Starting at Level 1: Your First Enclave and What You Should Know
- enclavelarp
- Feb 26
- 5 min read
Authored by Andy, who started LARPing in 2023
Edited by Reece Photos from Crone's Chronical
Having started LARPing only one year ago, and having several of my friends join me over the past year, I thought it’d be useful to compile all our questions and tips for coming along to Enclave for your first Friday night LARP experience!
The basics are simple. Register beforehand here, turn up to JJ Holland at 7pm in your sturdiest running shoes and in clothes you could exercise and move around in.
You’ll jump right into learning with our New Player Training for your first night. Everyone signs in before 7:30pm, and the game runs from 8pm - 10pm. Each game is usually $15 but on your first night, you’ll jump in for free. Here's some of the questions I asked when I was a new player!
Wait, won’t I need a medieval outfit? And what about weapons and props?
If you’ve got a pre-1600 fantasy outfit, some armour or LARP-safe weapons, you should bring them along and we’ll help you with them during sign in. But if not, don’t stress.
Every night at Enclave we have loaner weapons to use, and don’t expect those newer to the hobby to have a full outfit prepared.
Oh, is that all I need to prepare before I turn up? How will I know how to play?
Each night we run New Player Training which involves going through our rules and core principles of playing safe, having fun, and continuing to assist you throughout the night as you play.
During New Player Training, you’ll learn about the unique game modes, how to safely use weapons and how combat works, class abilities like healing and magic, and more. Importantly, you’ll learn these things before jumping into the fray, and when you do take the field you’ll work together with other new players overseen by our New Player Trainers.
This means you’ll be learning alongside people closer to your skill and knowledge level, and always have someone you can ask for clarification or reminders. Our New Player Trainers will also have some special abilities to help you get back into the fun, even if you’re dying more than your foes!
How is the combat organised on the night? Are there multiple groups all fighting each other?
Whilst you may see on our website there are several unique groups called Houses which show up each Friday, we organise everyone into two teams. This means your allies one night are your foes the next.
Our team works to balance each side once everyone has checked in, had their gear and weapons checked off, and then submitted their hit points and classes for the night. This allows us to balance each night and shift things around, to give each night fair play whilst mixing it up each week.
I’m not sure if combat is for me. What if I don’t want to be hit during the night?
A lot of LARPs do this different, but we’ve developed rules and a role called a non-combatant. This means whether it’s a personal preference or due to accessibility issues, you can jump on the field and be identified by an orange sash as someone players can still interact with, but not directly hit. As a non-combatant or non-com, you won’t use a weapon to interact with others but instead have a range of class abilities to support your allies and debilitate your foes. You’ll participate in New Player Training alongside others who may not be non-coms, and all work together as a team.
As an organisation, we take great importance on this role not being directly struck, and teach every player about how to safely interact with non-coms. This opens our hobby to be more accessible, particularly for those with injury or disability, or those who want to avoid physical contact.
How much of the night is roleplaying?
During a regular Friday Night, roleplay is encouraged despite the major focus being on battle and combat. Roleplay from players can range from dressing up in unique costumes, organised groups of players being part of the same community, to being completely immersed in-character whilst on field alongside fighting.
As the actions at Enclave Battle LARP events are canon inside the world of The Enclave, your actions will have an impact on the world and story as you play. And as you attend more and develop your character alongside other players and our player communities called Houses, which all have different themes and inspirations. These are important for when you join us for your second night.
How do I find out about lore and the world Enclave is based on?
Our story team works hard at making a deep and unique world for us to roleplay in, but on your first night there’s nothing mandatory to know. In fact, a lot of your learning of the world can happen in character, at our events.
However, we know some people froth on lore documents so we’ve got that on our website here. We also have a channel on our discord to discuss further with the community.
Am I supposed to have a character ready for my first Friday?
You don't need to have a character for your first night, and it's actually encouraged to wait until you've played the game.
If you were going to a new restaurant, you'd probably have a good idea of what food you like but won't actually know what to order until you see what they have. Likewise many people come to Enclave with an idea of what kind of characters they like, but a lot of your decisions will be shaped by the things you try and enjoy once you start playing. Your character will also be shaped by the House it exists in, so once you find a group you like running with you'll want to work with them to make sure your character fits their lore and aesthetic.
Of course you're welcome to start looking though the lore and coming up with ideas now, but it's best to be flexible until you find your feet in the game.
We'll have future blog posts sharing how people developed their own characters to check back in on.
What if I have more questions or want to connect with players and organisers beforehand?
You can find links to parts of our community across our website. The Enclave community converges in our own Discord server; allowing members to connect over roleplay, lore, crafting, and find out more about all the events organised by Enclave Battle LARP.
We also post game status updates on Facebook if you’re worried about regular Friday schedules being interrupted by public holidays or severe weather.
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