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Chaosium Digest Volume 04 Number 01
Chaosium Digest Volume 4, Number 1
Date: Sunday, September 19, 1993
Number: 1 of 3
Contents:
The Courts of Love (Tim Beecher) PENDRAGON
Arthurian Random Encounters (Tim Beecher) PENDRAGON
NPC Knights (Shannon Appel) PENDRAGON
Elric! Questions & Answers (Lynn Willis) ELRIC!
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From: timbee@timbee.rnd.symix.com (Tim Beecher)
Subject: The Courts of Love
System: Pendragon
Having played in several campaigns, I've found that one of the
recurring themes that appears is Queen Guinevere's Courts of Love.
These Courts of Love are composed of a group of noblewomen who serve
as judge and jury in matters of the Code of Chivalry and dabble
heavily in amor. Guinevere decides who among the courts handles a
matter, usually a small group of women.
The Courts of Love are a major source of intrigue, since they consider
it important to know the amors, the up and coming knights and the
deeds to be assigned to knights. While King Arthur uses military
strength to rule, the Courts of Love use the knight's own code against
them. The Courts of Love travel with the rest of the court and move
about Britain. The Courts may provide many play opportunities for
knights.
When in the good graces of the Courts of Love, the players can expect
to be asked to escort noblewomen, obtain a noble amor (love), do deeds
to prove chivalry, hang around with famous people they wouldn't meet
normally, attend feasts and tournaments, gathering all the rumors of
the in-crowd or provide entertainment. Being on the good side of the
Queen doesn't hurt either. While at the courts, players may be asked
to give their opinions on questionable matters, with the answer given
being capable of causing loss or gain of status. Combat can occur
when rescuing people from failed quests, appearing at tournaments or
dealing with the unchivalrous.
When in the bad graces of the Courts of Love, the player's life
becomes a lot more interesting. Ever been nagged by a spouse or
girlfriend/boyfriend? Try mutiplying it a hundredfold. Every
boot-licking toady knight who wants to get in with the courts feels
the need to defeat you in jousting. The local noblewomen, who serve
as an extension of the courts, will gladly turn their attention to
you. To get back in good graces, there will always be a price. Your
lord may not like the idea of you going to France to adventure and
appease the Courts. Attending a tournament when in the bad graces of
the Courts is not a good idea. Get ready for challenges and a lot of
roleplaying.
"Guinevere, we have not trysted for many weeks. What has come over
thee?"
"My love, it's just that every time you come near, I can't help but
think of that unchivalrous knight in Chester"
"Who is this unchivalrous knave who deprives me of my kingly duties?"
screams Arthur. Anyway, you get the picture.
Staying out of the clutches of the Courts can be a problem as well.
Early on, when you have little or no reputation, there is no problem,
but, as you become famous the Courts become interested in you. If you
spurn their advances ("I, Sir Powerplayer, have no need of amor"), it
just makes them that much more interested. They keep sending knights
and ladies to check you out, monitor your deeds and try to convince
you that a feast with music and poetry is the best thing in the world.
I had a character who escaped their clutches, so he thought, and
eventually married a young noblewoman who never had heard of the
courts. Later on in the campaign, she found out about them, thought
they were a great idea and joined.
Scenario Ideas:
* A knight proving his amor had set up and jousted all comers on a
road, in view of his lady and the accompanying witnesses. This
activity decreased tolls on the road, angering the local lord who
threw them all in the dungeons. However, the local lord has a wife
who is famous for her ability to nag.
* Two of your lord's knight have chosen the same amor and are
constantly trying to outdo each other. The lord has grown weary of
this and asks you to end it without angering the Courts
* A lord, eager to please Arthur, has planned a tournament.
Unfortunately, the Courts have decided to spend the week hawking
instead. The lord promises a reward to those who can bring the Courts
to his event.
* One of the in-crowd complains because she has no amor. The woman has
a temper, but is a close friend of Guinevere. Surely, anyone who can
find her a suitor will win favor with the queen.
* A knight is encountered claiming to be pursued by unknown fanatics.
The Courts of Love are following him incognito.
--------------------
From: timbee@timbee.rnd.symix.com (Tim Beecher)
Subject: Arthurian Random Encounters
System: Pendragon
In a campaign I ran, I was fooling around with random encounter tables
for travelling that would have the feel of the Arthurian sagas. I
made the encounters as mini-adventures/single encounters and had them
on large index cards with enough stuff to last 2 sessions usually.
Below is one of those table (tailored to the regions I was using),
along with some accompanying explanation:
1-2 Travelling Knights
3-4 Bandits
5 Travelling Noblewoman
6 Strange Pheonomena/Supernatural Creature
7-8 Holy Man
9-10 Famous Knight/Local
11 Animal
12-13 Hostile Knights/Saxons/Irish
14-16 Rumors
17-18 Footmen
19 Celebration/Feast
20 Goodly Hermit Man
Strange Phenomena & Supernatural Creatures (6)
Strange Phenomena was my GM special encounters of a minor nature.
