Whilst I started this thread to mainly say a few words about my own experiences and preferences in GMing the Anarchy Period, feel free to chime in with your own views. :)

Like I said in this thread:
http://nocturnalmediaforum.com/iecarus/forum/showthread.php?2586-Anarchy-So-you-allied-with-Cornwall-what-happens-next&p=22221#post22221
Anarchy is a very interesting period and it gives a lot of scope for the PKs to do their own things. It can be pretty overwhelming to a new GM and even to the more experienced ones, too!

So, here are some of my own thoughts & opinions, which hopefully help with that confusion.



ABOUT SAUVAGE FOREST

Let me start with the one thing that I, personally, find to be a common mistake (of which I am guilty myself):
Don't overuse the Sauvage Forest during Anarchy.

What do I mean by that?
I mean that during the Anarchy, the PKs are the main players in Salisbury. They are unlikely to get that chance ever again in the campaign, so don't waste precious game time gallivanting off to the Sauvage Forest! Furthermore, the Anarchy is supposed to be a dangerous time. Is it really a proper time for the knights to go treasure-hunting and adventuring in an enchanted forest famous for getting whole counties cut off from the world while Saxons might raid any moment? No, I don't think so.

Thus, in my opinion, Sauvage Forest would be much better saved until the start of the Conquest Period: 519 - 524. Now, the big Saxon wars are over (with a couple of local flare-ups), the Kingdom is at peace. Now there is plenty of time to adventure, and the Enchantment of Britain has been released by Sir Balin with the Dolorous Stroke. So the mystical nature of the Sauvage Forest is much better suited for this period, in my opinion, and allowing the PKs to do the classical Arthurian knight-errantry of riding around and looking for adventure.

So, at best, your players and you yourself will miss out on the defining opportunity of the Anarchy; at worst, you are dragging your players kicking and screaming to adventures whilst they'd rather stay at Salisbury and play politics.



THE PHASES OF ANARCHY

By this I mean that not all Anarchy is equal, and it is good to prepare yourself to it.


Year 495

The Big Crash. This is when everything is in the air. Who is in charge? Who is following who? Most of the barons are dead, and the situation is ripe for the usurpers. However, situation will shake itself out quickly. Within weeks, SOMEONE would be issuing commands from the castles and so forth, imposing some kind of order. Now, it might not be the same guy as before, or even if it is, he might not be following the orders from the rightful heir, or he might even have killed he rightful heir. But the point is, there would be someone, and people would be choosing their sides, at least in the small scale: a single manor knight would have no hope in hell alone, so he would find someone to swear allegiance to, in return of protection. An estate holder might try going at it alone: 5+ knights and possibly a fortified caput major might keep Saxon raiders at bay, and maybe even provide a bit too tough a nut to chew for the neighbors, too. A real castle would be even better, of course, but you'll still need some knights in order to protect the lands around it, or you will starve.

Now that I think about this, this is another point where I think GPC could have done better. With the whole land in chaos, there is not really time for state funerals. If there is time for state funerals, then the situation isn't nearly as bad.

Anyway, the point is, the rest of the year 495 would be the small-scale consolidation, on the castle/county level. And if you wish to play with that, you probably should prepare another session after St Albans, even though it breaks the rule of thumb of having one session per game year.


Year 496

So maybe you didn't manage to convince everyone to join up last year? This would be a good year to start looking at anyone you might stomp and get back in line. Any independent lordlings around in their castles? Usurpers looking for legitimacy to keep their ill-gotten gains? Might try to get them to join Salisbury or try to conquer them. Of course, the arrival of Cerdic with his Gewessi to Hantonne will add more urgency to this.

In our campaign, I chose this year to launch the Rydychan Usurpers - extended scenario. It makes perfect sense: the usurping brothers would have grabbed control of Rydychan in the chaos of 495. Why would the Countess of Rydychan & Ulfius (now recovered from his wounds rom St Albans) wait longer than necessary to take it back? There is another advantage to this: the years 496 - 498 are relatively boring for Salisbury, so getting the PKs busy in helping a neighbor and a future ally (it can be hoped) makes perfect sense. Most of the Saxons would be more busy extorting their closer neighbors, so hopefully there wouldn't be that many raids, either, especially if Salisbury is paying tribute.

I also tried playing up Cerdic as a rather civilized man (for a Saxon King) and had him emphasizing his legitimate right for High Kingship (via Vortigern) and being a man who could bring peace between the Cymri and the Saxons. The Pks didn't quite fall for it, but it would have been an interesting campaign if they had. :)


Years 497 - 499: Cornwall Ascendant

Assuming that the PKs manage to wrap up Rydychan soon enough, they can start worrying about Cornwall's advance and decide what to do about it. Also, in the east, Essex is gobbling up counties.

This should be the time that the PKs should get seriously busy about alliance building, rather than be gallivanting in Forest Sauvage and getting Lost in the Woods.


