V9: Transition Guide

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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Read Me First

<big<When to Use this Guide
This guide is intended to help Amtgard V8 players orient themselves to the Amtgard V9 ruleset.

<big<This Guide is presented in RAS (Rules-as-Spoken)</big<
In an effort to help everyone more easily digest the contents of the new ruleset, the V9 Team has created this page to try to explain the changes as if they were being told to you by word-of-mouth. We call this “Rules as Spoken” or RAS. This page will not cover the details of every specific change but it should give you a general overview and basic understanding so you can keep them in mind as you read through the actual V9 rules.

Non-Gameplay Stuff

• Only Militia rules have been released so far. No class stuff yet.
  
  

• V9 has a new logo.
  
  

• There’s a new, detailed description of Amtgard in the introduction.
  
  

• A lot of existing rules had their wordings updated to be clearer.
  
  

• Many rules that existed only in clarifications or by ‘tribal/communal knowledge’ have been given proper sections and definitions.
  
  

• There will be a glossary, although it is not finished at the time of writing.
  
  

New Garb Section

• Garb has its own section with more details about what garments are preferred and what folks should try to avoid.
  
  

• Pink sashes are now reserved for players who “Prefer Not To Be Hit”. The rules also have notes about how to use this symbol properly as an accommodation for those who need it.

New Honor System Section

There’s a whole section talking about the honor system and how it is integral to making LARPs work. It lists some responsibilities that everyone should share for the sake of the game.

New Safety Section

• All the safety bits from V8 have been compiled into their own section and expanded upon.
  
  

• The “HOLD!” call is back from previous editions as the command to ‘stop everything’.
  
  

• The “SAFETY!” call remains the same as in V8.

Acceptable/Unacceptable Contact

• There are new forms of unacceptable contact.
  • You can’t use your garb to intentionally block shots.
  • You can’t attack with weapons using a punching motion.

Basic Combat Mechanics

• Projectiles need to stop/deflect to count. No more grazing.
  
  

• ‘Illegal Obstruction’ is now a keyword. It’s what happens when an attack is physically blocked by something that isn’t allowed to block.
  
  

• “Light Contact” is now actually described as a type of invalid contact.
  
  

• Shot in Motion applies to everything, not just melee.
  
  

• Foot on Ground is now completely invulnerable, not just immune to wounds.
  
  

• The new ‘Torso Priority’ rule clearly defines that strikes ‘on the line’ between two locations will count against the torso.
  
  

• There’s a section explaining how to handle weapons with multiple points striking someone at the same time (like a trident).
  
  

• There’s a section explaining how Friendly Fire is handled.

Wounds

• Players can still choose to Kneel or Post when they are legged but now in addition the dead leg is immune to wounds for 2 seconds after being struck to prevent double-tapping legs from forcing a ‘kneel or die’ interaction.
  
  

• You can switch between Kneeling and Posting at will as long as you don’t do it in the middle of fighting someone.
  
  

• You can hobble around to move slowly while Posting if there’s no enemies within 20’.
  
  

• The Forced Movement Accommodation from V8 is carried over here with revised and improved wording.

New Death Section

• Death has a whole section now.
  
  

• ‘Calling Dead’ and ‘Taking a Death’ are keyworded and better defined.
  
  

• The ‘Hand-on-head’ gesture is now the official sign for being dead.
  
  

• There’s no longer a penalty for moving after you die.

Equipment General

Gameplay

• There are now definitions for ‘Carried’, ‘Held’, ‘Free Hand’, ‘Worn’, ‘Wielded’, ‘Unwielded’, ‘Unattended’ and ‘Destroyed'.
  
  
  • Unattended is new. Unattended equipment can't be destroyed or affected until it is reclaimed. There’s a delay timer so people can’t just drop their weapons to make them instantly immune.

Construction

• There is now a list of base criteria that all equipment must meet (in addition to type-specific requirements) in order to be used in Amtgard: safety, durability, and recognizability.
  
  

• Information about Equipment Checks is expanded and a full guide has been added.
  
  

• Anyone who wants to use a bow/crossbow has to prove that they know how to use it safely during weapon checks or else they can’t use it.
  
  

• Strips need to be at least 1” wide.

