Hey all—

You may remember our actual-play of the Great Pendragon Campaign. Well, now we're back in the KAP system with the start of a new series using the Paladin rules!

Today was character creation: http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/03/paladin-character-creation.html

I'll try and keep this thread updated with new episodes as they post. We'll be back in two weeks with our first session proper.

Hope y'all enjoy!

Looking forward to following your progress, David!

I'd be especially curious to find out from GMing standpoint if you encounter any particular issues with the rules, campaign, etc... You know, those little things like Robert's birth not being highlighted in Year 492 of GPC, and contradicting with his age in his character sheet (b. 485), which, I have to admit, tripped me the first time I was GMing GPC.

Have you created/using any house rules that we should be aware of, or is it verbatum?

Have you created/using any house rules that we should be aware of, or is it verbatum?

So far I'm running as-is, though I'm contemplating sticking much more closely to the 9th-century tech and aesthetics rather than doing the full "sweep of the Middle Ages" thing. I feel like I had a good experience of that with KAP, and am interested in doing something that hews a bit more closely to history (with a few selected anachronisms for fun, of course).

I'll post any house rules that come up in play for sure.

Oh, and I will of course be utilizing the Feast Deck and the Book of Feasts. ;)

So far I'm running as-is, though I'm contemplating sticking much more closely to the 9th-century tech and aesthetics rather than doing the full "sweep of the Middle Ages" thing. I feel like I had a good experience of that with KAP, and am interested in doing something that hews a bit more closely to history (with a few selected anachronisms for fun, of course).

That's actually one thing that I was thinking about as well, when I encountered the tech stuff. I found myself going: "I don't actually need this to happen in Paladin." I can see why they did it, and I can even sympathize with the 'players want upgrades' perspective, but for some reason I personally would have been tempted to go more historical. Probably because we have better sources for Charlemagne and better understanding of history of the period (not that the romances don't tap-dance all over the historicity, but bear with me). Perhaps that is the reason that Charlemagne feels more grounded in actual history than Arthur, and having plate armor show up was a bit immersion breaking for me, for want of a better word.

Agreed, Morien.

Actually, maybe this is a good place to a meta-question related to that, um, a-historicity.

What is the motivating source for the magic of Charlemagne's court? In KAP it's Merlin, and the great Enchantment of Britain. In Charlemagne it is, to me, more unclear why this is such a magical period and, as it says after his death the arc of history reimposes itself....

--Khanwulf

That's actually one thing that I was thinking about as well, when I encountered the tech stuff. I found myself going: "I don't actually need this to happen in Paladin." I can see why they did it, and I can even sympathize with the 'players want upgrades' perspective, but for some reason I personally would have been tempted to go more historical. Probably because we have better sources for Charlemagne and better understanding of history of the period (not that the romances don't tap-dance all over the historicity, but bear with me). Perhaps that is the reason that Charlemagne feels more grounded in actual history than Arthur, and having plate armor show up was a bit immersion breaking for me, for want of a better word.

I think it's that and also the fact that Charlemagne doesn't necessarily *require* that sort of thing like KAP does. I mean, if you run a historically accurate Arthurian campaign, it's basically just late antiquity. No medieval trappings at all. Charlemagne's reign historically sees the first emergence of the knightly class, embryonic chivalry, etc. It only takes a little nudging to get it into more "high medieval" territory, which (oddly, I'll admit) makes me *less* inclined to throw in the whole medieval experience. Just enough from the later periods for some additional flavor, etc.

Also, the campaign period is a full three decades shorter than the GPC, so it feels that much more compressed.

Fortunately, the rulebook gives you everything you need to dial the level of historicity up or down as much as you'd like.

As for Khanwulf's question: I'll admit that I haven't fully internalized the PALADIN rulebook at this point, but off the top of my head I don't believe it's ever as explicitly explained as it is with Merlin and the Enchantment of Britain. Page 285 of the PALADIN rulebook says: "The rough and tumble world of feudal 'might makes right' undergoes a radical change when Charlemagne becomes the King of the Franks." This implies to me that it's simply Charlemagne himself having a sort of magical effect as soon as he takes the throne. This is in line with a lot of other material in the game, where Charlemagne is literally God's representative on Earth and miracles flow through him. It's not as solid a reason as Merlin, in my opinion, and is one of the other reasons I'll be modifying my version of the setting.

