Hi all.

One of my failings as a GM is that I very easily fall into a rut when designing NPCs, especially on a fly. So I decided to make a knight generator program that would randomly generate an NPC knight (or several). This allowed me to populate the Levcomagus side of the border with a Rogues' Gallery that was, in my opinion, probably more interesting and varied than what I would have come up on my own.

The generator is still in its infancy, and unfortunately I lack the coding skills to move from IDL or Python based code to something I could make usable over the internet. However, if you are interested, I am more than happy to email lists of knights.

Currently, I have a simple random number generator that 'rolls a die' to determine the age of the knight, glory, passions, famous traits, skills, speacial features, and married status and number of (alive) children of both genders. The only attribute I roll is APP, which I use as a proxy for infirmity with old age. Nothing would prevent me from rolling the rest, of course, and including the actual aging table into the calculations. This would lead to a need for more detail in the Glory points and Winter phase to track how the stats develop, though, which is more deterministic process than random in my experience.

The skills start around the basic level for the starting knight and are then increased with experience rolls and 'winter phase training' which occasionally grants +1 to the skill (especially if sword is below 15), up to 20. I cheat a bit with Glory, as I slap some extra points on top of the developed skills to simulate the used Glory Points, rather than within the years for ease. However, the numbers look reasonable enough.

I repeat that my motivation was to basically know what kind of knights might be living across the border for the PKs to develop rivalries, hatreds and maybe even friendships with. Knowing that I needed some villains, the trait generation is balanced between 'Good' (left-hand side) and 'Bad' (right-hand side). For more chivalrous knights, the odds could be weighted towards good or the Bad ignored altogether. But I feel they are more fun with some possibility of faults. :) While experience shows that my PKs tend to favor the Chivalric and the Religious Traits(for the bonuses), I did not take this tendency into account, preferring to keep it simple.

This concludes the introduction. To make reading this a bit less of a chore, I will make another post for an example list of knights.

Best wishes,
Morien

A sample list of knights produced by my knight generator (my apologies if you have trouble reading the output, I wanted the information to be concise):

Name Name of Manor Wealth Trait 16+ Trait 16+ Trait 16+ Special Wife Boys Girls
Age Glory APP Hate Loy Hon Hos Love Sword Lance Horse Battle

Aulus Thruxton Normal Generous Heirless Yes 0 1
37 2160 13 17 15 17 14 14 22 18 16 11

Sudrenus Redenham Normal Forgiving Honest Prudent Family Connections Yes 5 3
44 6558 15 13 16 11 13 15 22 20 15 14

Galerus Weyhill Normal Valorous Honest Chaste Big and Brawny Yes 3 0
61 8968 12 12 13 11 15 14 25 25 19 18

Servius Monxton Normal Chaste Small and Puny Yes 0 0
39 3912 10 12 12 6 4 8 19 21 13 20

Lupinus Clanville Normal Honest Generous Lazy Wife-beater Yes 0 2
34 3336 11 10 11 12 14 16 16 14 17 13

Taurinus Penton Grafton Normal Indulgent Pious Generous Family Connections No 0 2
36 2425 14 10 12 13 18 18 16 17 13 16

Aemilius Penton Corner Normal Selfish Pious Uses Warhammer No 4 2
60 3465 10 19 18 16 13 15 19 21 15 15

Claudius Hatherden Household Energetic Energetic Suspicious Uses Warflail Yes 0 0
30 1715 11 11 16 16 16 18 16 16 13 10

Primanus Charlton Household Arbitrary Small and Puny Yes 1 0
25 3162 20 11 14 11 11 14 18 14 15 12

Caracturus Upper Clatford Normal Generous Family Connections Yes 0 0
25 1660 16 13 17 17 12 12 17 14 14 11

Brutus Clatford Normal Reckless Trusting Small and Puny Yes 0 4
55 3180 7 13 13 12 13 13 20 19 15 12

Numerius Upper Enham Household Cruel Forgiving Canine Companion No 0 0
51 2930 10 13 9 9 10 10 22 20 16 13

Ivimarus Knights Enham Rich Proud Beautiful Wife Yes 0 3
35 1990 15 16 15 9 6 11 17 16 13 11


The output is somewhat cleaner in a notepad text file, as the spaces are as wide as the characters, keeping the columns in their proper place. Starting the explanation from the first row.

Name: Name of the Knight (currently, I have a list of Roman names, but nothing prevents me from typing up a Cymric one and pulling the name from that instead)

Name of Manor: Name of the Knight's Manor (I made a list of the manors I populated the region with. Again, easily replaced by another list or even left blank.)

Wealth: The general wealth level (i.e. land and equipment) of the knight. I wanted the average ('Normal') to be a vassal knight, which is why there are so few
Household Knights in the list. Rich would probably mean that the Knight might have another manor and a slightly better armor and maybe even a better horse. Superlative would certainly have these, and might be shading into the Banneret territory. Filthy Rich would be a rich banneret. But YMMV.

Trait 16+: A trait that the knight is famous for, and an RP clue for the GM. Three slots reserved for these, of which 1-3 will be actually filled. If the same trait comes up twice, I usually reroll it. Same with the opposite trait. If I can be bothered, I might fix it in code.

Special: Is there something more to this knight? (I will write up a summary of what I have in the next post; suggestions for more are welcome!)

