SirUkpyr

1 hour ago, Mugen said:

Wasn't there a project similar to Paladin, set in Heian Japan ?

Unsure if it was set in Heian or Sengoku Jidai Japan, but yes - there was (is?) such a project, along with a project set in Mythic/Heroic Greece.

3 hours ago, Mugen said:

In my understanding, Kuge were courtly houses descending from the original noble houses, who progressively abandoned warfare to their fighting servants, who became known as samurai and formed the vast majority of the members of Buke families.

An easy way to think of it is that the Kuge were those who directly worked for the Emperor and Shogun, but they were still members of the Buke families/class. Somewhat like "high noble" vs "noble". 

It was not so much that a whole house or family was Kuge, but individuals were, and their direct descendants could also be, as they followed their father in direct service to the Emperor. But while one man could be a Kuge in the Emperor's court, his brother could be a Samurai general and would be considered Buke.

34 minutes ago, Alex said:

I might just be being dense, but I don't quite follow what you're saying is the evidence for this.  Isn't this a lot like absence of evidence, rather than evidence of absence?

Hildegard von Bingen (now perhaps a slightly different category, being in Holy Orders) was apparently a big ol' dictator, and I'm not sure there are any remaining works in her own hand.  But is it plausible she was entirely unable to write?

It is highly doubtful that she was unable to write. The point I was making is that when a woman could write, she did so, baring being unable to do so due to needing the specialized knowledge provided by a lawyer or doctor etc.

5 hours ago, Oleksandr said:

Another interesting question is, in GPC, in one of the "gossip" sections, court ladys was shocked and horrified that Morgan is literate... Nowadays it's accepted by historians that people in MA was more literate than was previously believed. It seems that even some peasants was literate. In fact, wikipedia list quite a bit of female writers from EMAs, admittedly, mostly nuns. However, we know that Anna of Kyev, queen of France at the time of norman conquest, was literate (proximity of her homeland to ERE could be a factor though). Among medieval letters that archaeologists digged in Nowgorod (local soil are particularly good at preserving birch bark, which was used as cheep writing medium) was correspondence between middle class women. This was wealthy merchant city, but it's unlikely to be unique case. There was also episod from viking saga when dying poet ask his daughter to write down his last verse. (some other examples 1, 2, 3)

An interesting point is that the ability to read does not automatically mean the ability to write, especially amongst women.

In multiple letter collections you will find lines such as "I read your letter when I had a moment of privacy", then at the end in the signature line you find the ladies name with the words "dictated by", or "written by my own hand".

Insofar as who could and could not read/write, there are collections of letters written by women of various social classes, with a number of letters that were written by peasants to the judicial system or to their lords which were collected and kept as part of the manorial records, and which still survive to this day.

1 hour ago, Mugen said:

I don't think that's true for women in Kuge families, or even high ranking Buke families. 🙂

Oh no - it was very true of the Kuge and Buke families.

For a great source (which I don't have handy) - look at Osprey Publishing's "Samurai Women 1184-1877"

3 hours ago, Oleksandr said:

*MUCH SNIPPAGE*

p.s. What also need to be pointed out (since it wasn't mentioned in rulebook) is that in cultures like ancient celts, where female combatants and military leaders was more common, attitude to violence against women was way more pragmatic, for obvious reasons. And this not align to well with "classic" chivalry...

On the does "not align well with "classic" chivalry..." point, if I recall there was an adventure in an earlier Pendragon book of adventures which focused on "chivalry" where the PKs are trying to help teach a new knight about how chivalry works, and one of the tests is how to treat a female knight who is also Saxon.

I've got 2 PKs with Hospitality in the 17-19 range - so this could be fun!

And don't forget - a prone opponent who does a good hit just DISEMBOWELED your horse!

One important thing to look at when deciding to Necro or Create New... 

How long is the old one?

If you Necro an old thread where it is 3 or more pages long, then there is a good chance that what you've added might be missed.

1 hour ago, piersb said:

Going with a Saxon Chieftain from the main book as I don't have Saxons!

While not a *must have* book - may I strongly say that Saxons! is a very very good suppliment to have, and well worth the money to acquire, especially if you go the pdf route.

Interestingly - the whole "Gawain as unproven knight" is the same aspect they focused on in the movie "Sword of the Valiant" - where Sean Connery plays the Green Knight.

LOVE Sean Connery's Green Knight.

I agree with Voord 99, in that Pendragon is not the best fit for what you are attempting.

Call of Cthulhu has settings that run from Roman to Middle Ages to Victorian (Cthulhu by Gaslight) to classic Call of Cthulhu to modern (Cthulhu Now). Adding updated/modernized Traits and Passions would not be that difficult to do with Cthulhu, but I would keep the occupations, as they help determine the starting skills. (full disclosure: I am a Call of Cthulhu game master)

Another workable option would be using GURPS, as it is specifically designed to be flexible.