In my mind, PALADIN takes place in the same world/continuity as KAP, so there are still lingering effects from Merlin's magic and Arthur's rule that have reverberated out into the wider world. Thus we have chivalry and knighthood (and romance!) in fuller flower in this world's 8th century than in our own. However, as the GPC notes, history did "re-assert" itself, so much of the Enchanted realm of Britain has now passed into dim memory (and perhaps guides the development of medieval culture and technology on a subconscious level!), and so the "tech level" of the world remains very much early medieval for the most part. I'll likely sprinkle in some anachronisms, but not nearly to the same degree as the book recommends.

I think another contributing factor here is that I *have* played through the GPC twice now, so I've had the opportunity to see the "Middle Ages on fast-forward" effect before and am likely just looking for a slightly different experience this time.

This Alan Lee illustration of Ogier the Dane defending his castle single-handedly pretty much sums up what I'm going for: http://www.dana-mad.ru/gal/images/Alan%20Lee/Castles/alan_lee_castles_charlemagne%20and%20ogier,%20the% 20dane.jpg
Note the period-accurate armor but the anachronistic castle rampart. Lovely!

I
Also, the campaign period is a full three decades shorter than the GPC, so it feels that much more compressed.


True, but the tech race doesn't really kick in, truly, until Boy King and Arthur's reign. So it is more like 55 years, around a decade more than Charlemagne's. Granted, there is the shift from Norman Chain to Reinforced (which in my mind should happen only at Conquest, but hey ho).



I think another contributing factor here is that I *have* played through the GPC twice now, so I've had the opportunity to see the "Middle Ages on fast-forward" effect before and am likely just looking for a slightly different experience this time.




This Alan Lee illustration of Ogier the Dane defending his castle single-handedly pretty much sums up what I'm going for: http://www.dana-mad.ru/gal/images/Alan%20Lee/Castles/alan_lee_castles_charlemagne%20and%20ogier,%20the% 20dane.jpg
Note the period-accurate armor but the anachronistic castle rampart. Lovely!

Quite nice. :) Crenelations of course were around for centuries even before High Middle Ages. In fact, that kind of open D-tower is seen also in some Roman fortifications.

If you compare the ramparts with, say, this reconstruction of a section of Aurelian Walls in Rome, it is not too far off: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurelian_Walls#/media/File:Celio_-_Porta_san_Sebastiano_-_camminamento_fra_le_torri_1992st.JPG

Or Theodosian Walls of Constantinople a bit later: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walls_of_Constantinople#/media/File:Walls_of_Constantinople.JPG
(That square tower in the middle looks like it might be open in the back.)

Many towns in Gaul and borders of Germania were fortified in late Antiquity. I wouldn't be surprised if some (Trier, for instance?) might have survived until Charlemagne's times. City walls are of course different from a single castle. Just saying that it is much less of a stretch than plate armor. :)

Gérard Depardieu as Thierry d'Ardennes is an excellent choice. ;)
(I'm not sure how many people get the Young Ones reference to the stars on Vivian's forehead.)

A rules point: Attitudes do not represent how you feel about others, but how the other feel about you. So, you can use Attitude [Church] whenever your PKs ask for sanctuary inside a monastery, for exemple.

Running a Paladin campaign without the technological progress is quite possible, of course. Paladin just copies KAP, so if you want to stick closer to the historical setting, why not. The reason for the magic in Paladin is indeed Charlemagne himself. Christian magic "works" as long as he is the leader of the Franks. Again, a copy from KAP, which explains why religious magic doesn't work for other peoples.

Yeah, when I get done with KAP, I'll run Charlemagne as a continuation in the same world--fade development rapidly backward and make Arthuriana a myth that busy people have little time for. Until Charlemagne takes the throne.

In some stories (novels I think) there's a fey influence on him that spurs him on to early greatness. That works for a foundation driving the magic of his kingdom, whether or not accelerated development is applied again. And of course Morgan shows up, along with other faeries (Melissa, etc.) and Merlin's Tomb (a mystery, that, given his legends!). So it's not hard to create a thread running through to the Enchantment of Britain.

My main point was to raise that we don't have so clear an explanation as in KAP, and to wonder if there were some driving force behind it that with my very limited background reading I'm unaware of.

--Khanwulf

Okay, we're off and running with Paladin, at long last!

http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/04/paladin-adventure-of-jewel-anno-766.html

The first half of the episode finds us polishing up the player-knights and going over some rules changes before we get into "The Adventure of the Jewel"—one of the two "squire level" scenarios from the book. Those of you who listened to our "Paladin Demo" episode last year may remember this scenario, as it formed one half of that demo session. It should be interesting to see how the outcome differs from our first time around, but we won't find that out til next week!