Wife: Is the knight currently married?

Boys: How many sons does he have (alive)? (Note, in the case of a really old knight, these might actually be grandsons.)

Girls: How many daughters does he have (alive)? (Note, in the case of a really old knight, these might actually be grandsons.)


Second row is mostly self-evident, as it is simply numbers. I use 50 as a cut-off between middle-aged and old knights, as per the rulebook. Since I don't roll stats, I simply assume that young and middle-aged knights have 5d6 of damage, and old knights have 4d6 if they are still upright (but see Special). At APP 3 they would be bed-ridden, and if APP is actually 0 or negative, they'd already be dead (perhaps only just, and the inheritance might be up for grabs?). Since I wanted this to be a rivalry between Levcomagus and Salisbury, I gave each knight a Hate(Salisbury) passion, but if that Hate is not 16+, it is not that important. More a general indicator how likely they are to cooperate and be friendly with the PKs from Salisbury. Love is Love(Family).

I might mention from Glory that I wanted most of the knights to be between 1000 and 3000. You may see that generally, the older knights have more Glory (makes sense), but there may be some outliers who get a lot of Glory while young (an example of a not too bad a case, see Primanus in above).

Once I have those stats in front of me, then I start fleshing the knights out. For example, we can see that Primanus is a very handsome Roman Knight, who is not that physically imposing. So it would make sense that he would be oriented towards courtly skills (which are not randomized) and he would be gathering most of his Glory from those circles, or perhaps with Amors? His arbitrary nature hints that he is not the most considerate of lovers, perhaps too accustomed of getting his own way due to his devilishly good looks? Since he has that much glory so young, it is likely that he had a famous father (hence inherited glory around 1000), who perhaps was involved in some way with the PKs' parents? Primanus would make an excellent foe to make the PKs concerned about the chastity of their womenfolk, giving some courtly RP rather than the battlefield experience.

Another example would be Aulus there. Hates Salisbury a lot! But still a honorable foe. He is Heirless, which means he doesn't have a son to succeed him, which means his only daughter will inherit everything. Checking quickly the age 37-21= 16 reveals that the girl might be in a marriageable age, so perhaps suitors are already flocking? A man bringing him the shields of several knights of Salisbury beaten in honorable combat might gain his approval. Or perhaps one of the PKs would try to find a way to appease Aulus' hatred of Salisbury and win his daughter in marriage?

Best wishes,
Morien

Finally, here is the list of Special Attributes for the NPKs. As always, I am happy to take suggestions to increase their number.


Canine Companion: The Knight has a loyal Irish Wolfhound (or a mastiff or another big fighting dog breed) or an actual Wolf as a pet. The canine might actually fight at the knight's side, or in the very least accompany him around and be a good guard against ambushes and robbers.

Beautiful Wife: The Knight has been blessed with a beautiful wife, and his peers envy the lucky dog. Whether the marriage is happy depends on the Knight's traits and the GM.

Adulterous Wife: Whether or not the wife is pretty, she is an adulteress. Her husband likely doesn't know yet, or if he does, he tries to conceal it to hide the shame. Prime opportunity for the Lustful 16+ Pagan to get into trouble.

Mercenary Contacts: This knight probably has been a mercenary at some point of his career, and he still has friends in the trade. If necessary, he might be able to call upon them for favors, or at least a bargain price.

Family Connections: This knight is part of an extended, powerful clan, with numerous family knights. While they are not there all the time, if the knight is raided or, god forbid, killed, they will ensure that the culprit knows that they are unhappy... Alternatively, the knight might be a (close) relative of the Steward/Earl/Duke, able to bring political pressure to bear.

Heirless: This knight's marriage has not produced a (now) living son to carry on the family name. For some reason or another, it is unlikely to change (barren wife, perhaps?).

Big and Brawny: This knight is uncommonly big and strong! He does 6d6 damage.

Small and Puny: This knight is uncommonly small and weak, like a peasant! He does 4d6 of damage.

Bears a grudge: For some reason, this knight has a good reason to hate Salisbury with a passion. Despite his actual Passions and Traits, he will gain Hate(Salisbury) at 16 (or as much as it was before, if larger) and Vengeful 16+ (famous trait).

Wife-beater: This knight might be a good man in a fight, and even a jolly and a hospitable host, but he has a darker side with his wife. (I tossed this in there for some values dissonance value, and for the PKs to have a chance to meddle. An example of a values dissonance would be Lupinus, who seems like a genuinely a nice guy (Hospitality 16+, Honest 16+, Generous 16+), albeit a bit Lazy. The PKs might actually like him, and then they might meet the battered spouse, and need to reconsider.)

Uses Not-A-Sword: Rather than fight with a sword, this knight prefers another weapon. His Sword skill actually refers to this weapon. (I'd give him a sword skill at -2, since some of those two-handed weapons are next to impossible to use from horseback.)

Beautiful Daughter/Ward: Another PK-bait! Especially the Ward, who is likely a heiress of a manor.


Best wishes,
Morien

Hi Morien

What a great tool. That ought to be available to all pendragon game masters.

Although I do not know the IDL or Python languages, I do know various 'internet languages' quite well, and would be interested in helping you convert the knight generator into a more useful version.