Year 500: Crisis point

Essex has absorbed Huntingdon and Hertford, so they are riding high on their success. They don't do anything in GPC this year, which means it is for you to decide... In our campaign, I made them invade Salisbury since Salisbury hadn't been paying tribute to Essex since 496, but you could easily have them just raid or attack Silchester instead (especially if Ulfius and Salisbury are allied).

Cornwall is attacking Dorset, depriving Salisbury the help of a potential ally, if Essex is attacking Salisbury.


Years 501 - 504: Darkening skies with a ray of hope?

Why are Angles attacking Huntingdon and Hertford and Essex is doing nothing? In our campaign, this is explained by Essex getting its ass kicked in 500 by Silchester-Salisbury-Cornwall coalition and Silchester taking those two counties over in late 500. But otherwise, this event makes little sense: why would you help a Saxon vassal defend against Angles?

Anyway, as far as the phase goes, the pressure is mounting on Salisbury and Silchester, with the Saxons demanding more tribute and knights to help in their wars.

Meanwhile, the New Cymric Hope, Nanteleod, is widening his powerbase in Cambria and Northern Logres. Definitely someone the PKs might contact for help, if they are still independent.


Years 505 - 507: Nanteleod Ascendant

Nanteleod is kicking major ass during these years, and the unification of Logres looks possible. Nanteleod for the High King!

PKs would probably be involved in Nanteleod's campaigns and hence busy.


Years 508 - 509

These years should be really bad. Nanteleod dead, his coalition army shattering, no one able to take command (and I'd have Ulfius and Corneus quarreling over London to ensure they don't take up Nanteleod's mantle... also, Corneus dies in 508, IIRC). Saxons, Saxons everywhere, and not a High King in sight. I'd have year 509 filled with Saxon raids and invasions, too. This explains why the Lords of Logres are getting desperate to get a new King, even if it means figuring out that sword in the stone in London.


Years 510 - 513

Technically already Boy King Period, but it actually follows up from the Anarchy... Why do the Saxons stop raiding in 510? One would expect that they would have a field day with the Cymric armies busy fighting one another elsewhere. Well, I tried to think about this a bit in this thread:
http://nocturnalmediaforum.com/iecarus/forum/showthread.php?2582-%C6lle-during-the-Boy-King-Era

Add a bit of tribute payments for Aelle, and you can see why he would prefer to sit back and let the Cymri kill one another, while he focuses getting his own 'house' in order by beating Essex and Anglia. Better to not give the Cymri a reason to unify: as soon as Lot kills this 'King Arthur', his coalition of Rebel Kings will splinter back into Anarchy.



SAXON TRIBUTE & RAIDS

In GPC's system, only idiots pay tribute: you lower your Standard of Living by one level straightaway, while a raid probably does nothing. See my answer in this thread to how to use Tribute with BotE -system:
http://nocturnalmediaforum.com/iecarus/forum/showthread.php?2571-What-economic-system-do-you-prefer-Which-one-is-now-quot-canon-quot&p=22114&viewfull=1#post22114

I probably would have Lethargic Saxons to start with: they are busy with their neighbors rather than Salisbury, with Wessex a bit of an exception but perhaps Cerdic is still hoping to convince Salisbury to join him. But I'd have them up the tribute in 500 - 504 to 2 Lots and act more belligerent. This will ratchet up the tension nicely, I think. After getting beaten by Nanteleod in 505, they probably would be licking their wounds in for a while in 506, but with Nanteleod distracted by Cornwall (and a secret alliance with Cornwall) they'd be actively raiding again in 507.

Nice post
In general I agree with most of this

especially the advice concerning the Forest Sauvage

I agree whole-heartedly with your Savage Forest comments, Morien. I have an interesting alternative that's closer to home (more on that later). Here's what going on in my camapign right now:

495

The PKs return from the catastophe of St Albans to find a crisis raging at home. Messengers brought news of the defeat of the Saxons but also the death of the British nobility, including King Uther and Count Roderick. The Sensechal of Salisbury, Rufon, who also happened to be the Count's brother, wasted no time claiming Salisbury for himself, reasoning that Robert was too young to inherit and so the title should go to him as the oldest surving male of the line. However, rumours said that Rufon did not have a legit claim because of his rumored bastardy. Others said that Rufon had really wanted Countess Ellen for himself for a long time. The church weighed in saying that scripture clearly says that a man may never take his brother's wife, so clearly that was a dead end for the dastardly Seneschal. He staged a meeting with Countess Ellen and the lords and knights of Salisbury at Sarum, but it looked like the Lady was heavily scripted and under duress. At one point she broke from the script though, and tried to rally support for her SON, after which Rufon quickly had her whisked away.

At any rate, Sir Elad, Lord Vagon—the ranking lord in Salisbury—stepped forth and said now was no time for children and women to rule, publicly declaring his refusal to swear homage to either the Countess or a young boy. He even floated the idea of his marrying Ellen. She disabused him of this notion, however, saying she wasn't going to marry anyone any time soon. However, the PKs managed to convince Elad to take a "Lord Protector" role, which would effectively make him the military ruler, but that Countess Ellen would serve as Regent until Robert came of age. Elad agreed to this, on the condition that his heirs be made Marshal of Salisbury and Castellans of Castle Vagon in perpetuity — something no one had ever heard of before! So a sort of co-regency was planned (yes there are historical percedents, if that matters).