20 hours ago, Morien said:

Not so sure they need an extra penalty but -1d6 sounds ok. 

Perhaps instead of a -1d6 give them "disadvantage" (system from DnD/CoC whereby you roll two sets of numbers and take the lower one) on the damage roll. Thus, if the normal damage would be 6d6 - you would roll 6d6 twice and take the lower of the two sets of numbers.

Bit more work - but I rather like the idea that you are "disadvantaged" when trying to do damage when on the stairs.

Also - if the attacking up the stairs knight is using a spear or another piercing weapon - I would not give them a penalty for damage as the benefit of the winding stairs really only comes into play when swinging a sword.

I spent a few years in europe, and have wandered my share of castle towers - so YES - those winding stairs were definitely designed to make it hard to swing a sword.

I've been running Pendragon for the past 10 years. I've run it with 2 players, and I've run it with 7 players.

Morien's comments about more players meaning less screen time is correct, and combat certainly does become longer. Having said that, having only 2 players mean you MUST include an NPC knight or two, because otherwise you risk very easily doing a TPK. One giant can wipe out a party, when the party is only 2 PKs large.

At the same time, you can run a very intimate detailed campaign when there are only 2 PKs.

Talk to your players, and to yourself (grin), about what sort of game you want to run.

And - NEVER EVER forget Rule Number One - HAVE FUN!!

THANK YOU Morien!!

Found the post from Feb 2015 which GM Craig did, at http://pendragon.altarka.org/index.php?topic=43.0

Morien, didn't you also have a list that included both Book of Estate + Book of Manor in it?

I recall seeing a chart that someone posted with had *all* the possible Manorial improvements on it.

Does anyone have a copy of it?

Thanks

2 hours ago, Voord 99 said:

*** MUCH SNIPPAGE ***  But I do think it’s a good idea to find as many ways as possible to make those signposts (Notable, Renowned, Famous, etc.) translate into concrete differences in the player knights’ experiences.

THIS ^^ !! Reading this, I think that the next time I run the GPC (currently in Tourney Phase - so a bit late to introduce the idea) - I MUST use this as something that I do.

7 hours ago, Tizun Thane said:

Honestly, I'm hungry for more "crunch" about Grail Quest and Twilight. Others books look fine, but I NEED this one.

YES YES YES - especially on the "NEED" aspect. My PKs are entering the Tourney phase of the GPC, and as a group have said they "don't give a hoot about the bloody grail".

I *greatly* dislike the idea of the GPC being turned into 4 books - as that increases the buy in price for the campaign quite a bit.

Now seeing it updated - GREAT!

Perhaps 2 books where "Romance+Tourney+Grail+Downfall" being a single book would work, but 4 books would take the price for the GPC at over $100 dollars, and possibly over $150.

Pendragon is about playing a Knight (or a Lady) in the time of King Arthur.

Had a player who wanted to be a Hun. Introduced the PC (note not "PK") as a captive from the Roman Campaign, who served one of the PKs as a warrior, and who eventually became knighted.

Another player wanted to be a Viking, and introduced that PC when he arrived at Badon after escaping being a slave to the Saxons - and was knighted for his valour at that battle.

It is a game about playing a Knight (or a Lady) in the time of King Arthur. If you want to play something else, then play a different game.

The answer depends on when we are speaking about.

During Uther and Anarchy and Boy King - any LANDED KNIGHT or Landed Greater Lord could make a knight. IE: Countess Ellen of Salisbury could knight someone as well as any of her landed knight, but a random household knight could not do so. The exception would be on the field of battle, where any knight could do it.

From the Conquest period forward, you begin to see ability to create a knight codified/solidified into being only the Greater Landed Lords (Baron/Count/etc) or higher, and by the time we reach the Grail period, a landed knight CANNOT make a knight.

Note that this is NOT codified within the Pendragon game, nor within the GPC, but rather is how it was "historically".

12 minutes ago, Morien said:

SNIPPAGE HERE :: Also it makes the PKs pay for their servants rather than trying to argue that since the guy died during the year, they don't have to pay...

I had one of my PK try and do the "but he died in spring, so I didn't have to pay him". I let him get away with it - but THEN he lost 1 Honor as word got out about how he treated his people and thus people did not trust his word - AND THEN he found that he was paying 4 times the normal rate for EVERY servant he had.

He had to actively work to improve how people viewed him. Made for some great roleplay - and was the perfect *example* to the other PKs on how NOT to treat their people.

Morien (or anyone else really) - where does it say that the shield subtracts from the archer's skill - as in providing cover?

And would the shield *still* provide the +6 to Armor (ie the damage reduction aspect)?

Thanks.