In my last session my Knights saved the Earl of Salisbury from attack by Saxon Mercenaries. The Earl wants to reward them in thanks. One is close to the border with Levcomagus and has a nice horde of silver buried at his manor, so he's been given permission to build a castle.

However what other rewards could an Earl give for saving his life?

(Note that this depends a lot how much beyond the normal call of duty the situation was, and how desperate the struggle. Your example of given permission to build a castle is akin to what I would have done, too.)

Depends how generous you wish him to be. Below are some suggestions, in a rough order of generosity.

0) Praise, Glory, Preference, Gifts
- At the very least, the knights could expect to be given a favorable treatment by the earl from now on. They will be praised by the earl in his own court (extra glory). Their words carry more weight, and if they want a small favor, the earl is at least hearing them out. Something to commemorate the occasion would not go amiss: a set of decorated drinking cups, or armlets, or something similar. Doesn't need to be very expensive, even, something in the 1-2 L range per knight. And they are unlikely to sell such trinkets, too.

1) Better armor
- All PKs love armor! At least my players' knights do. Again, not a big cost to the earl, but might make a huge difference to a hand-to-mouth vassal knight without excess money. Especially if the armor is not commonly available in Britain, say reinforced chain mail at 12 points or 'enhanced norman chain mail' at 11 points, when the best commonly available armor is norman chain at 10 points. Again, helps the knights to do more for their earl, and unlikely to unbalance the game too much.

2) Fine horses
- Since all horses die eventually, this is unlikely to shake the status quo of the campaign too much. And such a gift makes the knights even more able to do their duty to the earl.

3) Award a wardship
- I wish I had done this more in the beginning. Give them a boy/girl to raise while they take care of that young heir's manor. Bringing with it both income and duties, as well as loads of opportunities for intrigue, favors, and relationships.

4) Grant/gift a manor
- More likely to be part of a marriage with a widow/heiress, than just floating around. But still, the earl could easily part with a couple of manors (one per PK) if the rescue was spectacular enough and the PKs have already proven their loyalty. A Gifted manor would be even easier, since the earl can expect to get it back eventually. Or if the Manor is near a contested border / in risk of raiding, making it a grant to a newly-minted vassal knight means that he is likely to spend more of his own money to protect/fortify it. Heck, given the rules of inheritance, the earl wins even when he grants the manor: when the manor is inherited, he is able to slap more duties to reflect the increased value of the estate (the price of which is paid by the vassal knight from his loot, etc).

I like that list, and would add one more:
* Marriage to a better quality wife than the standard, or if the player has been wooing someone already, it happens.

Like you, I haven't used wardships much (a couple of times when players have no knightable character, I've given the wardship to a different player for fun). It is a great idea to do it more, since it is inherently time limited.

* Marriage to a better quality wife than the standard, or if the player has been wooing someone already, it happens.


Yes, exactly. I should have emphasized that In Our Campaign, we don't use the marriage within your class table that the rulebook provides, with the possibility of a manor or two as dowry. All such women are either heiresses in their own right, or daughters of a rich banneret or a higher noble, and hence need to be wooed and won in game rather than with a lucky winter roll, In Our Campaign. Saving the Earl might be enough that the Earl makes such a match happen, hence my suggestion of gaining a manor by marriage.

As for wardships, they offer great potential fun. The PK gets to groom a potential ally, and it will be interesting to see how he is using the wealth of the manor under his control, but not his. Is he funneling the wealth into his own manor via improvements financed by good harvests of the ward's manor, or is he keeping the finances separate, so to speak? Just one of the many questions that arise. And of course there is a huge temptation of encouraging a relationship between the ward and one of his own children if one is of suitable age and gender: there is a manor to be gained there for a younger son or a daughter! Or might do a similar favor to one of the other PKs. In any case, fun is to be had by all. :)

Would it be too much to promote the knight to a banneret?

If it was the king, that might happen. But what would be the appropriate equivalent, if any, for an earl?

I like the list so far. Just musing...

Bob

Would it be too much to promote the knight to a banneret?


In Our Campaign, this would require really breathtaking heroics. Like a lone knight carving his way through a throng of berserks, toss the almost unconscious earl on his horse and stay behind on foot to ensure the earl's successful retreat, facing almost certain death with the berserkers. And survive that. In addition, killing the Saxon warlord and winning the battle single-handedly would help, too.

Then again, I usually have 4-5 PKs partaking in any rescue attempt. The Earl cannot reward all of them with a banneret's lands and title, which is why my list tends to stop at one manor. Certainly, if the Earl's gratitude focuses on one knight, it is easier for him to be generous. He might even (and probably does) have a banneret's heiress up his sleeve to reward the knight with.

But like said, I think this should require clearly going above and beyond the call of duty. After all, they are the earl's vassals and are expected to come to his rescue. Sure, he will be grateful they were there for him in a pinch, but if there is little risk for the rescuers, that is not really a big deal. Business as usual. Expect praise and maybe some token of gratitude, and/or a small favor, but probably not much else. It all depends in the rescue situation.

However what other rewards could an Earl give for saving his life?

Its total value ought to approach an earl's ransom (£1100), seeing as that's at least what the earl would pay if captured. Land of course is a gift that keeps on giving. If five knights were involved in the earl's rescue, that would amount to £220 apiece. That's almost thirty-seven years income for a vassal knight. The gift of a manor would be quite generous, and the grant of one extremely so. I'd choose to gift a manor each for multiple knights, and grant one for a single knight.