So Elad, allied with Sir Gorthyn Lord DuPlain, Sir Ebble, and the knights loyal to Countess Ellen decided to overthrow Rufon.

Rufon asked the PKs (now high-ranking knights in their own right, due to the death of so many lords at St Albans) to talk to Elad and DuPlain and reason with them, but the PKs reported that Elad would only negotiate with Rufon if they could prove that Ellen and Robert were alive and well. They suggested a meeting at a neutral location — Woodford Manor — to which Rufon was the bring the Countess. Rufon agreed. He arrived at the appointed time and place with the Countess and a heavy escort of about 14 housegold knights + footmen. Ulfius, DuPlain and Ebbel also arrived with their household knights.

While Rufon was headed to Woodford, the PKs walked in to the citadel and basically snatched the children with a combination of good rolls, subterfuge, and sympathetic guardsmen (family members, in fact — which were rolled randomly not a convenitent contrivance, since I've charted all 77 of Salisbury's post-St Albans knights and was actually able to roll to see who would be on duty at each guard post!) placed at key positions. They rode to the meeting to confront Rufon's treachery.

All hell broke loose — but the short of it is Rufon was forced to make a hasty retreat, effectively exiled.

In other developments I have the vengeful Praetor Syagrius, who has taken the Castle of the Borders and several of the northern hundreds in Salisbury (Roe Deer, Beauty Fields and Swans). He is calling himself the "King in Silver" after operating for several years as "The Silver Centurion" — a bandit lord who rode about in one of those silver Roman masks. As the Silver Centurion, he put togeher a coalition of disgruntled knights from Cornwall (who would not bend the knee to Uther) disgruntled barons in what I (following Bernard Cornwell's lead) call the Middle Lands (including Warcastle and Sparrowhawk and some independent forest lords (think "Marcher lords") and a bunch of outlaws and mercenaries. Syagrius and his allies hatched the conspiracy in St Albans (which included King Uther's butler — how else could they pull off poisoning so much wine?!) Syagrius launched his campaign while the host of Logres was still at St Albans and easily took Castle of the Borders and the aforementioned hundreds. Within a week or so of Rufon's failed coup, Syagrius was beseiging the Royal Treasury at Llud's Hall. As soon as Rufon was ousted, Countess Ellen agreed to Elad's terms and enhorted her new lords to go break the siege at Llud's Hall. Which they did. The new army of Salisbury wasn't able to defeat Syagrius that day, but they drove him back to Borders.

Oh—and Syagrius (or more accurately, his toadies) also kidnapped Queen Ygraine and Morgan at the Infamous Feat, and had them brought to Castle Borders. He has proclaimed that he has married and takes to calling himself the King of Logres — now unmasked. He is recruiting men to his banner by offering them great rewards.

In the midst of all this, Sir Blains, the Steward of Levcomagus, after retuning from St Albans takes the opportunity presented by the chaos in Salisbury to sieze some vulnerable manors in the east — and even DuPlain castle, while Lord DuPlain is busy at Woodford and Llud's Hall. He manages to negotiate the return of those holdings for the hand of Lady Jenna! The marriage is arranged, the manors and castle are returned and things start to settle down by the winter of 495. Everyone still dislikes Sir Blains...

I must give credit to the incomparable Morien and Greg Stafford, from whom I both borrowed copiously to mashup these different ideas. The Silver Centurion is my own. My PKs actually uncovered hints of the conspiracy and pending disaster when battling The Silver Centurion's men in the previous 2-3 years leading up to St Albans, but ultimately did not have enough intel to uncover or prevent the Infamous Feast.

Some of the above may be a little dodgy, but it proved interesting enough for my players, and I find it more satisfying than adhering to the GPC, which I use more as a backdrop to the more personal stories of my knights.


(Continued)

496

Lots of offices and posts to fill in Salisbury. My PKs get richly rewarded for breaking Rufon and one of them gets the castellanship of one of the new castles that is built in the late Spring/early Summer. Sir Elad moves to Sarum, leaving his eldest son behind as the new castellan of Vagon. Aething Sledd (not Aescwine in the GPC, who should in fact be King of East Saxons) comes to demand tribute, which the Countess agrees to. The Pks, now being among the most renowned knights in the county, are invited to sit on the Countesses' Privy Council, and there's always a bit of a struggle for control between Ellen and Elad. But Elad tends to cast everythins in terms of the military, and so often prevails, since that's his domain. But I think maybe he won't last long in this position, because I do want the PKs to have more of a role as counselors. There are plenty of upcoming opportunities to off him.

