Weapon of Choice.....

A change is coming. It's on the horizon, and when it arrives, I guarantee there will be much profanity. Of what change do I write? Boffers. Soon, we will cast away the old swords, and all derivatives in their design of the original swords made by Jared. What will replace them is a round boffer, which, while not looking as good or performing as well as Jared's design, will open us up to the greater world of Amtgard. However, there are those in our Shogunate that protest this change, namely, the Shogun himself!

The Shogun claims that his swords can be made legal. The author asks, how? He claims to know a person high in the ranks of Amtgard. The author asks, who is our shogun to be an exception to a rule that is mandatory for all Amtgard groups? Unfortunately that is no one. How could he be? Jared has never met this "Kurse" (look him up on amtwiki) face to face, yet he claims that they are such good friends that he can make our group an exception to a rule that hasn't changed in years! A rule no other group has ever been an exception to, period. Rules are rules, and even if we could be an exception, why would we want to be? If we want the respect of the greater game, we must earn it on the same terms as everyone else.

The respect of others is something very satisfying to receive. It's one of those things that just makes you feel good. There are many players in Amtgard that have never heard of the Sakura Moon Shogunate, and even more who've never heard the name “Sosei Bonzai.” What an honor it would be for us to prove ourselves to the world of Amtgard to be the most feared fighting force on the battlefields. Notoriety could be ours. We could be the best, if only we strive to reach such a lofty goal. There are many who stand in our way. Many great battles are in our future, and if we strive to win, many legendary victories. The enemies we'll face are strong, and one of the closest is also one of the best in the world.

The Triads, Neverwinter's elite fighting company. One day, we will fight them, and win or lose, we'll leave that battlefield that day with the knowledge that we've stood our ground against some of the most fearsome fighters in the nation. One thing stands in our way though, and it will assuredly prevent us from ever setting foot on the field with these great fighters. It's more familiar than you think, and as recently as the last time you set foot on the field, you most likely held it in your hand; your sword. If it's got a diameter of less than 2.25 inches, it's not legal for use on any official Amtgard battlefield.

When we become an official Amtgard chapter, many good things will become available to us. We'll get to play at some of the BIG games, like Spring War, which it just so happens we've been invited to. Spring War usually has over 500 players in attendance. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Well, I guarantee one thing, if we show up with some of the boffers we have now, we can forget doing any fighting. Even though we've proven that our swords are perfectly safe, the world of Amtgard does not yet realize that. Changes take a long time to happen in something as big as Amtgard. It's not conceivable that our swords will be legal on any official Amtgard field any time soon, so in the meantime, we'll have to start using the round boffers that everyone else uses.

In my next article, I'll go into detail about how the changes will take place, and how you can be prepared for them!