Question #1. Do your knights regularly come into contact with famous knights? Or not so regularly? Does it cause problems?
Question#2. If a player knight does have contact with a knight like Sir lancelot and jousts him or whatever, and do you allow the player to win? Or do u stay true to the literature and not allow it? If the players win does that cheapen the whole Lancelot being perfect, thing?
Question#3. Have u ever had a player accidentaly kill a famous knight? How did you deal wiyh it?

Im just curious here. I like to use famous knights when I GM, and we usually do not have very many combat encounters with famous knights, so I am anticipating problems and already looking for Ideas on how to keep things running smoothly. I think the only other game that I have run so far I used Duke Galeholt of the Long Isles, but no fight ensued. And Lancelot did rescue some of the players but that was in a summary, so no problem there either. anyways, just curious like I said!!! :)

Question #1. Do your knights regularly come into contact with famous knights? Or not so regularly? Does it cause problems?

For me, this is campaign dependent. The answer is Yes, more famous knights as the characters gain experience and land, travel more, fight battles and tournaments,etc. When it causes problems, it is usually the player's fault!

Question#2. If a player knight does have contact with a knight like Sir lancelot and jousts him or whatever, and do you allow the player to win? Or do u stay true to the literature and not allow it? If the players win does that cheapen the whole Lancelot being perfect, thing?

I roll strictly by the dice. No really famous knight has ever been beaten by my players though. If they change history, they change history!

Question#3. Have u ever had a player accidentaly kill a famous knight? How did you deal wiyh it?

No. I had a character kill Percivale's horse once in a joust - that caused problems!

In our game, Sir Grifflet got killed off by those filthy stinking saxons in some revolt in Anglia, I think 519 or 520. We'll see how it plays out...

Yes. Get dragged along to Arthur's court, and you meet any bigwig you care to.

Heck, one Female PC knight romanced King Mark... and got Mark to Swear to Arthur... as the final task before taking him to her bed. (Damned 26 Appearance!)

In another camaign, Another female PC stole Lance from Guinevere... App 29, and flirted him critically, and then rolled an 18... poor schmuck fell for her with a 29 Amour... and saved Arthur's marriage. (Arthur proceeded to die earlier than canon... at the disinterrment of Bran's head. A PC made the ridiculous series of rolls to be able to act, and barehanded, criticalled arthur. Arthur died, the knight took a blow from Excalibur, which was , in that game, +5 Sword ignores armor, can't harm a just man in process of justice. Cleaved his chain, but not his flesh... Arthur went mad... Young King Mordred, guided by the PC's, took over without major issues.

I think a lot of this depends on your style of GMing. As a rule when I GM the stakes of the adventure aren't epic unless the setting demands it. However some settings do almost require an epic feel, Pendragon being one. So, in such situations, I try to make the PCs feel that they're ordinary men caught up among larger than life events and people. Even a superb PC knight is probably is not going to be up to Round Table standards. What I'm trying to do though, is make the players feel like they've gotten to play a very small part in a very large story. I like this because I think it creates a sense of destiny, that these events really are just huge in scope. Others might not like that idea.

1. Rarely if ever. Of course in our campaign the round table hasn't been formed yet. Still when I've GMed before I've never had the players interact with known famous people. Instead I've made up new characters just as powerful as the famous ones for them to interact with, there are lots of knights, or star ship captains, or centurions or whatever. Some of them are just as incredible as those the players would know from the background material, they just haven't been shown on screen (or in the book). So I'll make up "Sir Malcolm of the Round Table" who may interact with the players as needed. I don't have to worry about him acting out of character as I would with Gawaine or Lancelot or any other "real" knight. This also leaves me free to do with the made up epic person as I see fit if it suits the story. So if it suits the story for Sir Malcolm to die, he will. It won't affect the outcome of the bigger epic

2. I always role for all NPCs in secret, so the players never known when I'm either letting them off the hook or screwing them over. In the case of Lancelot, I'd probably have the player fail no matter what Lancelot rolls. Probably in a spectacular and/or humorous way.

In this case I'm thinking Lancelot's lance would hook the PC under their arm carrying him off his horse and off in the opposite direction, until Lancelot abruptly stops and send said PC flying. The PC would probably take falling damage, but if he kept persisting eventually he's going to get trounced.

3. Same as the above. Players could try, but probably would not succeed unless circumstances became very odd.

This is an intersting converstion to folllow. In our campaign we're still in the anarchy period, but coming near to the end. So far there haven't been too many opportunities to cause havoc with the 'canon'. The only character they've really messed with so far is Brastias who became a sworn enemy of one of them, and his offspring.

