V9: Theme and Setting

This page is part of the Official Amtgard V9 Alpha-Playtest Rulebook.

• The Amtwiki is the official home and primary source for Amtgard V9 Rules as of February 25, 2023.
• These rules are currently in Open Alpha Playtest. See the Playtest Disclaimer for more details.
• To learn more about Amtgard V9 Development, please visit Amtgard.com.
• To view the current Amtgard V8 ruleset, please see the Amtgard V8 Rulebook.

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Theme and Setting

Theme

A Quest Begins...

The core theme of Amtgard is Heroic Fantasy.

Heroic fantasy is the name given to a subgenre of fantasy otherwise called "sword-and-sorcery". It is a story of action and adventure laid in a more or less imaginary world where magic works and modern science and technology have not yet been discovered. Such a story combines the color and dash of historical costume romance with the supernatural thrills of the weird, occult, or ghost story.

When done well, it provides the purest fun of fiction of any kind. It is escape fiction wherein one escapes clear out of the real world into one where all life is adventurous, all problems simple, and there's nothing that can't be solved with a good quest."

- Paraphrased excerpts from Heroic Fantasy on Wikipedia

Setting

The shared fantasy setting of Amtgard is limited to just a few details, the rest of which are left up to local communities and roleplay organizers.

1. All Kingdoms and Parks exist in the same plane, called "Amtgard" or "Amtgardia". Historically-inspired themes and garb are allowed, however this world is distinctly not Earth so players should act accordingly.
2. All Kingdoms and Parks are geographically arranged similar to how their real-life locations are arranged on planet Earth, often with similar topography, landmarks, and/or water features (rivers, coastlines, etc.)
3. There are 12 constellations that can be seen in the night sky no matter where you are in the plane. The orientation of the stars is always the same but the names, imagery, and mythology attached to them may vary from region to region.
4. Phoenixes are sacred creatures, though like the constellations the nature of this sanctity may vary from region to region.