Amtgard Reeves Guild FAQ

[Ivan Zalac]

Pozdrav!

Prenosim vam svima listu učestalo postavljanih pitanja za Amtgard ceh sudaca. Ovo je originalni tekst na engleskome. Bilo je nekih pitanja upravo oko ovih stvari (gdje postoje neke sive zone) pa mislim da bi ovo bilo korisno za pročitati.

---

Q: Why are people so obsessed with the wording of the rulebook?  Common sense says....

A: This is probably the first wall most people hit when trying to develop a higher understanding of how the rules work in amtgard.  Let me provide a few good examples that I've heard over the years:

 

If a heated weapon is broken, and then mended, the heat weapon should end or at least half its count because when the weapon is broken, the separate pieces will cool much faster.

 

A weapon that hits a wooden shield should be disabled somehow, because it sticks in the wood.

 

If you are affected by Hold Person, you should not be able to Pass Without Trace, because you can't move.

 

While you are able to use scout tracking to follow a teleporting assassin (which represents sneaking), you shouldn't be able to use it to follow a teleporting wizard.  The latter teleport is magical, and represents instantaneous transport to and from a location.

 

If you get hit with "Earth Bind" while berserk, you shouldn't be able to free yourself from Earth Bind because you are too berserk to notice.

 

I could go on, but I'll stop there.  The point is, there are several seeming 'common sense' violations in the amtgard rules, and you shouldn't enforce your interpretation.  The reason is, that this isn't a tabletop game.  The goal is that we are all playing the same game.  The reeves are not DMs which look over the rules with a 'what would really happen' mentality.  If any of the above are 'house rules' at a park, and then a player goes and plays at a larger game at a big event, there will be problems.  Given that these big games are amazingly fun, and make a lot of amtgarder's 'most fun experience in the game', we like to focus on making those better, and we do that by playing the game as written.

 

Furthermore, the rules are designed with very vague descriptions in mind.  If you notice, there is no description or flavor text under any of the abilities.  Fireball doesn't say anything like "The wizard uses his reagants and an incantation to summon a ball of pure fire from aether..."  The reason is because the writers of the rulebook encourage creativity when it comes to what you consider your character.  A samurai-type persona could be a barbarian, and the equivalent to Barbarian Berserk could be that character channelling the warrior spirit of his ancestors.  A druid could imagine his Pass Without Trace as nature swallowing them up and depositing them somewhere else.  

 

Teleport obviously isn't instantaneous because... it isn't.  If it were, we would call a hold every time it was cast, and that wouldn't be fun.  You can pretty much make up a roleplay reason why any of these spells work.  Maybe the Wizard is travelling through another dimension, and the Scout has an arcane device that can pick up on his 'scent'.  Maybe your Wizard is a Jedi, and he can pass through battlefields unnoticed by masking himself with The Force, and the scout can see past that.

 

The point is: No matter what your 'common sense' tells you, you should always follow the rules as written.  There are no rules to where magic comes from in amtgard at the scientific level, and there never will be, so there literally is no such thing as common sense as far as magic is concerned.

 

Q: Are punch weapons illegal?

A: By the rulebook, yes.  The catch is that any weapon deemed unsafe can be removed from play which tends to be the case, as punch weapons tend to be unsafe. 'Stabs' from them do not have as many joints involved that can absorb the force as a stab with a traditional amtgard sword, whose force can be broken by the wrist, elbow, or shoulder.That said, most people who make a punch weapon don't put as much force as a punch normally does.  So, if it is wielded safely (improperly), it is legal, but still discouraged. 

 

Q: What about atlatls or slings?

A: These aren't specified in the rulebook, and are generally looked down upon, as they are meant to multiply the physical force normally used to throw the weapon.  A bow in amtgard has very specific rules regarding poundage and draw length to make the arrows fired from it safe, and even after that, it is one of the most dangerous weapons in our game, responsible for a lot of injuries.  An atlatl, sling, or even slingshot has no such restrictions.  An atlatl can multiply the force in which a dart is thrown exponentially.  Their use is heavily discouraged.

 

Q:  Hey, what happens when I use extension with Immolation/Killing Grounds/Flamewall?

