Cornelius

Assigning squires: Like a lot within the KAP world it is a political choice. The main question a lord will ask is: What do I get out of it?

Some options could be: A loyal knight, closer ties between my men, closer ties with another lord, some money or soldiers. 

As for combat always be aware that when fighting other men the knight is at the top of the foodchain. They are better equiped (chain armor and on horse), and have a good skill in arms (15 and up). Unfortunatley even if you are good or very good, a critical hit of a bandit may kill you. So in the end a fight against several bandits will probably mean that a lot of the enemy is killed, but you could end up with a dead knight as well.

Also more enemies means more danger as the defender needs to split his skill between the attackers. So bandits ganging up is rather standard.

12 hours ago, fulk said:

The code of chivalry only applies to other knights (and ladies).  You are free to massacre the peasantry and especially Saxons at will.  

I think this is not true. In the KAP core book the oath sworn by chivalrous knights is:

“To protect the widow, the orphan, the poor; not to slay a vanquished and defenseless adversary; not to take part in a false judgment or treason, or to withdraw if it cannot be prevented;
to never give evil counsel to a lady; to help, if possible, a fellow being in distress.”

There is no exclusion to ladies and other knights. So it actually prevents you from massacre of the peasantry. As a matter of fact as far as I know historically the idea of chivalry was introduced to prevent knights from going on a rampage and massacre whole villages and towns.

15 hours ago, Ringan said:

Seems like nocturnalmediaforum is down.  Does this mean migration is happening soon?

In December/januari the forum was overrun with spam and so Chaosium decided to lock the forum. I have not heard any news on a migration.

On 3/17/2019 at 5:25 PM, Atgxtg said:

I think your missing the fact that the land is the "Widow's Portion"

That's land that the Wife gets to maintain herself that reverts back to her former husband's heirs upon her death. The actual holding is probably three times that, too. 

So a Knight who gets the "21: Widow of a rich vassal knight. Dowry: £6d6 treasure.2 Widow's Portion: £1d6+7 land (see p. 18)." result only has that land for the life of his wife, and can't pass it on. That actually works out to the wife maintaining herself on a portion of an a holding with a total income of around £24-39, with the other £16-26 going to the heris of her former husband upon maturity and the remain portion going to them upon her death. 

You need to get the 25+ results to bag a heiress, and then hope she doesn't have any sisters to divide the land among.

 

So it still can happen on the table, but it's pretty rare, and it probably harder to achieve randomly that by roleplaying it, since when you RP it you know what you are going to get out of the match before you go into it. 

Unfortunately that is not what it says in the sheet. there it says:

21-25Heiress of vassal knight1 manor, 1d6+10

On 3/19/2019 at 6:19 PM, Atgxtg said:

If I were to Prioritize the supplements the order I'd pick, (and the reasons why) would  probably be:

1. Great Pendradon Campaign (Because it gives you the timeline, framework, and adventures; it's about as close to a "must have' supplement as anything for KAP)
2. Book of Knights & Ladies (Because it expands upon chargen and gives chargen for character from other lands)
3. The Book of Uther (Because it expands upon the timeline in the GPC, giving you another decade or so to game in.)
4. Book of the Estate (Because it gives the PKs some libra to spend, so they can take advantage of virtually everything else; it also has what  the fornication rules currently exist)
5. Book of the Entourage (It gives details on squires, wives, marriages, and anybody else the PKs want to have working for them)
6.  Book of Armies (Because it gives you lots of different armies that the PKs can fight against, and despite being designed for the Book of Battle, the tables can be used with the Battle System in the core rules. Mind you some of the units are a bit overpowered, but it's still gives a good idea of what armies for Point A or Point B would look like)
7. Book of Battle (Because it turns Battles into a real event)
8. Book of Feasts (Because it turns feats into a real even; and it a lot of fun)
9. Book of Sires (Because it gives more detailed family history; it also can be used to expand the timeline to before the reign of Uther)
10. Book of the Warlord (Although very useful and gives a good insight into the forces available, it not something that will really impact the typical the player knights much.)
11. Book of the Manor (Because it is the most time intensive of the lot and require the most bookkeeping, plus Estate and Entourage let you do 85% of what Manor does in a lot less time with a lot less bookkeeping)
12. 12. Book of Record Vol 1 (Because while the sheets are nice, you can print off a character sheet, so other things take priority)
13. 12. Book of Records Vol 2 (As above only moreso as Battle sheets are a one per Battle thing.)

