soltakss

There are a host of Cornish/Welsh/Breton saints of the ers, as well as another host of Irish/Scottish ones. I'd put a paragraph on each personalty, with perhaps major ones taking half a page/one page and some with characteristics. We should probably split personalities into Historical and Arthurian, so that those people who want a purely historical supplement can ignore the Arthurian ones.

The climate was warmer than it is today - look at the Medieval Warm Period for more information. Thule might not be as warm and hospitable as, say, Europe, but you could grow crops around the coast, for some of the year at least. Livestock would survive there, too, especially hardy northern types. Sure, it wouldn't support the whole community, but there again neither would hunting.

Excommunication is no big deal. Several Holy Roman Emperors were excommunicated, as were Kings Henry II and John of England and several kings of France. All you need do to get back in the Pope's good books is do a bit of penance, maybe found an abbey and promise to be a good boy. Being excommunicated actually has its advantages - King John actually consfiscated a lot of Church property and appointed bishops and priests, at a charge, he even ransomed all the priests' concubines. But YEWV.

They look about right. I tried to think of extra backgrounds and couldn't. Nor could I think of any obvious professions to add. I'd go for BRP skills rather than Stormbringer ones, because Stormbringer is pretty much dead and BRP is a better version.

We definitely need them as they were a staple of the legends of the time. Dragons should definitely be included - Merlin told of the two dragons fighting beneath Uther's tower as a child. The Pennines are the spine of the Great dragon that lies beneath Britannia. Merlin calls the Dragon's Breath charm in the film Excalibur. Fairy Folk should include the powerful demigod-like ones, such as the Lady of the Lake. I'd include Kelpies and some of the traditional fairy folk, but wouldn't include the "litle pretty fairies with wings". They should definitely be powerful and mysterious. Irish myths have the Seelie Court and Unseelie Court. Giants are another thing to definitely include. I have a vague memory of tribes of giants in the Welsh and Scottish mountains, but that might be my imagination confusing me. I wouldn't make them very big, though, probably 4m or 5m at best, because we don't have any tales of giants the size of mountains. PCs could be half-fairy, half-giant and even half-dragon, which would give them special powers/abilities, not least innate magical ability.

He'll get a big head and won't be able to get on the plane for Continuum. This is definitely the friendliest forum that I frequent and one of the most useful. I certainly appreciate the help and advice that are in the threads.

That's what hunters used to do. They'd wound an animal and track it until it fell. If they had dogs they'd harry it until it dropped through exhaustion and blood loss. Not a heroic kill, but very effective.

Merrie England: Age of Eleanor has Golems. They are made using Jewish magic and serve to protect important/pious Jews and the Jewish community. I can't remember off the top of my head how I did them, but they might have just had APs. They definitely have immunity to poison/disease/bleeding etc. It was written for RQM, so they would be slightly different for BRP.

It's a shame you don't have the seafaring rules from RQ3, they are simple and work reasonably well. Mongoose has something similar in Pirates, but focused on the High Seas. Long distance trading is always a problematic issue. A GM needs to think about the cost of the voyage, this is the sum of the wages of all the crew, the equipment used, the cost of overhauling and repairing a boat and the cost of all food and drink used on the voyage. Add to this the cost of the items to be traded, the cost of the ship itself (spread over several years), the capital to be used for the next voyage and the profit involved. Divide this amount by the goods in the hold and you have the cost of those goods. This is assuming that all ships get through, so you have to build in an amount to cope with the fact that some ships will be lost. A spreadsheet could be handy when doing the calculations. Don't forget, as well, that many islands and kingdoms have state-operated monopolies for different items traded. So, the fact that someone could bring in iron does not mean that they can always sell it. I'd guess that the Order would buy up all iron, leather and wood at a fixed and non-negotiable price, since their armourers would need them to make weapons and armour. Anything else could be traded normally. Rival merchants might have trouble breaking the monopoly and trading with them might be thought of as smuggling.

