Jack of Many Trades

Live Action Enchantment

Originally posted: 2013-08-27

In college, I hung out with a group of great roleplayers and was part of a much larger community of variable quality roleplayers. We did tabletop during the week and it seemed like one LARP or another was running pretty much every weekend around town or campus. I played vampires, werewolves, more vampires, a were-crow, a couple of mages and even fae.

The first time I enchanted something was entirely by accident. I had a pair of goggles, and I had a character who had goggles that allowed her to see something's true form. I used them that way for weeks.

Then one night, after the LARP was over, a handful of us went out "paranormal investigating" at a cemetery a ways outside of town. (Yeah, I know it was dumb, I was nineteen and bored.) We were still in costume, including me in my goggles. Traffic went by, and I slid my goggles down over my eyes to reduce the blinding glare.

And then I saw something, with no real idea what it was.

Goggles off, nothing. Goggles on, something. I didn't say anything, but the Designated Mediums and Psychics in the group commented on a thing that was there. Where I saw something, goggles on.

I had essentially managed to "enchant" the goggles by treating them as if they were enchanted. They certainly didn't work to "RPG standards" - it was never obvious in the way it was as a game mechanic. But I have never had any luck seeing metaphysical things physically, except when I had those goggles.

Eventually they broke, and I've never had the chance to replace them. I've experimented since, though I don't LARP anymore and so it's harder now to get in the right mindset. It's one of the most fun ways I've come across to enchant and empower my tools, though.