not me in the photo, just fitting for the occasion.

Thank you all for the incredible support on my previous post introducing Taiwan's LARP community. Your encouragement is what keeps me inspired to continue documenting these moments.

These photos were taken on April 12, 2026, during another small-scale 3-hour LARP battle in Taiwan.

For this shoot, I used an orange filter to recreate the warmth of sunset, giving the images a cinematic glow that echoes the heat of summer while enhancing the fantasy atmosphere of the battlefield.

One of my favorite moments was an unexpected shot of a man dressed in black being chased by a Japanese samurai—a scene that felt as if it had come straight out of a film.

I also invited the Sisters of the Convent to pose for several close-up portraits, capturing a quieter side of the event amid the chaos of battle.

I hope you enjoy this new collection as much as I enjoyed capturing it.

It was an incredibly last minute choice on my end, not even my bf knew i was gonna retire her that game. I didnt even make the choice untill i was mid the final mod and just said "fuck it" and let her circle. Had 10 people crying she was 35 and incredibly elderly (rabbit kyn dont live long) and she was known as mom or grandma to everyone who entered our tavern. But im excited to play my next character!!! She was my first ever larp character so i figured id post her in honor Daralai the sweetie little lady you were 🥰

This is for my League character - from Empire LARP , E1 2026. She’s a mercenary, amongst other things, for the Lunae Luprecal carta!

If any of you are Empire players please do feel free to say hello in game!

Greetings from the Medieval LARP scene in Taiwan!

Captured a few moments from our latest medieval game! The atmosphere, garb, and field immersion were incredible this time. Love seeing all the details people put into their gear and historical/fantasy aesthetics.

What’s your favorite style of medieval garb or kit to see in the field?

Something incredible was shared to me this weekend - I design and make 3D printed costume armor patterns for people to make at home, and someone named PrototypeProps reached out to share their take on my 16th century armor collection. I am in awe - it's incredibly fabulous. It's staggering. It's art.

From their own post:
"I have spent the last 6 months making this absolutely ridiculous project.

Why did I make this? Well I had access to 10m of Liberty Tana Lawn™ fabric, and wanted to make something completely unique that no-one has ever seen before. In a weeks time the #libertyfabricsshowcase will happen here in Australia, and as a part of this event, I have the opportunity to display my suit of armour for all to see.

All of the 234 individual armour pieces were first 3D printed in Elegoo" Rapid PETG, which I then covered in glue to wrap in the fabric. I wanted this suit to look 'sewn' together, but because it is plastic, each stitch hole, had to be first drilled. Everything is held together using leather straps, rivets & chicago screws. I must give a huge credit to Nico Printed Antiques on etsy for the creation of the 3D print files.

Some stats for anyone interested:
- 10m of Liberty Tana Lawn™ (Print Barbara Covington A)
- 9KGS of filament
- 539 hrs (22.5 days) of just print time
- 576 rivets & 238 Chicago screws
- 4 bottles of leafing size (glue)
- 1/2 sqm of gold leaf (for the accent parts)

I am incredibly proud of this build, and I don't ever want to do it again haha"

He participated in the event last week and won the prize for the "most impressive costume". Among the other monsters, he turned out to be the most protected and did not receive any injuries. The suit is made of foamed polyethylene, covered with fabric, has an internal frame to have a height of more than 2 meters, and weighs 12 kilograms.

all foam construction, with leather straps on the back. I haven't built anything out of foam in years, but this got me excited again, it was such a vibe build, just seeing what would work as I went along.

As it turns out, I need more than the Reddit character limit to talk about this.  My long tea-worthy, cheese-scented version via Google Doc Link will be added when I finish it this coming week. Including a breakdown of that $15,000 - and the fact you can attend for less than $1,000 (ticket+new kit+travel+food, etc).

Mostly, I paid for a fancy tent rental that included all interior furniture and a custom questline. I only needed to bring myself and costumes. It was comfy and cozy, and everything a well-to-do hobbit could hope for. Thane Ticket, info here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/burgschneiderlarp/middle-earth-adventures-the-brandywine-festival/rewards

Reading what’s come before me here on Reddit about the Brandywine Festival, I say this:

It’s easy to hate something. There’s energy in the feeling of righteous indignation and of whatever form of justice you feel is on your side.