I you could send me the code, or tell me where to download it, I could take a look at converting it.

Jesper

Hi

The 'Moriens Knight Generator' is now available online here:
http://enora.dk/pendragon/knights.asp

Its a really basic generator, no work has been done to spice it up with great layout etc, but as a tool for GMs I think it should be useful. I know I will find it useful.

Let me hear your comments.

Jesper

Thanks for your work in converting it, Jasper!

That is brilliant and will see action this Sunday when I run 492.

Was there a link to your original generator, Morien?

Was there a link to your original generator, Morien?


No, since it was just an IDL code that I was running offline. Jesper translated it to a more web-usable format.

Many thanks for sharing this with us - I may well use it to knock out a set of generic NPCs on index cards which can be grabbed at random when needed.

What are the odds of bumping into another IDL-coding Pendragon fan?

I've coded an entire tournament (random opponents, full jousts and results) in IDL, allowing me to run whole Pentacost tournaments in mere seconds.
Also I coded the entire winterphase from the old BoM (again in IDL), so that running a winterphase now takes minutes instead of a session..
Of course as astrophysicist I have no knowledge of any sharable online languages, so if there's a volunteer to recode it to a useable web-format, feel free to contact me.

fg,
Thijs

Hi Thijs

I think the chances are zero.
But being an ordinary programmer, I have learned to read a lot of different code languages, so it wasn't that hard.

If you would like me to produce simple online versions of your programs during the summer, feel free to email me the code.

Jesper

I love this tool! Thanks for developing it and sharing it. I can only think of a couple of things that I'd like to see:

1.) More variations in the "Special" column. What is the source for the ones you've used? I wouldn't mind maybe contributing some ideas. Are they keyed to Good and Evil? I wouldn't want "Wife Beater" to show up on a good guy...

2.) A way to specify an age or range of ages. I'm assuming the stats are all based on age, somehow, so that older more experienced knights have more of everything (Glory, higher skills, more children, etc.)?

I did notice that sometimes the same 16+ Traits gets listed twice, which was a little confusing.

Seems like it wouldn't be too hard to generate one or two physical traits (eye and hair color, etc., or other distinguishing features).

I'd also love to see a squire generator!

Thanks,


M.

Hi

1) specials
I cannot say what source Morien used when he originally wrote the program, but I would guess he just made up the short list of 13 specials.

Specials are not tied to good or evil, but I think its ok. The "good" guy (on the outside) might harbor a dark secret at home (being a wife beater). Very few things are completely "good" or "evil" - most things are in the grey zone. I just see the flaws in the good guys as a tool for storytelling and helps produce more 3 dimensional characters.

Specials are easy for me to add, so feel free to invent a long list of interesting specials, and I will add it to the generator. Any format will do.

2) age
Age does play a role with most stats as you expected, and as requested I have added the option of specifying age category (random, young, middle aged, old)
Morien had prepared the code well, so it was very easy to add the age categories selection, but more fine grained age selection will not be quite as easy, as a number of modifiers based on age category does not scale well, I think.

Indeed the same trait can be picked two or more times, but not any more - its fixed.

Squire generator
A squire generator would be a good idea, and if someone were to draft the rules by which the squires can be generated, I will be happy to code it. See Undead Trouts family generator script for something that was very easy to code (2-3 hours): http://www.gspendragon.com/roundtable/index.php?topic=1199.0

Jesper

I'm dumbfounded by your awesomeness! So very cool...

Thanks!


T.

I cannot say what source Morien used when he originally wrote the program, but I would guess he just made up the short list of 13 specials.


That is exactly what I did. I simply tried to think some nice, potential story hooks or other things to make the knights a bit more special, and wrote a list.

As for Good Guy having a Wife-Beater special, like Jesper said, I don't mind that either. Good values dissonance right there. But if that is not your cup of tea, just reroll the character? :)



Morien had prepared the code well, so it was very easy to add the age categories selection, but more fine grained age selection will not be quite as easy, as a number of modifiers based on age category does not scale well, I think.


(Thanks for the praise, by the way. :) )

It would be possible to switch it into a purely year-determined modifiers, but when I originally wrote it, I simply wished to mimic the Young/Middle-aged/Old division of the rulebook, and that was the basis for the modifiers. I then made some modifications to a more year-based modifier system, so now it is a bit of a hybrid.

Since the code doesn't track the actual stats but only APP (and I think there might be a bug there from the original code, Jasper; as I wrote it for Roman knights, I hard-coded +2 APP, which I think might still be there?), we have no idea what all the stats are like for the knights. I am not overly troubled by this, as I can easily handwave 'usual' stats and then use Glory and age to adjust them. As a rule, I give 5d6 as damage for Young and Middle-aged knights and 4d6 for Old, modified by the specials. Then I use APP as a proxy for how decrepit the oldster is. If I get an Old Knight with APP around 5, I take that to mean that he is starting to slow down even more, and might be closing in on 3d6 territory. Of course Glory influences that as well. Someone with 6000+ Glory was probably healthier and better as a young lad than the average, too, so I could easily give such a knight some benefit of the doubt when it comes to stats.



Indeed the same trait can be picked two or more times, but not any more - its fixed.


