The way I describe LARPing to people who don't do pen'n'paper RPGs, and I hope that this description crosses cultures well: imagine when you used to play pretend as a child. Everyone would have a cool idea or character they wanted to be, and if the kids got along well, then they could work together to make a fun game, but if they didn't, you'd have a bunch of kids who all wanted the entire game to be played their way.
LARPing is playing pretend, with an established setting, and an established set of rules that exist to communicate what your character can do, and what happens when characte…