Weapons

Gameplay

• Javelins are now melee weapons except when thrown. This is the reverse of V8 (where they are projectiles except when being wielded.)
  
  

• Deliberately bouncing projectiles off the ground or terrain is called out as unsafe and not allowed. Accidental bounces are fine though.
  
  

• Deliberately batting projectiles back at the other team is called out as unsafe and not allowed. Accidental ricochets are fine though.
  
  

• Rocks are Weapon Destroying (in addition to SC/AB) but now they always have to be thrown with two hands.
  
  

• Bows can be wielded with a shield strapped to the arm so long as the shield does not interfere with the use of the bow.
  
  

• Hitting Bows and Crossbows is now off totally limits and the rules have been adjusted around this.
  
  

• Siege Engines are now left entirely up to Game Organizer discretion. The only requirement beyond being safe, durable, and recognizable is that they have to use Amtgard-legal weapons for their striking portions.

Construction

• Lots of V8 terms have had their names slightly adjusted.
  
  

• Hit Testing during equipment check is now required for all weapons.
  
  

• Open-Cell and Closed-Cell foam are now better defined.
  
  

• The Punch-weapon ban only applies to weapons that can only strike via punching (since punch-attacks are still illegal).
  
  

• Weapons now have a 45 degree maximum flex limit.
  
  

• Super Heavy padding is a new type of optional padding that needs a 12” cross-section but lets you substitute strike-legal at a 2:1 ratio.
  
  

• Stab Tips require more foam than V8 minimums. Notably, these new rules should line up with what most folks already do with their weapons.
  
  

• All weapons need to be at least 50% padded in some way.
  
  

• Any weapon can now be multi-ended and the rules for weapons construction have been built with multi-ended and oddly shaped weapons in mind.
  
  

• Daggers can now be up to 24” - UP from V8.
  
  

• The V8 'Great' Category has been turned into ‘Great’, ‘Reach’, and ‘Pike’, each with their own maximum length.
  
  • Only V9 Great weapons are automatically SC/AB when 2H. This allows for 2/3 strike-legal greatswords that don’t need heavy padding. V9 Great Weapons can only be up to 6ft long.
    
  • Reach weapons cannot be SC/AB by construction but they can be up to 9ft long.
    
  • Pikes are the longest weapons in the game. They cannot be SC/AB by construction AND they must be Stab-Only. They can be up to 12ft long.
    
  • No melee weapon in V9 can be longer than 12ft.
    
    

• Hinged is now called Flail. Their handles now have a minimum size and the head now has a maximum size.
  
  

• Madu’s have a maximum size to match the length of a Reach weapon.
  
  

• Javelins can be double-ended.
  
  

• ALL projectiles must now have their owner’s names on them somewhere, not just arrows.
  
  

• Light and Heavy Thrown are now called Small and Large Thrown.
  
  • Large Thrown has a minimum length of 6” (down from 9”) closing the V8 gap.
    

• Spellballs have a max size of 6”
  
  

• Arrow construction rules have been overhauled.
  
  • Wooden shafts are not allowed.
    
  • Arrows must have at least 2 fletchings. Bolts can have either 0 or 2+.
    
  • Penny tech is gone. Blunts must be 0.75” diameter steel or aluminum. Any other material (like 3D printed) must be impact resistant and 1/4” thick.
    
  • The striking face of an arrow must be an open cell foam on top of closed cell foam.
    
  • Covers must be either Blue or a combination of contrasting colors.
    
    

• There’s a new Color-Code mechanic that is trying to standardize mandatory colors to make them easier to recognize and also more color-blind friendly by also adding a symbol. This affects anything that has a required color: sashes, strips, balls, arrows, etc.

Shields

• There’s new shield categories:
  • Small Shields have been broken into ‘Buckler’ and ‘Small’. The smallest possible shield is still the same dimensions as V8.
  • There’s a new Tower Shield size that covers anything bigger than a large shield, not exceeding 54x36”. It has a note saying this size is experimental and that these numbers may change, so craft accordingly.
    
    

• Shield faces can’t have holes in them.
  
  

• There’s a limit to how much a shield can be recessed or curved.