In the meantime, the mighty Duke Ulfius, fully recovered from his wounds at St Albans, has business in Salisbury as well. As it happens, the conspirators tried to off him and Sir Brastias, since the were both recovering in a field hospital and not in the Great Hall at St Albans Castle. Those murders were tharted, but the Duke and Brastias are now back and ready to avenge the death of their king, rescue Queen Ygraine, and punish their would-be assassins. Ulfius rides right into Kingsgaurd Hundred in the sping and wrest it from Syagrius. He'll raise a castle there in the summer. He'll also take Boarwood Free Hold for his own demesne and then Swans hundred. Eventually, he will fight his way to Borders and confront the King in Silver (Syagrius). Ulfius will claim these three hiundreds by right of conquest, but will avoid taking any of Salisbury's holdings, save perhaps Roe Deer (I've not decided that yet). Syagrius will call on his allies and at least Sparrowhawk will march to his aid since he's close and he's known to be a conspirator — he knows he's next if Ulfius is not stopped. I haven't decided yet if Ulfius will call on Salisbury to help in this campaign — he may be strong enough to take on Syagrius and Sparrowhawk himself — but I probably will because 1.) it will give my PKs a chance to once again clash with their old enemies, and 2.) make it harder for Ulfius to claim Roe Deer Hundred.

After addressing the situation with Syagrius, Ulfius may turn his attention to Rydychan, as the Countess there is also his sister. So the trouble there will keep him busy elsewhere for a year or two...

In addition, 496 is the year when things start emerging from the Forest of Gloom, making additional troubles for Salibury. The Book of the Warlord tells us an castle of alabaster is raised overnight in Wheelwell hundred — a Fae princeling declares himself lord of that country. This will be a problem mostly for Sparrowhawk (who holds neighboring Milkfield hundred) and his ally Syagrius and may contribute to their ultimate downfall. Also in this year a spriggan seizes Woodhouse Castle and slays everyone in it in very grisly ways. No one has heard from Woodhouse for months now. A messenger was sent, and never returned. Then a knight and some footsoldiers were sent and they never retuned either. Oh my. Right now the goings on at Woodhouse are a mystery to the Salisbury court.

At Llud's Castle, the Castellan, Sir Richard, has thanked Countess Ellen for her help in breaking Syagrius' siege, but has said he will contine to hold the castle until a new king of Logres is seated, thank you very much. But he will likely ally himself with Ulfius since the Duke has taken over Kingsguard hundred (to hold it for the next king, since Uther was the prior tenant — or maybe keep it if no new king ever sows up).

In the south, the castellan of Hillfarm, is also isolated, but weak enough that he needs to ally himself with someone quickly. Possible candidates include Salisbury, Silchester or Dorsette. I don't really know what to do with Hillfarm yet. One of my PKs would sort of like to take it, but I neither want to encourage or discourage this. But I think he's struggling with what acceptable for a knight. I'm trying to paint a picture of knight's grabbing stuff all over the place, so maybe he'll get some ideas from that.

As if that's not enough, there are a lot of abandoned outliers that are very vulnerable, including the aforementioned Hillfarm — Chakhill Hundred, Ebble free hold, Mere Hundred, and Wereside Hundred, are all held by Stewards or just a knight or two and a few footmen. Wereside will be attacked by a giant from the Forest of Gloom before harvest. The steward there, Sir Tathan, will seek the Countess's help and promise to swear homage if she helps him with the giant problem. If she doesn't come to his aid, he will be defeated by the giant, who will raise a motte-and-baily castle at Wereside — making thee new castles in the eaves of the Forest of Glooom. I think there's one other possible threat from the Fae in the west, that being a lion-headed lordling that takes over Westfort (IIRC), but I'll let that one go, or introduce him much later. King Cadwy, now again truly king, denies any involvement with all this Fae actiivity, saying these creatures are all working on their own agency. Is he being truthful, or is he expnding his domain a bit and getting a little payback on Uther who muscled in on his domain a dozen years ago?

And then — one of my players has a bunch of old burial mounds on his land (most Salisbury knights probably do). Several years ago, Syagrius' bandits began breaking into these tombs that dot the Salisbury Plain in search of riches to finance the conspiracy. One of these mounds on the PKs ancestral holding, was violated. The PK went to investiage and found some seriously evil shit from a forgotten age. My wife loves HP Lovecraft, so I gave the antechamber to the tomb some blasphemous bas reliefs on one wall and other trappings of the Old Gods‚ but which the knights would just think of as Fae wickedness. My wife recognized it, of course, and was surprised and delighted. Her knight, good Christian that he was, went no further and sealed up the ancient tomb, forbidding any of his people to go near it. For years, his brother (Selfish 16) has urged the knight to go back down there to gain the riches of the tomb. For years the knight has resisted, his dreams haunted by the images on the bas relief. But now, when Countess Ellen needs cash to build walls around Sarum, the PKs brother lets it slip at court that the Countess might build wall a hundred feet high if she'll only investigate these old mounds — starting with the one on my PKs ancestral manor! The idea begins to catch fire, much to my PKs chagrin. So now there's the potential for people to start digging into these tombs — this is the idea that might be a replacement for the Sauvage Forest, while accomplishing much the same thing — a chance for enrichment and a glimpse of the superatural or Other World, if you like. And a highly variable seris of episodes delving into the unknown. Of course, the Church will discourage such behavior, but be powerless to stop it. Who knows what people will dig up? Possibilities inlcude nothing, old bones, ancient treasures, undead horrors, gateways to the Other World, and Lovecraftian nightmares. Lots of options.