We're back! We wrap up "The Adventure of the Jewel" with plenty of adolescent squire hijinks...and some unexpected heroism.

http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/04/paladin-passion-for-pippin-anno-766.html

This week's installment sees our first brush up against the battle system, as well as an ugly encounter with the Shock rules.

http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/04/paladin-battle-of-humble-squires-anno.html

After the session, I decided to institute a house rule that attribute points lost to Shock are restored during the following Winter Phase. My players are quite good about not abusing the Passion system, and so I feel the Shock rules come across as a bit too punitive. We'll see how it goes...

I caught up with you guys only yesterday. Clearly you have a lot of fun and are therefore much fun to listen to. Keep it up!

I caught up with you guys only yesterday. Clearly you have a lot of fun and are therefore much fun to listen to. Keep it up!

Thanks Ruben! We are indeed having a blast, and I'm really starting to see the rich possibilities of the PALADIN world. :)

We're back this week, and the squires encounter more Saracens--some bad, some good:

https://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/05/paladin-mount-bitter-anno-767.html

"Roland is a Glory slut"... :D

We finally finish up Anno 767 with a split party that sees some knights in captivity while others languish back at camp. After many interesting twists and turns, we return to the Ardennes for Winter Phase, where much hilarity ensues.

I have to say, this more laconic pace is proving a lot of fun, with some interesting opportunities for role-playing and character development organically arising from play that I don't think we'd be seeing if we'd stuck to a stricter "one session per year" schedule.

That being said, it'll be nice to move onto a new year! Monjoie!

http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/05/paladin-aumonts-tower-anno-767.html

What could be more fun than a Michaelmas feast? How about a cameo from Black Phillip?

We take the Book of Feasts for a spin for the first time in this session and much hilarity ensues. If you've seen our Instagram feed, you already know just how many fumbles we managed to roll in a single go today...

http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/05/paladin-spaghetti-meatballs-anno-768.html

Oh, a bunch of peasants get straight-up murdered, too.

We're back, and things get ugly at the king's coronation tournament. And it's not just the House of Clermont that the player-knights clash with, but some of their own kin...

http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/06/paladin-rebellious-baron-anno-768769.html

Things take a turn for the strange this session as the player-knights wrap up their delicate negotiations with the Clermonts, get lost in an enchanted forest, and attend the most uncomfortable wedding ever...hosted by one of them!

https://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/06/paladin-hugo-strong-anno-769.html

Still hugely enjoying your campaign!

(Btw, on suffering a Major Wound, I think you shouldn't roll on the Ageing Table before rolling on the Stats Lost Table. Losing 2 Dex like that is a bit much.)

We meet the rest of the paladins in the course of a pilgrimage to the east, and learn that gabbing has real consequences.
Also, for those of you familiar with our Great Pendragon Campaign play-through, Jen coins this campaign's "sweetmeats" moment...

http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/06/paladin-pilgrimage-anno-769.html

(Btw, on suffering a Major Wound, I think you shouldn't roll on the Ageing Table before rolling on the Stats Lost Table. Losing 2 Dex like that is a bit much.)

Correct both in Paladin and in KAP 5.2.

Paladin, p. 130:
"3. Roll on the Statistics Lost Table. The player rolls
on the Statistics Lost table (see Chapter 10: The
Winter Phase) immediately to discover the perma-
nent effect of the Major Wound, if any. All derived
statistics, such as Movement Rate or Unconscious,
must be refigured immediately if a loss to a relevant
statistic occurs from this roll. If the Total Hit Points
statistic drops, current hit points are not affected."

KAP 5.2, p. 149:
"3. The player must roll on Table 5.3: Attributes Lost to dis-
cover the permanent effect, if any, of the wound. All de-
rived Attributes, such as Movement Rate or Unconscious,
must be refigured immediately if a loss to an Attribute
occurs from this roll. If the Total Hit Points Attribute
drops, current hit points are not affected."

We're back and the knights are tasked with the seemingly impossible—how do you keep a sorcerer locked up against their will? But first: a hunt!

https://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/07/paladin-unleashing-phyllis-anno-770.html

I must compliment you in digging really into to story, nicely linking the player knights' ordinary concerns with those of the main characters. And it's nice to see the players explore this strange new world and fondly go wherever their characters may lead them.

