Hi everyone. This is my first post here. I've wanted to GM Pendragon for a long while and finally bit the bullet. I want to get KAP 5.1 but prefer to wait for a print version. In the meantime, thanks to eBay, I've picked up.

KAP 4
Book of Knights.
Blood and Lust.

My plan is to run a few introductory adventures and then look at starting the GPC.

I found this thread (http://www.gspendragon.com/roundtable/index.php?topic=88.0) about the BOK which answered some of my question and this thread (http://www.gspendragon.com/roundtable/index.php?topic=587.0) about GPC with earlier editions.

I still have a few question though. Without having the GPC yet what is the best way to generate characters that have appropriate experience to start in 486 AD. KAP 4 has the later start date and background tables.

Can the scenarios in Blood and Lust be easily tied into the GPC?

Without having the GPC yet what is the best way to generate characters that have appropriate experience to start in 486 AD?

Well, there are some differences between KAP4 and KAP5, so characters from KAP4 won't quite transfer over directly if you were to latter switch over to KAP5. The starting skill scores are different in KAP 5, and somethings, such as the culrtual specialty skills, are completely new.

But, ignoring that, I'd would say the best way to generate approraite character with KAP 4 would be to get a copy of Boy King, as it has a "starting skills" table that you can use in place of the ones in KAP 4 for The Early Peroids of the Campaign ("Phase One" in KAP 1-4).

But, if you don't want to buy Boy King just for the table, then what you can do is uase the KAP 4 tables, and take the starting points in Romance and Tourney and apply them to Battle and Culrtual Weapon respectevily). It isn't idential to what was done in Boy King, but it close. Close enough to give the proper feel anyway.

You are sort of out of luck for the background tables. You wil either need to get KAP5, do without, or make up your own. You don't really need the tables, but they do add more depth to the starting characters.



Can the scenarios in Blood and Lust be easily tied into the GPC?

Nope. The mechanics work out fine, but the timing is wrong. The Saxons of Angial haven7t been conquered yet. In fact, the Angles invade during the Early years, so it is too early for most of what is in Blood & Lust.


I'd suggest putting Blood & Lust on the back burner and just go with your introdctry adventures and the GPC. The Early peroids are very freeform and open, and you have a lot of leeway for adventures between Uthe's death and Arthur dwaring the Sword in the Stone. Juse be careful with the major figures and you will be fine. In fact, you can get away with practically anything short of killing off Arthur.

THE GPC does give a good stroy for handling the Anarcy Peroid (what was Phase One in eariler versions of KAP) and even gives you a few years under Uther's reign, but none if it is actually crucial to the campaign (other than Arthur's birth and being hidden away by Merlin, but that could happen entirely "off screen" if you prefer).

Hi everyone. This is my first post here. I've wanted to GM Pendragon for a long while and finally bit the bullet. I want to get KAP 5.1 but prefer to wait for a print version. In the meantime, thanks to eBay, I've picked up.

KAP 4
Book of Knights.
Blood and Lust.

My plan is to run a few introductory adventures and then look at starting the GPC.

I found this thread (http://www.gspendragon.com/roundtable/index.php?topic=88.0) about the BOK which answered some of my question and this thread (http://www.gspendragon.com/roundtable/index.php?topic=587.0) about GPC with earlier editions.

I still have a few question though. Without having the GPC yet what is the best way to generate characters that have appropriate experience to start in 486 AD. KAP 4 has the later start date and background tables.

Can the scenarios in Blood and Lust be easily tied into the GPC?



There are differences between KAP 4 and Book of Knights. From memory Book of Knights will produce somewhat more powerful characters. Book of Ladies and Knights introduced the concept of "cultural" skills, so that Cymrics for example had a single spear skill that covered Lance, spear and Greatspear. KAP 5.1 as far as I am aware (i.e. I haven't read it back to front) does not introduce this cultural skill. Book of Ladies and knights includes rules on how to convert characters generated using the previous rules, so if you were to expand your game then I would hope that future supplements will repeat the expansion rules.

As has been said, The Boy King includes tables for characters startign earlier than kAP 4. Again, as has been said, you could come up with your own tables for this period.

From a gaming viewpoint, the important thing I would argue is that characters in 486 reflect their times. In crude game terms this will mean that their starting arms and armour are poorer than in KAP 4. There will be people who start with courboulli armour (6 pts) and the best armour is Norman Chain (10 pts). Tournaments have yet to evolve, so whilst Lance skill exists and is used, the concept of tourneys and jousting has yet to appear in the future. Jousting as such doesn't appear until much later (hence the comments made by Atgxtg about redeploying any skills and points in Romance and Tourney).

Tying in Blood and Lust - what I think Atgxtg was trying to emphasie was that the timing is wrong. Blood and Lust is set in 520+ when Arthur is already on the throne. For various political (arthur is on the throne), social (the round table exists) and economic (armour in use) then they do not translate to 486. I would argue though that once you enter the 520's then the scenarios within Blood and Lust are perfectly compatibile with the GPC. What they don't do is tie in with the earlier period. In the early period, Arthur has yet to defeat the Saxons at Badon, and the Saxon kingdoms of Anglia and the South East are proud and independent. Only after Arthur has defeated the Saxons can the concept of rebellious resentful Saxons enter the picture. Once you get to 520 then Blood and Lust will keep you busy for several sessions, but it doesn't really translate into an earlier period.

I would heavily recommend the GPC (I know it has to be as a download at the moment) as it has huge amounts of scenarios for this early period, including such things as finding Excalibur. Alternatively buy a copy of La Morte D'Arthur (I'd suggest this anyway) by Mallory and watch the film Excalibur and then come up with your own scenarios.

Chris

Another question is how much do you really want to play the early years? Because if you want to be able to play with just what you have now, and you want to be able to use the Blood and Lust scenarios straight away, there would be nothing stopping you from just using KAP4 straight up without any modifications, and starting play in 531AD, and then when you later get the GPC, just picking up from 531 onwards. You will miss out the early years but you won't have any problems starting the GPC at 531 (or at any other year in the Pendragon chronology), and you'd be able to use all the stuff you have at the moment without modification or hunting around for more.

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful replies.

Definitely some food for thought. Neither Blood and Lust nor the Book of Knights have arrived yet and I'm still working my way though the KAP 4 rules. I'll try some character creation this weekend. I may start wil what I have and play a few one offs to get the feel for the system and then either pick up the GPC or maybe the shiny new addition which will hopefully be out by then. :D

I'm doing my homework. The credits for Excalibur are rolling as I type this. :) I'm planning to dig out my old Arthurian books as well. I'll need to get a copy of Mallory but I have Whyte somewhere.