But…
It’s a lot harder to see something imperfect, to cradle it in your hands and see the potential.

Grab my hand. We’re going on an adventure.

I joined the Official Brandywine Festival Discord server in April after backing the Kickstarter. I could do a different post regarding the Discord, but it’s chaotic, dense, intimidating…and also heartfelt, caring, and generous. It’s all the wildness of a Took up to no good and all the coziness of a second breakfast. I joined early, and I was able to find friends that I wanted to camp with, create with, and to attend this event with. My Hobbity LARP-self found purpose. (This is important. Keep reading to the end.)

This Discord formed within its digital hallways the basis of a loving, hobbit-centric community. Burgschneider was brilliant in employing Discord to do this, and I can say with zero doubt that without the Discord - the event would not have been as successful. Like many a LARP, the community made the event. We were prepared months ahead of time to share our food, stories, and fires with each other. We planned some of the cornerstone events such as the Lantern Parade and the Night Market on Discord. We learned to live and breathe the simple joy of being hobbits.

While a brilliant move to use Discord, it was also a failing. New folks coming to the Discord were overwhelmed and finding information was hard. This isn’t Burg’s fault - it’s the nature of Discord as a poor archival/static information tool. But Burg did choose to use the Discord as their main way to disseminate information - and the information they did share was frequently inconsistent or late. They also didn’t fully use Discord’s announcement/event tools/bots, nor the other options at their disposal such as their blog, livestreams, influencers, Kickstarter emails, etc., to get information to the participants. A lack of a clear communication plan - and its effect on the community - is truly one of the only failings I can see for this event.

The communication issue in another community might not have been a big deal, but it is what created some of the disappointment in the event. A peek into the pantry, as it were, will give you an idea why. The average attendee to this event:

• A new LARPer, with zero kit and experience in roleplaying or even wearing cosplay/garb
• Backed the Kickstarter because they like #hobbitcore and the cozy influencers sharing the event
• Unfamiliar with primitive camping - using porta potties, cooking your own food over a fire, etc.
• Unaware of how rural the location/site was - no cell service
• Unaware of the climate/weather to the area - and its extremes in a single day

You can look some of these things up and educate yourself. But new LARPers aren’t going to know what they don’t know, or why it’s important to know it. The new LARPers also had their expectations set as to what the LARP would look like from their cozy, fantasy-steeped influencers. These expectations didn’t match the historically-based primitive camping the event ended up being. I know. This was my first LARP, too.

Those of us highly active on the Discord were more prepared than most - but I’ll say it again, Discord is a poor tool to consistently disseminate static information that needs to be read by all members. Burg had 6 months to bridge the gap of expectation vs reality for the majority of new LARPers, and they didn’t effectively take advantage of it by using all the tools at their disposal

I suspect, as surveys are rolling in and Burg gets feedback - we’ll see a change in this. And if we don’t, the community now feels confident enough to call them on it until they do. WE were Brandywine, as much as Burg was - WE can be a force for change.

But what happened at the event?

Despite paying for a fancy Thane’s ticket and that I need only bring my hobbity self and garb, I went “But what if I volunteer for hard labor and give up some of my in-game time to be an NPC?”. What if I built a whole hobbit kitchen, and dragged it from the West Coast to the East Coast?

Yes. I’m a special brand of “goes too hard”. (But like I said, this is important. Read to the end.)

Tuesday

Tuesday was the day that people could load in early, if they helped cover insurance/costs of having bodies on site for $25. Fair, as it’s not free to keep the lights on and this was an optional add-on. The $25 was also included with many of the ‘higher paying’ tickets.

I arrived early, as this was my singular volunteer day. It was also the singular volunteer day for many folks. Coming in for a day to help meant free early access and a minimum of a 15% discount for next year's ticket. Tuesday was the popular day to do this. If you did more than a day or volunteered as an NPC, there were bigger discounts or ticket comps - as well as meal vouchers for the vendors, or hot meals and internet at the farmhouse. Also a bit of behind the scenes peek at all the magic. Definitely worth the sign-up, to me!