I must compliment you in digging really into to story, nicely linking the player knights' ordinary concerns with those of the main characters. And it's nice to see the players explore this strange new world and fondly go wherever their characters may lead them.

Thanks very much indeed! There's tons of material to explore here, and I think the group is benefitting from its relative lack of knowledge of the source material. (I'm pretty sure none of them know who this Bradamant kid is, for example...)

This week, the knights pass a fairly uneventful winter outside the gates of Vienne, gossiping about their king's love life. But when summer arrives, things turn very bloody indeed...

http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/07/paladin-siege-of-vienne-anno-771.html

David, do you know how to sing at all? I'm asking this because somehow you effortlessly imitate Black Francis' voice as much as Josh Kiszka does Robert Plant's.

Haha, no--no formal training. I've just always been a natural mimic. Maybe I rolled an 18 on the Family Characteristic table? :P

We get to take the Paladin Battle rules for a spin this session. One guess who takes the most damage...

http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/07/paladin-road-to-compostela-anno-771.html

We *finally* wrap up Year 771 with some treachery and feasting!

http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/07/paladin-best-michaelmas-ever.html

We'll be off for the next couple weeks for Gen Con. Speaking of which, I'll be lurking around the Chaosium booth quite a bit, most likely, and will be on the Pendragon Round Table with Greg and Friends on Sunday morning--if anyone reading this is going to the Con and sees me there, come say hi! :)

We're back! It's been a few weeks thanks to Gen Con and subsequent con crud, but we're in the Paladin saddle yet again and it feels so good!

http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/08/paladin-into-saxony-anno-772.html

Those of you who listened to our Great Pendragon Campaign no doubt recall the journey into the realm of Sir Longhop, the Frog-Knight.

This is another one for the "weird relationships Jen gets her characters into" category, albeit in a much more religiously titillating manner (as befits the setting).

Enjoy!

https://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/08/paladin-avissas-secret-anno-773.html

Once again, we flirt with a TPK at the hands of the Alps' resident wolf population. But fear not! Only half the party are seriously wounded! Oh, and later on someone else gets permanently brain-damaged outside the walls of Verona.

All in all, a tough session for our heroes, yet one that leaves everybody anxious for more.

Oh, and due to Jen's absence this week, those of you waiting for a resolution to Avissa's tale from last week will just have to sit tight for another week more.

http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/09/paladin-fair-verona-anno-773.html

I'm not sure if it's our more intentionally laconic pacing, or the extra-juicy new material in Paladin, but it sure seems like our Winter Phases take up a significant chunk of our sessions nowadays; this time around, it's basically half the session! Good times are had, of course.
And then it's off to Saxony! Cue the black metal! Hurrah!

http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/09/paladin-mission-to-fritzlar-anno-774.html

The super-hunk Widukind makes his first appearance in this exciting session in which the vulnerable town of Fritzlar is put under siege by a horde of Saxons. Can our heroes survive the night long enough to see the light once again?

http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/09/paladin-widukind-anno-774.html

Last week, we had a Michaelmas feast and were just able to squeeze in a Winter Phase: http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/09/paladin-its-time-for-winter-phase-anno.html

This week, an action-packed session sees jousts, judicial combats, enchanted fountains, magical rings, enchanted weapons, tense standoffs, and earnest debates on the nature of honor and justice. Oh, and someone goes mad and runs off into the woods!

http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/10/paladin-fancy-lancies-anno-775.html

We raise a glass to Greg Stafford and his legacy at the top of the session, then take on the final act of the the first adventure out of the Paladin Scenarios book, "The Gardens of Fortune."

https://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/10/paladin-gardens-of-fortune-anno-775.html

After a couple weeks off for spooky tales and general R&R, we return to the world of Charlemagne and his paladins. This session is half Winter Phase, half feast, and stands as an excellent example of how the former often heavily informs the game play of the "regular" session, as various solos, personal and family events, and other random elements create unexpected storylines of their own...

http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/11/paladin-yuletide-feast-anno-776.html

Des and Larkins flew back from Greg Stafford's memorial this morning, and then we played some Paladin in the afternoon, as you do. Larkins debuted a d20 from Greg's personal collection, and it rolled many a critical success—a proper warmup for next week, when everyone dies...

https://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/11/paladin-tying-of-loose-ends-anno-777.html

With the epic clash at Roncevaux Pass, our Paladin campaign comes to a close. It's been a magical journey indeed, and we're hoping to return to the world of Charlemagne at some point in 2019.

https://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2018/11/paladin-battle-of-roncevaux-anno-778.html