I suspect that to begin with in the Arthur Periods that they will be more 'bystanders' than interacting as equals, although knowing my players, they'll want to get stuck in. As a rule I always roll the dice where they can be seen - keeps me on my toes, as well as them... If the 'canon' gets changed, so be it! That's the theory - we'll see what happens when they test it :D

Question #1. Do your knights regularly come into contact with famous knights? Or not so regularly? Does it cause problems?
Question#2. If a player knight does have contact with a knight like Sir lancelot and jousts him or whatever, and do you allow the player to win? Or do u stay true to the literature and not allow it? If the players win does that cheapen the whole Lancelot being perfect, thing?
Question#3. Have u ever had a player accidentaly kill a famous knight? How did you deal wiyh it?

#1: Without the famous characters of Arthurian fiction, the game is just a more medieval/dark ages D&D game that focuses on fighters. My game is taking a break, but when I played two of my PC knights were part of the original Round Table knights, having gained bookoo glory and honor, not to mention having bled for Arthur from the start.

#2: I rolled secretly but normally let the dice fall where they will, unless doing so harmed story.

#3: One of my PCs once would have killed King Pellinore, back when he was holding the stream and Arthur broke his sword on him and Merlin had to stop the fight. The knight in question rolled 4 Lance Crits in a row, while I kept rolling fumbles and misses for King-P. I ruled that he didn't kill him but only badly wounded him, then had Arthur have a different reason for needing a replacement Excaliber.

Make the story your own! Be ready should your Knights do something amazingly unexpected, like seducing Lance (see above) or killing Arthur (the knaves!) or whatnot. But if you want to RP thru the GPC, then be ready to fudge your dice a bit for the good of the story.

And always remember, if it's a good story - then your players and you won't care if they did or did not beat Lancelot.

-MrUkpyr

I think it all depends upon the gm and the players. The one problem many have is how the PCs interact with the 'famous people' of the GPC canon timeline. For example, in the beginning of the Uther period, Prince Madoc is around. If one plays with female knights/ladies, then one has to be ready for possible complications. What happens if the Prince and this lady interact (Madoc has a lust of 8 (if I remember correctly), but if they do manage to have a tryst, and if a son is born, what then? (BTW, check out "The Colloquy of Arthur and the Eagle," a poem contemporary with but independent of Geoffrey. It mentions another son of Uther named Madoc, the father of Arthur's nephew Eliwlod. [Bromwich, Trioedd Ynys Prydein, p. 512?513]. Regardless of whether this is canon, it is out there. So, creative GMs can have fun weaving various plots together.

Are GMs ready for such contingencies?

If you are, then fine, run with it. If not, then use these characters as backdrops from which the PCs write their story.

Have read this strand with interest - particularly the parts about 'hidden' and 'fudged' dice rolls!
These seem a little out of character with the game, and in particular with the RP being an active part of it, rather than just a passive bystander. As an RP rather than a GM I quite enjoy approaching things from an unexpected angle, and if this keeps our GM on his toes then so much the better!

My lot get to interact with significant figures in the canon fairly regularly - the bigwigs have been patrons rather than peers, although that is likely to change as the anarchy proceeds (one character has a serious shot at being a founding member of the RT and becoming a Pellinore/Brastias-type for the young'uns if he can survive long enough).

I don't sweat about them changing history or whatever - the dice are out in the open and actions will have consequences. So far they aren't far enough along to seriously mess with the continuity but if they do, then fine, I'll use it as a spur to creativity.

Regards
Luke

I do keep the famous people around, but I try to keep them from dominating the game.

I agree that it is easier during the Anarchy period. The PKs were in their late 20s when Arthur pulled the sword from the stone, already famous warriors. They even met the young squire named Gawain, who was quite impressed by them. And there was a bit of a big brotherly thing going with young Arthur, as the older knights watched their new king mature from a rather uncertain teen to a skilled warleader and statesman. I think two of the four were amongst the founding members of the Round Table, with the other two joining in the couple of years after that.

Now, with their children as the new PKs, Arthur and Gawaine of course remember their parents, and thus their actions towards the PKs are colored by their experiences with the previous PKs. I am sure it gives a thrill to the players to hear Gawaine gush over the accomplishments of this and that ex-PK. He is also taking a keen interest on the female PK, which is probably not surprising given his reputation as a ladies' man.

During the Battle of Autun, I made a decision. While Earl Boso had been mentioned a few times years ago in the campaign, I was sure that none of my players could remember him. So, instead it was Gawaine who led the charge against the Roman General. Not only that, but he picked up one PK, who had been at the back of the fighting to rehorse himself, to participate in the attack. And during the fighting, the way opened through the bodyguards to the general... But before Gawaine could exploit it, the PK threw himself at the General, killing him after a fierce duel. And thus, the PK became the Hero of the Battle of Autun, overshadowing Gawaine. Gawaine has not forgotten this, and many a baleful glare he has sent towards the PK, whose player spent a couple of tense sessions sure that any moment now Gawaine will challenge his PK to a duel and hack the PK to bits with his sword... :P And yes, I do intend for Gawaine's Grudge to play a part in the campaign, but more as color than actual major focus. In tournaments, Gawaine will seek the PK out to challenge him to a 'friendly bout' of lances, making sure that the PK will spend time on his posterior in front of the crowds. Little stuff like that.