stryker99

This is happening in 499. I think I will have Aelle threaten Wessex with his dual alliance, if nothing else just to show off his strength and thumb his nose at Cerdic, and Cerdic will hole up in fortifications due to the overwhelming threat. Sussex will raid, giving the PKs the choice to get some negative trait checks for loot if they participate as well as earn a grudge score increase with Wessex if they do. This plays nicely into the interactions already scripted into the GPC in the upcoming years, the PKs can play the Saxons off against each other in the coming years which the GPC seems to heavily hint at. Thanks again for the great ideas!

During the Anarchy when faced with triple tribute demands the PKs decided to pay Wessex, tell Essex to go pound sand, and ally with Sussex. I believe they were afraid of Wessex, thought Essex was weak and distant, and wanted to align themselves with Silchester who had also allied with Sussex (per the GPC). They were mostly worried about finding themselves facing Duke Ulfius across the battlefield. I decided old King Aelle would accept one campaign of troops from Salisbury in lieu of one years tribute AND Salisbury verbally backing Aelle's claim as Bretwalda. I felt Aelle was negotiating from a position of strength, and some opposed courtesy/intrigue rolls for negotiation were a draw. My question is how do you veterans of the GPC see this playing out? To me this looks very bad for Wessex. They are mostly surrounded by Sussex, Silchester, and Salisbury.

Oh, don't get me wrong. There was definitely a clear threat when he told them "I am sure you wish to be on the WINNING side?" complete with intimidating stare and a long pause, then he went all noble on them again ("I will treat you well and justly"). I tried to deliver it as a guy that can turn on/off the malice at will, throwing them off balance. I think that's part of why they are considering it, they are a little scared of him. I made a point of how it appears these Saxons just wiped out the knighthood of Hampshire, loyal landed knights just like them. That rattled them a bit as they realized "that could happen to us" (though I assume Hampshire was not as strong as Salisbury, a point I didn't make to them). My players probably aren't as steeped in the pre-history of the campaign as they should be. They are a bit on the casual player side of the casual/hard-core spectrum. I'm wondering how much of history I should review with them. For instance they surely don't know Hengest was his grandfather, or about uncle Octa and Aesc. They are probably even fuzzy on the Night of Long Knives, I double checked and NONE of the grandfathers were killed there (most had bad rolls and died earlier in the history). With the lack of "knowledge" based skills in Pendragon, how do GMs manage in character knowledge vs out of character knowledge? It seems obvious that the characters probably know more than the players do, but where to draw the line is fuzzy. If I go too far the players will take it as a clue that "the GM is trying to tell us not to do this".

Exactly! I asked my wife (one of the PKs) about this and she said I played Cerdic as very sympathetic. This was intentional as that's how I read this piece of the GPC: Cerdic puts on a show of his Briton manners, throwing a very British feast, and parading in front of them a contingent of knights who butter up Cerdic's credentials. I even gave the PKs intrigue rolls to realize he was putting on quite a show for them. One of the PKs even brought up the fact that Uther has an heir out there somewhere, they were put on trial for helping Merlin kidnap him! But still, they were considering backing Cerdic... We are playing this out next session. I plan to have Sir Leo argue Cerdic's villainous heritage if they actually counsel Ellen to pay homage to Cerdic (many thanks to Atgxtg for providing the details of his argument against Cerdic). Even if the PKs stick to this I am thinking Ellen would not listen to them and refuse to bow to Cerdic. However this feels like it is stealing players "agency" by not allowing them to influence the direction of the campaign. I imagine it's quite likely they will listen to Sir Leo's moral arguments and wise up, but I need to be prepared if they stick to it and push for homage to Wessex. Any input as to how to handle it if they do is welcome!

We just started the Anarchy last session, 4 out of 6 PKs IMMEDIATELY bent the knee to Countess Ellen. The other 2 were considering Sir Lycas' argument that the dangerous times required the leadership of a man, not a woman, but the fact that the one PK with much higher glory was the first to swear loyalty kind of nipped that one in the bud... More surprising was how sympathetic the PKs found Kind Cerdic. They are currently ACTUALLY considering counseling Ellen to swear fealty to Wessex. I didn't expect that. Regarding Sword Lake: The giant laid a couple PKs low (unconscious), but they used wolfpack tactics where the ones the giant was facing fought defensively while others attacked unopposed. I played the giant as big and dumb: he focused entirely on whichever knight wounded him last, they quickly figured out to manipulate him to their advantage and took him down. It was an epic fight. The nukalavee was a massive anti-climax, there was no threat there whatsoever. IIRC they dropped him in one round (he has really crappy armor).

So I bought Book of the Warlord, it had a ton of info in it that is useful heading into the Anarchy. I made my players head spin when I had Countess Ellen have them review Lord Salisbury's holdings. The maps and castle information alone is well worth it. However, the maps are weak on legends. What are the dead tree icon locations on the maps, especially the 2 page Salisbury map at the back? Also the 5 leaf icons of Holyhill and Oakcamp? I am guessing the latter are pagan holy sites? The dead tree locations have me "stumped" (pun intended)...

Looks like I shouldn't have skimped and skipped purchasing Book of Warlord and Book of Uther. I don't have those which is why I am a bit disconnected from current knowledge. Thanks again all, lots of help as usual!

