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NERO is the leading
Live Action Role
Playing (LARP) game in America and Canada today!
Based in a medieval/fantasy genre, the
NERO Game System© supports player characters that advance in experience and
ability based on event attendance and treasure acquired during play. Come
explore the fantasy world of Tyrra, where
you can Be All That You Can't Be!™
(Frontpage updated 12/20/2004 - JAV)
Welcome to the NERO®
Headquarters website. Managed by the President of NERO, Joseph Valenti, this is
the centralized hub for
NERO International, Chapter Owners, and National & Local Staff,
containing the information that is spread among our entire network. This
centralized presence provides a one-stop place to acquire information
needed to support our 50+ local
NERO
Chapters.
Our Mission of Purpose
We will entertain our players by
providing a gaming atmosphere that is both challenging and fun, regardless of
whether a person prefers adventure, combat, politics, physical, role-playing, or
mental challenges.
We will offer our members
well-balanced events that provide all of our players an equal opportunity to be
both entertained and advance in the areas of their particular skills and
interests.
Read The History of NERO®.
To Buy a NERO® Rule Book©, Click Here!
To Open a NERO® Chapter,
Read This!
To Buy LARP Products,
Visit www.Merchantswares.com
To Buy LARP Products,
Visit www.NeroStuff.com
To Buy LARP Products,
Visit www.latex-weaponry.com
To Buy LARP
Products, Visit
Joseph Valenti, the President of
NERO®,
uses this NERO LARP Web Site to coordinate Managers and Project Leaders
Telephone (914)
309-7718 Electronic
Mail address
NeroInt@aol.com
Postal address NERO®
P.O. Box 543
Rye NY 10580-0543 U.S.A
The History of
The New England
Roleplaying Organization, or NERO ®, founded in 1988, is the premier fantasy
live action role-playing game in the United States and Canada today. With over
35 Live Roleplaying Chapters that are committed to providing an enjoyable
atmosphere to both youths and adults, NERO has no match. Children under 16 must
have a parent in attendance or an assigned Legal Guardian. The Game emphasizes
player character interaction in a well-developed and consistent game world.
Blending the elements
of classical fantasy fiction such as Lord of the Rings, and the melodrama
of Renaissance fairs, the New England Roleplaying Organization attempts to
recreate the Days of Legend and Fantasy as we would like them to be, not as they
actually were. NERO provides players with an opportunity to experience the
thrill of a medieval style adventure firsthand, like Harry Potter, bringing to
life a diverse array of characters.
The NERO Game Systems
and its supplements detail how to; track members, build player characters,
regulate game play, register for events, update characters, award volunteers,
etc.. It also allows members to play their character(s) from one fantasy realm
to another yet in a single world environment, while using the treasure gained at
one chapter in the other nearby chapters. NERO Game Systems tap into the fantasy
tradition of King Arthur, Robin Hood, Tolkein and Renaissance fairs, providing
its customers with the opportunity to participate in the plot, in person, in
most cases throughout an entire weekend.
NERO ® was launched
in 1988 by Ford Ivey in the Boston Massachusetts area. Ford owned a gaming store
and had been operating single day adventures and weekend long events for his
customers since 1987 under the auspices of Legends Unlimited, which attracted
over 100 players per event. The game was called ‘Weekend in the Woods.’
Ford gathered a group
of his players together to help create an in-game town where the staff would
play the parts of the core townsfolk and the players would be the adventurers,
role-playing with each other and staff, using swords and sorcery to combat
adversaries. Ford spent considerable time and energy in building the business to
generous proportions and in creating the rules and the in-game world for the
local chapters to use.
In the fall of 1991
an article about NERO ® was published in Dragon Magazine which captured the
notice of thousands of gamers. NERO Massachusetts enjoyed attendance by 500 to
700 players for three years thereafter, operating 10-12 weekend long events each
year. Ken Courtney and several of his friends in the Pittsburgh PA area saw the
article. They attended an event in Massachusetts that October and concluded that
this experience should be brought to the Pittsburgh area. They held a very cold
event in February of 1992, attracting 22 local adventurers. Thus the Pittsburgh
Roleplaying Organization was formed. PRO has staged 10-12 weekend events every
year in PA since then, with over 100 people in attendance.
Many more new
chapters were started in the years to come, with more than 15 chapters by 1998.
For a Complete list of all 35+ Chapters in the U.S. and Canada, visit
www.NeroLarp.com/Chapters.htm
After 10 years of
owning a chapter and operating the parent company, Ford and Maureen Ivey decided
to retire from NERO ®, selling the parent company to Joseph Valenti on August 3,
1998.
Since his inception,
Joseph Valenti has been advertising in Realms of Fantasy, Dragon, Dungeon, and
Renaissance magazines and has also been promoting Chapter attendance at local RP
Conventions. NERO ® has had representation at dozens of conventions each year
including Arisia in MA, RuneCon in CT, ICON in Long Island New York, GenCon in
Milwaukee, DragonCon in Atlanta, TexCon in Texas, SITCon at Stevens Institute in
NJ, Carnage on the Mountain in MA and many others.
Now on its 14th
Year with over 35 chapters, NERO has never been more committed to customer
service and providing an entertaining and enjoyable role-playing atmosphere.