Seelie court creatures, Saints, unexplained weird things and other
oddities of a legendary nature were all included. Some examples were:
a tower in a secluded forest that was home to a magic weapon (a Spear
that doubled the healing rate of its owner), A Faerie Bull (which
stole cattle, leading them into the forest and into its own herd) and
a church that could increase the production of a land owner's land if
he was devout.
The tower was an a test of virtues and skills (Humility, Piety,
Awareness, Dex and Dancing). The dancing test was last and really
screwed power players. The Tower was meant to be a recurring
mini-encounter. It tested what was important to the builders and was
basically an artifact in itself. It also got players thinking beyond
the combat machine theory of role playing.
Some supernatural creatures came from the Unseelie Court (Evil Magic
Pagan Creatures), who were nature oriented. A member of the Unseelie
court could be the whirlpool that drags down boats, the storm that
prevents travellers from reaching York on time or the gnome who makes
beer go flat. The evil creatures are not all combat oriented.
Holy Men (7-8) & Hermits (20)
The religious encounters were split between the appropriate religions.
One of my players had a devout obnoxious christian knight who
encountered a goodly hermit man who was giving confession. The player
immediately brown-nosed the hermit by having confession. The penalty
for the sins was flagellation and the hermit asked for and was given
the player's flail. The goodly hermit pict promptly beat the tar out
of the religious knight, crying out all of his "sins" until killed by
the other players.
Famous Knights (9-10)
Famous Knight were not the legendary knights, but rather the locally
famous. I had knights of the region who might serve as a paragraph in
a Lancelot tale (On the way there, Lancelot encountered and slew the
Saxon knight Sir Errvale who had drowned 4 other knights). They were
much better than an average knight, but usually had no 20+ skills.
They might be either good or evil, but not overpowering.
Rumors (14-16)
Rumors were the wild card. They were occasionally true, and worked as
follows: A group of pilgrims are encountered on the road. In passing
they mention a city to the north that is plagued by bandits, led by a
man who paintss his face black. This leads to the inevitable side
excursion/wild goose chase.
The players also serve as information sources to others. A priest may
want to know how devout the people of his home area are, or a Centaur
may wish to know the location of a Redcap he is hunting.
After rumors was rolled, a second roll on the table was made to
determine the subject. If rumors were rolled twice, the rumor
received was that of a possible information source (a travelling bard,
the Courts of Love, a library, etc).
Sometimes the adventure was getting to the adventure. In one case, a
group of knights got a false rumor about a giant knight on a giant
horse up by Hadrian's Wall. The players tried to track it down and a
fumbled tracking roll resulted in finding the footprints by the wall.
Meanwhile, the people they asked passed on the rumor to other knights,
who started to search and passed it on. Soon, the players encountered
other knights who gave them back their own information. All this from
a rumor and a fumble.
An interesting feature of this was that the intrigue skill became
important because good intrigue gave players more opportunities by
being in the know.
Celebrations & Feasts (19)
Celebration/Feast could be a village, a castle, or a city, depending.
It would serve as a source of information for intrigue rolls, as well
as a source for role-playing opportunities.
I also used a basic program to generate knight and footman but that's
another article.
--------------------
From: appel@erzo.berkeley.edu (Shannon Appel)
Subject: NPC Knights
System: Pendragon
In my last Pendragon campaign, I made extensive use of NPC knights.
I'm not speaking of the great knights of the Pendragon stories, but
rather locally famous knights, of the type that Tim describes above.
The knights were a lot of fun to use, because they gave the players
opponents to constantly seek out in tournaments, and friends to
beseech when they were in need of aid. In addition, because many of
them had varying goals, the NPC knights could be used to generate or
drive adventures.
I've included some notes about a pair of knights below. Hopefully,
they can be used to spice up your Pendragon campaigns.
The Mirrored Knight
[shield: blank]
This knight is called the mirrored knight due to his armor, which is a
set of plate mail, so highly polished that it nearly glows in the
sunlight. A newcomer to the court, there will be much speculation
about the mirrored knight's identity. Perhaps the court will assume
that he is Lancelot, or some other famous knight, travelling in
disguise. His tremendous skills and great chivalry will definitely
back up this assumption. At some climatic moment though, the mirrored
knight's secret will be accidently revealed. In truth, he is an ugly
troll. Will the knights react to his deeds of chivalry, or simply to
his cursed ancestry?
Personality Traits: Energetic 16, Generous 22, Just 19, Merciful 18,
Modest 25, Valorous 20
Skills: Horsemanship 20, Sword 21, Lance 24
Story Ideas:
* In a tournament, the Mirrored Knight purposefully loses the last
round (due to his great modesty). When one of the player knights
realizes this, what does he do?
