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View Full Version : Pleas help poor Sir Delroth, the Courtly Blunderer



Griffon83
10-04-2011, 08:26 AM
Just a little background information: in the GPC I'm playing in, our group of knights has set up a brotherhood based on The Adventure of Sword Lake, and we've taken to calling ourselves The Knights of the Blade. As soon as we figure out all the proper modifiers, most of us will have a Passion of Loyalty (Knights of the Blade) of 20+. So we are all pretty set on helping each other out.

Our "black sheep" knight is Sir Delroth. His best day at court was the first one when he did nothing but crit his indulgence and chow down on bear arms the whole time. Since then he's been a real disaster.

1.) He invited the Praetor of France to a Pagan festival, one fumble later, and the Praetor spit on his shoes and walked out (Hate-Praetor: 18).

2.) His brother went to France and got a son on the Praetor's only daughter. :o

3.) He fumbled an Intrigue and Courtesy roll and began praising Uther's wisdom for going to war against the Praetor, and Madoc's valor in accepting.

4.) The poor guy has rumors that his father got that huge horse (luck table destrier) because his aunt really liked horses. These were started by a Bishop named Samuel who paid the indulgence, but was turned down by the pagan lady because of his bad breath.

5.) He almost went after the Praetor (to kill him) when he called the British army "poison" directly against Earl Roderick's orders.

6.) He has become known as Delroth the Deceitful, amongst the nobility, after pretending to be his brother (who was getting his butt handed to him by a french knight after the rather large reward on his head).

7.) After that event he and his brother swore they would share everything, even women, and then became known as Delroth the Pimp amongst the commoners/soldiers.

8.) On his own wedding day, a player knight (related to the bride) invited his brother to go whoring. He mistakenly assumed that he was also invited and decided it would be rude to decline the invitation.

9.) Now he and his brother have decided to press their family claim to the Praetor's grandson, however the daughter was married off to the Praetor's champion and everyone thinks the child is his.

An old foe from our group's past has now volunteered his aid in dealing with the situation. The year is 489, and we are on our way to one of his manors in Silchester. He's a banneret, and his brother is a Duke. There is more than enough muscle in that family to obliterate Sir Delroth.

I believe that Sir Jason (our old foe) has set up a meeting between Sir Delroth's brother (Delhoth ::)), and the Praetor's champion... who will absolutely destroy Sir Delhoth when it comes to the inevitable trial by combat to see who the true father is.

I'm pretty sure Sir Delroth and his brother are on their way to the graveyard, but I'd like to find a way to help them redeem themselves. I don't want to see them die, but at the same time they have dug their own graves many times over.

They are pagans, while my knight is an upstanding (religious bonus, yay! ;D) British Christian. I know that their faith is different, but our faiths are closer together and have more in common with our homeland than the Roman Christian faith does. I want to find a way for him to live, but being the champion for poor innocent Delhoth is probably only going to continue the misery that his family keeps sewing.

The only redeeming quality Sir Delroth has is his ability in war (6d6 damage, 15 MW, 20 Battle skill).

My character's sense of Honor (Delroth & his family are rather disgraceful) and Loyalty to his comrades (we've already been through so much together) are at war (tied Honor vs Loyalty, both crits). What is a Player Knight to do?

Hzark10
10-04-2011, 04:15 PM
I will take them one at a time.

First let's look at the son. Was this a willing liason? Did he rape? If consenual, then the lady knows who the father is. Did she generate a amor/love passion for him? Pious vs. love passion may be involved (actual roll or GM fiat) as she is sending him to his death by keeping quiet. Assume she is Roman Catholic. She should be confessing this sin. Does the church keep quiet then? or once the affair is in the open do they rally to the cause, especially if Sir Delroth converts?

If rape, then she may very well hate the poor knight and for this point, I hope Sir Delroth can find a way to inspire himself in the combat coming.

I see lots of role-playing aspects here.

Bob S.

Undead Trout
10-04-2011, 04:33 PM
Should Sir Delroth and his brother be unable figure out a way to avoid the consequences of their actions on their own, best to let them face those consequences head-on. That's the knightly thing to do.

Griffon83
10-04-2011, 05:41 PM
It wasn't rape, it was more like a, "You're really pretty so I love you... OK we had sex, now I'm off to the next one," type of deal. It was almost over before it started (he actually generated a new amor/lust passion for our enemy knight's younger sister while imprisoned by him). However it isn't the lady that is angry, the Praetor is the one who wants Sir Delroth's brother (Delhoth yay creativity ::)) dead (along with, I'm sure, the lady's husband).

The problem is that when the challenged is issued, Delhoth will accept, and then be promptly stomped into the ground, after which Delroth (the older brother/Player Knight) will become enraged, and flub any number of rolls (except reckless) and get himself killed also.

I guess I'll be trying to take the advice Undead Trout gave, but if anyone has any good ideas, we've got until Wednesday night to save our, "bull in a china shop."