Live-action role-playing games are making a comeback post-Covid: And Legacy Fables is taking advantage of that.

• Author: Alsever, Jennifer

WHEN Rob Milligan was 17, he played Dungeons & Dragons with some friends--for the first and last time.

"I hated it," the Salt Lake City entrepreneur says, noting that he felt it was too complicated and that the learning curve was too steep.

Fifteen years later, part of Milligan's livelihood is based on the same concepts of the niche game that developed a cult following that has spanned 50 years. His Provo company, Legacy Fables, blends together role-playing games, murder mystery parties, escape rooms, and choose-your-own-adventure books to create a unique in-person game experience.

Legacy Fables has the familiar fantasy bent of Dungeons and Dragons, but it's simpler, more physically active, and allows anyone to pick it up fast, Milligan says.

"It's an entirely new form of in-person storytelling, and people have loved it," he says. "Some people walk out talking about the memories as if they were real--Remember how I caught you right before you were going to fall off the cliff?"

Much like an escape room, groups of players gather inside a room at Legacy Fables that's decked out to look like a fantasy tavern, complete with chandeliers, leather skins, and old barrels. There, a professional actor narrates a story in one of four genres--fantasy, sci-fi, horror, or mystery. Each player takes on a particular role, and their choices, successes, and failures will dictate every turn of the story.

"It comes down to character," Milligan says. "Each has their own history, background, and motivation. Some people want to rescue someone. Some people want secret information. Others want to find a cure to help the sick. Some people just need to survive the story."

No two stories are the same, and range from stories of psychics inside a manor, heiresses trying to stop a dangerous plague that's infecting magical creatures, or a group of strangers searching for an escape from a defunct subway station in Washington, D.C.

And if you thought adults didn't like to pretend, think again--people of all ages are increasingly seeking imaginary escape.

A slew of apps like Spotlight, Chapters, and Choice of Games have emerged, offering readers more interactive storytelling on smartphones. Crazy Maple Studios, one of the companies producing these apps, has raised $63 million from investors. Role-playing video games have also grown in popularity, as have the rise of escape rooms. Between 2014 and 2019, the number of escape rooms jumped from just 24 nationwide to 2,350...