Hark! A roving band of role players approaches. The Grand Gathering of Hynafol, an immersive fantasy summit, is coming to the Sherwood Forest Faire grounds in McDade, Texas, from November 6-10.

This Medieval weekend escape makes several promises including a temporary escape from 2024 politics as well as an introduction to LARPing, or Live Action Role Playing. This broad term could apply to anything from taking your visit to the Renaissance Faire super seriously to attending a murder mystery party, and much more in between.

Essentially, it's playing make-believe with an adult understanding of relationships, strategy, consequences, and yes, even politics, although they're usually fictional and set hundreds of years ago. It's also applying that inner-child spirit to playing with access to an adult budget, so the costumes, props, and venues are a lot more exciting.

The Grand Gathering takes place at the site the Austin area's annual Renaissance Faire, which returns from March 1 to April 21, 2025. This off-season event is organized by the Sherwood team and LARPing group The Voyage North.

Attendees will create a character, don a costume, and participate in "combat," dancing, shopping side quests, and much more. Unlike at a standard Ren Faire, people are expected to interact with each other often and in character. Hynafol presents a narrative from start to finish to help inspire and tie all the games and interactions together. A detailed YouTube video by LARPing.org covers the experience for prospective attendees.

Organizers assure first-timers that this is the perfect place to get their feet wet, speaking in an introductory video to Dungeons and Dragons and other tabletop role playing game (TTRPG) players, Ren Faire-goers, and even just fans of fantasy fiction. In fact, it sounds like most Hynafol attendees join because they saw videos from the event online — not some fancy network of role-players who know each other or maintain complicated backstories.

This is good news considering the ticketing circumstances: all-inclusive passes are sold out, but tickets are still available to stop by all events over two or five days, plus a packing list, discounts to assemble a costume, and access to the community throughout the year via a Discord server and monthly Zoom calls.

Attendees using the Weekend Pass and Do-it-yourself Package will still camp at Hynafol, but they'll have to use their own equipment. They can bring their own decorum (Medieval-style) tent to stay on the grounds, or a modern tent to stay in a separate campsite off the main grounds. They can also purchase a meal plan add-on, pack their own food, or purchase food from a vendor during lunch or late-night meals.

More information and tickets ($197-497) are available at hynafol.com.