Fourteenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

Live action role-play (LARP) communities have been active since the 1970s, an offshoot of table-top role-playing games (RPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons. LARPers differentiated themselves from pen and paper RPG fans in that they embody their play more dramatically, wearing costumes and following rules that integrate elements of improvisational theater. Enter Linden Lab’s avatar-based virtual world Second Life in 2003, which gave unprecedented freedom and flexibility for its “residents”, providing free design tools to produce immersive role-play communities. Second Life groups have accordingly taken online, avatar-based LARPing in intriguing directions, even building communities that integrate role-play with fan fiction, self-help, spirituality and more traditional offline religious practice. However, it is unclear what impact the use of avatars as fictional personae may have on virtual world spirituality; it appears that one’s relationship with one’s avatar and one’s role-play ethos may be key. This paper introduces two virtual LARP communities in Second Life. The first is The Night Court, a role-play community based on the novels of Jacqueline Carey, that mixes new age ritual, group therapy and erotic role-play with out-of-character (OOC) socializing. The second is Saint Bernadette Church, a Catholic community that offers in-character church services and Bible study events for family role-players, including adults role-playing as children. Through comparison of these disparate groups, the paper underlines the different ways in which religion and role-play can overlap within virtual world LARPing communities. The de facto similarities between suspension of disbelief in role-play and belief in spiritual practice is also explored.