A retro trip to the days of larp punk

We've been heading out to Czech LARPs and "dřevárny" (wooden sword battles) for quite a few years now. Today's events are often unrecognizable compared to the LARPs of a few decades ago. I attended my first event 15 years ago, and my friends and I have nothing but fond memories of that time. But what was it like even earlier, 20, 25, or 30 years ago?

I asked Skaven (Jiří Reiter), the founder of Fantasyobchod (now imago.cz), to take a break from work, reminisce about the past, and describe in a short article what it was like to be there at the birth of the Czech LARP scene.

Could you briefly introduce yourself and tell our readers how active you were on the LARP scene?

I started going to LARPs around 1998. The first event my friends and I headed to was the Tolkien-themed Battle of Five Armies in Krnov. A year or two later, we organized our own event with friends from the scouts – the Battle of Dargorath (fun fact – it was originally supposed to be Dagorath, but we made a typo on the poster, and it stuck) and thus began the era of legendary Ostrava "dřevárny".

In the early 2000s, we were really into LARPs. We had a civic association that backed all our events, and I personally spent a lot of time building the online community – I created the website drevarny.cz, which featured discussions, event photos, a calendar, and even universal rules.

Just so I don't claim a position that isn't mine – I wasn't there at the very beginning of LARP in the Czech Republic. We jumped into it at a time when it had already been going strong for a few years.

Could you tell which was more common – a story-driven LARP focused on RP and plot, or a classic "dřevárna", i.e., a battle?

In the nineties and early 2000s, "dřevárny" definitely prevailed; story-driven LARPs only started to gain ground later.

How did you explain these trips at home when parents couldn't even look up what a "dřevárna" was?

We were scouts back then, so at first, we masked it as scout expeditions. 😀 But generally, our parents were already used to all sorts of things, so when we set off in the morning dressed in costumes for the tram or train, they didn't even roll their eyes much anymore.

How did finding events and signing up work in the early days of the internet? Was there already some kind of LARP database, or was it mostly through friends?

In the nineties, you went to the center of Ostrava to the only specialty shop for miles around – on Stodolní Street, there was a small shop owned by Mr. Pilch called Geralt, and there was a bulletin board. You just pinned a poster there saying a battle was happening, and people just showed up.

Later, we put posters in schools, which also worked. But of course, with the arrival of the internet and online LARP calendars, Hofyland – which was the main discussion forum where LARPs and "dřevárny" were debated in the Czech Republic – and other channels, we managed to reach more and more players.

How did weapon approval work? Modern LARPs are often strict about weapon approval and safety is a priority. How were those famous hockey sticks wrapped in duct tape approved?

Well, the beginnings were very punk. 🥸 At my first event, I had a shield made from a cardboard box with a stick taped to it as a handle. "Hockey stick" swords made from old hockey sticks reinforced with laminate were completely common. Some guys didn't even bother to wrap them in duct tape and left the original rubber stopper instead of a pommel. 😐 The peak was a guy who used a table leg as a weapon. At least he wrapped the protruding mounting screw in duct tape…

All of this was solved in endless discussions and pub meetings. Every existing club and organizer came up with their own rules, and we tried hard to centralize things so there would be some nationwide consensus and you could use your gear at all events.

Fortunately, that changed soon. At first, they mainly dealt with weapon lengths. When light bamboo weapons appeared, weight became an issue too. When battles became massive and there weren't 20 of us, but 200, safety became crucial – rules for wrapping and padding weapons were gradually added. Strict requirements for arrows were also very important.

How punk were the costumes? I believe a piece of chainmail or plate armor must have been a real artifact at an event, or am I wrong?

You're not wrong. 🙂 At the first events, there was no such thing as a costume requirement, so you'd meet guys in t-shirts and shorts or camo vests, and nobody really cared. It was common for elves to wear white lab coats, for example. 😄

In the best case, someone found a tie-dye t-shirt or painted something on an old hoodie. But this evolved quite quickly, and I think we contributed a lot to that after 2005 with Fantasyobchod. Until then, all LARP gear was 100% DIY. Lots of duct tape, lots of "jekor" (for the younger generation – that's a smooth carpet, an icon of Czechoslovak households especially in the 70s and 80s), faces were painted with pastels mixed with Indulona cream (it was really hard to wash off afterwards…), etc.

One more thing about costumes. Do you remember what your first costume was?

I do, because I had a great tunic from a Tolkien camp – but otherwise, it was mostly some tie-dye, a simple black cloak, basically whatever the house provided 🙂

What was the LARP community like? Were they mostly fantasy enthusiasts, scouts, or a completely different mix of people?

With few exceptions, they were fantasy fans. In the nineties, it was still very much about books and D&D, so all these people were lovers of fantasy literature and role-playing games. However, in 2001 (it's been almost a quarter of a century!), the first part of Lord of the Rings hit theaters, and that started a huge boom on all fronts. At the largest years of our battles, we had hundreds of participants; at the biggest events in the Czech Republic, it was already in the thousands.

In those beginnings, however, it was great – groups were formed that always traveled as specific nations, we knew people from all over the country, and we visited each other's events. I met a huge number of amazing people back then, and I'm still in contact with many of them, even though I'm no longer actively involved in LARPs.

Do you remember any legendary event that took place back then and people still talk about today?

The Battle of Dargorath in Kyjovice will probably always be the most essential event for me. We did about ten years of it; they weren't just "dřevárny", but also wild parties and sources of countless urban legends.

A lot of people know your famous suitcase with LARP goods and the beginnings of Fantasyobchod, which started 20 years ago. How do you perceive the beginnings of costumes, what was the biggest interest in?

For Fantasyobchod, the start of the collaboration with Lenka Kapustková was crucial. She was a great seamstress who dealt with historical and fantasy costumes. For many years, she sewed all our production, managing to make anything from a loincloth to a historical tent.

The biggest interest was in cloaks, and tabards were very popular – many groups went to events in their own colors, so they had tabards made to measure.

I hope you enjoyed this retrospective window as much as we, Kuba and Skaven, did. The LARP scene is constantly evolving, and it's nice to remember the punk beginnings sometimes. Many people think that if they don't have a good costume, they can't go to LARPs so they don't ruin the atmosphere for others or look "awkward". A simple tunic, pants, and a belt. That's all. There will be plenty of time for leather pouches, cloaks, bracers, and other accessories at future events. Because it never ends with just one LARP. 🙂

authors Jakub Šenkeřík & Jiří Reiter (Skaven)