24 Hit Points gives 10 points in the FQ/HQ, so you only need to do 10 + AP to take it down. So, having Hit Locations is the way to go. Otherwise, shoot it and chase it, waiting for it to die, or shoot it several times. A single hunter does not take down a bear or walrus on his own, he needs a group of hunters to wear it down or surround it. I suppose the Major Wound rules might work, but I never use them.

You could do it that way, but land held in common is likely to be grabbed by the powerful. The Order could own all the land itself. That way, the people could farm the land as tenants or vassals of the Order, owing feudal allegiance to the Grand Master. There's no problem with nobles grabbing the land the land would effectively be held on common, but held by the Order for the common good.

The settlements died out in the 15th century because of climate change. There's no reason whey they couldn't have hard a series of cold winters and storms cutting them off and making them abandon the settlements before then. The survivors could well lead the Order back to the settlements in order to refound them.

Absolutely. Christianity is well established in the South. There is a veritable host of 6th Century Welsh, Cornish and Breton Saints, showing how pervasive Christianity had become. Irish Saints had started moving to Scotland and had made Iona their base. Saint Derfel is said to have been one of Arthur's warriors. However, the further north you go, the less important Rome is. Merlin would have come from Wales (or maybe Ireland) and would have held to the Old Ways quite stringly. If you subscribe to the idea that he was present during the Roman Invasion and planned the combined Saxon/Angle/Pict/Irish invasions of Brittania, then he had been opposing Roman religions, including Christianity, for some time. The Picts were definitely not Christian at this time, so Merlin would have been able to practise his beliefs openly among them. The Irish Saints spread Christianity through Dal Riada and Pictland at this time. They would meet pagain priests, including Merlin, and would challenge them, driving them away with magical displays or defeating them in logical argument. At least one Celtic Goddess (Brigid the Goddess of the Brigantes) becomes a Christian Saint, probably around this time. Bear in mind that one of the reasons for the Roman invasion of Britain was the destruction of the Druids who had been agitating against them in Gaul. They also smashed the Druid strongholds on Angelsey. This means that being a Druid in Roman Britain wasn't the best career move, so they moved to Ireland (where there are tales of Druids being active) and Caledonia/Pictland. Their descendants would have been discouraged by the Irish Saints and would have gone to Caledonia or back to the mountains of Wales. After the Romans left, they could try to rebuild their religion, figthing against Christianity in the process.

Have a look at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birlinn http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Mann_and_the_Isles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse-Gaels The Kingdom of Mann and the Isles was a Hiberno-Norse kingdom that stretched from the Isle of Mann all the way up the Western Coast of Scotland to the Shetlands and Orkneys. They definitely traded with Iceland and Scandinavia, in fact, as you say, for a lot of the time their kings were vassals of Norway, not of Scotland. So, the whole of the West Coast is part of an international trade network covering the north Atlantic. There is no reason why they wouldn't be able to trade with Greenland, although I'd expect them to trade with Iceland and have the Icelanders trade with Greenland. The East Coast is dominated by England and the lowland Scots, so their trade would be southwards to England rather than northwards to Scandinavia. As for Ireland, it was in the process of being subdued by the Normans. Strongbow had come over in the 12th century and conquered the island. His successors are busy establishing trade links with England and the continent and wouldn't really be much concerned with wildernesses like Iceland and Thule. Many Gaels would have joined with Mann and the Isles, rather than staying at home. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the Greenland climate was warmer than it is today, whic h explains why the settlements succeeded for so long.

