So tonight I'm running the intro scenario in the core rulebook. I'm solid on all the material up to the court scene after the hunt.

A couple things:

It says GMs should know all the "rituals" of being in court before starting this portion of the scenario. Can anyone either sum up these rituals or tell me where to find them?

I can tell right away that my players biggest concern in court will be to woo the ladies. How does flirting, courtship, and marriage generally work, especially in court scenes? For example, it says that heiresses are only marriageable if the earl presents her as a "prize", but there are still ladies in waiting. Who can players pursue? When is it acceptable to flirt?

Hopefully someone can help me out in the next few hours!

Thanks big time guys.

Don't worry, just remember that you are in charge. Whatever you think the rituals are, are what the rituals are.

Beyond that, make the pk's work hard for the Heiresses. No prize worth getting should be done in one court session. You can come up with any number of available ladies, but I've found pk's almost always wait until they get a chance at a heiress.
Chances are for your first session, the players will be as clueless as what to do as you are now, I'd recommend, walking them through each courtly skill. Host a dance, maybe one will catch the eye of a young lady with his dancing skill. Have them perform a song/compose a poem for the Earl, definately give them bonuses to the role if they can really sing something or actually compose something.
Take them on a falcon hunt; men talk shop when they are hunting, let your players interact with a father of a young lady.
Hope this helps, but just remember your the GM, your in charge and what you say goes. As long as the players and you have fun, all else don't matter.

most times the GM just tells us players to make any 3 courtly rolls that we wish to, and then he tells us how it went during the night. Example.... I wanna make a courtesy roll. I have a 12 skill and i make it with an 8. All niht long I was very courteous and observed all the normal courtesies of the court. HAd I criticalled I would have come to the attention of the highest nobles presebt and they would have called attention to my courteousness and then I would get glory wqual to my courtesy skill, etc But if i failed or fumbled my courtesy I might have been taken as a rude country bumpkin all the way to a total BOARish fool, and maybe on a fumble, have offended someone.! ... And if my2nd roll was , say, falconry........ The Gm would say./... hmmmm how do I do that? We are not going hawking or hunting. But the PK could still roll it and the GM could say that he gets into a huge conversation/debate about the subject and the ntell the player how he does. What I am getting at is that it is really a free-form kinda thing and the Gm just needs to really put himself in the mix and decide on the spur of the moment what is appropriate. A rival, a flirtatious girl. a Pk trying to gain the attention of a heiress, or a married woman, or perhapds just a fling with a servant that ends with a baby, etc..... A duel, a hunt the next day, or a falconry contest, maybe some dancing, singing and a bit og poetry, etc.... also dont forget intrigue! Most important u know? As people drink they often slip up and let their innermost thoughts out. also temrerate/indulgent rolls, if appropriate. so u see .... just have fun and look at the possible rolls, then create situations that arise around them. U dont need to get SUPER detailed and run the court scenes as a sports Pklay-by Play. Just make some rolls, explain what bhappens and then give some glory band sum it up. Be brave my friend! u are the boss! ;D sorry for all the misspelled words!

both very helpful! I like Saracen's 3 skill check idea and will probably be implementing it.

Regarding marriage, the rules give PC Knights three levels to shoot for. 'Below your class' (roll), 'within your class' (roll on a table) and 'above your class' (roleplay).

The heiresses in the Salisbury chapter are there as examples of the sort of brides available for the 'above your class' option.

Regards
Luke

Actually the 3 skill check idea came grom Greg somewhere along the line as a bit of advice. so good job stafford!!!! :)

I like this three check idea - must try it out when we get around to gaming next (busy lives causing havoc with the gaming schedule right now)

I too like the 3 check idea and will defo use it next time, shame that won't be till next year probably!!!

One thing though if Falconry is a courtly skill shouldn't Hunting be one 2?

One thing though if Falconry is a courtly skill shouldn't Hunting be one 2?


I think Falconry takes far less preparation and time. I'm pretty sure that you could probably say, "Hey, hows abouts we let out the birds?" and you go outside and Falconry it up.

But in all seriousness, planning a hunt takes much more time and materials. It requires dogs, food, rising early in the morning and being out all day, etc. It seems to me that Falconry can be done fairly quickly and without much travel or preparation

Girls could (and did) fly their falcons. They weren't so much into the whole charging about and shooting deer and stabbing boars to death bit, even if they did tag along.

you know... im not sure what the actual rules say , but my group has always used hunting as a courtly skill. we just assume that olding court takes several days/weeks even, and that at some point during that time a whole day is devoted to hunting, and a second day devoted to falconry, etc...... to break up the boredom of court. even if its wrong, it seems to work pretty well. usually a higher noble at court will call for a hunt on the morrow, and for the most part its a social event. a pic nic for the ladies and romantic types as they await the return of the brave hunters. evenn though we assume this is how it goes down, we take care og it with a single hunting roll!!!! :P

Girls could (and did) fly their falcons. They weren't so much into the whole charging about and shooting deer and stabbing boars to death bit, even if they did tag along.


In the movies Lady Jane and The Other Boleyn Girl (and we all know how historically accurate Hollywood movies are) the women took a more active roll than just tagging along. Granted they didn't actually make the kill. ;)

I'm no equestrian, but I'd assume it would be hard to chase down and skewer a boar while riding sidesaddle, and I don't know one woman who would be amenable to gutting and skinning a live animal in her fashionable outdoors clothes, even if L.L. Bean advertised them as being perfect for hunting season.