It was not a bug, it was a feature! :P Yeah, I was too lazy to fix that, so I used it as an indication that the knight was really really into that Trait, like Generous 20+ or something like that. Whereas just a regular Generous would have been in the 16-17 territory.

A hat-tip to this generator! ;D

I needed to do some pre-generated knights for a KAP5 demo and it helped a great deal in getting started. Generated about 15 knights, trimmed to 10, and then used them as the basis for the passions and combat skills. Rolled stats using a method suggested elsewhere on the forum. And then did die rolls to fill in backgrounds and trait adjustments.

Finished off by tweaking equipment and a few things to put in skill variety, made some religious knights to display that potential, and reflect wealthy vs poor knights.

Since the issue of the probabilities used in this program came up in another thread (http://nocturnal-media.com/forum/index.php?topic=1583.0), I will attempt to shed some light on the matter:

This is how the program goes:
0. Name based on nationality
1. Age category: Roll 1d7, 1-4 = young, 5-6 = middle-aged, 7 = old
2. Exact age: 1d14+20 (21-34) / 1d15+34 (35-49) / 1d20+49 (50 - 69)
3. Glory category: Roll 1d8+agemod (0 for young, +1 middle-aged, +2 old): 1-5 = ordinary, 6-7= notable (young age rerolled to be 23-34) , 8+ = famous (young age rerolled to be 25-34)
4. Exact Glory:
- Ordinary: 3d6*40 + 1000 + 3d6*5*(age-21) ; (the last term to represent generic heroics & yearly glory the NPC might do; yes, this does mess the category, but I don't care :P )
- Notable: 1d2000 + 1999 + 3d6*5*(age-21)
- Famous: 1d4000 + 3999 + 3d6*5*(age-21)
(3d6 gives a nice bell curve around 10-11.)
5. Appearance: 3d6 - (age-35)/5 + (glory-2000)/4000 + 2 ; (start - aging + glorious people are pretty! + Roman modifier & to keep the old people from dying due to low APP)
6. Passions:
- Hate: 3d6 + agemod*2 ; (Like said, the base was Levcomagus, and the older knights would have more grudges against Salisbury.)
- Loyalty: 2d6+6 + (glory-2000)/2000
- Honor: 3d6 + (glory-2000)/2000
- Hospitality: 3d6 + (glory-2000)/3000
- Love (Family): 2d6+6
7. Famous Traits: Roll 1d3 to see how many
- roll 1d100 vs 'evil constant' to see if it is good (roll > constant) or 'bad' (default 50, good/evil flag might be 0/100)
- roll 1d13 to the good/bad traits as determined previously (could improve this to increase the possibility of religious/chivalric traits)
8. Special: 1d13 to get the special
9. Wealth: 1d6-1+(glory-2000)/2000 => 1-2=Household, 3-5=Normal (Vassal), 6-7 = Rich (like 9L/yr), 8 = Superlative (12L), 9-10 = Filthy Rich (Banneret?)
10. Skills
10a. Starting skills
- Sword, 1d6: 1-3=1d6+10, 4-6=15
- Lance, 1d6: 1-3=10, 4-6=1d6+9
- Horsemanship, 1d6: 1-4=10, 5-6=1d6+9
- Battle, 1d6: 1-4=10, 5-6=1d6+9
10b. Yearly increase of skills: Go over the years since 21. (Hmm, I seem to have a typo in my code, starting from year 22)
- Bit complicated, but basically an experience check (1d20) on Lance and Sword each year, every other year on Horsemanship and every 3rd year on Battle.
- Increase skills with training if they are lower than 15 and slower if they are 15-19.
10c. Boosting skills with Glory. (Sword every 2000, Lance every 3000, others every 4000.)
11. Wife: 1d3 (-1 if household), 0-1 = Not Married (or Widower), 2-4 = Married (right now).
12. Children (who are alive right now, may have had others who are now dead)
- Boys: 1d4-1d4+(age-40)/10+mod (mod = 1 if married, -1 if not)
- Girls: 1d4-1d4+(age-40)/10+mod (mod = 1 if married, -1 if not)
(This might make kids a bit too rare, but hey, plot point!)
(Specials influence this section too: Heirless = 0 sons. Beautiful daughter when age < 35 or no girls becomes Beautiful Ward instead. This is to provide a temptation for the PKs, i.e. a wooable young damosel.)

That's very helpful, Morien. Thanks!


T.

I noticed earlier in the week that the online version made by Jesper has vanished. I have not heard back from Jesper yet as to the future of the online version.

However, in the meantime, if someone needs pre-generated 'randomized' knights, I did do a series of 1000 knights in each age category (young, middle-aged, old) and in four cultures (Cymric, Roman, French, Saxon) using my offline IDL version.

I wonder if there is a way to upload those files anywhere here?

Morien they do allow us to add attachments, but they come directly off our computers. I would be very reluctant to add an attachment coming from ones computer. Windows has so many open ports hackers have an easy time busting in.

I noticed earlier in the week that the online version made by Jesper has vanished. I have not heard back from Jesper yet as to the future of the online version.

However, in the meantime, if someone needs pre-generated 'randomized' knights, I did do a series of 1000 knights in each age category (young, middle-aged, old) and in four cultures (Cymric, Roman, French, Saxon) using my offline IDL version.

I wonder if there is a way to upload those files anywhere here?