Finally, one of my PKs was award Wheatfled Estate (Book of Estate) as a reward for the killing of the Duke of Cornwall back in the day. The knight is going to lose it this year, 496, to the hateful Saxons. He'll have that to deal with. If I can arrange for the knight's 3-yr-old so to be caputured by Saxons in the bargain, it could create a very interesting situation in, say, 20 years — after the boy is brought up as a Saxon.

So that's the table I've laid. If you have any comments or additonal ideas, please share.

My goal is too create as rich of a tapestry of opportunites as I can manage. So I take ideas from all sorts of places and mash 'em up. Then I make it very clear to my players that they can't possibly do everything — but they should focus on the things that intrige them the most. Other events will evolve with or without them. But there's I'm not railroading them into anything. They have lots of choices and options. To me, even the whiff of railroading is death to a campaign. I mean, sure, we guide them and put them in situation where the otions are limited (flight or fight, etc.) but the big decisions, about what matter to their PK, is theirs to make. So I'm not pushing them off on embassy missions, or to the Forest Sauvage, etc. Sure, when the king or Countess calls, you go. But other than that, there's an awful lot of possible things to pursue in my game.


All that said—if you're still with me, Gentle Reader—I'm interested in what the neightboring counties will be up to in the early phase of the Anarchy— Dorsette, Jagent, and Gentian in particular. We already know what's going on with Hantonne (Saxons!) and, to some extent, Silchester. I guess Jagent, then Dorsette will eventually be too occupied with Cornwall to pose much of a threat to Salisbury in the south. I have Gentian (Sparrowhawk) largely caught up in the conspiracy, and perhaps internecine struggles there are possible as someone tried to rise to the top. Anyhoo, I think I have enough on my plate (I haven't even talked about the stock threat of the Saxons) without introducing troubles for southern Salisbury! and yet I'm still interested in ideas for these other places.

Sorry so long! I hope it helps someone else.

We play tomorrow. The second coming of the Saxons and my wife learns of the threat to Wheatfield Estate in Hantonne. I may wrap up 496 in just two sessions (a first for my campaign) — unless someone says they want to go dig up a mound, or visit Woodhouse, etc. That will take at least another sesssion or two to explore!


T.

After addressing the situation with Syagrius, Ulfius may turn his attention to Rydychan, as the Countess there is also his sister. So the trouble there will keep him busy elsewhere for a year or two...


(Writing this part from memory, as I don't have the books before me.)

I think this comes from the Lordly Domains, right? I am not totally sure if she was the sister-in-law or a full sister of Ulfius, is that even made explicit in the text, or is 'dear sister' more of a 'courtesy title' between two nobles of same rank? In my campaign, I chose the sister-in-law angle to put a bit more distance between them, but on hindsight, it might have been better to go with a sister: easier to explain a baron marrying a sister of the mighty Duke Ulfius, than having a previously unmentioned brother of Ulfius as a baron, too. Oh well, done and done.

By the way, anyone using the Lordly Domain scenario (expanded, earlier and slightly different version of the one in GPC)... In LD, she is said to be an heiress so at best she would be a half-sister of Ulfius, or those lands would have gone to Ulfius, too. Secondly, she is way way way too rich a prize (60 knights worth of land in LD) to be allowed to fall into just anyone's hands. In the LD scenario, she might end up hitched to one of the PKs, and this is way too easy for the PKs to get one of them into Rich Baron status. Nope. Not in my campaign. Not this easily. So, in my campaign I made her just the widow and her son was the heir. Which, on hindsight, was a bit of a mistake as I doubled the Ellen-Robert dynamic, silly me. Note that in GPC, she is explicitly said to be an older woman, presumably to discourage PKs trying to grab her and her lands.



In addition, 496 is the year when things start emerging from the Forest of Gloom, making additional troubles for Salibury. The Book of the Warlord tells us an castle of alabaster is raised overnight in Wheelwell hundred — a Fae princeling declares himself lord of that country. This will be a problem mostly for Sparrowhawk (who holds neighboring Milkfield hundred) and his ally Syagrius and may contribute to their ultimate downfall. Also in this year a spriggan seizes Woodhouse Castle and slays everyone in it in very grisly ways. No one has heard from Woodhouse for months now. A messenger was sent, and never returned. Then a knight and some footsoldiers were sent and they never retuned either. Oh my. Right now the goings on at Woodhouse are a mystery to the Salisbury court.


Forest of Gloom would be a very good stand-in for Forest Sauvage, too. Thus giving the PKs some opportunity to adventure in an enchanted forest, but one which is just a couple of days ride away from farthest parts of Salisbury, rather than a week or two away.



