My players accidentally killed Pellinore during the anarchy.

I've been waffling ever since on how to handle the butterfly effect of this, I'll finally have to make a decision before next session.

Breaking the sword - Not to hard to replace actually I think... (I have an idea anyway)
Pellinore killing Malahaut - easy to have someone else kill him
Pellinore killing King Lot - complicated because of the family feud aspect.
Pellinore fathering half the round table, tougher to decide.

The main plot could easily survive without the de Galis feud, but I find the Lamorak plot-line interesting.

Easy option would be to replace him with his kid brother, Pellivale. :P AKA Sir Not-Existing-Before-This-Post.

I've considered it, he does have a large number of brothers. (Brothers that are remarkably bad at keeping their throne)

At the very least sir "Pellivale" could easily be the one to kill Lot, even if I used different knights for the other bits.

I've also strongly considering using King Alain of Escavalon - the players have become friends with him, he's Cumbrian, and he disappears from the GPC after being made a round table knight. (meaning he's free to use)

I've also strongly considering using King Alain of Escavalon - the players have become friends with him, he's Cumbrian, and he disappears from the GPC after being made a round table knight. (meaning he's free to use)


He would be a potential one, yes.

However, after thinking about this for a moment, I think I'd do the following...

1. The PKs have killed Pellinore, good for them. Was it a honorable duel or did they gang up on him? If the latter, congratulations, rather than blaming Orkneys, the orphaned De Gales kids blame THEM. The change I would do is to make the kids old enough that they would have been born prior to Pellinore's death, if needed: this isn't too hard for Tor (knighted 514, so probably born in early 490s), Aglovale (said to be eldest, so predates Lamorak) and Lamorak (GPC, b. 501). Dornar and Melodiam (fights Gawaine in 524 and dies, so probably born in 490s as well to have the experience to give Gawaine a close fight) are probably easy to fiddle around as well. This leaves Percivale, and I'd simply fudge and make him Aglovale's bastard. This gives Percivale a friendly face at court in 532 (Aglovale becomes RTK in 529).

2. The Orkney/De Gales Feud can still happen, if you want. It is possible that the PKs will turn to Orkneys for (political) help against the De Gales. Or it can simply so happen that Gaheris is so shaken by the fact that their mother so dishonors their father's memory as to sleep around with another man, and pissed off at Lamorak for not doing the right thing and waiting after a priest's amen, that he leaps to avenge his mother's honor... and ends up accidentally killing Morgause. The Orkneys blame Lamorak for that, and the Orkney/De Gales feud reaches towards its conclusion.

That way, the PKs really influence the storyline (pre-empting the Orkney/De Gales feud for a couple of decades), but get the 'reward' for killing Pellinore. :)

1. The PKs have killed Pellinore, good for them. Was it a honorable duel or did they gang up on him?

Fumbled first aid check in fact. They invited him along to the forest sauvage, chose a bad entrance, got lost, and got attacked by some crimson lions.

He almost soloed a lion... almost. Then the lion scored a hit and a crit on him on the last round. I DM fiated the damage of the attacks to "ok he's at 0 health, so you with the 19 first aid..." *splat*

They actually sat him back on his horse and sent off in search of the beast (his request), so theoretically... I could just have him show up alive. Weirder things happen in the Forest Sauvage. One of my players got saved by magic there.


If the latter, congratulations, rather than blaming Orkneys, the orphaned De Gales kids blame THEM. The change I would do is to make the kids old enough that they would have been born prior to Pellinore's death, if needed: this isn't too hard for Tor (knighted 514, so probably born in early 490s), Aglovale (said to be eldest, so predates Lamorak) and Lamorak (GPC, b. 501). Dornar and Melodiam (fights Gawaine in 524 and dies, so probably born in 490s as well to have the experience to give Gawaine a close fight) are probably easy to fiddle around as well. This leaves Percivale, and I'd simply fudge and make him Aglovale's bastard. This gives Percivale a friendly face at court in 532 (Aglovale becomes RTK in 529).

A useful summary of his many children, thank you. I don't keep very good notes (and we had a 2 month RL interruption to fog my memory), but I think Pellinore died between 498-500. So at worst that would be a year or 2 older for Lamorak.

Fumbled first aid check in fact.


Ah. In that case, since the PKs didn't try to kill Pellinore and didn't witness him die, the players' ability to influence the story doesn't attach, IMHO.

I'd have Pellinore survive via the magic of Forest Sauvage. The next time he meets them and if they ask how he survived, he might tell a tale how he rode on, weak from his wounds, until he arrived to a small lake. And lo, an arm, clad in shimmering samite, rose up from the middle of the lake, beckoning him. He heard a wonderous voice calling his name, and as if in a trance, he stumbled from the saddle and staggered into the lake. The waters lapping over his head, wonder of wonders, his wounds washed clean away and he rose from the waters renewed! And as he was crying out his thanks to his unseen savior, he noticed the Questing Beast on another shore, startled from its drinking. It leapt back into the forest, and Pellinore was up on the saddle in a flash, continuing the chase.

"Where was that lake? Alas, I could not tell you. I was... hmm... a bit distraught as you might recall at first, and then my attention was solely on the Questing Beast, so I quite lost track of other marks than signs of its passing."

Depending on the current status you could do both. Have a family member accuse the PKs of killing Pellinore. At the crucial moment Pellinore returns. In the intervening years they would have to deal with the Gales clan. When the Orkney /Gales fued erupts they could get involved one way or the other.

In this case it's more dice fatalism than respecting player choice.

At the moment the idea of Pellinore pulling off him helmet with a hearty "WHAT HO FRIENDS! HAHA!" is sounding very appealing. I suppose we'll see how I feel next session. (I get glory every session for my incredibly high arbitrary score)

The idea that he was saved by the lady of the lake also fits kind of perfectly in my 'behind the scenes' interpretation of events that I'm using for this campaign. (Nineve saves Pellinore->tasks him with blocking the bridge->in order to break Excalibur->to get a boon from arthur->kill balin? she dies instead->merlin giggles into his robe)

I wouldn't put it past my player's dice to kill Pellinore when he challenges all comers at the bridge. Though 511 will the first year of the second generation of knights so that's much less likely then it used to be.



Depending on the current status you could do both. Have a family member accuse the PKs of killing Pellinore. At the crucial moment Pellinore returns. In the intervening years they would have to deal with the Gales clan. When the Orkney /Gales fued erupts they could get involved one way or the other.


Timing is a little too tight for that, but something to consider for others running the GPC. The players are friendly with Pellinore and Gawain is kind of a total douche early on, so there is a good chance they might get pulled into on the Galis side. Assuming Pellinore doesn't kill any of them of course.

My biggest concern in bringing Pellinore back was that my players might be disappointed and feel like it was a knock against their efficacy in the story.

They all eagerly assumed that it was Lancelot under the helmet and were shocked and pleased by the reveal.