You can send them me and I'll add them to my site.
PS: You can also send me the IDL code (so nice to find a fellow IDL programmer in this new age of Python) :) :)

fg,
Thijs

You can send them me and I'll add them to my site.
PS: You can also send me the IDL code (so nice to find a fellow IDL programmer in this new age of Python) :) :)


Emailed. And I actually would have coded it in Python, were I to do it again today. :) Python being free and all. Not worth rewriting it, though, since I so rarely would need it.

I clicked all the links for the Knights generator and none are working right now!

http://enora.dk/pendragon/index.html with Undead Trout's Family Generator, Dr. J.M. "Thijs" Krijger's Jousting Simulator and Moriens Knight Generator is now back online.

Sorry for the down-time - a server crashed and had to be reconstructed.

JMV

Undead Trout's Family Generator, Dr. J.M. "Thijs" Krijger's Jousting Simulator and Moriens Knight Generator is now back online.
http://enora.dk/pendragon/index.html


Thanks to bad I am not in a postion to use it right now but Marion did email me a text document with alot of npc knights in it which was some what useful to me!

Thanks, Jasper. Good to know it is up again and available for people to use if they need it!

Ty Jasper. That was great Morien Ty too.

What do you think of using 2d3+6 for base skills in Horsemanship; Lance and Sword. With a 10% chance of them having base 4d3+7 skills. Do the same thing for: Battle; Awareness and First Aid, though separately, and again for three Non-combat skills, grouped as I had them in my Quick character creation thread and maybe give all Knight either an Hunting or Falconry skill.

That family generator would be nice to have expanded (with random names and drawn connection lines (eg with graphviz)).

fg,
Thijs

Since it came up in another thread:

To elaborate on 10b. a bit...
1) I roll 1d6 for the main skills that I keep track off. Sword and Lance always get a check (I suppose this could be changed to something like 1-5 = check, to give a chance of years without checks), Horsemanship gets a check on 4+ and Battle 5+.
2) After seeing if a skill gets a check, I roll for experience gain as normal, if 1d20 > skill or = 20, then skill gets +1.
3) After experience, I consider 'yearly training':
- if Sword is < 15, then I give +1 every 2 years. If Sword is 15-19, then it gets +1 every 4 years.
- If Lance is < 15, it gets +1 every 3 years. If Lance is 15-19, then it gets +1 every 8 years.
- Horsemanship < 15, +1 every 4 years. Horsemanship 15-19, +1 every 8 years.
- Battle < 15, no automatic increase (the idea is that such a knight would not get many chances to lead nor thus feel the pressure to become good at Battle). Battle 15-19, +1 every 6 years (such a knight would be in a command position and feel the need to improve his Battle, even if slowly).

As for 10c, I do know that I am actually giving out a bit more 'Glory Points' than they would actually get as PKs, and it is all going to their Skills. I probably should have scaled the Sword bonus back a bit more. However, since most NPKs do not get a lot of Glory to begin with and I do deduct the first 1000 Glory out, I am not too bothered by this. Especially since many of those 'Glory Points' might actually go to raising Battle from 10 to 11, which no player would ever do. So it evens out.

Ty Jasper. That was great Morien Ty too.

What do you think of using 2d3+6 for base skills in Horsemanship; Lance and Sword. With a 10% chance of them having base 4d3+7 skills. Do the same thing for: Battle; Awareness and First Aid, though separately, and again for three Non-combat skills, grouped as I had them in my Quick character creation thread and maybe give all Knight either an Hunting or Falconry skill.


(Oops, forgot to answer this one... Sorry.)

You are welcome, Snaggle. I know we are having this discussion in another thread, so I will simply answer briefly:

For me, a knight needs 10 in all of his knightly skills, or he simply will no become a knight. Hence, Sword, Lance, Horsemanship and Battle (which are the only skills that I bother to generate for a quick NPK adversary) need to start from 10. And a good many of them would have skills in excess of 10, especially in Sword and Lance. 2d3 will not do this, and I think having an average combat skills of knights to be around 10 is too low. 10 in Sword would be barely qualified to be a knight, in my opinion, and hence why in my Knight Generator, good many starting knights would have the Sword skill at 15.

Morien I wrote stats for the Random Squires, sending them to you to examine and see whether or not they would fit in with your views of starting Squires to Knights. I'm extremely close to canonical ;)

Ok, on similar vein: what would be the random lance skill of a random knight met along the road (so not starting skill, actual skill when met):
8+2D6? [min-avg-max= 10-15-22]
7+3D6 [10, 18, 25]
10+D10 [11,16,20]

??

fg,
Thijs

Thijs, I simply use the Knight Generator to roll up a random knight. The Lance skill is generated alongside with the knight, and depends mainly on the knight's age and luck.

If I were to do a quick toss of the dice on a tabletop game with no internet access, it would depend on what kind of PKs and opposition I wish to place on them. If they are all young knights with lance skills 10 - 15, I probably would do something like 9+1d6, on a 6 reroll and add 5. If they are a bit more experienced, I might do the 8+2d6 like you suggested.

Indeed, I am talking about tabletop only. Completely random encounter (eg, players states: I wait till a knight rides past). So you dont know if young/old..
[of course you can first determine age with D20 roll and then depending age a second skill generation roll)]
Just wondering what seems 'right'?

fg,
Thijs

Well, totally my own feelings on the matter, without checking what Greg put into the Rolebook At the Crossroads solo... So take this with a huge fistful of salt.

