The kingdom of Coraythia seeks north country residents to civilize some wilderness where goblins, ogres and other riff-raff call home.
It requires a sense of adventure, some suspension of disbelief and a willingness to live in "The Age of Heroes," a live-action role-playing game created by Evans Mills resident George D. Stadalski.
He describes "The Age of Heroes" as a combination of a 20-sided-die tabletop game, improvisational acting and reading a fantasy book.
"This story has not been written," Mr. Stadalski said. "It's waiting for people to sign up and write it."
Live-action role-playing games are played throughout the country, Mr. Stadalski said, with different rules and settings, but with the same idea: participants create their characters, design their costumes, make their "weapons" and gather whatever "adventure gear" they need.
"The Age of Heroes" is set in a Medieval/fantasy arena, specifically in the outpost of Guildcrest, where Coraythia has offered lodging and money to anyone who wishes to relocate there.
Mr. Stadalski has created a 33-page copyrighted handbook, ranging from the timeline — "It is the Third Age of Man, the Argorian Age" — to volunteering and a "map of the known world."
Mr. Stadalski grew up in Massachusetts outside of Boston, where a friend familiarized him with the tabletop role-playing game "Dungeons and Dragons." Mr. Stadalski created a character for the game, but that's about as far as he took it.
"My friend later came to me with another idea," Mr. Stadalski said. "It was live-action role-playing, where people would dress up in costumes and make weapons out of PVC pipe, foam and duct tape. Then, people would go into the woods and battle it out."
At first, Mr. Stadalski was skeptical. "I said, 'Neveram I going to do that.' But I did it, and I had a great time."
Mr. Stadalski began creating his "Age of Heroes" fantasy world with its own history and storylines, but he got sidelined when he joined the Army. He was based at Fort Drum and deployed to Iraq in 2004 and '05.
"When I got out of active duty, I met the girl of my dreams, settled down and stayed here," said Mr. Stadalski, who is a military technician for the Army National Guard at Fort Drum. "That's when I decided to get it going again."
LOCATION SOUGHT
About five years ago, "Age of Heroes" characters met for a few sessions at 4-H Camp Wabassoo in Redwood. Mr. Stadalski said that cooperation ended when Camp Wabasso officials decided the role players didn't fit its mission of focusing on youth activities. "The Age of Heroes" is designed for ages 18 and above.
Mr. Stadalski is working with a real estate agent to find a property to host "Age of Heroes" sessions.
"The perfect setting would be an abandoned summer camp with cabins," he said.
He said he could work with a campground owner where "Age of Heroes" participants would meet in spring and fall before and after the official camping season.
Once a setting is found, he expects interest to take off. Mr. Stadalski has hosted a couple of information sessions at Watertown's Flower Memorial Library.
"Age of Heroes" sessions are designed for weekend warriors. Camps will be set up on Friday evenings and games will end at noon Sundays. The cost to play is $50 for the weekend with a 10- percent discount for college students and members of the military.
Mr. Stadalski said "Age of Heroes" also has nonplayer characters and staff members, who play for free. "So if someone wants to check the game out, they can attend a few events as a NPC to see if it is for them," he said.
"Age of Heroes" organizers will guide NPCs as to their purpose for each outing.
Characters in "The Age of Heroes" gather in the outpost of Guildcrest, an expansion of the city of Coraythia.
RULES AND SKILLS
Mr. Stadalski is specific in his handbook. For example, Rule No. 7 refers to searching other characters and cabins: "no physical contact is allowed unless agreed upon by both players. To search a corpse or an unconscious character, hold your hands at least three inches from that person."
Rule No, 5 states "Do what you know is right." Rules frown upon "excessive and gratuitious vulgarities."
"There are many ways to use 'the common tongue' to imaginatively convey an idea to another person and enhance the gaming experience at the same time," Mr. Stadalski writes in his handbook.
The game runs on the honor system. For example, "a corpse or unconscious person" would indicate if something was found during a search. But first, the searcher would have had to previously earn a "reveal skill."
New characters receive 15 skill points. Each "Age of Heroes" race has a racial bonus that allows specific skills. Skill points can also be earned by setting up prior to an event and cleaning up afterwards. Skills characters can use include "open skills" such as arrow repair and literacy to magic, shaman and thief skills.
Among theraft of rules are those for combat, which focus on safety.
"You can't pull back your weapon more than 45 degrees," Mr. Stadalski said. "A tap on the arm counts as a hit. It's not how hard you hit a person. People tend to get into the excitement of the moment. There were times I played in Massachusetts where I received a couple of good whomps. But I brushed it off."
There are four major classes of character in "Age of Heroes": fighter, magic-user, shaman and thief.
Players can create thier own traits and backgrounds for the characters.
"For example, they could be pretending they are something they are not," Mr. Stadalski said. "You don't know if that person is a thief or not. You have to learn who these characters are as you go throughout the game. You can have a character who is evil, but in your face he is nicer than pie."
Besides the main "player characters," the games also call for "nonplayer characters" driven by a game's plotline.
"They are based on whatever the game needs," Mr. Stadalski said.
The size of the groups for "Age of Heroes" sessions depends on the location that's found, Mr. Stadalski said.
"If 50 people are there, I'd like 50 different plot lines," he said.