A:  You can't use an extension a fixed enchantment, or an enchantment for that matter.  You can only use extension with a Spell.

 

Q:  Can you cast Heat Weapon on a bow?

A:  Yes.  It's a weapon.

 

Q:  But isn't a bow made of wood?

A:  Heat weapon does not specify that it does not work on wooden weapons, or that it only works on metal weapons.  Rather, it works on ALL weapons.  This is a common misunderstanding because of the presence of the mutually exclusive spell, Warp Wood, which exists on the same level for Druids and destroys wooden objects, which includes all wooden weapons and also extends to shields.

 

Q:  I hit someone within a half second of them killing/arming me and they said 'late'.  Are they a sluffer?

A:  Likely not.  Not only must you begin your motion before a half second, (and in combat, a half second is a very long time), but the shot must not change direction.  A large amount of shots thrown are wraps, and the very nature of wrap shots include a change of direction just before the shot lands, which means they will usually not count if initally started within a half second.

 

Q:  I hit someone and they called 'light'.  Are they a sluffer?

A:  Likely so, because there is no sufficient force rule in amtgard.  However, there are some extreme cases.  Very lightly laying a weapon on someone or simply touching them with your weapon 'partially meets' the requirements of 'stopping' but is generally accepted to not count as a hit, as it meets the description of a 'draw cut' even though it wasn't a stab.  If someone closes on you, and they 'touch' your weapon in so doing but you didn't actively swing, you did not hit them.

Also, nicks and grazes do not count... the shot must stop or deflect at an angle.

 

Q:  What's up with Bardic Charm?  The way I read it, it goes through immunity to control...

 

A:  I have no idea why, but this is a common misreading of Bardic Charm.  Let's go over the exact wording.

 

"Some monsters may be immune to the control school, but not bardic charm. Bardic charm is any control magic that is cast by a Bard (even those bought with Voice)."

 

SOME monsters may be immune.  Not all, some.  Furthermore, it only refers to monsters; not the standard player classes.  So let's take a look at the Dor un Avathar.Some of the monsters have this under immunities: "Immunities: Control (save for Bardic Charm)"

 

Also, the description of "Fey" monsters says this:"Fey: The Fairy Folk of legend and myth are not immune to the Bard Charm spell or Control magic cast by a Bard, but they are immune to other forms of Control."Ergo.  Fey monsters who are immune to control are not immune to control spells cast by the bard.

 

Monsters that specifically state that they are immune to control but NOT bardic charm are NOT immune to control spells cast by the bard.ALL OTHER MONSTERS who are immune to control ARE IMMUNE to control spells cast by the bard.  Bardic Charm is not a monster-immunity-penetrating atom bomb. 

 

Q:  Can I use a single sword or a speed pole, and have 2 people following me doing nothing, and have it count as a siege weapon?  The other two people are operating it... I can even say it's a battering ram.

 

A:  I would say no, but it's up to the reeve.  The definition of siege weapons is purposely vague and subjective, and it's done thusly so that whomever is running the game would have control over what they allow on a case-by-case basis.  Siege weapons are rare enough to justify that.  However, this sentence when defining siege weapons is very important:

 

"Siege weapons should have a historical or fantasy counterpart that they mimic in form and function. Siege engines may only be direct impact weapons such as catapults, ballistae, etc. You may not use siege engines that mimic area of effect attacks such as firebombs or Greek Fire. You may not use siege weapons that mimic gunpowder effects such as cannons."

 

There is no historical basis in having a six-handed sword.  There's also no historical basis in having a battering ram that is 'swung' like a polearm.  Personally I wouldn't allow any weapon not specifically designed to be a siege weapon to suddenly 'transform' into one simply because 2 other people are wielding it.

 

There have been people who have designed and created battering rams that are designed from the ground up to be siege weapons, but I would even consider that sketchy because there is no record of having an anti-personnel battering ram.  Battering Rams were designed to slowly smash down heavily fortified doors, not to take into field combat and kill people.

 

Siege Weapons that do make sense are, for example, catapults and ballistae.  For fantasy examples, the Glaive-Thrower from Warcraft lore works too.  Use your common sense on what you allow/disallow.