My 'gut feeling' is that not only are young knights demographically more numerous (it is a dangerous business being a knight), but they are the ones more likely to not have a 'steady job' and hence are more inclined to go out and adventure. Granted, there are exceptions, but in my mind, older knights tend to be more 'settled' or part of a lord's entourage, rather than riding willy-nilly across the countryside looking for an adventure to gain reputation and Glory. That is a young man's game.

Thus, I'd probably have something like:

1d20
1 - 2 Fresh Knight (21 - 22)
3 - 12 Young Knight (mid-20s)
13 - 16 Adult Knight (30-ish)
17 - 18 Middle-Aged Knight
19 Old Knight
20 Famous Knight (not necessarily a RTK)

Fresh Knights are pretty much straight out of the squirehood, so their skills would be in the 10 - 15 range, and more inclined towards the lower end. I'd likely roll something like 1d6+9 for Sword and 1d6+7 for Lance, treating a skill less than 10 as 10.

Young Knights already have some experience under their belts, so I'd probably roll 1d6+11 for Sword and 1d6+10 for Lance.

Adult Knights are likely already experienced, so for them, I would roll Sword 1d6+13 and Lance 1d6+12.

Middle-aged knights are at the peak of their skills and have not collapsed from the old age yet, so something like Sword 1d6+15 and Lance 1d6+14.

(I could see another category here for Old Middle-aged, who would get +1 to skills, but already start to go with age, -1d6 to damage.)

Old Knights would be even more skilled, but suffer the ravages of aging pretty badly already. Sword 1d6+17 and Lance 1d6+16.

For Famous Knights, I'd probably roll again to see if he is a named knight (in disguise, probably), and if not, something like 1d3+19 Sword and 1d6+17 Lance should do the trick.

And yes, I know that those skill levels over lap. Sometimes you come across someone who is really skilled despite being young, or someone who is not as tough as his age would imply. :) This would also be a good opportunity for Heraldry and/or Recognize skill rolls: "Ah, it is Sir Griswald, who is a lousy jouster but a dab hand with a flail. I'd better try to make the contest with lances."

Jesper is coding these, so they will be eventually available to you to use, so I'm showing you what will be in the program.

Purpose of this design is:
1. To generate d3 friends for PK, who will be knighted around the same time as PK;
2. To generate Squires for PK;
3. To generate Squires for NPC Knights;
4. To generate Squires for their understudies (AKA replacement brothers)



ORIGINS roll d20
Note: “Baronial” means of a Baron and “Comital” of a Count – real but rare words.

01 Distinguished Franklin*, is adult (age 2d3+19) with Combat Skills of Horsemanship d3+14, Spear d3+14, Sword d3+14. NCS: Latin; Stewardship; Folklore. Valor d3+14. They have 1,000 glory, have been promoted to Knight, but need to be polished in Courtesy and Lance before being Knighted when they gain another 1,000 Glory. They practice and train Courtesy and Lance for d6+1 points a year and are Knighted when they have 15 in both. Will also gain experience rolls for: Horsemanship; Sword; Awareness; Stewardship; and Folklore. Will continue to serve as a Steward until knighted.

02 Comital Bastard, bastard son of a member of the Knight's Lord's lineage. Will be Household Knight

03-15 Son of a Household Knight

16 Son of a Curial Official. Will be Household Knight.

17 Son of relative (50% Maternal/ 50% Paternal lineage)

18-19 Son of Vassal Knight

20 Son and Heir of Vassal Knight. Roll again add 1 to roll/ 2,000 glory of Knight

[ 01 Really a Merchant's son with false heraldry and pedigree from extinct lineage, will try to claim “hereditary seat” once knighted. 5% chance per year of Squire-ship of the truth coming out.
02-03 Squire is dispossessed, will seek to recover fee once knighted.
04-17 Knightly heir.
18-19 Baronial son, roll d6: 1 Heir; 2 second son; 3 third son; bastard son (still heir to Fee).
20 Comital son, roll d6: 1 Heir; 2 second son; 3 third son; bastard son (still heir to Fee).]

* Franklins were Normally the class from which Stewards and Sheriffs were drawn. Their name literally means “Little Frank” (AKA Freeman/Noble). During the 12th-13th centuries most of the non-nobles who were offered Knighthood came from this class. Amusingly one of the most famous incidents is of a Franklin who refused Knighthood.





SOMATIC STATISTICS

AGE
d6+14
If PK friend roll 2d3+17.
If PK's Squire age starts at 15.

PHYSIQUE*
SIZ: 2d6+3 at age 15; 2d6+4 at age 16-17 ; 2d6+5 at age 18-19; 2d6+6 at age 21+
STR: 2d6+3 at age 15; 2d6+4 at age 16-17 ; 2d6+5 at age 18-19; 2d6+6 at age 21+
CON: 4d3+d6 (+3 for being Cymric)
DEX: 4d3+d6
APP: 4d3+d6
5% of Squires if Cymric are female Squires. 50% are Damsel Squires and 50% Camp followers. Both use 5d3 for SIZ and STR: +1 age 16-17; +2 age 18-19; +3 at 21.
Damsel Squires use 2d6+6 for DEX and APP; with NCS of Hunting, Courtesy, Tourney and are Chaste 16+. Camp followers use; DEX 2d6+6 and APP 2d3+14; with NCS of Flirting, Romance, Chirurgery and are Lustful 16+. Both have Valor d3+14.