I like the map of post-Roman Britain. I did think that Dal Riada was a little late to appear, but the kingdom starts about 500AD, so it the invasions could be happening during the Age of Arthur period. It gives another area of conflict to add to the mix. At the time, the Irish were busy invading Britannia and had established several coastal kingdoms on the western Welsh coast. So, we've got the following conflicts: 1. Angles vs Britons (Midlands/Northern England/Southern Scotland) 2. Saxons vs Britons (Southern England) 3. Irish vs Picts (Dal Riada) 4. Irish vs Britons (Welsh Coast) 5. Britons vs Britons (Wales/Cornwall/Cumberland/Strathclyde) 6. Angles vs Angles (Midlands/Northern England/Southern Scotland) 7. Saxons vs Angles (Midlands) 8. Saxons vs Saxons (Southern England) 9. Britons vs Franks (Brittany) Christianity is strong in Ireland, Cornwall, Wales and Northwest England. Celtic Paganism is present in Ireland, but has become weak (Saint Patrick cast the Serpents from Ireland), in Caledonia/Pictland (the Picts were never conquered by Rome and never received Christianity), and in the Welsh and Scottish mountains (Rome never really penetrated these areas as deeply as they did in the rest of the country) Nordic Paganism is present throughout the lands of the Angles/Saxons/Jutes as Christianity hasn't been spread to their lands. Some Romano-British cults might still be present in some areas, certainly Romano-British deities would be worshipped by isolated communities

I'd always play with hit locations. That's because I don't like the idea of rolling for Major Wound effects depending on the damage taken, it doesn't feel right to me. But, my games have always had a healthy amount of healing magic. I'd use CON+SIZ for PC Hit Points, though, and allow enchanted/blessed armour and weapons. Also, I'd say that 0 HP = Unconscious and you only die when you have reached you maximum HPs negatively, so someone with 15 HPs goes unconscious at 0 HP and starts to die at -15 HP, even then I'd allow death to occur after CON rounds, to allow for last-minute healing. Minor NPCs can die whenever the GM wants, but major NPCs would follow the Heroic rules.

Interesting that both sides of the Arthur camp thought that my last post supported them :-) As to a supplement, I would agree with cjbowser and take the Merrie England line that the supplement should be about the tales of the time, not necessarily the historical fact. So, the histories from the Gododdin and Mabigonian would apply, as would the historical kingdoms, as would the existence of King Arthur. However, King Arthur is merely a part of the setting, not the whole thing. After all, Kings are only important to other Kings. Normal people don't care about Kings, they care more about the warriors devastating their land. You could equally well play Druids fighting Christianity, Christians making Celtic deities into Saints, Britons fighting Saxon invaders, Fairies trying to stay relevant or even Saxons fighting for a place in a decaying world. Personally, I've never really cared whether any historical/legendary character actually existed. What is more important, to me, is how the stories interact and how they can be used together.

So what if Arthur never existed? Probably neither did Robin Hood. It doesn't matter. In a Dark Age game set around this time, it makes perfect sense to have an Arthur with much of the properties of the mythical Arthur. The Chivalric approach is fine. Having medieval knights riding around on destriers with massive castles doesn't fit the period. Sure, have a code of chivalry and even have a Round Table. The Romans had knights and had certain ideas of chivalry. Charlemagne was only a couple of generations after this time and he had Paladins and Knights, so why not at Arthur's court? "Wrong for the times" is subjective. Medieval knights don't fit, as stated above. It's a matter of preference. Pendragon does the medieval knights in Britain very well. A BRP Dark Age setting would be better, in my opinion. Every roleplaying supplement is subjective and has to make value judgements all the way through. One might have a Dark Age Arthur, riding on a pony and fighting Saxons. Another might have ancient survivors of Atlantis trying to found a new kingdom in Britannia. Another would have knights in shiny armour riding out from medieval castles and jousting in tournaments. Still another would have Celtic Priestesses trying to take control of the remnants of Rome and fighting the Saxon Priests. Another would have the descendants of Jesus living in Glastonbury and spreading their version of Christianity. Each one would make a reasonable supplement. I know which one I'd prefer. Maybe, maybe not. I'd have put him as a Romano-British Knight, descended from minor nobility. The theories of him being Samartian don't really fit for me, although having Samartian horsemen as mercenaries is fine - everyone used mercenaries, after all that's what apparently attracted the Angles, Saxons and Jutes to Britannia in the first place.