Don't neglect the rich possibilities for gaining checks, though. Knights who refuse the earl's gift out of the sense they were only doing their sworn duty deserve an immediate increase to Loyalty (Earl Of Salisbury) and checks to Courtesy and Modest, along with the earl's insistence that their acceptance of his gift would please him. On the other hand, knights on the lookout for more can certainly get almost anything they want in the way of manor improvements, at the cost of checks to Selfish, Proud, Worldly and anything else the GM deems appropriate. Let them aspire to stately manors and other glorious displays of extravagance, then have their manor raided annually by envious neighbors (seasonally by any neighbors with a notable Hate for the player-knight).

Its total value ought to approach an earl's ransom (£1100), seeing as that's at least what the earl would pay if captured.

Not quite so sure about that. After all, it is, presumably, the duty of the knights to save the earl. They have already been 'paid' to do so by their lands (if vassal knights) or yearly upkeep (if household knights). Now if the situation was desperate, and it sounds as it was, then an additional reward is justified. But I doubt the earl would be keen to part with the whole of his ransom. We seem to be roughly in line with the appropriate rewards, though.

Another thing that came to mind is offices. Appoint some of the rescuers as castellans and let them gain extra yearly glory from the castle they oversee. Name the best swordsman / jouster as the Champion of Salisbury, as a mark of the Earl's favor, and let him gain yearly glory from that position (10-50?). Downside of course being that he may have to fight duels for the Earl or show off his prowess to keep his position, but I know at least one player in our group who would consider that as a perk of the position rather than a flaw! Highest Hunting knight might become the Master of the Hounds or some such. Highest Courtesy as the Cupbearer or perhaps the Chamberlain? A knight famous for his Just might become the Earl's Justiciar, sent to judge court cases around Salisbury.

I doubt the earl would be keen to part with the whole of his ransom.

Which is why he bestows it via installment, over the lifetime of his rescuers, and gets a Generous check in the process. Many player-knights won't live to collect the entire sum that's due them, but that extra annual income may mean the difference between poverty and plenty. Knights aren't bean-counters like players can be, in-character no one rightly would protest or consider this unfair.



Another thing that came to mind is offices.

Offices are for people whose wisdom and loyalty has been proven over the years. A one-time rescuer does not a sage advisor make, necessarily. Even being made a deputy officer is highly significant, any knight awarded such a post would be seen as being groomed to become one of the most influential people in the county. Officers are a lord's privy council, with greater and easier access to their liege and the goings-on of the court behind closed doors. No idle gesture, to award someone an office.

Which is why he bestows it via installment, over the lifetime of his rescuers, and gets a Generous check in the process.

Again, In Our Campaign this would depend on the actual circumstances of the rescue. How heroic was it? How desperate the situation of the Earl? Like I said in my previous reply, the knights are already 'paid' to rescue the Earl, it is part of their job description. Thus it wouldn't merit the full reward, unless the circumstances were really dire. I do agree that gifting manors would be much more likely than giving each 220 libra in various stuff, should the situation warrant it.



Offices are for people whose wisdom and loyalty has been proven over the years. A one-time rescuer does not a sage advisor make, necessarily.


I see your point. However, the one-time rescuer (for now) has already proven his prowess and loyalty beyond a doubt, surely. He was probably no stranger to begin with, but either a vassal knight or a household knight. Is he able to offer sage counsel? One would hope so, but if he does not, no one says the Earl needs to act upon it. Finally, if he is a Castellan, what more does he need than battlefield prowess, glory gained on a gory field, and a fierce loyalty to the Earl, ensuring that he will keep that castle come hell or high water? A knight with such obvious promise is already either one of the most glorious in the County, or set to become one. The Earl could do worse than to groom such a man for a position of responsibility, ensuring that his own heir has such men to rely on.

Thanks for all the responses...

The situation was that the Earl was travelling with the Player Knights and one night was ambushed by Saxon mercenaries while sleeping in another Knight's small hall. The player's were sleeping in a stable (I said it was a small hall) when they were awoken by the attackers (well one was woken up, the other was otherwise engaged with a serving girl). Without waiting to put on armour they cut through the Saxon's attacking them and then hurried to the Earl's aid in the hall, and in all honesty the Earl was very nearly dead when they got to him, so it was a close call.

So yes I can see that they were just doing there job, but I would like the Earl to offer some form of reward to show his gratitude.

A gift of a manor or the adoption of a ward sounds like it would fit the bill.

Does anyone have any rough idea as to how to handle if the Knight chooses to milk his ward's inheritance dry? Nothing too complex, maybe a +1 to the weather roll for every Libra extra they take from the manor to represent the unhappy peasants, or is that too generous?

Thanks again, I've enjoyed reading all the responses.

The situation was that the Earl was travelling with the Player Knights and one night was ambushed by Saxon mercenaries while sleeping in another Knight's small hall. The player's were sleeping in a stable (I said it was a small hall) when they were awoken by the attackers (well one was woken up, the other was otherwise engaged with a serving girl). Without waiting to put on armour they cut through the Saxon's attacking them and then hurried to the Earl's aid in the hall, and in all honesty the Earl was very nearly dead when they got to him, so it was a close call.


Yep. Personal danger, last minute rescue... Sounds heroic enough for me. Now if the knights had tarried to put on their armor, first, and the Earl is in dire straits because his bodyguards are slow to come to his aid, I could see this going a lot differently. :P

As for milking the inheritance, Book of the Manor has rules for "squeezes", basically taking more from the peasants than what they can afford without hardship. This generates Hate in the peasants, which starts influencing the Fate roll (Weather + modifiers) down the line. And it also gives bad trait checks for the guardian, so it is nicely set up. You can be the iron-fisted bastard in a chain mail while your peasants groan under the lash, and profit from it, but you will pay the price, too, both personal and ultimately the well-being of your estate. :)