I'm running that GPC and we're up to 490. The PK's were decisive in the battle of Lindsey and all is looking up for them, and Logres. They are certain nothing can go wrong now, what with Cornwall and Uther being such close friends and allies..

Anyway there's a few things that aren't in the GPC that I was looking for some advice on. Most of these came up due to the fact that I've been using the "Book of Solo's" (https://gspendragon.wordpress.com/2010/02/15/book-of-solos/).

Sir Garrett is currently engaged in clandestine affair with the Duke of Salisbury's wife! She did give birth to his son, though fortunately both the Duke and Sir Garrett have similar hair color. Also, thanks to the player managing to crit some of the rolls associated with the affair, there's little risk of them being found out. Given that, any cool ideas for where to go with this? Right now, all i can think of is having Sir Blaines investigate some odd rumors.

Sir Garrett ALSO successfully married this year, after years of courting Lady Adwen and arranging the Earl's permission. This has mainly been a winter phase thing. Any ideas for giving the girl some personality. Right now, all I can think of is making her rather vain and self-important, but I'm not sure I want to go there. There's no real love (or Love (Wife)) involved between these two, so I'm fine with making things a tad rocky.

The other PK is married to a Lady Nia. She's got a bit of a back story that I won't bore you with here, but she in ultimately a good person (Gentlewoman) who loves her husband (both have the Love passion) and is a completely cunning political operator (Intrigue 20). We know that while she loves Sir Isaac she basically "played" him to rescue her from a really bad situation, and is now still manipulating him, but for both his and her benefit. Basically, I'm trying to come up with her end goal, even if it's not "reasonable" or "likely"--right now, I know she has a deep seated grudge against the Earl of Hampshire. Now, given what happens to Hampshire come the Anarchy, I was thinking she could be involved in that (which would be nice, given Isaac's insanely high Hate: Saxons). Alternately, she could be trying to get her Husband elevated to Earldom in order to take down the Earl of Hampshire "properly." In that case, given what happens might be more of an ironic anti-climax. Build up this huge year-spanning intrigue, only to have the Saxons show up and reveal how petty all the Cymric feuding really is.

Anyway, first time running Pendragon, so any cool ideas would help!

1. Sir Garrett's affair with Countess Ellen
(Roderick is the COUNT of Salisbury, but if you have been calling him the Duke so far, no reason to confuse the players.)

Since Garrett's player has been rolling crits, I would give him a pass... this year. They have managed to keep the affair secret, hooray! Since the two men share the same coloration, who is to say who actually is the real father? Presumably, the Duke/Count of Salisbury has been having sex with his wife, or otherwise he would have an excellent reason to find out his wife has been unfaithful and would have to be really stupid to miss up on that. So who can tell? There is no paternity test at this time.

In the subsequent years, it would get more difficult, of course, to continue the affair. One slip and they get found out, the Countess ends up in a nunnery (if lucky and Roderick doesn't execute/kill her) and Sir Garrett would likely end up tortured to death as a warning to others. Even if he'd manage to escape, huge penalty to Honor from being degraded in absentia, outlawed, and all family holdings confiscated, etc. Furthermore, I would also require some roll to keep the wife in the dark.

However, if Sir Garrett and Countess Ellen manage to keep their affair hidden, Sir Garrett is in an excellent position to benefit from that when the Anarchy starts...

And speaking of which... Lady Nia might see an opportunity here. If she hears about the affair, she could improve the standing of her own husband by allowing him inform on Sir Garrett on the Duke/Count of Salisbury. And that might even end up with Sir Garrett dead and Lady Adwen's lands confiscated and given to Sir Isaac as reward. Also, that gets rid of Roderick's heirs (after all, an adulteress' children might very well be all bastards, definitely the boy), thus opening a possibility for a bit of a power grab when Roderick, not a young man anymore, dies. She could even wait until the Anarchy, but that would be a bit risky, as Roderick would already be dead and if the Countess has played it smart, there is no evidence and Sir Isaac might end up hammered instead.

The only thing here is that is Lady Nia cold blooded enough? You are certainly writing her up as a completely cunning political manipulator and a vengeful woman (towards Earl of Hampshire), but then you say she has the Gentlewoman bonus and is ultimately a good person. A small contradiction there.

