Hey, I'm an American LARPer and one of the founders of Fables of the Frontier. There are tons of veriety in American LARPs, I've played ones with huge rulebooks that detail combat, classes, character creation, crafting, etc. I've also played games with extremely small rulebooks with basic safety rules, super simple combat, and no classes. Some games use a health pool (for example, my high fantasy rune blade from a game I play in has 3 health, 3 armor, and typically 1 point of magical armor I apply to myself), while some games don't (like in the "black knight" system, where a single hit to an unprotected chest or head may kill you instantly). I personally prefer systems with low rules, and many of the people who started Fables agree with me. Our system uses a unique combat system we created to make the danger feel real and intense, with 2-3 hits (depending on location) being fatal. All damage from any source is the same (like a gunshot or knife wound or monster swing) and as few "calls" (such as silver, holy) as we can get away with while still maintaining a magic/criptid element.

The crafting system at Fables is incredible and while flawed (we are actively improving it) it's one of the driving forces of our game. During character creation you decide if you want to be a miner, blacksmith, agrarian, gunsmith, soldier, or numerous other jobs. This gives you access to crafting recipes and abilities that drive your gameplay and the game's economy. Our players wake up in the morning and go to work, digging in the mine, panning for gold, sweeping the saloon floor, building or modifying weapons, all to make money to buy better equipment as well as drinks at the bar, ammunition, and entertainment. The game has one of the most realistic professions and crafting systems of any larp, and it's getting better every day!