If my skill value is greater than 20, that means I can only increase it via an Experience check on a natural 20, right?
Isn't that a bit harsh? I mean, the chance is only 1 in 20 every year... Most knights wouldn't live to enjoy the benefits of such a check twice! And yet, sample characters often have skill values (far) greater than that. Does that just mean that they got unbelievably lucky with the Experience Checks, or is there something I missed?
If I understand this correctly, 20 is the practical limit for any knight's skills... Yet many challenges seem to require a much higher value. Does that mean that many challenges are simply not meant to be overcome by player knights? If so, than why even put mechanical states in the book? Just tell the players that they can't capture the Questing Beast no matter how hard they try and go home.

Can someone explain this to me please? :-\

Thank you very much,

A humble stranger

Stranger, as explained in the last section of the Winter phase, for every full 1000 Glory a character gets, he can increase one trait, passion, stat, skill or combat skill ONE point, including traits above 19, passions above 20, stats above cultural max (even after 35 years of age) and skills above 20. PCs should get at least 200 glory per year, and may well get much more. PCs that survive into their 30s and 40s can have 10 000 or 20 000 Glory, and hence can increase stats, traits and passions to very high levels. This is also the source for NPCs high stats. And this is what you are missing. :P

Stranger, as explained in the last section of the Winter phase, for every full 1000 Glory a character gets, he can increase one trait, passion, stat, skill or combat skill ONE point, including traits above 19, passions above 20, stats above cultural max (even after 35 years of age) and skills above 20. PCs should get at least 200 glory per year, and may well get much more. PCs that survive into their 30s and 40s can have 10 000 or 20 000 Glory, and hence can increase stats, traits and passions to very high levels. This is also the source for NPCs high stats. And this is what you are missing. :P


oh. Thank you very much, then. It seems that indeed I missed that. well.

oh. Thank you very much, then. It seems that indeed I missed that. well.

There is always a rather steep learning curve when you pick up a new game. ;) I'm glad if I have been to some help for you. Good luck with your gaming!

Glory has already been mentioned, which can provide substantial bonuses above 20. Experience checks shouldn't be discounted though. Once you have a knight that is experienced, and say has 3 values at 20, if he is doing his best to get a check against them each year, he will get a success every now and then. Some knights die quickly, but many will have 20 years or so of active experience, and characters gaining enough glory to offset ageing might last double or triple that!
In my first campaign, I had one player whose character was knighted in 508-ish, and was there at the battle of camlann 60 years later, as the most powerful player-knight present.

If characters live long enough, they'll get the occasional bonus even on skills that require a 20 to improve. Also, as GM, you'll see such increases more often than you expect. With, say, 5 players, each of which has, say, 1 rating at 20, then on average every 4 years you might see one of those values increase due to experience.

I see this has been answered sufficiently, but I will a couple of designer notes.



Isn't that a bit harsh?


No.



Yet many challenges seem to require a much higher value. Does that mean that many challenges are simply not meant to be overcome by player knights?


Some challenges in the book are darn near impossible.
On purpose.
I did not try to portray a world where the PCs always win. In fact, quite the opposite--the world is a place of great and permanent danger.


If so, than why even put mechanical states in the book? Just tell the players that they can't capture the Questing Beast no matter how hard they try and go home.

That would be terrible game mastering, for one thing. An intrusion of "outside knowledge" from the impartial source (GM) into the game. For what purpose?

It is quite possible to capture a lot of Glor, even if you do not succeed in the quest.

Some things can only be killed through a special process. Look at the Dragons in Forest Perilous. These require additional quests to obtain the knowledge or materials needed.

Some quests are destined for a person to complete them, but no one knows this fact, or perhaps they know it but have no idea who the person is. Player knights are invited to attempt these quests, but why ruin their fun and tell them it is impossible? Later when someone completes the quest, your player knight will have a reaction.

Some are supernatural. Look a the Troit Boar and you'll see your best PC will be lucky to even dent its HP before it dissolves your character in a pool of acid spit.

Magical Britain is not designed for people who expect to win. It is for people who enjoy a challenge.

Magical Britain is not designed for people who expect to win. It is for people who enjoy a challenge.


Now that's a fantastic quote!

It's certainly been my experience that quests that the players have to keep coming back to again and again are those that are most satisfying when they are finally completed. In our campaign, 'The Adventure of the Forest Sauvage' kept cropping up again and again, always lurking in the background, until in one most stimulating evening the players finally 'completed it'. In fact I'm not sure I've written it up yet for our website - I was afraid for a long time that it would be impossible to sum up the emotion of the session in written words hastily scrawled on some web page.

If you play Pendragon as written, it requires a change of mindset to take on board the idea that it is a long-term campaign. Mysteries that are hinted now may not be seen until your children ride the land, and not solved until their children come of age. Frustrating at times? Certainly, but as the years go by that frustration feeds the grandeur of the sweep of the campaign, especially at their resolution - if indeed they ever are. There is great glory after all in an heroic failure, and none in a non-heroic success...

Magical Britain is not designed for people who expect to win. It is for people who enjoy a challenge.


Now that's a fantastic quote!

It's certainly been my experience that quests that the players have to keep coming back to again and again are those that are most satisfying when they are finally completed.

Mine too
I had a campaign where the players visited the Kingdom of Merionydd 3 or 4 times over 3 generations trying to resolve the mystery. The accumulated knowledge over the generations was put to work by the best minds, and though they never succeeded, it was a very enjoyable aspect of the campaign.