* When the Mirrored Knight disappears, player knights who have
befriended him may decide to search for him. Perhaps the Mirrored
Knight has gone upon a dangerous quest, or, alternatively, he may have
been captured (or killed) by a knight who simply sees him as a
dangerous beast.
Sir Madog, Pagan Knight
[shield: divided in two, with red on the left and gold on the right]
Sir Madog is the epitome of what an Arthurian knight should not be.
Lustful, vengeful and selfish, he is constantly getting in trouble
with his neighbors and fellows. If he were not a wealthy lord, he
probably would have been dealt with long ago. Many Christian Knights
loath Sir Madog sufficiently that whenever he enters a tournament, a
score or so knights will form an anti-Madog faction, and then rampage
across the battlefield, their sole goal being to remove him from the
tourney. If the player knights accidently get in between this faction
and Sir Madog in a tournament, they will no doubt be quite sorry.
Personality Traits: Lustful 20, Vengeful 16, Selfish 18
Skills: Flirting 22, Battle 15, Horsemanship 14, Sword 17, Lance 13
Story Ideas:
* Sir Madog has began cutting down the forest near his land, going far
beyond the lands actually granted him under Feudal contract. In doing
so, he has angered a giant, who lives in the forest. The giant has
begun to steal Sir Madog's cattle and scare his villagers, in an
attempt to frighten Madog away from his lands. When the players
arrive, Sir Madog will ask them to slay the giant. Perhaps the
players might actually talk to the giant, and learn the reason behind
his actions.
* In a tournament, unsuspecting knights might be asked by Sir Madog to
fight beside him. How will they react when they are set upon by the
anti-Madog group, and learn the true face of their leader?
Shannon
--------------------
From: chaosium@netcom.com (Lynn Willis)
Subject: Elric! Questions & Answers
System: Elric!
[The questions for this article were all submitted by David Dunham]
ADVENTURERS (pg. 30-42)
Q: While the survival tips (p. 40) suggest shield and dodge, few of
the occupations allow this (since they provide only a single weapon
skill). (Only beggars, mercenaries, slaves, soldiers can learn dodge
to significant amounts.)
A: On page 31, in step 5, adventurer types one and two also provide
both dodge and weapons skill. The occupations provide character
generation routes useful (and hopefully understandable) to novices;
there is also full provision for custom adventurers in the rules.
What more would you suggest?
SKILLS (pg. 43-49)
Q: The weapon tables show Brawl as having a 25% base chance; elsewhere
it's 50%. Which is correct?
A: Brawl is 50%; on pg. 70, change the entry on the weapon tables.
Q: Pg. 16 & 22 says the nomads of the Sighing Desert speak a unique
language called Lesh, but pg. 46 doesn't mention this language.
A: Add Lesh to the languages in column 1, para 7 of page 46.
Q: What's the purpose of the "Base Chance" under Shield on the
character sheet? Is the Shield Attack a different skill from shield
parry (unlike other weapons)?
A: The shield base chance entry is redundant; delete or ignore it.
COMBAT (pg. 63-72)
Q: There was some dispute locally. If the attacker rolls 01 (Impale)
and the defender makes a critical dodge, does "full effect" (pg. 44)
mean that the defender takes double damage ignoring armor? (A
critical parry does block an impale, which is probably the source of
the confusion.)
A: If the attacker rolls impale and the defender rolls critical dodge,
the defender takes double damage and gets no benefit from the armor.
In this one case, the dodging character's only hope is for a weak
blow. Does the asymmetry with the parry rules seem unasthetic?
MAGIC (pg. 73-102)
Q: pg. 56 says Heal can be applied once/wound/day, but pg. 79 says
once/wound. Which is correct?
A: pg. 79 should read "Works once per wound per day."
Q: Is Hell's Armor ignored by an Impale?
A: Hell's Armor does indeed block an impale, turning the blow into a
critical result. Note that demon armor does not block an impale.
Q: Does casting a spell add to your Chaos score? The table on pg. 109
doesn't say so (though this may be because of a typo).
A: Under earning chaos points on pg. 35 we note that casting magic
earns Chaos points, and on pg. 76 we say "learning or casting even a
lawful spell adds a Chaos point to the adventurer's score." but
nowhere does the text seem to say how much! Thus on pg. 109, mark that
you earn 1 Chaos point each time a Chaos spell is cast and neither
earn nor lose Balance or Law points for spellcasting.
Lynn Willis
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The Chaosium Digest is an unofficial discussion forum for Chaosium's
Games. To submit an article, mail to: appel@erzo.berkeley.edu. All
articles submitted to the Digest remain copyright their respective
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