Hzark10

Taking a Passion is a two-edged sword. Yes, in the cause of Loyalty to a specific person, if the person then goes on to be a dishonorable, lying, sack of you-know-what, you cannot just throw it away. You have to reduce it until you can renounce it. A directed trait against your passion might be the first step towards this, public denouncing, introspective periods, and so on might be called by the gm, and the like.

Sounds like it was a good session overall, so I would be reluctant to cancel it out. By all means talk to your players, explain the problem, and so on. See what they think would be fair. I have found many players to be really good sports about such things and will give you points that you did not think of. One of the best things I learned is to ask the players what their characters think about the situation.

Becaused you fumbled and dropped your weapon, or critical with a non-sword and you opponent critted with a sword and are not weaponless. Yeah, I know, everyone will say that they will never use any weapon but a sword, and that your skill is over 20, so you will never fumble, but YPMV and other gm's may institute a rule that essentially says to prevent endless ties, I will reduce the highest skill level over 20 to 20 and drop everyone else by the same amount. So you now have no sword, or fighting someone who will beat you eventually. Grapple might save you as his superior skill is negated. Humbly submitted.

chuckle. I would suggest that you have a discussion among your players and see where their thinking on this is. Realistically, it was very uncommon to wear armor, especially at night, but other game systems have made this a nonissue. Those who are new to the game may not realize the realities of such. YPMV.

Correct on the first try. David was in place and was learning when the sad event happened. Now, David is doing a huge amount without the advice of Greg. I am helping where I can as is everyone else.

The biggest problem of course, is that most want to play Knights and do what they want to do, rather than what Knights were expected to do. Each campaign is unique. I believe that starting in different locations, different starting ages, different periods of play, and scaling of how much magic is in the game are all in the works at the moment. David has a huge amount of his plate and I know he is working as fast as possible. But, he has a steep learning curve as he was thrown a real curveball.

Atgxtg is correct. There is an alternative set of rules in Book of Knights and Ladies, pg. 57. Essentially, you start as a 16 year old, they don't worry about attributes, but reduce skills greater than 5 by 3 points (or keep them at 5, whichever is greater). Then add 10 points. I also echo starting characters at ages younger than 21, especially if the gm is setting somewhere where tribal warriors are. If all the players are brand new, then one or two years as squires would allow the gm to showcase the rules more so players become more familiar and ease them into knighthood. YPMV, of course, but one of the more remember-able characters was when he was but a squire.

Yup. However, having a book that concerns itself with just a knight's manor has merit, at least to me. The concern I have is the two different economic approaches they have and whether they can be resolved into a single system. An Estate would have a completely different aspect than a manor. Maybe combining them as the BoM does have buildings and such that BoE does not and BoE concerns itself differently than BoM. But, that is probably just me.

I thought of the same thing. They are two different systems in the way they look at finances, however. Not sure if it could be done, but BoM would then be able to handle manor(s) and then BoE would do the same on a larger scale.

I am more tempted to make it thirds (or quarter) instead of half. It will reduce numbers a bit. Since it is rolled per round, a fumble would raise it to 1/2. But, let me stew on this for a couple of days when I more time.

True, but if you are one of the unlucky ones who loses out with all inheritable characters either being non-existent, or waiting 15 years or so (and unwilling to play uncle, brother, etc), then the higher luck results gives some equality. But, in the end, it is up to the gamemaster and the type of campaign being run.

I think this is the key (bold = my emphasis). Based on what I've seen, either you start with BoK&L or switch when you create a character that is playing with those who have already been on a few quests or much more experienced.

BoK&L was being updated, but not sure of the current status, per se.

The tables of the troops indicate when the opponent is an archer unit (e.g., KAP 5.2, pg. 248, roll of most odd numbers), has a footnote which is detailed on pg. 251. This footnote refers back to section II.B.iii which is where they talk about missile troops in the first charge section. So, it would be logical to follow that there rules are not repeated to save space. BoB II does go into more detail, but the rules are there.

And, in a way, there is beauty in the fact that no two campaigns need to be EXACTLY the same during this time period. Countess Ellen could end up marrying someone, possibly even Cedric, or a PK. Or, play one party against another so R. inherits it all once he becomes of age, or the PKs could hightail it somewhere else and set up shop.

Except, no one does. From the time the Romans left, even with one high king, the British were not united. All of the various leaders who could become that one dies. IMHO, it isn't until the British are feeling completely outclassed from the years of Anarchy, that someone tries the idea of the grand tournament to raise a king that everyone would agree would be there king. When it turned out to be Arthur, they still did not unite and Arthur had to fight a few (ok,many) battles until he finally unites the British and they defeat the Saxons.

And Jeff's work could easily be adapted into mine or vice-versa. The island kingdom could be just a "summer" manor and the real kingdom lies elsewhere, and/or Ygraine's family could be expanded as those areas I did not delve into. Greg was happy with what I had, and it is only the surface. There is plenty untouched to allow a campaign set anywhere you like. If there is a second Book of Sires, those areas outside of Logres were going to be examined.

There are various sources out there, some more credible than others, but the basic story that Greg was ok with was that Gorlois was shipwrecked, and while coming ashore, he sees Ygraine rising from the waters (one possible source of her being fae). Ensuring her to be of noble blood required some thought as whose daughter she was. Well, we know the basic kingdoms of Cornwall, and although we could fit her father amongst them, I decided to make her father the ruler of an island kingdom. It would strengthen the ship idea later. There was some give and take before the official line was settled on, and I keep it somewhat on the side so others can embellish it if they want to pursue a campaign set in Cornwall. Does this help?

Morien is correct. Ygraine's homeland borders fae and this is where the ships come from. I do not go into why Gorlois gets the ships other than what I have in the book, but there is a backstory to it. How I see it may not be how everyone sees it, so settled on the bare facts and results. As to Ygraine, she is not fae. That part did change as when I first wrote the book, she was. But, Greg wanted her not to be, so that was an easy change. Cornwall, overall, is closer to fae than the rest of Britain.

This is the track I also used. Cerdic is half-Cymri. He is rightfully a noble and as a Saxon King, can prove direct Lineage to Vortigern. I had his forces used cavalry, although only a few fought that way. He always was using diplomacy with Salisbury and the players did agree to trade agreements. Of course, they did not trust him and eventually it fell apart, but the campaign was almost going to go YPMV in a major way.

Sounds good. Keep us posted.

Yup, and let a NPK lose his land because he does not have a son, and see how long that will last...

Gotcha!

Yes, and I will be running the Adventure of the 3 Damosels on Saturday night from 8-12.

Nail, hammer. Thank you Veli.