And then — one of my players has a bunch of old burial mounds on his land (most Salisbury knights probably do). Several years ago, Syagrius' bandits began breaking into these tombs that dot the Salisbury Plain in search of riches to finance the conspiracy. One of these mounds on the PKs ancestral holding, was violated. The PK went to investiage and found some seriously evil shit from a forgotten age. My wife loves HP Lovecraft, so I gave the antechamber to the tomb some blasphemous bas reliefs on one wall and other trappings of the Old Gods‚ but which the knights would just think of as Fae wickedness. My wife recognized it, of course, and was surprised and delighted. Her knight, good Christian that he was, went no further and sealed up the ancient tomb, forbidding any of his people to go near it. For years, his brother (Selfish 16) has urged the knight to go back down there to gain the riches of the tomb. For years the knight has resisted, his dreams haunted by the images on the bas relief. But now, when Countess Ellen needs cash to build walls around Sarum, the PKs brother lets it slip at court that the Countess might build wall a hundred feet high if she'll only investigate these old mounds — starting with the one on my PKs ancestral manor! The idea begins to catch fire, much to my PKs chagrin. So now there's the potential for people to start digging into these tombs — this is the idea that might be a replacement for the Sauvage Forest, while accomplishing much the same thing — a chance for enrichment and a glimpse of the superatural or Other World, if you like. And a highly variable seris of episodes delving into the unknown. Of course, the Church will discourage such behavior, but be powerless to stop it. Who knows what people will dig up? Possibilities inlcude nothing, old bones, ancient treasures, undead horrors, gateways to the Other World, and Lovecraftian nightmares. Lots of options.


A very cool idea, too. I am not into Lovecraft personally, nor the horror genre in general, but good idea using your wife's favorite writer like that!

Here's what going on in my camapign right now:
The Sensechal of Salisbury, Rufon, who also happened to be the Count's brother, wasted no time claiming Salisbury for himself, reasoning that Robert was too young to inherit and so the title should go to him as the oldest surving male of the line. However, rumours said that Rufon did not have a legit claim because of his rumored bastardy.


Just to note here briefly before people get all a-flutter... Rufon as the Count Roderick's brother (and only rumored to be a bastard, which is a tough charge to prove if the previous countess wasn't accused of adultery at the time; if she was condemned for it, it is not a rumored bastardy anymore) appears only in Taliesin's campaign, not in any publication, just to make sure that people don't think they have missed a footnote somewhere. :)

Such a very important game-changing character would make Anarchy play out quite differently in many campaigns: Rufon as Robert's Uncle would be so obvious candidate for the Regency that it would be his for the asking (or even the Count's title, if enough knights decide that a regency is inherently a bad idea). Granted, in Taliesin's campaign, he seems to have gotten a bit too greedy for his own good (as the unrelated Seneschal did in our campaign). :P



I must give credit to the incomparable Morien and Greg Stafford, from whom I both borrowed copiously to mashup these different ideas. The Silver Centurion is my own. My PKs actually uncovered hints of the conspiracy and pending disaster when battling The Silver Centurion's men in the previous 2-3 years leading up to St Albans, but ultimately did not have enough intel to uncover or prevent the Infamous Feast.


Thank you, thank you. Glad that the scenario is working out for you. :)

Just to note here briefly before people get all a-flutter... Rufon as the Count Roderick's brother (and only rumored to be a bastard, which is a tough charge to prove if the previous countess wasn't accused of adultery at the time; if she was condemned for it, it is not a rumored bastardy anymore) appears only in Taliesin's campaign, not in any publication, just to make sure that people don't think they have missed a footnote somewhere. :)

Yeah, the idea of Rufon being the brother actually came from an early draft of the Book of Salisbury, truth be told, so I did get the idea from the Master himself. However, things change in subseqent drafts and this has changed as well. As I said, I take ideas from any source I can — advance drafts, GPC blogs, books I'm reading, shows I'm watching, etc., etc. and mash 'em up. But once this idea was out there, there was no putting it back! So I find other in-story ways of dealing with the unliklihood of this particular situation.


Such a very important game-changing character would make Anarchy play out quite differently in many campaigns: Rufon as Robert's Uncle would be so obvious candidate for the Regency that it would be his for the asking (or even the Count's title, if enough knights decide that a regency is inherently a bad idea).

That's good to know. I've not mastered the rules of inheritance, and any way they should probably vary a bit from Period to Period. But, ignorance is bliss, and my players bought it all without batting an eye, so I was lucky there.


Granted, in Taliesin's campaign, he seems to have gotten a bit too greedy for his own good (as the unrelated Seneschal did in our campaign). :P


Indeed. But now some of his supporters have abandoned him and come slinking back to the Countess, begging forgiveness and claiming being caught up in the fear, confusion and chaos of the post-St Albans weeks. So the remnants of Rufon's army has joined with Syagrius now. With a year or two, he'll be dispatched, or forced to flee abroad or into the Forest Sauvage or whatever.


M.

(Writing this part from memory, as I don't have the books before me.)

