by Tom Haswell

I just wanted to submit a little something on a LARP group I have been attending recently -- NERO Alliance (specifically their HQ chapter).

This was a long time ago for most of us, but do you remember the stunning joy of first immersing yourself into the realms of tabletop fantasy gaming? You lost all track of time, nearly lost track of reality, and just completely got lost in the moment? I hadn't really had it happen again for about the last 10 or 12 years, then a friend took me to a NERO Alliance game.

Wow.

I was simply blown away. The costuming was great, the large plumbing supplies we were beating each other with were as visually distracting as I first thought they'd be, and there was nearly constant plot happening all around me. I wasn't even sure who was PC and who was NPC! Then the first real battle hit -- my barbarian character managed to start cutting and hollering his way through rank after rank of minor NPC bad guys, only to get quickly put in his place by something far less crunchy!

I've been to three events now so far, and I just can't get enough. The plots are constantly "topical" for the characters, ranging from romance issues to race relations, the undead and monsters, and the townies getting a plague for which we had to discover a cure, to a Tournament where the major villain inserted a team and took hostages to try to make sure they'd win!

The costumes are great, and sometimes even of such quality that you see something coming and decide it's probably best not to be there when it arrives just because of its appearance. Fog machines cover the undead as they rise from their graves. Sometimes you're woken up in the middle of the night by the sounds of ghastly dogs howling, you look across a field and see bright red and green eyes staring back at you, closing in.... Oh, they could charge double the price for admission and it's still worth it!

One of the most important things to me, though, has been how much the owners and staff will try to assist their paying customers. The first event I attended, we arrived three hours late and were nearly crushed by a truck on the way there, so we were not in the best of moods when arriving. Mike Ventrella and his staff helped the three of us get our gear, game tags, and even lent me some supplies to help me finish our group's weaponry. Plus, when a major plot point began outside the cabin where I was feverishly trying to finish up our equipment, he came in to get me, saying "Just come outside for this part, you really don't want to miss it, I'll make sure nothing attacks you yet."

Since that time I've met one other Alliance owner and am looking forward to playing in her chapter as well next season. I've met nothing but class people from three different chapters now (HQ, NJ, and MA).

I've been in this hobby for 15 years now, and played under more game systems than I think I'll ever be able to remember. I've seen a lot of good games, a lot of bad games. Done a bunch of conventions, published my own tabletop once, and nearly have another one purchased right now (keep your fingers crossed for me!), but even with all that past history I was simply amazed by the game that the staff of NERO Alliance put on.

I think everyone should check out http://www.nerohq.com/. Find out where the chapter closest to you is, and when the events are. And bring a friend. I brought two friends to my second event, they each brought another person to their second. And nobody's left disappointed yet.

And if you were make it to a NERO Alliance HQ game, look for the big furry barbarian in hide and copper armor. Come up to me after the event and let me know you read this and showed up -- I'd be thrilled to know I helped someone else experience this.

Good luck and good hunting!

Tom Haswell
Pennsauken NJ