AVERAGE DAMAGE*
Age 15 = 3d6
Age 16-17 = 4d6
Age 18-19 = 4d6
Age 20+ = 4d6

Squires need a total SIZ +STR =
13 for 2d6 damage*
15 for 3d6 damage
21 for 4d6 damage
27 for 5d6 damage
33 for 6d6 damage

*This is the lowest damage a Squire or Knight will have at adulthood (SIZ 8 + STR 5 = 13/6) .

SKILLS GENERATION
The Core Skills of Knights are: Horsemanship; Lance; Sword; Battle and First Aid*

I've assumed that Spear skill = Lance skill -4 and that Dagger skill = Sword skill -5.


Squire have already been exposed to the Core Skills as pages and likely have them all starting at 4, so they gain skills as follows:

Age 15 = 4
Age 16 = 5
Age 17 = 6
Age 18 = 7
Age 19 = 8
Age 20 = 9
Age 21 = 10

VALOR
Starts at 10 for 90% of Squires and increases to: 11 age 17; 12 age 19 and 13 age 21. These Squires add +5 to Sword at age 21.

For 10% Valor is d3+14. These Squires add +5 to: Horsemanship; Lance and Sword.

ENERGETIC
Is used as an adjustment to Non-Combat Skills. 25% of Squires Lazy +13; 50% Energetic 10; 20% Energetic 13+ and 5% Energetic 16+.

Squires Lazy +13 gain no adjustment for their NCS.
Squires Energetic 10 have one of their three NCS +5.
Squires Energetic 13+ have all three NCS at +5.
Squires Energetic 16+ have: First Aid; Battle and their three NCS +5

NON-COMBAT SKILLS

Their three NCS start at 4 and end at 10 +Adjustment. 50% have: Hunting; Courtesy; Tourney as NCS.
The other 50% roll d20.
01 Scout (Hunting; Folklore; Awareness)
02 Tourneyer (Courtesy; Heraldry; Tourney)
03 Falconer (Courtesy; Falconry; Flirting)
04 Courtier (Courtesy; Intrigue; Recognize)
05 Gambler (Courtesy; Intrigue; Gaming)
06 Huntsman (Awareness; Faery Lore; Hunting)*.
07 Minstrel (Compose; Play; Singing) composes Epic Songs to entertain Knights
08 Troubadour (Compose; Play; Singing), composes Love Songs to entertain Ladies
09 Jongleur (Flirting; Play; Singing) performs Love Songs
10 Jongleur (Courtesy; Play; Singing) Performs Epic Songs
11 Debonair (Courtesy; Folklore; Faery Lore)
12 Chamberer (Dancing; Flirting; Gaming), chases the indoor Damsels
13 Don Juan (Intrigue; Flirting; Romance), seduces Ladies (married preferred), Lust 16+
14 Chaser (Flirting; Hunting; Falconry), chases the outdoor Damsels
15 Herald (Heraldry; Latin; Tourney)
16 Pious (Religion; Latin; Singing), Pious 16+
17 Orator (Courtesy; Intrigue; Orate)
18 Lecher (Folklore; Flirting and Romance), seduces low born women solely for sex, Lust 16+.
19 Low born (Courtesy; Folklore; Flirting), Merchant's son trying to worm their way into the Nobility.
20 Franklin (Latin; Folklore; Stewardship), will become a Steward, may be made a Household Knight,
if Valor d3+14 or Energetic 16+.

*Half of Huntsmen augment Boar spear to 15, the other half augment augment Composite Bow to 15.



QUALITIES (for Squires from Logres)

First determine if they're Special Squires (30%)
If Special roll d20 and start all traits at 13+
01-02 (10%) Roman Christian: Pious; Chaste; Forgiving; Modest; Merciful; Temperate*.
03-06 (20%) British Christian: Pious; Chaste; Energy; Modesty; Generous; Temperate*.
07-08 (10%) Pagan: Pious; Generous; Energetic; Honest; Lustful; Proud.
09-18 (40%) Chivalrous: Worldly; Indulgent; Energetic; Modest; Just; Merciful *.
19-20 (10%) Amorous: Worldly; Indulgent; Lustful; Arbitrary; Merciful; Forgiving; Generous*.

5% of Christian specials will be Satanic Squires masquerading as Christians.
Real qualities:Pious; Vengeful; Selfish; Cruel; Deceitful; Suspicious.
Chivalrous Knights in the real middle ages were Kingsmen opposed to the Churchmen and real Knights could not be both Chivalrous and Pious. I also pulled out Valor as a trait as all Knights are Valorous 13+ and put in Indulgent, as that's what Courtly Knights were. They will adopt the faith of their Knight and later Lord, but will have no real devotion to it.
I assigned a likely character to Amorous Squires and Knights.


