Games - Amtgard

	Games - Amtgard

Amtgard is the largest live-action fantasy roleplaying and boffer combat game in the United States. The term is also used to refer to the official organization that hosts and oversees gameplay.

History

Amtgard as an organization was founded in El Paso, Texas in 1983, though the rules used appear to date to before that, evolving from the rulesets used by Emarthnguarth and Belgarath. The largest concentrations of Amtgard chapters are in Texas and the Central United States, but groups are found throughout the United States as well as in Croatia, Japan, Finland, Germany, Korea, Russia, and Sweden.

Amtgard has given birth to a few splinter groups, notably the High Fantasy Society.

Ruleset

Character creation in Amtgard is class-based; that is, players choose a "template" archetype with pre-established abilities, similar to systems used by Dungeons and Dragons and other tabletop roleplaying games. Players can increase the abilities of their characters by going up in level; a player's level is determined by the length of game time they have played that particular class.

The primary focus of the rules of the game is combat. The abilities of the classes are generally related to combat. Non-combat oriented talents and attributes are left up to the imagination and actual capabilities of the players and are not covered by specific rules.

Amtgard combat is resolved with actual physical fighting, though there are some rules in place to enhance safety. The weapons are similar to boffer weapons (albeit held to a much higher standard of safety and quality) but a player's physical ability, rather than game-based attributes as with other LARPs, determines the outcome allowing for a more realistic experience. Despite this, injuries are quite rare due to the stringent attention paid to safety. Amtgard utilizes a "touch" hit system favored by more traditional LARPS than a full contact system that Dagorhir, Belegarth and Darkon utilize. Contact is limited between fighters and non-weapon tactics like grappling or shield kicking are strictly prohibited.

One large difference between Amtgard and games such as NERO is that combat in Amtgard is hit-location based instead of hit-point based. A hit from a weapon does not decrease a "hit point" total, but instead disables the location struck. A blow to the arm or leg disables the limb and a blow to the torso kills the player.

Battle games range from one-on-one tournaments to team battles of forty or fifty people to mass warfare with hundreds of players. The largest "grand melees" are held at the major annual events and will incorporate sometimes hundreds of members from many different chapters. Conversely, scripted "quests" can involve just a dozen or two participants, and may involve puzzles as well as combat.

Setting

Unlike many other fantasy roleplaying games, Amtgard has no established "backstory" to its world. The setting encourages and incorporates elements of historical Europe and Asia as well as the high and low fantasy genres.

Society

Amtgard has a cultural side as well, emphasizing various cultural fairs and competitions as well as various forms of creative expression.

Two important structures in Amtgard culture are the Fighting Company and the Household, both voluntary memberships. A Fighting Company is essentially a military structure, much like a "clan" in any multi-player video game, whereas a Household is devoted to some cultural or personal goals, such as the arts, benevolence, common interests, etc. Both generally place a high value on contributing to the club as a whole, and often have a specific mission statement.

Amtgard has a system of awards and honors based on past contributions and accomplishments. There are incremental awards for all sorts of arts and crafts, ranging from sewing to singing to armor smithing.

Organization

A common theme of medieval and fantasy feudalism runs through even the official level. Amtgard sub-chapters are generally organized by size, with smaller groups (called variously a "shire," "barony," "duchy," or "principality," depending on the number of active members and how long the group has been around) grouped under the larger or older chapters, called "kingdoms." Each sub-chapter is contractually bound to abide by the official Rules of Play (currently version 7.0) and is sponsored and supported by one of the Amtgard kingdoms.

The kingdoms, along with their primary locations, are:

The Kingdom of the Emerald Hills, Dallas, Texas
The Kingdom of the Burning Lands, El Paso, Texas
The Celestial Kingdom, Central Texas
The Kingdom of Dragonspine, Las Cruces, New Mexico
The Kingdom of the Golden Plains, Amarillo, Texas
The Kingdom of Goldenvale, Nashua, New Hampshire
The Empire of the Iron Mountains, Colorado
The Kingdom of Neverwinter, Florida
The Kingdom of the Rising Winds, Indianapolis, Indiana
The Kingdom of the Black Spire Washington, Oregon
The Kingdom of the Wetlands, Southeast Texas, Louisiana
Barony of the Western Gate, St. Louis, Missouri

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Amtgard ]

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