 

And that's just keeping things in within the KAP5 line. If I were to open it up to earlier editions it would get a lot more complicated. 

 

My list would look a bit different as well, but You give a good overview of what each book offers.

As for Book of Sires. It may give you the option to get some more background on the various regions the players are running through. For instance I had forgotten the link between Vortimer and Powys.

On 3/17/2019 at 5:12 PM, Atgxtg said:

Doesn't that defeat the purpose of withheld blows? 

For instance if a Knight with 8 points of armor and 24 hit points take a hit for 34 damage. That would bring his hit points down to -2 and check his chiruguery needed box.Or do you assume the damage is non lethal and the knight is just knocked unconscious for awhile?

Yes I assume the damage is non lethal, zo even if you are hit below 0 there is no problem. You are knocked unconscious and probably wake up with a splitting head ache, but no chirurgery needed.

On 3/16/2019 at 2:41 PM, Sir Mad Munkee said:

I've put in those childbirth rules, for all the very sensible reasons above. I left out the "blessed bonus" bits, which I love, partly due to space limitations on the one-sheet, but also because I quite like the idea of them being the GM's little secret: a player rolls a blessed birth, doesn't have to roll survival, and forgets about the kid until he becomes PK age, then the GM says "by the way, you were a blessed birth, remember? Gimme a d6 roll..."

Now I've got 2 versions of the Winter Phase Summary sheet:

Plain vanilla KAP 5.2 childbirth
Improved Morien & Thijs childbirth

Enjoy!

Maybe something for another discussion, but I just noticed that a knight already gets a +1 and has a 1 in 20 chance of getting an heiress. I assume you used a published table here, but I still feel that this is way to easy. I would not have heiresses in a random table. These should need real roleplay to get and some action by the PK to gain.

On 3/16/2019 at 3:06 PM, Atgxtg said:

StonesThree, feel free to ask away-that's what a forum is for!

• One of the best ways to get your head around the rules is to run some "sparring practice" between the Player characters. Have them use withheld blows (so actual damage is halved), and let them fight it out. You can even do a dry run without the players to familiarize yourself with how it works. Basically:
  • Both sides make an opposed roll.
  • Winner does damage to the loser.
  • Compare the full damage roll to the lower's SIZ to check for knockdown. If SIZ or greater than a DEX roll (foot) or Horsemanship roll (mounted) is required to stay up. If 2xSIZ then loser is knocked down automatically. Being knocked off a horse does 1d6 damage through armor.
  • Then take the damage rolled, halve it (because they are withholding blows and not trying to kill each other) and subtract the loser's armor. If his roll was successful (a partial success) he gets to subtract his shield, too.  
  • When sparring like this no one should get seriously hurt, and someone should stop the fight is someone gets hit for more than a couple points,or if someone gets knocked down a few times. 
  • Afterwards the wounded get treated with first aid (that's per wound, so in this case most if not all damage should be patched up right away).

And to make things complex.

There are a lot of houserules in this game and every GM approaches things different. For instance I use withheld blows a bit different.

I let players record damage as normal, although they heal after they have some time to take a breath. When the remaining hitpoints are lower than the unconscious level you have to give up. When a critical is rolled for to hit you roll normal damage first. this is real damage and when it exceeds armour (and shield) draws blood. Then you still roll a second time with rebated damage. 

But then YPMV (Your Pendragon may vary)

What I would find interesting in such a book:

- Information on the hunt. It would be interesting to be able to flesh it out to a separate adventure or let it remain to a few dice rolls.

- Give PKs the ability to build upon it. Thus like trying to breed the perfect hunting dog or try to train their own hawk. This would require some information on breeding and training and how players can incorporate that into the character. 

