Last time we left off with a bit of a cliffhanger. At the beginning of this session, I handed back Graid’s character sheet to Des. We had left off with the eager squire going quite mad with bloodlust, years of repressed anger and frustration bubbling over as he rode to the defense of Guenevere’s court. The last any had seen of Graid, he had been riding off, holding aloft the severed head of his enemy.
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With squire Graid having distinguished himself at the Rochester Tournament the previous year, we entered this year wondering if he would soon earn his spurs as a knight. Graid did indeed continue to prove that he was his father’s son, not only in mettle but also in his ability to surprise us and take things in unexpected directions.
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| That’s “buttery” as in “butts of beer,” not “dairy product.” |
With the death of Loholt last year, we once again found ourselves back in the company of a lowly squire as primary PC: young Graid, son of Herringdale, squire to the Butler of Sarum Castle.
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We left off the previous year with Sir Loholt, in effect, “winning the game” – it doesn’t get much better in Pendragon than making the Round Table and being crowned king of your own kingdom, much less both events taking place in the same year! Loholt’s glory tally for 535 was, I believe, an all-time record for a single year’s award: 2,993 points! (And that’s not counting Loholt’s annual glory. In the final tally, he was only about 300 points shy of racking up a whopping four Bonus Points in a single year.)
Both the achievement of the Round Table and ascension to high nobility have been put forth in the rules as logical end-points for a character’s story. So where to from here? As it turned out, the events of this session would provide all the answer we needed.
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Because we started Loholt out as a wet-behind-the-ears squire, I sometimes forget how young he is. I’ve been waiting to see him come into his own; this was the year, as it turned out. And in true Pendragon fashion, it came about in a fashion neither one of us saw coming.
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This year’s session was, for the most part, a “solo” Pendragon game in name only, as we were joined by two guest players! D. and S. are from our regular weekly group, and as that week’s regular game was cancelled, we decided to run Pendragon instead. The players both had characters from a campaign Des had run last year that ended, coincidentally enough, right around the same time as the current GPC continuity, so we did our own version of FLAILSNAILS and brought in Sir Blaine and Sir Madog for a guest appearance for the main portion of this year’s events.
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A short session this time, but a fun one.
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At the great mound of Carn Brea in Cornwall, a giant with cascading waterfalls for eyebrows shook itself from its winter slumber and stood. Stretching, it loosed a great rumbling yawn that sent a flock of nesting sparrows flying from its tangled beard. Absent-mindedly scratching its bottom, it ambled off in search of sustenance. Far to the east, a young knight also rose, looking out on the snow-covered streets of Camelot…
Yes, kids, it’s time again. Time to delve back into the tale of the Broughton clan, in particular of Sir Loholt of Camelot, son of the High King and Romantic Knight par excellance. What strange and glorious adventures lie in wait for our intrepid young knight this year? Read on and find out…
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| The arms of Sir Loholt |
And so the Romance Period begins. This year, 531, used to be the default starting time for a “by the book” Pendragon campaign. Although I didn’t start playing Pendragon in earnest until shortly after 5th edition came out (with its default starting year of 485), the majority of my campaigns, both as GM and player, have ended up centering around this time. So Des and I are in familiar waters.
It’s easy to see why 531 used to be the default starting year. If you’re going to start out during Arthur’s reign, it’s a good time to start. This is when chivalry enters its full flower, when tournaments replace battles as the venue to demonstrate a knight’s courage, when heraldry and pennants and trappers turn those tournament fields into a riot of colors. Fortresses finally start to look like what we think of when we hear the word “castle.” The land is at peace, Adventure and Quest rule the day, and things haven’t started to go down the toilet yet. Soon enough. In the meantime, it is morning in Britain again and our hero is a young knight out to fill the shoes of his father and win the heart of his true love. To Adventure, then!
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When we last left off, our hero Loholt – at the tender age of 18 – had been made a knight. More than that, he had been recognized as one of two potential heirs to the throne of the kingdom, bastard though he may be. So did the newly-minted Sir Loholt’s first full year as a knight live up to expectations? Read on…
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