I think this comes from the Lordly Domains, right? I am not totally sure if she was the sister-in-law or a full sister of Ulfius, is that even made explicit in the text, or is 'dear sister' more of a 'courtesy title' between two nobles of same rank? In my campaign, I chose the sister-in-law angle to put a bit more distance between them, but on hindsight, it might have been better to go with a sister: easier to explain a baron marrying a sister of the mighty Duke Ulfius, than having a previously unmentioned brother of Ulfius as a baron, too. Oh well, done and done.

By the way, anyone using the Lordly Domain scenario (expanded, earlier and slightly different version of the one in GPC)... In LD, she is said to be an heiress so at best she would be a half-sister of Ulfius, or those lands would have gone to Ulfius, too. Secondly, she is way way way too rich a prize (60 knights worth of land in LD) to be allowed to fall into just anyone's hands. In the LD scenario, she might end up hitched to one of the PKs, and this is way too easy for the PKs to get one of them into Rich Baron status. Nope. Not in my campaign. Not this easily. So, in my campaign I made her just the widow and her son was the heir. Which, on hindsight, was a bit of a mistake as I doubled the Ellen-Robert dynamic, silly me. Note that in GPC, she is explicitly said to be an older woman, presumably to discourage PKs trying to grab her and her lands.

Good thoughts, thanks. I'll take that into consideration when I launch this as one of the things going on off-stage.


Forest of Gloom would be a very good stand-in for Forest Sauvage, too. Thus giving the PKs some opportunity to adventure in an enchanted forest, but one which is just a couple of days ride away from farthest parts of Salisbury, rather than a week or two away.

Yep. Great point.


A very cool idea, too. I am not into Lovecraft personally, nor the horror genre in general, but good idea using your wife's favorite writer like that!

Thanks! Yeah, I'm just positioning it as Fae stuff, but with a wink to my wife, who recognizes the tone and symbology. So it's all good, either way. It also allows for the possibility of bringing in some good old fashioned dungeon crawls, to change things up a bit, or of using some of the CTHULHU DARK AGES modules if I want, or even some of the old BARROW DOWNS material from ICE's venerale and defunct LotR game. Mash 'em up, I say!


M.

I have a question: Is there a graceful, or even sensible, way to introduce the "Escorting Merlin" scenario in 498? It seems important, though I don't really understand why, and I notice you ran it, Morien. How'd you do it?

My issues:

1) Here's a guy that's been gone for several years. He's constantly being maligned by the populace (by reading the Gossip section of almost every year) most of which thinks he's duplicitous in the kidnapping of Arthur, if not the death of Uther.

2.) The PKs are likely known as the "Knights that Condemned Merlin" or whatever.

3.) Merlin is, in fact, condemned so I think it curious that he would announce his plight so publically.

4.) Merlin DID in fact set the PKs up and put their lives on the line with the Treason Trial. So they have more than a little reason to be pissed at him. They may also believe he kidnapped Arthur, etc.

5.) Then all of a sudden he shows up in 498, needing an armed escort to a port so he can leave Britain? Huh?

6.) Why should my PKs care, much less be motivated to help him?

7.) Why is this even a "plight" at all? Why can't he use his magical arts to safely travel wherever he wants to and accomplish something as mundane as booking passage on a boat? He's hid himself quite nicely for years now. We know he can change his form and everything. I do not understand why he can't travel ingognito and get on a boat in Dorsette and sail away.

8.) The Q&A section with him seems pointless, and doesn't really yield anything of value, save the cryptic "All that's best is in hiding." Right — Arthur. Okay...

9.) Assuming all of the above can be explained, is this episode really important to the future of the campaign?

10.) Is there a better way to introduce this?


I would just skip it outright, but I see you included it, Morien. So I'm curious if it's important to include this scenario for some reason I'm missing. It doesn't really seem to have a purpose to me, other than to announce Merlin has left Britain. But I'm not even sure why that is important for PKs to know.



M.

Is there a graceful, or even sensible, way to introduce the "Escorting Merlin" scenario in 498?


I also ran it, but in my case the knights who met Merlin in 498 were not present during the kidnapping adventure. In my campaign, Merlin was pursued by knights sent by Queen Ygraine, which made it challenging to have the PKs be her bodyguard for the wedding a few years later.

In hindsight, I don't think the scenario was needed, except maybe to tell the players that Merlin is not taking care of Arthur himself.

Unlike rcvan, I had a couple of PKs who had been in the deep doo-doo thanks to Merlin, so they were a bit hesitant to trust the Wizard again. However, I was running Gorboduc the Fiend adventure when they met again, so Merlin was just his inscrutable self, and the prophetic dream just before spurred the knights to place their trust to Merlin once more. With Gorboduc's death, Merlin had kinda shown that he was still on the side of the Good Guys. Not that it made the PKs like him any better.