Well, Chastity and Celibacy are different Vows, although we tend to conflate them these days. There is at least one Order of knights in Iberia at the time that takes a Vow of Chastity but whose members may remain married. Chastity would include things like not having relations with anyone but one's wife and not having sex on Holy Days or Feast days or during Lent or during Easter or on Sundays. Also, many Orders have Lay Brothers as well as Knights. The Lay Brothers may well bring their wives along and could be the ones who populate the Isles. It is easier than you think. In Medieval times, many women looked to marry handsome, dashing or rich knights, even following them to exile. If the knights are heretics then they probably come from families with similar beliefs and those families would have daughters aplenty. Ladies are quite keen on civilising wildernesses and flocked to the Holy Land or to iberia, for instance. Also, why do they have to be willing? Abduction-marriages were quite common at this time - even Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry of Anjou because she was in danger of being abducted by a number of powerful Lords who had their eye on her position as Heiress of Aquitaine. There would be no shortage of young women from the minor nobility who could be kidnapped and taken to Thule - after all, that way their families don't have to pay a dowry.

I've got some provisional stuff on the period at http://www.soltakss.com/#AgeofArthur for RQ3, not BRP. My ideas were that the Celts and Romano-Britons worship deities in terms of RQ cults, but that Druids worship Pantheons and can access pretty much all the spells of the pantheon. Christians worship Saint Cults, but a lot of the saints come after this period, so they are limited to the important ones. There are a lot of Welsh, Cornish and Breton Saints living at this time, so they can be used in such a game. There is conflict between the three religions of Christianity, Nordic/Germanic and Celtic, with Celtic worship surviving in the Welsh Mountains, in Caledonia/Pictland and in the wilds of the Lake District/Fenland and Somerset Marshes. I like my Arthur to be a Roman Knight, or descended from Roman Knights. There would be some chivalry, but no Medieval Christian knights. The protagonists would be: The Britons, in Cornwall, Wales, Northwest England, Southwest and Northern Caledonia and Brittany The Saxons in the South and Centre of England The Angles in the East and North of England and possibly in Southern Caledonia The Irish in Ireland, along the Welsh Coast and beginning to appear in the West of Caledonia and the Islands The Fairy Folk in Ireland and the Old Places of Britannia Anyway, that's the gritty kind of background I'd like to see. I'm not keen on Pendragon as it concentrates on the chivalric side of the Arthurian tales and those don't really appeal to me. I much prefer the idea of Arthur sleeping with his sister, the knights fighting each other, Arthur conquering the Saxons and moving to the continent, conquering Scandinavia and Brittany before being defeated by his son, nephew and heir. The Gododdin would be a central part to the history, as would the Mabinogian. The Arthurian tales would be useful but with a lot of stuff stripped out. So, a Dark Age setting with some post-apocaltypic stuff thrown in would be ideal. The Romano Britons would be retreating in the face of the Angle, Saxon, Jute, Pict and Irish invasions. Cities would be sacked, armies defeated. Many Romans would leave for the continent, as the Empire falls apart. Priests would cling to their heritage, trying to retain their status as an outpost of Rome. New heresies and beliefs would come in. The Old Ways would surge back but would founder on the Nordic religion of the invaders. Sounds good to me.

Thanks - I didn't have my copy available, so I missed that page. BRP does have a supplement that has some Divine Magic, so as long Deus Vult stocks to the normal Divine Magic then things should be fairly compatible. If, however, they use strange and new spells then it might be best just to use the Deus Vult spell in BRP. Treat it as a new spell, it shouldn't do any harm.

Sorry, I just assumed that everyone reading here would know about RuneQuest products. My mistake. No. In fact, Deus Vult doesn't really mention the Templars. They wouldn't really overlap because the Templars are concerned with defending pilgrims, attacking Saracens, defending Christendom and stockpiling relics, whereas the Order works in different ways (apart from stockpiling relics, of course).

There used to be one but I could never work out how to add a new product.

Yes, 1190 or thereabouts. Just before the time of Stupor Mundi, about the time of Crusaders of the Amber Coast and slap bang in the middle of Merrie England.