Players can build depth for their character over a period of time, and enjoy the
comfort of traveling to a nearby chapter and playing that same character with
all of their possessions.
At the heart of the
NERO business are the volunteers that make it all happen. NERO ® National
maintains nearly one National representative for each Chapter. The Local
chapters have between 5 and 30 Staff members, all dedicated to making your game
experience fun!
At the heart of the
Game are the Rules that detail how the game mechanics (Combat, Spells, etc.)
work, how players interact with each other, and the general idea of the in-game
society. The NERO ® Rule Book © contains all the information that a
new player needs to know for their first event to be a really great one. The
NERO Rule Book © 8th Edition has been in print since March 1, 2000
and is used worldwide by more than 10,000 members. Interested parties may Join
NERO or obtain a NERO Rule Book © by contacting the National Office at
NeroInt@aol.com or via telephone at (914) 328-9123.
At the heart of the
role-play are the Plot Lines that the local Plot members conceive and operate.
Each chapter has its own distinct history, plots, and NPC backgrounds. A variety
of plot lines are available to every player, and with chapters nearby players
can enjoy an even wider venue. National volunteers keep national oriented plot
active by attending local chapter’s events and role-playing with the attendees.
National and Local Plot writers work together to maintain a consistent single
world atmosphere.
The plot of our game
is continuous and ever changing, due partly to the choices of imaginative
players. Since the same character is played from event to event, players have
the unique opportunity to develop their character over time and define their
goals and aspirations. NERO encourages its players to submit Character Histories
and character fact sheets for plot personnel to use in order to provide
personalized enjoyment to each member.
Members play their
character and solve mysteries throughout the event, from short plot lines
lasting a few hours to long plot lines lasting multiple days, months or even
years. Staff interacts with the players providing clues and hints to the
differing plots. The players then interact with each other passing the clues and
hints among themselves to solve the mystery and/or defeat the adversary.
In many game systems,
only those with real out of game skills succeed. However, NERO is a fantasy
game allowing people of all sorts of skill and athletic ability to “be all that
they can’t be”. Players test their skills against mythical creatures such as
Goblins, Trolls, and Ogres, using swords and sorcery. There is no stopping the
game; not for dinner, sleeping, or anything short of an emergency. Adventuring
goes on around you at all times, and sometimes something as simple as traveling
from your cabin to the tavern may become a matter of life and death.
Combat is simulated
using ‘boffer’ weapons made out of graphite rods, pipe insulation, open cell
foam, and duct tape. Each type of weapon is assigned an amount of damage that it
does. In addition, each person will have a certain number of “hit points” based
on their current skill level, the type of armor worn, and any magical spell
protective. Just prior to an attack, a player will speak the amount of damage
the swing inflicts (i.e., ‘two normal’ for a short sword) to their opponent. If
you are struck, you subtract the amount by which you have been hit from your hit
points as well as your armor points. When you reach zero, you fall unconscious
and hope there is someone nearby with a healing spell.
Magical spells are
represented by small cloth bags about the size of a film canister filled with
birdseed or a small sponge golf ball. To cast a spell a player speaks the spell
incantation (such as “I call forth a magic missile” or “I call upon the earth to
cure light wounds”), and throws the packet at their target. If the phrase is
stated correctly and the bean bag hits it’s the target, the spell works. If you
stutter the phrase too much or say an incorrect word, or miss with the spell
packet, the spell fails.
Players ‘buy’ skills
with the experience points their character has earned while attending NERO
sponsored events, thus improving their character over time. These skills allow
players to improve their character’s abilities. Since each player picks their
characters skills based upon personal preferences, each character is unique.
Skills include magical spells, weapon skills, magical potion, scroll, and
alchemy creation, trap disarming, and various weapon skills.
Character Experience
is earned by attending role-play oriented events, with a base number of XP
automatically given for each event based on a character’s skill level.
Experience beyond that amount is represented by game money which can be earned
through a variety of methods including the selling of scrolls, potions or
alchemy made, entertaining at the tavern for tips, or perhaps hiring yourself
out as a bodyguard.
All Game information
is kept in a series of Databases written in Filemaker PRO. A total of 15
databases are provided to each chapter to maintain Member Information, Equipment
(Weapons, Armor, Potions, Scrolls, etc.), Formal Magic Components, Magic Items,
Character Info., event attendance, Non-player Characters, Basic Monster
statistics (Goblin, Troll, Ogre, etc.) and advanced Monster statistics.
Staff and players
are generally very good about cleaning up after themselves. All Members work
diligently to return the Camp cleaner at the end of an event than it was
received at the beginning and most GM or Staff review each cabin for its
cleanliness prior to leaving the camp at the end of the event.
Chapters operate many
types of events, from quick adventures to weekend. The full weekend events occur
from Friday night at 8pm to Sunday at 2pm. The single day events occur in a
faire like atmosphere, and give our members a chance to come learn about our
game, and do a bit of role playing. Adventure modules last for about 2 hours and
are usually run on Saturday and/or Sunday.
To contact NERO
about becoming a member, purchasing a NERO Rule Book © or possibly opening a
NERO Chapter in your area, e-mail
NeroInt@Aol.com or call (914) 309 - 7718.
Visit the NERO
® Home Page Web Site at
www.NEROLARP.com
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