Join the Adventure
Spend a weekend in someone else’s sandals. Or, just come for the day. LARPing or Live Action Role Play is a perfect opportunity to get away from your life and live out an adventure. You’ll feel like you went on a vacation when you are done. LARPing also makes for a great date! You will really get to know someone at an event like this and you will tell stories about it for years. Check out the info below to see how to get started building your character and registering for events.
The Setting
You will be arriving in the progressive city of Helike, in Greece, on a cool winters’ day in the year 373 BCE. The city has one of the most famous temples to Poseidon ever built. A few hundred years ago it founded it’s very famous colony of Sybarus in Italy. Helike is so successful it has even struck it’s own coinage. Indeed, Helike is the Capitol of the Twelve Cities of Achea.
We have many links available for more information about Helike and it’s inhabitants. We encourage you to take some time and read through them. However, we believe that you can learn a lot by immersing yourself in the world of ancient Greece, so you can always just show up and dive in.
You’ll need a few things in order to get the most out of the experience. You’ll want to bring Costuming, camping gear if staying overnight (bedding, towel, toiletries), snacks and beverages to augment what we are serving in the tavern, spare socks and don’t forget the bug spray. We will have basic costuming kits available for purchase on site, but you’ll still need some non descript underclothes (no logos, no neon) and sturdy shoes- you never know what might chase you into the woods.
If your character will be in combat you’ll need to visit our WEAPONS AND ARMOR page. If your character is a merchant, bring things to dress up your shop. If you intend to use magic, see our MAGI page to see how that works. We will have some weapons, spell packets and other items for sale on site.
Some of the things you may find yourself involved in during a visit can include: learning how to fight in a phalanx, gathering materials in the world to create items, participate in Arena games, go on missions, test your problem solving abilities, practice leadership, meet famous (or infamous) philosophers and orators. In addition to these fun learning opportunities you will be forging friendships and learning about yourself. We are a very inclusive and supportive group and we are happy to have you join us. Anyone looking for “clean” events is welcome to join us as there will be no alcohol or drugs on site.
Costuming/Garb
Alexander the Great was born just after the events in Helike. His armor is very similar to what was common for the time. The big metal breastplates seen on movies like the 300 didn’t happen until much later. We don’t plan to be sticklers about Period authenticity, this is a fantasy game after all. But if you want to learn more about what your costuming should look like we will provide some links.
Alexander’s armor was a mix of leather and metal, wood or bone plates and probably a loose short tunic underneath. He likely wore sandals and possibly greaves or shin plates of some sort. He is shown with a Medusa amulet on his chest. His upper legs might well have been bare. Greece was hot y’all! Heavy armor was not really a thing.
Because we are playing in modern, humid, Missouri- we are going to allow a wide latitude on costuming and garb. Helike was progressive after all, so it is entirely possible they dressed very differently than the rest of Greece. If you don’t want bug bites etc., by all means wear pants and closed shoes of some sort. Women in Greece typically wore long columnar tunics, essentially dresses. Women in Helike, for our purposes, can be expected to wear whatever is comfortable and seems appropriate to the character. We just ask that you try to go for a more rough spun look to the fabrics, avoiding neon colors. We can’t in good conscience recommend anyone running around in open toed sandals at a campsite. But if you can tone down the Nike swooshes we would appreciate it. We have envisioned Helike as Atlantis, so whatever you imagine the Atlanteans as wearing should be fine. (Plato mentioned Atlantis in his dialogues, he lived just down the road from Helike)
Legend of Helike uses a skill based system instead of preset classes. So you come up with a character concept and then purchase the skills to make that happen. Our Professions list has some basic and common character trajectories to help you map that out. You may want to click through a few to see what is available. In addition to the Professions we have a Craft list which is another set of recognizable character trajectories. You do not have to officially choose any of these. But it can be helpful in game when someone asks you what you “do” in the game. Some of these come with benefits like coin or items created by your character. If you have always wanted to play Conan, this is your chance. If you’ve always wanted to be an alchemist, we got you. If you’ve always wanted to be part of a traveling troupe of performers- we’ve got that too. We do have some specialty “classes” that other games don’t have, for example: Logicians. Unlike the Magi, Logicians rely upon their Will to reshape the Universe. This makes the Gods nervous as you might imagine.
Heritages
Your Heritage is your ancestry. In Helike it is not at all unusual to be able to say you had a demigod for a great great grandfather. We have several Heritages to choose from, and a Chimera heritage for those tricky ones that don’t seem to fall into any other category. This is your chance to be a Mermaid or a Myrmidon warrior. Each Heritage has some specific requirements so that we can all recognize each other without having to ask “hey, what are you?”