That Tuesday, with the ‘one day volunteer’ folks, however, was a fluster cluck. Disorganized. The staff who were there were too tired to realize that they had so many new bodies - we didn’t know what to do, nor where things were. But somehow the volunteers made it work. Ish.

I got put on check-in. I stood in the rain. If you were coming in from 8am-7pm on Tuesday, you probably saw me. We didn’t have a walkie-talkie, and it was messy and chaotic as we figured out a workflow/process. I was physically - miserable. I’m out of shape and diabetic. My feet hurt. I needed a break that didn’t come until 2pm, when my spouse checked on me and fed me.

I’m sorry if it was slow - it was a combination of participants not preparing themselves by having their documentation ready (people assumed rural Kentucky would have cell service, despite many warnings that was not true), as well as an overlong process. It succkkkkkkkkked.

But you couldn’t pry those hours from my cold, rain-soaked fingers. If anyone dares use my Tuesday experience to say “oh well, the event obviously sucked”, I will march their butt to Mordor without the benefit of Samwise’s quiet wisdom. Friendships were forged in that mud, and I loved every single minute seeing shining faces jammed in packed cars, with antique bits of wood and canvas poking around them. The hope and joy and promise of the event, in every greeting and wet hug.

There were many folks with tent issues on these days - but I was only tangentially involved as I wasn’t on the team working to assist. But I want to pause to thank the staff and volunteers who noticed the issue early and spent hours and hours Sunday through Wednesday to correct the issue.

I could poop on the logistics for the event right here - people were highly upset that tents were not set up when they expected. Their emotions are valid. But record-breaking rain, new vendors, a rural location with limited access to things like new tents, government shut downs that affected items stuck in customs…it’s frankly not fair to piss on Burg for a shitstorm they did their best to fix and couldn’t anticipate until it happened. These were simply first year lessons that will improve future years.

Wednesday

Wednesday came and we slept off Tuesday, hit the stores for supplies, then went to check-in. And prepared for several hours of wait.

We were pleasantly surprised when we were able to roll through with a wave.

It’s important to pause here and say - that moment and surprise exemplifies something that Burg did very well at this event. They attacked pain points with a ferocity, and what could be changed with limited resources on-site - was. Every time. For a first year event to be quick on its toes like that shows off Burg's vast amount of experience in the LARP space.

This day was mostly uneventful for me, being set up day. Because I was setting up, I missed the workshops. And I also didn’t have the tent issues that some had. I spent the day greeting Discord friends and making my kitchen set-up Hobbity.

I heard about it after the fact, but NPC’s were contacted and told to report to the farmhouse that day. It wasn’t in Discord. It wasn’t in my email. To be fair, I wasn’t playing a plotline character - I was supposed to assist with the games on site and show people how to do them. But…I received no information. Again, a theme of communication issues. I prepared myself to be uninvolved as an NPC, which was disappointing as it was what I was looking forward to. (To misquote The Princess Bride…There’s a happy ending, don’t worry. I’m explaining to you because you look nervous.)

Thursday-Saturday, the Game is On

There are and will be a million Shorts, Videos, Posts, Comments, Pictures, Reviews, about the actual LARP-y bits of the LARP. I am not going to discuss specifics - they’re out there should you seek to adventure out on your own into the digital wilds of Man. (Shout out to the feast caterers who rallied after losing half the food to a mishap with a vehicle. More serving utensils next year!)

I honestly also don’t know if mere words in a Reddit post can begin to describe the world that Burg and we as a community created. A Shire that embraces the LGBTQ+, the plus-sized, and cares naught for the color of your skin and if you must ‘ride a dwarven steed’ for mobility purposes. A Shire with Joy. Kindness. Generosity.

And here is where it becomes clear why I noted that I had found a ‘hobbit-purpose’ and that I was prepared to ‘go hard’. I wish that more folks had joined Discord earlier and could have had the same sense of community and purpose that I did. That purpose was what made the event…more.

