Dealing With Sir(Dame) Lynelle!

[zzMannyzz]

Hi, so as the title says, this is related to the starter box set and specifically the pre-generated player-knight Dame Lynelle who is "undercover", pretending to be a man, and desperately wants to become knighted so she can finally remove her helm and fling her hair around 🙂

I've compared her traits to Chivalrous knight and she does look like she could go down that path, which could be quite awkward as she's been hiding her identity all this time and basically lying left right and center, although as Honesty is -not- a required trait for a Chivalrous knight, it does not mean it can't happen of course. And this is something the player's interested in, which is the main thing.

I'm also tempted to give her a slightly rough time of things until the Queen's Knights appear - just because I personally thought at that point who can rightly refuse her if she has the backing of the Queen!

I also briefly discussed with the player about her potentially founding her own knightly order, although without a means of wealth/income this could be quite tricky to pull off, it would certainly be a really interesting game event and could lead to some great storylines.

I'm curious to know how others have dealt with this interesting player-knight, for example has anyone considered making a special Ideal for a female knight, or anything else along those lines?

[Morien]

It really depends just how difficult you (and especially the player) want to make it. If the player is enjoying having a 'secret identity', then keep it up. If it is not something they enjoy, there is a point in the very first adventure in the Starter Set that basically says "this is a good time to knight Lynelle and Cadwallon". And then it is reiterated the next year. 

It also depends a bit if there are other female knights around. If not, then it is easier to keep Lynelle worried about her true identity. But if you have Tamura and Cwynhild openly being female knights, then it becomes harder to justify why Lynelle is sneaking around, pretending to be a guy. 

[O Dinas Powys]

I concur with Morien, it’s an issue if you and the player want it to be.

 

Specifically addressing secrecy and chivalry: so many major knights turn up at Camelot incognito that it won’t be an issue unless you want it to be.  Gareth, Percival, Launcelot and Galahad all spring to mind as examples.

[Percarde]

On 11/27/2024 at 7:13 AM, zzMannyzz said:

I also briefly discussed with the player about her potentially founding her own knightly order, although without a means of wealth/income this could be quite tricky to pull off, it would certainly be a really interesting game event and could lead to some great storylines.

 

I seem to recall a story from the real world about 9 very poor knights that started their own knightly order.  Their penury was so important to acknowledge that their badge was of two knights riding one horse.  Eventually their order became so well off that they earned the disfavour of a king.

[merlyn]

9 hours ago, Percarde said:

I seem to recall a story from the real world about 9 very poor knights that started their own knightly order.  Their penury was so important to acknowledge that their badge was of two knights riding one horse.  Eventually their order became so well off that they earned the disfavour of a king.

That sounds like the Knights Templar.  Were they the ones you were thinking of?

[Morien]

Knights Templar started with the backing of the King of Jerusalem and the Patriarch of Jerusalem, the former also giving them a wing of his palace to set up shop in. So while they started poor, relying on donations, they didn't stay poor for long. It is very much not like a situation of a couple of random mercenary knights getting together and deciding to start a new order. 🙂

[zzMannyzz]

Thanks so much for all the replies - lots of food for thought!!

It's certainly the player who's enjoying the secrecy, vs any real need. I have pointed out the fact we have a female Saxon knight (Damn Cwenhild) quite happily doing their thing, so I think it's more for the story than anything else.

I do like the idea of the knight banding together with a wealthy patron to support them in setting up their own order ... I'll certainly run these ideas past the player and see what they prefer.