- Diversity in beasts. The Oath of Crows site is a good one for horses, but I would also like to see something like that for hunting prey. For instance hunting that 'sly old Stag with the uneven antlers that has eluded hunters for many years' is a nice opponent in a hunt. This could be useful to get a fleshed out adventure.

As far as a deck of cards: Maybe you could have different set of cards. One for the type of beast, but also one or more decks for quirks and special traits. This way you could randomize the hunted prey every hunt.

Some ideas:

In the GPC is a stroy that the PKs go to Estregales as ambassadors and end up in a power struggle in that court when the present King of Estregales is killed. (p 61 Embessay to Estregales).

Another is called: PRESUMPTUOUS PRAETOR, page 68. It tells of a foreigner in exile who abuses the code of hospitality while the lord of the manor is away.  PKs can step in.

An adventure seed before that is: THE MERCENARY SYAGRIUS, which tells about the above exile and that he needs a place to stay. They find him pillaging in the countryside. Syagrius is mad because Prince Madoc left him a few years earlier and he lost his lands because of it.

One of the events during the anarchy period is the kidnapping of Queen Ygraine. You could modify this in a rival's attempt to kidnap the boy's mother.

You could also make it even more of an Arthurian legend in having the uncle getting a son, who is kidnapped, and later returns as a hero. Especially if the current spoiled brat turns into a tyrant. 

About hunting. As far as I know (and play in my games): 

A classic hunt consists usually about a few phases. First of all you need to find some trail of your prey (This is a hunting roll). When you do a chase (usually on horseback) happens as the hunters try to corner the beast (Hunting oppossed to Avoidance). When the beast is cornered a signal is given to all the other hunters and they assemble quickly (Awareness for those stragglers). The final phase happens when the hunters try to slay the beast (Weaponskill (usually Spear) vs Avoidance). If the beast wins it escapes and the chase begins anew. Some beast, like a bear, may turn and fight, so he opposes with his own weapon skill. The kill is usually granted to the character with the highest glory present at that moment, although he may give the chance to another. a host could give it to his special guest for instance. 

Also remember that the prey may attack the horse in stead of the rider. A bear may be an exception to this. This is the reason a boar hunt is done on foot with a special Boar spear (It has a cross beam to prevent it from running up your spear).

Of course you can if you wish make the hunt more fun and they have to continue on foot when the beast runs into a thick wood where the horses cannot follow. But remember that this probably only works for a boar or a roebuck, and not for larger game like bears and red deer. If they can get through so could your horse. (But thick woods are an obstacle as far as I know).

Lance charges should be rare. So only if they manage to corner the beast using a critical would I allow it, and only for the first round as things get crowded real fast.

About rolls:

One of the fun parts of the KAP system is that you roll opposed in combat. This reduces the number of dice rolls. Also a lot of the fighting is one on one, while D&D sometimes tends the whole group jumping on one character. You are knight and you can stand your ground on your own. It is those vile enemies (Bandits, Picts, Saxons,...) that cheat.

About traits:

I mostly agree with Morien on how to use them. I tend to use most of the trait rolls as opposed rolls. So if you are seduced by a succubus I would make it a Chaste vs Lustful roll. I allow those with an amor or Love(wife) to exchange the Chaste with that passion. So even a Lustful character can be chaste aat such moments if he has a high Love (wife). So even a chaste 16+ can fail here. 

A lot of the Arthurian drama is about knights failing in their traits and passions and afterwards trying to amend those failures.

Just some remarks:

Knightly skills: According to 5th ed. all the skills listed on your sheet are considered knightly. Only the skills Chirurgery, Fashion, Industry, and Crossbow are considered not knightly (but you did not place them on the sheet). The 5th ed book says that Stewardship is also non knightly, but I consider that to be an error.

Chivalry bonus: Although the official books still state that this is at 80+. Greg Stafford himself stated that this should be 96. In my game I use this value.

Homage and fealty: I would change the list and start with homage. Fealty is the passion you can have for several lords and I assume that this can be a different score for each of them (at least that is how I play it). So a PK could have several fealties, but only one homage.