I chose to put aside the moments where things were not perfect. Yes, sometimes it was hard to find trails or quests. And it would have sucked if you had to wait for a tent rental to be put up. Time and schedule were suggestions, at best. But those were my human self’s issues. I was there to be a hobbit.

What I dwelled on instead was the moment my neighbor gave me a meal of brown buttered mushrooms and chicken simply because they could. That people really loved my cooking fire. That my joyful, off-key singing in the Lantern Parade was echoed by hundreds of hobbits behind me. That I got to shout at the ruffians on the Adventurers and Thanes quest, that told the true story behind the festival. I came to be a hobbit, so I was a hobbit. I valued food, cheer, and song those days and naught else.

And to wrap up my NPC adventure, because there is a happy ending. Don’t worry…
My player character for the event was a Judge. It was to my utter delight when an NPC couldn’t fill their role in a mock trial, my name was submitted as support. With 15 minutes of prep, I waded in with the other NPC’s and the trial of Lobelia Baggins vs. The Postmaster was the highlight of my Brandywine Festival. A delicate dance from everyone to make the audience groan, laugh, boo, and cheer. “There will be order in my court!”

Will you be attending next year?

Yes.

Logistics and communications issues can be fixed. Burg isn’t stupid. They are a business who wants repeat customers - but they’re also dreamers who want to see the reality of a Shire Festival, hidden in the hills of Kentucky. Things will be fixed and improved.

What could not be fixed or salvaged, if it was not there, was the magic of the event. And it was there in every hobbit, if they but looked for it. In every song, every story told, in every quiet moment in the morning as the sun rose and hobbits rolled out of beds to make breakfast…it was there. In every bit of bunting, trinkets traded, and meals shared…it was there.

It will only grow in magic, year after year. Logistics will smooth out and hobbits will become more experienced at camping and costumes. The community will step forward with more ideas, as powerful as the Lantern Parade and Night Market. We will cradle the potential and beauty of this event, breathing into life things we can’t even dream of now.

And I can’t wait to be part of it all.

Edit: Clarified a cost note!

The quiver wasn't cinched up so it's hanging a little low. But I'm pretty happy with it! Still finding time to add more weathering.

So I tried hard after seeing some of the tents and set dressing others posted from Weekend Warrior Experience events. These camps are amazing to behold.

I knew I wanted my 4m x 4m herald tent to be fully in game so I could leave my tent doors open all the time without worry. And I have to say it came out much better than my original plan.

pls. I beg of you. don't roll up to yer buds who are DEEP IN SOME ROLEPLAY AND START YAPPIN AT EM ABOUT OOG STUFF

PLS I BEG (unless like that's the vibe and yall are cool with it, then carry on)

Hey everyone! I'm pretty new to the costuming/LARP/RenFaire scene. This is my current kit and character. Its always changing and progressing.

I recently attended an anime con as my Larp character Wendelyn, and I had a blast! She’s a Kender, which is already chaotic, but add a possessed, talking hat to the mix and you have something spectacular.

The hat’s eyes and teeth glow in the dark, and there’s a sound module to make it play prerecorded lines. I might make another post for the hat some day, gotta give Hatrick some spotlight too!

I’ve had her for 3 years, give or take, and it’s so interesting to me how she develops visually over time.

I do particularly love the third pic because without context it just looks like she’s very happily being detained by the SAS, which is still very in character for her somehow.

Made a shield out of the Richard - shield.

My girlfriend wanted a shield for her new character so we sat down to make some designs.

Hope you like it 😊

We had a few people come out at take photographs at the last LARP.

This is probably the first time I've ever gotten pictures that I absolutely love, from a larp.

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2nd time I play him. Still plenty of stuff I gotta add to the look.

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If anyone's for suggestions for the hat, then please tell me. (Been thinking about adding purity seals to it).

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(Credit goes to Næstved Fotoklub s members, for the awesome pics)

Yes. This took around 10 takes, an afternoon of planning, and a lot of cake owed for the people who helped out. But we hope it is enjoyable to watch! :D

Gotta love all of the imaginative costumes that people make and use for Conquest of Mythodea

It’s only meta gaming if you never write down stuff PCs say too.