Deus Vult This is a fairly thick hardback with a nicely restrained cover. Inside, it looks good, well laid out with some internal artwork.The artwork is, by and large, OK, but a bit modern for the setting. There are some maps, of Western Europe and of Mount St M ichel, which are good but it could have done with more. Introduction - This is written from the viewpoint of the Order. It covers areas such as On the History of the Order, On the Nature of the Order, On the Duties of the Order, On the Structure of the Order, On the Teaching of Initiates, On the Abbey of St M ichel, On the Blessed Ring and the Order's Salvation and On the Furtherance of Our Blessed Task. These are very interesting and give a flavour of what it means to be part of the Order. Character Generation - Characters start as Seasoned, with all Characteristics over 6 or more, as the Order only accepts the best. Order Training is interesting with skills increased based on your highest Characteristic rather than being in a profession. Later Recruits can be from the backgrounds of Poor, Outlaw, Urban, Educated or Noble. Order members can belong to different Professions of Acrobat, Alchemist, Animal Trainer, Bard, Bandit, Beggar, Blacksmith, Clergy, Courtier, Craftsman, Diplomat, Farmer, Fisherman, Herdsman, Hunter, Knight, Nobleman, Noblewoman, Monk, Mercenary, Merchant, Miner, Physician, Sailor, Scholar, Soldier/Warrior, Spy, Thief, Thug, Tracker, Wife, Whore, Witchhunter, Woodsman and Village Priest. There are tables showing random events that could have happened to you in the past, with an Order Event Table and an Occult Event Table for each background, these can add some flavour to your personal history. The community of Faith allows you to generate allies, contacts, enemies and rivals, rounding off your character nicely. This chapter allows you to roll up a character with a lot of flavour, having professions and backgrounds suited to the period and with a lot of extra fluff and history. This is how Character Generation should be done. Solis Sacerdotis - This describes the history and structure of the Order, with sections of A History Noble and Unknown, Structure of the Order, Hieromonks, The Order and the World, The Master, Claustral Priors, Obediantry Priors, Preceptors, The Superior General, Breviary, A Demon-Haunted World and The Enemy. These contain a short history of the Order, together with excerpts from the Gospel of St Thomas, an interesting take on a Catholic Order, as well as a description of the structure and hierarchy of the Order. There are many things about this that are good, some of the background pieces introduce outside events in an easy to read way. This is a very good background chapter. The Instruments of God - This contains descriptions of the tools and equipment in the Order. It covers a number of weapons, magical items, weapons, weapon improvements, armour improvements, wondrous devices, alchemical compounds, and relics. What can I say? These are crunchy, useful, fit the setting perfectly and would make an old roleplayer very happy indeed. Excellent stuff. The Mont St-M ichel - Yes, there is a space in the middle of Michel, this is repeated in each of the chapter headings containing the word but not in the text, this must have a hidden meaning in the game which, I am sure, will be revealed in a later supplement. This is a very short chapter showing the layout of the Abbey that acts as the Headquarters of the Order. Short but sweet, this could have been expanded on. Brethren of the Order - This is a series of NPCs, some are members of the Order, others are contacts and even rivals and enemies. Overall, these are good, well-balanced, well thought out sets of NPC statistics. This finishes off with a number of playable pre-generated PCs which could be used in a convention or one-off game. Gifts and Miracles - This covers Preternatural Gifts, the equivalent of Legendary Abilities and Miracles, the equivalent of Divine Magic or Merrie England/Stupor Mundi Blessings. The Preternatural Abilities are OK, but are heavily combat-oriented whereas I'd have preferred some that reflect the period. Miracles work well, with some new spells and a list of standard RQ spells available to the Order. The Church - This covers the Catholic Church of the period with sections of The Inquisition, The Templars and Witch-Hunters. This is a very short section and could have been a lot longer and more detailed. The Church and Crusaders are very briefly covered but these are very sketchy descriptions indeed. I'd have liked this to have been expanded on, to be honest. The