so we are nearing that crucial moment. one of my players is now banneret and is held in high esteem by earl rodderick, accompanying him almost everywhere. i think that it is quite probable that he will be invited to the hall at the battle after-party and unless he crits his trait role temperate he will die. am i right? what if other players insist to join with their liege at the great hall drinking? what if there is TP(knight)K? how did you handle this situation?

so we are nearing that crucial moment. one of my players is now banneret and is held in high esteem by earl rodderick, accompanying him almost everywhere. i think that it is quite probable that he will be invited to the hall at the battle after-party and unless he crits his trait role temperate he will die. am i right? what if other players insist to join with their liege at the great hall drinking? what if there is TP(knight)K? how did you handle this situation?


"It's a small hall and there are 2000 knights here. If your not a duke, earl, baron or bannerett, your are not in the great hall. Want to joint? Crit Courtesy, and your are invited".

I did not see any point in killing all the PKs in such an ignominious way. AND I think that anyone who has seen a medieval castle realizes that there is no way you are going to fit in all the knights in an army in a great hall. I think most castles would struggle to seat two hundred persons.

of course i think that banneret will probably go. i'll play it by the ear and see where it leaves us.

A total party kill isn't as bad in KAP as it is in other games. Just advance the game a couple of years until all the dead player-knights' heirs come of age. ;D

A total party kill isn't as bad in KAP as it is in other games. Just advance the game a couple of years until all the dead player-knights' heirs come of age. ;D


Well, I did manage one TPK and it was no problem - lots of second sons and such likes to play. But St Albans is ten years after the start of PGC, so even if all players got a surviving son the first year of play you would have to skip eleven years, ie almost all of the Anarchy era. And there is a lot of good stuff going on during the Anarchy ear which is also important as a contrast to the later, more peaceful and civilized eras. I would want to skip it.

KAP... the game where you can slaughter whole families and the players still won't run out of characters. ;D

KAP... the game where you can slaughter whole families and the players still won't run out of characters. ;D


Tell me about it! I'm trying to trim down the number of PKs to a manageable number for the Battle of Camlann. But in the early days (poor armor, battles vs Saxons) the problem is rather to get some good player families started. Which is why you should stay clear of the St Albans hemlock party.

Remember, there's always the Yellow Plague. It prunes those overgrown family trees nicely.

I came close to a TPK at this point, because their unit performed miraculously during the battle and were all invited. One of them spent the night in the infirmary (almost died from the battle), one had too much to drink too early and left the hall (family backstory was the cause). Thus leaving 2 knights left. One knight critted the rolls and survived, the other....

The other knight (a very pious by the book type of knight) managed to succed (but not crit) the temperance roll. This of course resulted in the death of the knight to which the player exclaimed "I do everything right and I'm the one that gets killed!?"

Needless to say it was a very ammusing end to the knight.

i definitely feel that one of the players (banneret married to lady jenna) should be there. he has glory to spare, does everything by the book and is earl's close ally and confidant. on the other hand i also feel that whacking a player in such way is little bit unsporting. also, other players will probably want to worm their way to the hall once they see that he is there (they are such gloryhogs) and so TP(K)K :)

but we'll see. maybe someone fails his chaste roll and snuggles away with some willing girl or maybe they fail their first temperate roll and are too drunk to participate in poisoned wine...

also, if PK dies with a heir that is still not of proper age for knighting what shall be done? there is bevy of brothers and cousins to go around. should they just roll one of those and act as guardian till the proper heir comes out of age?

also, if PK dies with a heir that is still not of proper age for knighting what shall be done? there is bevy of brothers and cousins to go around. should they just roll one of those and act as guardian till the proper heir comes out of age?


That's a good solution, I think.

i'm re-reading malory and as i understand he does not name the enemy at the st. albans other then 'the great host form the north'. what would change if enemy at the st.albans were be northern kings?

well, it went pretty well. only one PK succumbed to poison (actually he was the only PK in the hall). it leaves players somewhat decimated since 2 other PKs died at the siege of terrabil. only OG left is sir Iauan, surly saxon-hater married to mousy little wife, who secretly lusts after Ygraine and hates (late) Uther.

I must add that it felt little bit like the ending of the sopranos for the poisoned PK. bam, cut and darkness. it really shocked players in a good way.

I must add that it felt little bit like the ending of the sopranos for the poisoned PK. bam, cut and darkness. it really shocked players in a good way.


That will keep 'em on their toes in coming sessions!

Character mortality is an important part of what makes KAP unique. Not so much as to be ludicrous (such as in darkly-comedic Paranoia), but enough that players comprehend the vital notion of meeting a good end (every good story must have an ending, after all) and actively seek opportunities for their knights to die gloriously.

For us St. Albans was a crucial session. We lost two players, one in the battle and one from poison. I'd warned them from fairly early on about the lethal nature of the game, and the dynastic side of it, and so when these deaths came they didn't come across as 'losing' rather a chance to write something into the campaign's history and to set things up for their successors. It's one of the few games where I wouldn't shirk away from a TPK as a GM, as long as it was 'glorious'. A TPK where it was incidental to the plot, or that wasn't a highlight in someway would still feel wrong.