Glossary
Various terms common in Amtgard, that might not make sense the first time around. In no particular order...
Mundane: Normal life, banality, get up, go to work, pay the bills, come home, cook dinner, watch tv, go to bed. It is also a reference to the normal lives of players, when not on the field or talking about the game. As in, "She would have made it to Midreign, but mundane life got in the way."
A&S: Arts and sciences. The noncombatant pastimes, though some of the crafts are used on the fiels. Examples include weapon crafting, armoring, painting, heraldry, bardic, and others.
Amtgard: The Game, the Addiction. An organized society of people who run around in the woods hitting each other with foam rubber swords. A set of rules setting forth a role playing game.
SCA: The Society for Creative Anachronisms. A more expensive and time consuming role playing game, similar and older than Amtgard. The grandaddy of re-enactments. The brunt of a friendly rivalry.
RPG: Role playing game. Includes such things as Dungeons and Dragons, White Wolf, Palladium Games, and many others on the market. They include tabletop style, and live action.
TT: Tabletop game. They usually involve paper, dice, pencils, and lots of caffiene and pizza consumption.
LARP: Live Action Role Playing. Things like SCA, Amtgard, and some White Wolf games. These involve actually getting out and acting upon your character's movements, running around like the proverbial headless chicken.
Household: A grouping of people under one particular banner, headed usually by the founder of the Household. This includes a particular Heraldry representing the family, and is usually a noncombatant house. This can change fm place to place however. Standard rule says you can only be part of one house at a time, though this is flexible. Fighting companies count differently, not as a Household.
Fighting Company: A force of people on the field under one banner, usually spotted by their garb colors and insignias. Fighting companies maintain an active place on the battle field, and most have some sort of guideline for members. You can only be in one company at a time. However, you can also be in a household, if the ideals of the two do not clash.
Garb: Tabard (big shirt), leggings, and other clothing accessories to both protect and identify a person on the field and at court.
Blown: A state where a particular weapon or shield is no longer legal by the rules. Tape gives, foam busts, PVC snaps. Depending on use and construction, this could be rare or common.
Rhino Hide: Refusing to take shots that connect during battle, claiming that the shots were 'light'. Not a very nice thing to do, and it usually leads to injury as someone tried for a shot that can be felt by everyone in the audience at the same time.
Sloughing: See rhino hide. Not taking legal shots, to continue fighting.
Knight: An individual who has completed a set standard and shows the credo of a knoght. This makes up the Circle of Knights, basically a VFW for Amtgard. A lot of 'when I was your age' talk. Basically good guys though.
Seneschal: Clerk, Scribe, Chancellor. The record keeper, the paper pusher, for a park or kingdom.
Monarch: (not to mock any gender) Queen, Baroness, Duchess, Sheriff. The individual in charge of a park of kingdom.
Regent: Second in charge at a park of kingdom. Judges A&S, keeps things running smoothly, substitutes when the monarch can't make it for some reason, a completely thankless job.
Defender: Fighter, champion. Usually the best fighter in the park or kingdom. The big guy (or Gal) with the big weapon, to keep people in line.
Reeve: The referee. Makes the call on contested shots, and keeps battle games running by the rules. The judge.
Duct Tape: A wonderous creation that over 90% of the weapons and shields on the field owe their continued existance. Like the Force, it has both a light and dark side, and holds the universce together. To witness the artistry possible with this amazing product, simply watch an Amtgardian at work and play. Useful in; automotive repair, weapon construction, re-wiring, plumbing, doorframes, sneaker salvage, nut and bolt retrieval, chastity, wrist and ankle braces, draperies, and poster repair. You can hold the world together with Duct Tape.
