Can anyone help me out and explain why Dragon and Bandit raids are not affected by Fortified Manors or the presence of the knight - on the face of it this seems absurd! Surely a raid, no matter what type, will be less effective if the Manor being attacked has been fortified, or the knight is in residence. The actual text in the BotM states that these factors only count "through play" which, I assume, means you have to play each scenario through rather than just determining its success via a die roll.

Am I missing something?

Fences are generally unlikely to deter dragons, so you're moat, rampart, and palisade are unlikely to be of any real use. In fact, a wooden anything, including a tower, is going to be pretty useless against a flame spewing monster. Besides which, dragons are sufficiently rare that having one visiting your property should be handled through role-playing and not just via the dice rolls of the manor system.

Bandits aren't normal raiders that come through, take things, and then go away. They're a chronic condition. They live in the forest(s) near your manor and steal on a continuing basis. They drive off isolated shepherds and run off with sheep, steal vegetables and farm tools by night, and even rob travelers coming to, or going from, your manor, including those carrying goods to sell at the nearby towns. All of those things are going to take their toll in terms of expenses, but it's a slow steady trickle, not a bunch of raving Saxons running off with the farmers cows. If I recall correctly, bandits only occur through mismanagement, so they're also not really anyone else's fault but your own. Besides which getting your friends (and relatives) to come over for an evening and drive off these ill-equipped spear fodder can be a good way to blow off steam and show off an otherwise useless sword skill of 10. Finally you can sell the survivors to the Saxons as slaves. That'll teach the other peasants to stay in line.

Just my $.02

That makes perfect sense, especially with the bandits. I've changed the Dragon Raid to a Giant raid in my campaign because I felt a dragon was just a bit too fantastical for the Uther period so I might still allow some benefit against an opponent such as that, otherwise though I now see the light. :)

We had the dragon turn up, but I swapped it to a wyrm.

Which fitted in nicely with one they had found during a hunt.

I haven't dealt with banditry as a manorial problem in my game yet. If/when it comes up I'll probably adapt the hunting mini-game.

Regards
Luke

Can anyone help me out and explain why Dragon and Bandit raids are not affected by Fortified Manors or the presence of the knight - on the face of it this seems absurd! Surely a raid, no matter what type, will be less effective if the Manor being attacked has been fortified, or the knight is in residence. The actual text in the BotM states that these factors only count "through play" which, I assume, means you have to play each scenario through rather than just determining its success via a die roll.


Are you mistaking the manor for the manor hall? The hall is fortified, and where the knight lives. But that is not where dragons or bandits strike.

Dragons (or some other appropriate fantastic creatures) strike without warning, and the bandits (as has been pointed out) are an omnipresent menace, doing a lot of little tiny things (stealing chickens and pigs, robbing peasants of their meager stuff, etc.) mostly at the fringes where they can hide again when the knight comes riding by.

So, yes, the intent is that bandits be cleared out through play, and that if the dragon is to be confronted, it be done in person, during play.

Though I'd also allow a quick random roll to determine success against bandits, if the knight was out of play for a session. A double d20 for the bandits' skill should work.

--Greg

It does make perfect sense now. Yes I was assuming Manor hall rather than entire Manor and I can see where I was going wrong.