1 minute ago, Sir Mad Munkee said:

Makes sense as a way to inherit passions in general. But my question was more: does a specific passion targeting a dead person even make sense (while irrelevant), or do you modify the passion in some way, to make it e.g. Hate (Vortigern's line) or something similar?

I would probably keep them around, especially if they are 16+. It could affect the roleplay even after death. Aside of the example given by Hzark think of the following situations:

- You speak with a group of former vassals of Vortigern and the topic of their liege comes up. your hatred probably influences the discussion and heated words (or even challenges) may be the result of it.

- You need the support of another knight and need to convince him. You know he (or his family) was slighted by Vortigern in the past. Your hatred may be beneficialin this case as you can spent some time by the fire swapping stories. 

The passion could change to something else, but I would let that be decided by roleplay. If the PK is acting and speaking as the line of Vortigern is tainted, then yeah the hatred could become Hate (Vortigern's line) or if he speaks ill of all those who followed that vile king then it could become Hate (Vortigern's followers) or something like that.

Of course during the course of the years the hatred could decrease, but I would also discuss this with the player. It depends a bit on how the PK keeps his hatreds alive. 

For me KAP is a game of passions and they are not so easily dismissed, but a lot depends on how the player roleplays it.

24 minutes ago, Hzark10 said:

Ah, but his son will turn up in a few years....

You could naturally let it die by lowering it one a year, make it non-inheritable as the object is long gone, transfer it to another person, or transform it into a directed trait: suspicious of the high king, or leave it as is.  "Don't get grandpa started on Vortigern. We'll be here all night listening to it." Perhaps trait divided by 5, rounded up, for value.

I did not purposely seek an answer to that question, but I did ask it. And I forgot about following up on it later.

I always give the player the choice for the son. He can either take the passion or may even choose to pick a lower one or none. It gives some depth into the character. Did you agree with your father or not.

13 hours ago, SirMonkeyboy said:

Well, considering we’re starting tomorrow night, and the family history dice orgy is usually a once in a campaign thing, I’m not sure I’ll get to that. 😆

So True. You could do this after rolling the dice and use it to explain where the glory comes from. 

The Book of Sires also gives some information on the years preceding 439, so you could look at them and add some events from those years to the list, but this requires some work from you as a GM.

Just adding my voice to this. +1 from me.

In my game Uther was passioante, but not especially lustful. And in the first years he did look like a King. He was Just. But also he was a strong king oppossing the vile Saxons. 

His fall for Ygraine was a real shock to the PKs as it also felt out of character for them. It wasn't of course. Also the death of Uther as a king made the Anarchy phase even more desperate and a doom settled among them. After 15 years of struggle they now finally feel that hope is on the horizon with Arthur. Something really changed.

I could not create this if Uther was more lustful in the beginning. I think my players would not see Uther as a good King. And thus the downfall would not have been felt the same way.

But as always YPMV 

First of all congrats on getting a PK into problems so soon in the game.

Also the Anarchy phase is a period of a lot of machinations. With a possible child of Uther in the mix this means that the PKs may get used as pawns in the big chess game. 

This does not mean that Morgan and Ygraine will not be used in the games. It all depends on who makes what claim. The kidnapping could be to counter the claim of the child of Madoc. As said its not much, but they may wish to use them in proclaiming the child is not Madoc's and throw doubt in the mix.

In short I would expect that the anarchy phase will be an interesting pit of snakes.

I agree with Morien on this one. Marrying heiresses is not the default and should be hard. As marriage is a political game during these days, women with land were extremely expensive. In a way you give away some control of your lands as Lord to another and thus you would want something in return. This could either be rewarded and extremely loyal household knight, who has proven himself multiple times or the marriage may get him access to more troops and maybe an ally.

In my game no PKs wished to pursue Lady Jenna. During the Anarchy phase they married her to the young praetor of Dorset. Thus solidifying their bond with him. This helped them to create a sort of alliance between them. Also Jagent and later Silchester joined the alliance. They managed to keep Cornwall out of Jagent as a result. 

The book of the estate deals with slightly larger estates than a single manor, but its economic system is a bit more streamlined. It can be used for a single manor.

the book has examples of estates worth 50 Librum (while a single manor is measured at 10 Librum).