Daniel

Tell us a bit about yourself and what got you into larping

I got into larping way too late.

I was golfing with a friend of mine (I hate golf. Also when I say golfing, I mean drinking heavily and trying to crush balls with the club) when he suggested going larping. I asked what made him want to do that and he told me that he saw a movie called, "Knights of Badassdom" and that it looked interesting. At that time larping did not sound like something I would be interested in at all, but he twisted my arm and I said I'd look into it.

I threw the movie on and got a lot of laughs. It did however paint a bit of a different picture of what I thought larping was. It looked way more interesting and involved than people wearing bathrobes and dollar store toy armor and hitting each other with sticks covered in pipe foam.

After doing a bit of research I attempted to contact several larping groups. Most never got back to me, but SOMI did. I spoke with Ian Palmieri at first, and he gave me quite a bit of information regarding SOMI and about larping in general (thanks Ian!).

A few days before attending my first event, my friend who twisted my arm about going larping had bailed on me, but I said, "Screw it, I'm going anyway." When I reached out to Ian to tell him I was flying solo, he said, "Don't worry about it. You'll make some new friends here."

So I went to the event and met Matt, Chad, Chris and Travis (and several others, obviously) and they gave me the rundown about the Bleak saga and I was blown away! It was then that I realized I had been missing out. What also did it for me was when they explained that the game was driven by the players themselves; every puzzle, every battle, every interaction has the potential to change the course of the event, the lives of the characters, the game world itself! It blew my mind!

What are your other interests?

I love video games, mostly RPGs, but I also like first-person shooters, adventure and strategy games as well.

I like to read fantasy, horror and post apocalyptic novels.

I like to watch movies (when I can): Horror (classic horror, not what passes as horror these days), post apocalyptic/dystopian films, comedies, action/adventure and science fiction.

And I am a music lover. I listen to heavy metal mostly, but I like a bit of everything.

But most of all, I love my awesome wife, my two beautiful daughters and my dog. They keep me pretty busy.

Tell us a bit about your character(s)!

I have been asked several times, "Why play as a human?"

Answer: Because I didn't want to spend all kinds of time creating a character only to not like larping.

Halfdan Geistbrenner's personality is pretty close to my own. He cares about his friends and is happy to help out where he can. He holds law and order in high regard, and believes in doing the right thing, although every now and again he will ignore his moral compass for the sake of righting a wrong. Even then, it's usually never anything too over the top.

I am in the process of writing a backstory for Halfdan. I have some ideas, but due to having two little kids it leaves me with a short supply of free time.

I have plans for other characters in the future, I just haven't gotten around to them yet. That and (again) I don't get too many opportunities to larp due to family obligations and such.

What is your favorite larping memory?

Killing one of the Draconians before fighting Bleak.

Normally I kind of go with the flow, but a dwarf made it very clear he didn't like dryads, referring to my dryad friend Trellis. I very politely pulled him aside and threatened to do very bad things to him if he insulted him in my presence again. Ian , who played the dwarf, approached me later on and said, "You surprised me. I've never heard you threaten anyone, you're usually so easy going."

Standing up to Roger Hent after freeing Duke Hayward from his curse (if it weren't for Sir Mathis I would have died).

On that note, freeing Duke Hayward. As a very new player I got a nod of approval from Ardos for wanting to prove myself despite the risks.

Bleak. That whole day, start to finish was just awesome.

Every Dragonfall. One moment that stands out is the second one where I was publicly corrected by King Lycergis himself, because I accidentally referred to him as "your Honor" instead of "your Majesty". Embarrassing at that moment, but funny later on.

When someone meets you at larp, how can they best get to know you/engage with you?

"Hello" is usually a good place to start. Generally, I'm pretty open and easy going, so if you'd like to talk, get to know me etc. the best way is to just start talking.