Enemy - This describes the enemies of the Order. It splits enemies into Monsters, Cultists, Sorcerers and Heretics. It covers Cults, Sorcerers, Heresies and Impediments. The Cults section describes what cults are, gives some cult structures, shows how to use cults in the game and gives some sample cults. There are tables on Cult Brands, Ritual Sites, Force and Supernatural. The Sample Cults are OK, nothing special but could be used in most games. Sorcerers contains a very brief description of how to locate. observe and eliminate the sorcerer. Heresies also contains a very short description of the main heresies of the time. These are very short and contain no information about how these heresies work. Impediments have a couple of examples of people whose presence threatens the Order. Overall, these are very brief descriptions of the enemies of the Order and should have been expanded on. The Occult - This describes the Occult as seen from the Order's perspective. It covers Lore (Occult), Lore (Alchemy), Witchcraft, Grimoires, New Sorcery Spells, Horrors and Magical Items. Lore (Occult) describes how to cast minor spells. Lore (Alchemy) describes nothing but has a table of alchemical compounds. Witchcraft briefly covers how witches work and what magic they can use. Grimoires lists a number of sorcerous tomes with the spells and skills they contain. New Sorcery Spells gives some new spells, which seem reasonable. Horrors describes supernatural overspill that causes horros in the world. These are pretty good and could be used in any campaign. Magical items contains a few items that could be used as loot items. These are all pretty good, standard occult things. Bestiary - These describe those creatures that oppose or help the Order. It is split into Servitors and Making Monsters. These are not very well organised, I'd have thought that it should have been split into Servitors, Demons, NPCs and Making Monsters, but hey-ho, I didn't write it. Servitors has descriptions of Ghouls, Goblyns, Hellhounds, Lesser Spirits, Genii Loci, Shades, Wraiths, Melusines, Nightfolk, Werewolves, Woodwoses and Worm-Men. These are pretty good and would make good monstrous opponents. Making Monsters describes how to create new Monsters, covering Concept, Characteristikcs, Drawbacks and Traits. Then follows a number of other individual monsters - The Beast of Gubbio, Naberius Demon of Wise Counsel, Balash, Tiews God of Justice, The Shade of Archbishop Adalberon, The Ogre Heretic and the Linton Worm. These are reasonably good and usable. Secrets of the Order - This includes Doom of the Order, The Prior of the Crypts, The Eastern Order, Does God Exist, Ex Malum Bono and the Divine Path. These are Secrets with a large amount of potential mystery and scenario hooks. Standings describes how members of the Order can fall from grace, either through Impurity or Impiety, and gives each a series of levels measuring how impure or impious a character is. This is a nice idea and could be very useful. Running Deus Vult - The role of the Deus Vult Gamesmaster is: To Create missions to challenge the Adventurers; Throw fiendish puzzles, horrific foes and moral dilemmas in their path; Roleplay the various members of the Order, cultists, nobles, priests and commoners. The World of Deus Vult basically says that any real world event of the time could have a magical/occult explanation. The Order contains different ways to use the Order in games. Mission framework is a template of each mission, how it should be broken down, but if every Mission used this it would be incredibly boring. Campaigns gives some sketchy ideas of using campaigns, with Order Agents, A Preceptry of our Own, The Tide of History, Renegades and the End of the World. These are interesting ideas, but hardly groundbreaking. Finally, there are tables to generate random plots and missions for those Gamesmasters too lazy to think up their own. Overall, what can I say about Deus Vult? It is a good supplement and captures the flavour of the setting very well indeed. What is done well is done very well indeed. However, what is sketchy is also very sketchy. There are a lot of things which could have been expanded on and a lot of things that have been glossed over. There is also no scenario and precious few scenario hooks and it could have done with a short mission to give it flavour. I'd give it an A-, if it had a scenario it would have got an A and if it had fleshed out some of the sketchy areas it would have got an A+. But it didn’t so it gets an A-. I'd recommend anyone interested in the era to go out and buy this, though.