In a field near Ross, a warrior in leather armour wielding a foam sword faces off against a cloaked elf with a bow-and-arrow. No, you’re not hallucinating, it’s just a couple of friendly people playing LARP (Live Action Role-Play).

LARPing is where people dress up in characters of their making and role-play scenarios with others, typically in the fantasy genre. It’s a niche hobby whose participants are very passionate. A lot of work can go into making a character, including how they look, their backstory, personality, to the way they talk.

It’s very much a thing in Tasmania, and one such group is Southern Isles LARP. They hold events all over the state, rotating between the north, middle, and south of Tassie, with Ross being their most common hangout space.

Daniel Robertson is the group’s World Lore Advisor. He oversees and writes what happens in the story. “My job is to tell people what’s happening,” Daniel says. Without him, people would be flinging swords at each other without context. Their events take place in Aluran, a high fantasy mediaeval world of their own creation. Aluran has detailed societies, gods, factions, and locations, filled with magic, monsters, and different races like elves and dwarves.

They run four types of events. The most common are standard combat days which they call CTA (Call to Arms). Twice a month, people play as their characters in battles, armed with swords, shields and other (safe) weapons, with different game modes like capture the flag or all out war. Training Days are small events where people train for combat. Social Days don’t involve combat and are more casual, with role-play still involved, and can be picnics, BBQs or craft days.

Finally, their biggest events – though less frequent – are DOAs (Destiny of Aluran), which involve heavy role-playing and storytelling. Players follow a plot written out by the lore team, mixing in a variety of challenges like combat and puzzles. Daniel’s working on a big one set to happen in early 2026. “It’ll be a part-hike, part-combat, part-orienteering mystery thing,” he says.

Whether it’s thrifted, bought, or homemade, a big appeal of LARPing are the costumes. “I’m Scottish by blood, so I actually wear a kilt and other bits and pieces,” Daniel says. “We’ve got a resident leather worker in our group, so we have lots of leather armour. Some people have anthropomorphic accessories like tails if they want to play something a bit more animalistic. We’re not uniformed, we’re very varied. We don’t dictate that everyone has to fit a certain aesthetic. It’s very much up to the individual.”

Good starting gear for newcomers can be a simple loose-fitting pants and white button shirt. They also have a saying, “Kit ends at the feet” – meaning to prioritise comfortable shoes, whether it fits the costume or not.

LARPing is a varied hobby and people get different types of enjoyment out of it. “I generally like the physical sword-fighting elements,” Daniel says. “Also, I used to do a lot of theatre when I was a bit younger so I like the pageantry.” The main thing that attracts him through, the reason to keep coming back, is really quite simple: “It’s just a good crowd. Everyone’s laid back. Everyone’s accepting. We’re all aware that what we’re doing is quite silly, but we enjoy it.”

Consent and safety play a big part in LARP, and Southern Isles have in-game signals for this. For example, displaying a “moose horn” with your hand (splayed hand with your thumb touching your temple, palm facing forward) signals to others that you are out of character and not participating. Another example is saying “Please, please don’t…”, which is a way of indicating you want something to happen. For example a character might say “please, please don’t kidnap me!” which means they’re giving consent for that to happen.

If there’s something Daniel wishes more people knew about LARPing, it’s this: “I want people to know we’re not hermits. We’re all quite social. We get out and do things. And it’s not as dorky as some people might suspect. Because the way I see it, it’s like paintball but with swords. We don’t force people to be in character. We encourage it, but some people get embarrassed, and that’s fine.”

The group is always on the lookout for new members, and for the curious, their Facebook page has loads of information at the top of the feed. To anyone interested in LARPing but nervous to take the plunge, Daniel says, “Come along and try it out. You’ll definitely lose the nerves as it goes on. The other thing I’d say is just have fun with it. We all know it’s silly! We enjoy it more than we’re embarrassed by it.”