So, I've had this goal, in amtgard, for a while now. When I first started the game back in April of 2001, in Illinois, there was not very large culture of actually even getting awards. Because of that I created my award templates, which parks still use to this day (ugh) and put them online.
In the following years, I have tried to move away from that model, and feel that parks should be using their own artists to make their own award templates. To that end, I've created a editable awards, which, using google slides, allows you to generate your own custom awards based on a template I've created. You can drop in your own text and heraldry (you can use your own park or kingdom heraldry, too).
I also felt that the higher level awards (or even lower, because a second order of anything holds as much power in a freehold, as a master level award does in a kingdom) should be handmade and important to the recipient.
Titles and Masterhoods I really think need to be recognized more than they are, and part of that should be master hoods and having customized alternate titles.
Awards in Court
Among foam fighting games, Amtgard is somewhat unique in that you can earn awards and titles. Generally (not always) these awards are given in a formal setting at court, once every three months, known as Midreign and Coronation. This is the part of the game where everyone dresses up in their nicest amtgard outfits and usually have a meal, known as feast, beforehand. The monarchy will call the people receiving awards up to the front of the court, the recipient kneels, and the monarchy bestows on them the award/masterhood/knighthod/title/paragon what-have-you.
But what do they mean?
Ladder Awards:
There are 7 different ladder awards, which can be given for various reasons, each of them are numbered 1 through 10, with each award being harder to earn than the one before. I've provided links to the amtgard wiki, which explains each of them.
