwater, things are starting to get a bit strained. There are rumors of sabotage, the reactor’s been acting up, the Captain’s acting strange, and rumors say the ship isn’t anywhere near where it’s supposed to be… Location: in person, Peninsula

11/2022, Grand LARP 2020 (now 2022!) – 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.

12/17/2022, First Sabbat: It’s 1998. Small town life can be stifling, especially when you’re a teenager and don’t really fit in. But you’ve found a community on an online IRC channel, one where people talk about and teach about your faith, Paganism. Well, you’re pretty sure it’s your faith. You only really started teaching yourself a few months ago. Now, you and a group of others are meeting up, secretly, for your first in-person ritual to celebrate Samhain. Can you, using your favorite websites, text chat with your friends to create the ritual, plan it, and make airtight plans for secrecy, all in the hour before your mom needs to use the phone?

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.)

(note: for specific locations, please send us an email. Precise locations are not listed here since we sometimes run at private residences people offer up for our use and we’d like to keep those generous people’s addresses private rather than share with the whole internet)

Planned games with no date yet: 

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.