In 2018 a couple of young gentlemen who played tabletop and computer based roleplaying games discovered the concept of Live Roleplay and Empire specifically.
For some reason they decided to document their journey of discovery from knowing nothing about LARP to becoming first time players and growing to be a valuable contributor to the Empire community.
I can’t recommend their podcast enough. It is the most professional and enthralling amateur podcast I have ever encountered. It is great for people who have never played Empire or LARPed before. It is mostly family friendly with (no iTunes explicit tag) and very high quality both technically and narratively.
The majority of episodes are under an hour and always on topic. There are no rambling tangents and they don’t pretend their knowledge is greater than it is or use this as a vehicles for their egos. Something many content creators find really hard to do.
It is always a focussed conversation rather than scripted information. It isn’t “how to” or “advice” style but a chronicle of what these people did and what they thought. If you are fine with the practicalities of camping, transport, Empire’s setting and rules but perhaps are a little hesitant, shy, anxious or have some other barrier, this is perfect encouragement and support.
If for some reason you can’t LARP or attend Empire then this is a perfect vicarious experience. If you haven’t LARPed in a while (maybe decades) this brings back all those incredible feelings that LARP gives you and you experienced on your beginner’s journey. It takes you back to your first ever event and the rekindles magic you felt. It’s like having your friends attend a new LARP and froth about it so hard you instantly want to go. It is just like having real friends!
The best thing is that they didn’t give up. Neither LARPing nor podcasting. Podfade (the phenomena of losing enthusiasm for making new content and stopping an ongoing series) is a real thing but they are going strong.
Most impressively they have grown and attend a few other events plus regularly have guests from their friend group and from game organisers Profound Decisions. It’s always a joy and a privilege to hear Matt Pennington share his design wisdom.
I can’t recommend this podcast enough to the new player and the retired LARPer. It’s one of the main things that convinced me to want to return.
Here is a link or use your search engine.
https://thelarpnoobspodcast.podbean.com/feed.xml
Oh! And every episode has a mini fiction story at the start and end. With voice acting and sound effects. If you put them all together they make whole epic tale which is amazing!