As for the Escort Merlin -mission, I saw a good chance to re-emphasize 'Morgan is REALLY creepy kid' -angle that I had been working on ever since 491. My Morgan is way too precocious, has a pet raven which is too smart for a mere animal, and so forth. (As hinted by the wolf incident in GPC Year 500 or so, Morgan is a very capable young lady even at an early age.) The PKs spotted a rather attentive raven, Merlin cursed at it as it flew away, and sure enough, before long Brastias (Queen Ygraine's protector in our campaign) and some of his knights were on Merlin's trail. This also explains why Merlin was looking for some muscle: he knew he was being hunted, and he decided to save his own power until the last. Or even worried that his pursuer would see through his disguises (which so far in-camera have been more mundane disguises, actor's tricks of changing your voice and gait and posture...).

Anyway, your other comments of 'Why would Merlin need the help of the knights since he can just teleport all over the place?' Well, my Merlin can't. Or won't. I am running a bit more low-key campaign when it comes to magic, so I never did have to explain why Merlin wouldn't just teleport to Rome. If your Merlin has power to burn, there has to be some other reason he doesn't use his power like that, such as another magician who might be able to follow his 'magical trail', but travelling in a boat confuses the opponent's scrying or something.

That being said, I agree with rcvan that there is no real need to run this scenario, and especially given the problems that it causes if Queen Ygraine is involved and you'll follow it up with the escort mission in 502, it is better to do one or the other. Or make it totally disconnected from Queen Ygraine, such as the above 'rival sorcerer' angle.

'Why would Merlin need the help of the knights since he can just teleport all over the place?' Well, my Merlin can't. Or won't. I am running a bit more low-key campaign when it comes to magic, so I never did have to explain why Merlin wouldn't just teleport to Rome. If your Merlin has power to burn, there has to be some other reason he doesn't use his power like that, such as another magician who might be able to follow his 'magical trail', but travelling in a boat confuses the opponent's scrying or something.

I said nothing about teleporting. I was thinking more of Merlin's ability to assume the appearance of whomever he wants. So he assumes another form and books passage on a ship. Done. This would seem like child's play to a magician of Merlin's stature. Why does he have to solicit for an armed escort in a land where he is so mistrusted and despised, not to mention CONDEMNED as an outlaw?


T.

As said, if it doesn't make sense in your campaign, don't use the scenario. No harm done if you skip it.

In our low-magic campaign Merlin doesn't seem to be so able to change shape and appearance on a whim but relies on mundane disguises. He thought he had been "made", saw a couple of knights who had already done a quest for him and figured he had nothing to lose by trying to draft them as his bodyguards just in case. My Merlin has more in common with Bernard Cornwell's than French romances'. :)

Anyway, the easy solution for you (if ypu wish to use it) is to use pursuers who are not thrown off by magic transformation. Some fae / demonic hounds tracking him by his aura or something. I'd suggest Hounds of Tindalos, but I think they require sharp corners to port in and I'd rather keep things outdoors. :-)

Have Merlin intercept the PKs on the road rather than at court with witnesses. If they get belligerent with him, a blinding flash and after they can see again, Merlin is gone.

(Writing this part from memory, as I don't have the books before me.)

I think this comes from the Lordly Domains, right? I am not totally sure if she was the sister-in-law or a full sister of Ulfius, is that even made explicit in the text, or is 'dear sister' more of a 'courtesy title' between two nobles of same rank.

So I went back and checked this, and it says explicitly in Lordly Domains that the previous Earl of Rydychan was Ulfius' brother and that the Countess is the widowed sister-in-law. Which makes sense, since otherwise, she wouldn't be the heiress. Ulfius has played the politics well, though, getting his brother married to such a high-level heiress!

I have a question: Is there a graceful, or even sensible, way to introduce the "Escorting Merlin" scenario in 498? It seems important, though I don't really understand why
It's a test
It's supposed to be difficult for the PKs
Yes, the PKs have been wronged at the hands of Merlin, whose lofty concerns have no room for personal considerations
Merlin has done many things for King Uther who does not want to kill the old man outright (besides doubting that he can even do it)
So Merlin is banished
But he is still under the king's personal protection, traveling on the king's road
He needs an escort out of the country because there are plenty of people who might take the opportunity to whack the magician, despite the king's protection
The knights are chosen because they are trustworthy and loyal
The king is counting on them to be good knights despite themselves

Greg, Uther is dead in 498, which is when this scenario appears. There is no King during Anarchy.

Furthermore, this is Uther's own words in the Treason Trial of 492:
"Furthermore, this court determines that Merlin
the Enchanter was behind this, and he is hereby con-
demned to death by this court as an exile and traitor to
the crown, who has willingly and knowingly harmed
the throne. Let this news be sent forth to all the lords
and guilds for reading in public places."

That is pretty clear that Merlin is a traitor condemned to death, and all loyal knights should either capture Merlin, or in the absence of the King, just kill him to carry out the sentence.

This is very much the opposite to what your answer is implying. If the PKs were loyal to the King, they'd kill Merlin forthwith. The King can't count on anyone because he is already dead, nor is he doing any choosing.

My thoughts exactly. Thanks, Morien.


T.