V9: Equipment Use

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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General Terminology

The following terminology applies to all forms of equipment.

Carried

All equipment on a player is considered Carried. If something cannot be carried, it cannot be lifted by the player in any way.

Held

Anything carried using one or more hands is considered Held.

Free Hand

Also known as an 'Open Hand', a Free Hand is the hand of an unwounded arm, which is not holding any equipment other than material components required by the action.

Free Hands are most often required to cast abilities and interact with game objectives.

• Bucklers, Small Shields, and Magic Staves will not count against a Free Hand, even while holding the handle.
• Medium, Large, and Tower Shields that are held in hand or worn on an arm will always take up the respective Free Hand, even if they are not actively being wielded or held in hand. The same is true for all sizes of Madu.
• Abilities marked with ⬗ in class customization do not require a free hand for that class to use.

Worn

Equipment attached to or otherwise dressing the body in its intended manner is considered Worn. Physical Armor must be Worn to bestow protection.

Wielded

Equipment is considered Wielded when it is being held in a manner appropriate for its use in the game of Amtgard.

1. Equipment must be wielded in order to attack, defend, or otherwise be used for its intended purpose. Certain game types, classes, and special rules will limit the equipment a player is allowed to wield.
   • If something cannot be wielded, it can still be held or carried, but cannot be used to perform any function and should not be presented in a way that would suggest it is wielded.
2. Players can only wield one piece of equipment per hand. Shields are an exception (see below).
3. Players may only ever wield a single Shield at a time, however shields can be wielded simultaneously in the same hand as any another piece of equipment except Bows and Crossbows.
   • Medium, Large, and Tower Shields must be held by their handle to be wielded.
   • Bucklers and Small Shields must be either worn on the arm or held by their handle to be wielded.
   • Shields cannot be wielded while worn like a backpack or strapped to other parts of the body such as the torso, legs, hip, or head.
4. Bows and Crossbows cannot be wielded with any other equipment in the same hand (besides arrows). Likewise, other equipment cannot be wielded while in the same hand as a bow or crossbow. A buckler or small shield may still be wielded on the arm so long as there is no risk of it interfering with the safe use of the bow.
   • For gameplay purposes, reloading a crossbow does not count as wielding it.
5. Thrown projectiles are only considered wielded during the throwing motion. They are considered unwielded equipment at all other times.
6. Players may hold Unwielded equipment in the same hand as wielded equipment in situations where it is blatantly and visually obvious which piece of equipment is in use and which one is not. If a player ever visually appears to have more equipment wielded than they are allowed, all the equipment in question is considered unwielded.
   • Bows and Crossbows are the only exception to this rule (see above).
     
   Example 1: A player may wield a polearm two-handed while also holding an unwielded flail in one of their supporting hands. The pole can be used as long as the flail is obviously not in action. In order to use the flail the player would need to release the polearm from the flail hand.
   Example 2: If a player holds two short swords in the same hand then both would be considered unwielded because it would be too ambiguous which one the wielder is intending to use and which one is just being held, regardless of their orientation.

Unwielded

All equipment is considered unwielded unless it meets the conditions for being worn or wielded. In addition, the following rules apply:

1. Unwielded Equipment will count as an Invalid Obstruction when struck.
2. Unwielded Equipment cannot be used to block line of sight or impede the physical movement of other players or their equipment.

Unattended

Unwielded Equipment that has been at rest on the ground or against terrain for at least 5 seconds is also considered ‘Unattended’ until it is reclaimed by an intended user. Unattended Equipment cannot be destroyed or otherwise affected by gameplay. This has no effect on conditions the equipment had before it became Unattended (ie. a destroyed weapon will stay destroyed even while it is unattended).

Destroyed

Some effects may cause equipment to become Destroyed.

1. Destroyed equipment cannot be wielded, used to perform an in-game function, or otherwise generate a gameplay advantage until it is restored.
2. Destroyed equipment may still be carried or worn so long as the player notifies their opponents about the state of the equipment as necessary and avoids presenting it in a way that would suggest otherwise.
3. Destroyed Armor is reduced to zero (0) armor points in the affected location.