Wait, oops, there's a typo in the original thread. I should NOT be posting prior to having coffee.

Sir Garrett is having an affair with the Duke of SILCHESTER, NOT the Earl of Salisbury. He's really loyal to Sir Roderick, but can not stand SILCHESTER.

Sir Garrett is having an affair with the Duke of SILCHESTER, NOT the Earl of Salisbury. He's really loyal to Sir Roderick, but can not stand SILCHESTER.


talk about a love hate relationship! what a scandal should that come out(of the closet?) :P

i know you meant the Affair was with The duchess from your first post but, it was to easy a joke to pass up

Sir Garrett is having an affair with the (wife of the) Duke of SILCHESTER, NOT (of) the Earl of Salisbury. He's really loyal to Sir Roderick, but can not stand SILCHESTER.


There, fixed. :)

Alright. That does put a different complexion on things... First of all, it is probably pretty hard for the lovers to keep on meeting, as they frequent in different courts. Perhaps during Uther's Court or something like that? Why is the Duchess risking it all with Sir Garrett?

I'd stand by my first advice of letting them get away with it this year, since Garrett's player rolled criticals and since there is no obvious way to determine the paternity of the child. However, if the affair continues...

1) New rolls to see if they get caught. How jealous/suspicious Ulfius is in your campaign would influence this. How many chances would Sir Garrett get to see the Duchess? Would he be risking actually going to Silchester to meet with her while Ulfius is gone, or some such? Increased risk of someone making a note of his comings and goings. Also, it is very difficult for a Duchess to carry on secret meetings without anyone noticing... Too high a profile. Also, Garrett's wife Adwen might notice something amiss, too.

2) If Ulfius does find out, how would he react? Would he risk making himself the laughing stock by admitting to being a cuckolded husband? On the other hand, to do nothing would keep that unfaithful hussy as his wife. He does have older sons, right? So as far as the inheritance, he should be good. Assuming he can even trust that. In any case, I think he would want Sir Garrett dead. The best way, of course, would be to catch the two lovers in the act and swamp them with trusted household knights (AKA the Guinevere and Lancelot Treatment). That might be hard to arrange, though, especially if the lovers start suspecting that they have been found out. Also, the affair would become public as it would be the justification for the retaliatory murder of the two lovers. Alternatively, he could just commission Sir Garrett ambushed on the road and killed. That of course risks failure (Garrett might manage to escape / might have friends with him) and also potentially retaliation (as the proof of Garrett's perfidy is not there).

3) Finally, with the events of 492 coming up, Garrett as a PK get likely tried in the treason trial. If Ulfius has found out about the affair, he might throw his weight behind getting at least Garrett executed (as the 'ring leader'), which might be a bad thing for Garrett. In any case, whatever favor Garrett might currently hold with the King would be ashes, so murdering Garrett would carry less of a risk of upsetting the King later.


As for Lady Nia, it really depends just how much of a ruthless manipulator she is. Her best chance of elevating her husband to an Earldom comes during the Anarchy, but there is no way she can predict that. Garrett's affair with the Duchess of Silchester would not normally be any of her business, and she is less likely to notice that than an affair within Salisbury, too. However, if she does find out about it, she might have a chance during the Anarchy of getting rid of a potential rival by betraying Garrett's secret to Ulfius. That is assuming that Garrett is a rival of Isaac's rather than an ally, but if Isaac is making a play for the Count of Salisbury title, and Garrett is very Loyal (which might translate to being loyal to Countess Ellen and the heir, Robert), he might be an obstacle to get rid of.

By the way, the Pendragon 5.1 has Countess Ellen being the daughter of the Count of Silchester. Assuming it means that Ellen is related to Ulfius, I seriously dislike that. It makes the whole 'oh noes, what will we do' of Anarchy all the less pressing, if Ellen can tug the family ties with the mighty Duke of Silchester. Also, it makes usurping Ellen and Robert all the harder, if the PKs need to worry about Ulfius. So in our campaign, Ellen is unrelated to Ulfius.