First of all I want to thank EVERYONE for the excellent discussion here, I typically avoid participating in online forums as they are usually quite hostile, but this community is amazingly supportive. It has helped me a LOT. I will admit I have not read Mallory. I will as it is clear it will help, but I have had a passing amateur interest in Arthurian legend for a long time so am not completely ignorant. I also have done a bit of research in feudal society and the history of Brittania, again not as a historian but more from an interest in the topic and it's roots in fantasy lore (and a youth fascinated with knights in shining armor many many decades ago). Given that I am a long way from an expert on Arthurian lore, both myself and my players have still been greatly enjoying Pendragon. The players especially feel like they are learning through playing and are excited about participating in legends they all are at least familiar with. The point that I can make it come alive even more by reading at least Le Morte D'Arthur is well taken. Getting back on the original topic, I have been trying to compile notes for heading into the Anarchy and have a few holes I was wondering if some of you could help fill in. I am trying to set up details for the players of the neighbors and here is what I have: Hampshire: Earl ?, Earl ? collegium legate in Winchester, Hantonne port for royal fleet, soon to be conquered by Cerdic and I assume the Earl and any heirs are killed? Dorset: Earl ?, Praestor Jonathel in Dorchester Collegium legate Jagent: Earl Tegfan, County of Cornwall, Collegium legate Earl Tegfan Somerset: King Cadwy (the magician king?), Kingdom, King Cadwy Collegium legate Marlboro: Earl ?, Sir Thebert warden of Terrabil notable knight from Marlboro Silchester: Duke Ulfius, Duke Ulfius collegium legate, Ulfius is most powerful noble left after St Albans (not neighbor but powerful) Lindsey: Duke Corneus is not named until 502 up until then it is just Duke Lindsey. Is this because the original duke dies at St Albans and Corneus inherits? I am specifically looking for any help filling in the question marks (?).

Thanks guys for the quick help, it's all coming together now. We will likely get to the PKs meeting Cerdic tonight and I think I have it all mapped out so that I can adequately answer the players questions about all this... My Hate (Saxons) 18 PK is going to be squirming again. He is shaping up to be one of the most influential knights in Salisbury during the Anarchy so I have a pretty good feeling what the future holds for Salisbury. It's a little prophetic that he just spent 36 Librum on a full Motte-and-Bailey, he's likely going to get quite a bit of use out of it! Bonus questions: Am I reading Book of the Estate right that a complete Motte-and-Bailey can be completed in one year? And what happens to the old Large Wooden Hall when a full Motte-and-Bailey is built?

Yeah, I have read well ahead (I think I have read in detail up to around 540). The problem is information overload, I am having difficulty digesting it all, it had been a couple months since I read through the Anarchy in detail. Thus the spreadsheets and separate notes, my notes regarding Wessex failed me. A search on "Wessex" didn't work as the section on Cerdic never mentions "Wessex"...

I might have just figured it out. Does Hampshire become Wessex after an invasion in 496? If so, sorry about the wasted bandwidth...

We are about to head into the Anarchy period and I am a little confused about Wessex in GPC. Wessex plays a major role, but I cannot find it anywhere on a map. I know it's supposed to be south between Sussex and Cornwall, it seems it should be sharing a border with Salisbury as Wessex is going to be a major problem in this period to my Salisbury knights. One of the things I am finding most difficult about running the GPC is how important NPC's and regions just pop up suddenly in the narrative with no previous explanation. I have tried mapping things out with spreadsheets and notes, but it is a monumental task and Wessex in the Anarchy has me stuck. The counties neighboring Salisbury are Somerset/Somerland, Jagent, Dorset, and Hampshire/Hantonne. All maps I have of the southwest coast show Logres covering it all west of Sussex. The maps my players are familiar with are here for reference (I am trying to place Wessex for them in this context): https://thegreatpendragoncampaign-2.obsidianportal.com/maps Help!

There were only 3 PKs involved at that point. I like the idea of having the reward come from Roderick at Uther's urging. I already had planned some treasure as reward, but the idea of whoever earned the most glory in the capture being awarded land in Salisbury is excellent. This keeps it closer to home, and limits the expansion and makes it special. How mechanically does this work in BoE? Basically their estate is now income of 2 Librum instead of 1 and they now have two plots for expansion instead of 1? How do PKs eventually get vassal knights of their own? The core rules cover this a lot, but I get the feeling it is extremely rare and the GPC would be better off if I avoid this...

The PKs managed to capture the warbanner of a Saxon king and earned great glory during the Uther period. I have been looking out for opportunities to elevate the PKs as they advance in their careers, earning new holdings and possibly vassal knights of their own. It seems like something like this should qualify, but I'm not sure exactly what to do. If King Uther were to reward these heroes with new holdings where would they be and how mechanically would it work (I am using Book of the Estate)? Would I just award them a new manor in some county other than Salisbury and just hand wave +1 Librum income (and an additional plot for expansions)? Is there a list of manors Uther has in his back pocket to hand out as rewards? Could they then assign a family knight as lord of the new estate and make him a vassal if they were so inclined? Any suggestions on how to help the PKs expand their holdings and standings is appreciated!

Yes, and it went off very well. The players really enjoyed the change of pace from the battles of the Uther period. They were very interested in the Roman connection. The high hate player had a VERY uncomfortable time in Baron Wilfrith's hall, he was wearing his hatred on his sleeve and I had great fun taunting him (this knight has a very high appearance and high courtly skills, so my favorite taunt was "I didn't know the southerners had LADY knights!"). Thankfully his famous prudent and high hospitality scores allowed him to keep his composure, along with some help from his more level headed friends. I definitely made the player pay a price for his high hatred as he constantly felt on the verge of losing control with dire consequences and was very nervous. Every PK had a chance to shine and role-play.