70% of Squires will be Non-special Squires, 5% of these will be Pious 16+ and 5% Worldly 16+. The main difference between them will be Good and Evil. Note: Evil Squires are not Satanic, just wicked. Their faiths will be: 20% Roman Christian; 40% British Christian; 20% Pagan and 20% adopt their Knight's or Lord's faith.

The Good (Adjust Courtesy +5)

01-02 Paragon: Honest; Just; Trusting; Merciful; Forgiving; Generous, four start at 13+; one of Honest; Just; Trusting at 16+ and one of Merciful; Forgiving; Generous at 16+ .

03-04 Fair: Honest; Just; Trusting; Merciful; Forgiving; Generous. Five at 13+ and one of Honest; Just; Trusting at 16+.

05-06 Kindly: Honest; Just; Trusting; Merciful; Forgiving; Generous. Five at 13+ and one of Merciful; Forgiving; Generous at 16+.

The Ugly

07-09 Lion: Honest 13+; Just 13+; Trusting 13+; Cruel 13+; Vengeful 13+; Selfish 13+.

10-12 Fox: Deceitful 13+; Arbitrary13+; Mistrust 13+; Merciful 13+; Forgiving 13+; Generous 13+.

13-14 Machiavellian: all 10; pretends to be Paragon, but actively hypocritical, treacherous, amoral.

The Bad (Adjust Courtesy -5)

15-16 Foul: Deceitful; Arbitrary; Mistrust; Cruel; Vengeful; Selfish (one of Arbitrary; deceitful; Mistrust at 16+)

17-18 Cold: Deceitful; Arbitrary; Mistrust; Cruel; Vengeful; Selfish (one of Cruel; Vengeful; Selfish at 16+)

19-20 Wicked: Deceitful; Arbitrary; Mistrust; Cruel; Vengeful; Selfish. Four at 13+, one of Deceitful, Arbitrary, Mistrust16+ and one of Cruel, Vengeful, Selfish at 16+

OTHER QUALITIES
01 Virtue 16+; 02-05 Virtue 13+; 6-15 the Trait is 10; 16-19 Vice 13+ ;20 Vice 16+

Chaste/Lustful [Don't check for Pious, Amorous Squires, Lechers, Don Juans, Damsel Squires or Camp followers].

Prudent/Reckless, if Prudent 16+ add +5 to Battle, if Prudent 13+ add +3 to Battle, if Reckless +3 subtract -3 from Battle, if Reckless 16+ subtract -5 from Battle.

Temperate/Indulgent [Don't check for any Special Squire].

Jesper has announced the completion of our Squire program. 8)

I was trying to work out a nice way of coming up with decent squires, decent as in with stats and being a bit more human. I think I can stop trying now, this looks perfect.

Good work.

Greetings Morien!

I used the Knights Generator yesterday for our game, creating knights that they were encountering at the joust, and hit a bit of a snag.?
There are no SIZE, DEX, or CON stats, and thus nothing to determine KNOCKDOWN or Major Wound.

I went looking for HP, figuring I could just divide by 2 to come up with the Size + Con, but that wasn't present either.

I reread the thread, and didn't notice anyone bringing that up before.

Could they be added?

SirUkpyr
<whose old nick got eaten>

Hi. Of course there is nothing in principle to keep them from being added. It is just some more numbers. I usually just assume:
SIZ 14, STR 14, DEX 11, CON 14 for a basic knight
- Big and Brawny: +3 SIZ and STR, -2 DEX
- Small and Puny: -2 SIZ and STR, +3 DEX
- +1 to all stats if a Glory 4000+ knight
- +2 to all stats if a Glory 8000+ knight

If I really wish to personalize the NPK, then I roll something like:
SIZ: 11 + 1d6
STR: 10 + 1d6
DEX: 8 + 1d6
CON: 11 + 1d6
Or, more likely, in this case I will just assign stats: a king's champion will have high stats, after all.

Thanks again for these wonderful aides. Am prepping for the Battle of Badon tonight and wanting to quickly populate the player's unit with their followers, adding more detail than usual as its such a special event. This has enabled me to quickly knock out the basics of 20 knight followers of their 'Knights of the Grail' organisation!

You are quite welcome, Merlin! :)

Thank you for this awesome tool!

I found this generator as well for pendragon I like the horse market table 8)
http://pendragon.uplink.fi/?tab=&nr=1

Thx. Was fun to make. If anyone else has a table they like to add?
www.drpendragon.com is easier to remember..

Fg
Thijs

I personally would like to see more culture based knights other than cymri, which would include all cultures listed in penndragon as well for squires and wife's, just a thought!

Might I get a new link? The old one doesn't work anymore.

Did you try this one:
http://pendragon.uplink.fi/?tab=knight&nr=1

It is similar to the Warlord Generator in BotW. Or rather, the Warlord Generator is based on this Knight Generator, and just had its status and equipment cranked to the max for BotW.

Thank you, this is helpful.

Thanks, this is a great tool. What mechanics are used to determine NPC Glory in the random generator?

In my original program, I had a roll to put a knight into one of the old Glory categories and then rolled randomly within the category. And then added some more Glory based on a random roll times the years 'of service'.

In the new knight generator in Thijs' page, it is done differently. The generator first rolls a base skill and then rolls again, with modifiers from the skill level, to get a Glory Category, as in the Warlord Generator in BotW. I am assuming that Thijs is then rolling randomly within the category or something like that.