News FeedA swift cut is blocked by a large shield and rewarded with a sword thrust. The other combatant barely dodges, twirling around to land a hard blow to their opponent’s side. “Ah! You got me,” cries out the slain warrior as he drops his weapon.
The sound of the sword hitting the ground is not the expected clang of metal but the soft thud of foam and PVC pipe. The warrior is uninjured and smiling at the person who just “slew” him. This is the world of Amtgard, a role-playing game that allows people to fight out the scenes of their favorite Lord of the Rings movie with their friends.
“We’re just a bunch of people who like the idea of sword fighting and want to do it in a safe and enjoyable way with our friends,” says Ben Goldstein, one of the founders of the Amtgard group at
Amtgard started with a group of medieval role-players in
Although it is a role-playing game, Amtgard emphasizes “thwacking” someone in the arm more than speaking in ye Oldé English. The goal is fairly simple; hit your opponent without being hit back. The game uses a system in which the player loses limb function when they are hit, eliminated after a second blow to a limb or the body.
Players use foam-padded weapons with a solid wood or metal core that ensure light weight and safety. Weapons can be constructed fairly easily; a sword bound with tape and a cloth cover to keep the padding in place costing around $10.
“For a sword you can sometimes get a graphite golf club shaft from Goodwill for about four dollars, a length of fun noodle which is enough for about two swords for about a dollar, and then tape and a cloth cover will probably run you about eight dollars or so but the tape will last you for a lot of swords,” Goldstein said.
Safety is important in Amtgard to ensure people walk away with a smile and not a black eye. Experienced players such as “Fuzzy” check everyone’s weapons before play to ensure there are no sharp edges proper padding thickness.
The group is an off-shoot of the Role-Playing Game Club and many people use their online handles as their role-playing names.
“A lot of [people] will draw them from Lord of the Rings or Norse mythology,” said Goldstein, who goes by the name “Fuzzy Ben”, “or there was a guy who follows the name Pepsi and a guy who follows the name Smurf so whatever, it’s all about having fun.”
Amtgard started up last fall through the efforts of “Fuzzy” and Ben Whiteman who goes by the name “Evil Ben.”
“Fuzzy and I really started to push it last year and we’ve got a lot of freshmen this year,” said Evil. “We usually have about 12 or so people out fighting at one time which is bigger than some official parks I know of.”
One of those new faces is Matt Dinwiddie, a junior transfer student. He is familiar with Amtgard, having played in
“Amtgard is a fun time to just go out and commune with people, socialize and have a good time,” said Dinwiddie. “It’s also a really good way to get some exercise and really get to do something spectacular.”
Strolling through the Quad on a Saturday afternoon, you are likely to see a dozen or more enthused swordsmen dueling, and don’t be surprised if you are invited to play.
“My favorite thing is if I see a couple walking by I’ll yell at the female and be like, ‘Hey, haven’t you ever wanted to hit him and not get in trouble for it? Come out and fight with us,’ or something like that,” says Fuzzy. “People will come up and say, ‘Hey, this looks like fun, can I try?’ we’ll invite them to try, we won’t turn anyone away, certainly.”
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