Plunder Tourney

A fighting tourney

What is a Plunder Tourney?

A plunder tourney was a type of fighting competition held in the Emerald Hills, the Golden Plains, and possibly in other places, in the late 1980's.

As an entrance fee, each participant was required to bring an item of "plunder"-- a bit of garb, costume jewelry, or functional equipment, which they had purchased for very little money at a thrift store or garage sale. The tourney's organizer usually set absolute limits on how much could be spent on an item of plunder-- usually in the $5-10 range-- and part of the fun was looking for a worthwhile bit of treasure that still fell within this limit.

How It Worked

The tourney itself was usually a single-elimination event which was fought in brackets, with winners from one round going on to face other winners in the next round (and so on). At some point in the competition, a second set of brackets would usually be arranged to settle who won third place, fourth place, etc.

At the tourney's conclusion, the first-place winner would have the honor of being allowed to inspect the available plunder items and select his or her item first. Then the second-place winner would have second choice, and so on, until all participants had received something that somebody else had contributed.

Why It Faded In Popularity

There are two main reasons that plunder tourneys aren't held any more. Plunder tourneys were often derided as 'belt tourneys,' because belts were often the easiest thrift store item to find for a few dollars. One Knight was heard to mutter, "Oh, well, off to win another belt," when the plunder tourney at Reinholt's midreign began. Another problem was that people would often travel great distances to attent a faraway Amtgard event, only to get to a remote campsite and find that they had to have an item of plunder before they could take part in the tourney.