Armor

Gameplay

• Natural and Magic armor are now defined but will be fleshed out with the class rules.
  
  

• Armor now takes priority when someone is hit in both an armored and unarmored area at the same time. It effectively extends the coverage of all armor pieces and closes many small gaps.

Construction

• Certain materials now have hard minimum requirements. If the material doesn’t meet these requirements, then it can’t be used as armor.
  
  

• The penalty for ‘Non-Standard Metal’ has been removed. The base standard for metal armor is now Aluminum. Steel and similar metals get a bonus.
  
  

• Armor-Specific modifiers are gone. There are only two core modifiers: Superior/Inferior Appearance is for looks, and Superior/Inferior Construction is for technique/materials.
  
  

• Negative penalties in V9 almost exclusively apply to armor that is unfinished or in poor repair.
  
  

• The Gambeson bonus has been replaced with “Layering”. It’s still a +1 but now it uses the value of the highest rated piece in the stack, so if you put light leather over chainmail, the value of that area is chain+1 instead of the leather +1.
  
  

• The Helm bonus has become the ‘Supplemental Armor Bonus’ and it has been expanded to include hand and feet armor so you can now get a global +1 armor to all locations if you wear the supplemental armor in all those locations.
  • There is only one type of Supplemental Armor, no light/heavy like in V8.
    
    

• Armor is now categorized by TIERS instead of by style. Tier 1 is base 1, max 2. — Tier 2 is base 2, max 3. –- And so on. Each tier lists all the styles of armor that fall under it. Ambiguous armors are placed where they fit best.
  • Light Leather is worth more. It is Tier 2 (base 2, max 3) – UP from V8.
  • Ringmesh/Sharkmail and Synthetic Chainmail are now specifically listed as Tier 2 (base 2, max 3).
  • Heavy Leather is worth more. It is Tier 3 (base 3, max 4) – UP from V8.
  • High-Density, Rigid Synthetic Armors are now specifically listed as Tier 3 (base 3, max 4) – UP from V8.
  • Metal Chain is Tier 3. - SAME as V8.
  • Scale, Splint, Butted Plate, etc. are worth more. They are Tier 5 (Base 5, max 6) – UP from V8.
  • Lamellar, Brig, Laminar, and Plate are all worth more. They are Tier 6 (Base 6, Max 7) – UP from V8.
  • There’s a few Catch-All categories to handle previously hard-to-categorize armor types.
    
    

• Even though some pieces can be rated for more than 6pts, nothing is allowed to exceed 6 pts after averaging. The point of 7pt+ armor is to get more favorable averaging so you can wear less pieces and still hit the 6pt cap.
  
  

• Averaging works exactly the same as V8.

Effects

• Effects that happen on hit, such as Armor Breaking, etc. are now called ‘Strike Effects’. Only Militia-level effects are included so far.
  
  

• Declarations for Strike Effects have been cleaned up a bit.
  
  

• Armor Breaking is the SAME as V8. As is Armor Destroying, Weapon Destroying, and Shield Destroying.
  
  

• Shield Crushing is functionally the same but you can repair crushed-but-not-destroyed Shields with Mend effects.
  
  

• The ‘Siege’ effect is a thing now. It’s an engulfing death that also destroys all your equipment and armor. Nothing can prevent death or trigger from dying this way. The only way to avoid it is to not get hit.”

Combat Activities

• The section about battlegames and combat activities has been expanded.
  
  

• A ‘Dead Zone’ (previously known as ‘Nirvana’ in V7) is defined but doesn't have a good name yet.
  
  

• ‘Repair at Base’ is now called ‘Replenish at Base’ and restores everything: armor, wounds, equipment, and per-life abilities with a single count.
  
  

• Game Modes (Ditch, Militia, Class, etc..) are more fleshed out and several other common modes have been added, mostly roleplay-oriented ones.
  
  

New Rules Authorities Section

There’s a section for Rules Authorities like Reeves, etc.

Best Practices for Rules Authorities

• The ‘Gray area’ section has been expanded on to provide more guidance about how to navigate weird rules and interactions. It’s similar to the Honor System but directed at reeves more than players.
  
  

• Players are explicitly never immune to combat while they are discussing or clarifying rules in the middle of combat.