Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Locked thread
EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
I've been wanting to try Pendragon for a while. Picked up a copy of an older edition at a con on the recommendation of a friend, been wanting to give it a try ever since. Count me in, I'm ready to fight for glory and honor!

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
(NOTE: There is an updated sheet on page 4, the original app is kept for posterity.)

Heck yeah I'm still interested, I made a character last night. Of course, I'll need to reroll my home, since somebody rolled Baverstock mere hours ago (I knew I should have posted instead of sleeping!). Joking aside, let's meet my character, custom-made to fit into the early years of Uther Pendragon's reign. Small note about the order of my rolls, I actually forgot to roll for my home the first time until right before I rolled for Heirloom. Also, I rolled for hating Saxons in the main section as well as family history, so there's a 3d6 in there for that.



Name: Sir Briant (known as "The Feckless" among those outside his range of hearing)
Age: 26
Religion: British Christian
Home: Newton
Family characteristic: Clever
Heirloom: Decorated Saddle

Traits (Two bonuses from the "select four" section used here):
Just/Arbitrary: 4/16
Valorous/Cowardly: 16/4
Generous/Selfish: 13/7
Energetic/Lazy: 13/7
Chaste/Lustful: 13/7
Temperate/Indulgent: 13/7
Forgiving/Vengeful: 9/11

Passions:
Loyalty (Lord): 15
Love (Family): 15
Hospitality: 15
Honor: 16
Hate (Saxons): 17 (rolled 14 in Family History, added the three bonus points to it)

Attributes (two "choose four" bonuses added here, as well as five points from Previous Experience):
Size: 18
Dex: 8
Str: 15
Con: 21
App: 8

Damage: 6d6
Hit Points: 39
Unconscious at: 10
Move Rate: 2
Healing Rate: 3
Distinctive Features (2, chosen rather than rolled): Haughty Sneer, Booming Voice

Skills (Five Previous Experience rolls of extra points):
Awareness 10
Boating 1
Compose 1
Courtesy 10
Dancing 2
Faerie Lore 1
Falconry 3
First Aid 10
Flirting 3
Folk Lore 2
Gaming 13
Heraldry 3
Hunting 10
Intrigue 3
Orate 5
Play (Harp) 3
Read (Latin) 0
Recognize 10
Religion (Christianity) 2
Romance 2
Singing 2
Stewardship 10
Swimming 10
Tourney 2

Battle 15
Horsemanship 10
Sword 16
Lance 7
Dagger 5

Army:
Old Knights: 0
Middle-Aged Knights: 3
Young Knights: 6
Non-lineage Men: 12
Levy: 56

Who the family knights are:
Middle-Aged:
-Guy (Briant's uncle, a far more accomplished knight than his older brother, Briant's father)
-Eliot (The other younger brother of Briant's father, has no sons, treats Briant like his own)
-Adtherp (illegitimate brother of Briant's father, grateful to have even been given land and knighted).
Young:
-Gracian and Alein (Briant's twin younger brothers by his father's second wife, the woman he married in 464, they admire their brother, but Briant sees them as reminders of his father's total inability to claim any sort of glory for himself)
-Floridas (The elder son of Guy, a far more dashing and popular knight than Briant, though lacking the latter's bulk and strength)
-Gauter (Younger son of Guy, overeager with a penchant for getting himself into trouble)
-Melion (Son of Briant's birth mother's departed brother, feels similarly resentful for having an incompetent milksop for a father)
-Perin (Briant's illegitimate younger brother by a house maid of his father, hates Briant's father more than Briant himself, and they have found commonality and friendship in their mutual disdain for the dead fool)

Family History, as described by me ad-hoc during rolls last night (unaltered save for Orokos links):

Great-Grandfather: Elias, Roman Christian, Glory at Death 2300

Grandfather: Adelbert, Roman Christian nee British Christian, 1255 starting Glory, fought at Carlion, survived with 60 Glory earned, did not hold it against the Irish, served garrison and survived the Picts in 440 and earned 10 Glory, survived 441-442 with 20 Glory earned, finally killed by Garrison in 443 with a final total of 1365 Glory. His father would have been proud.

Father: Edward, British Christian, 1137 starting Glory, serves garrison from 460 to 464, gains 50 Glory from marrying a widow in 464, fought at Carlion and survived with 60 Glory in hand, fought at Snowdon and survived with a pittance of 30 Glory for showing up, finally found his calling when he earned 200 Glory murdering Saxons, decided to try his luck at Windsor, died like a chump with a posthumous reward of 45 Glory. Embarrassed son takes it personally. Final Glory was 1522.

Starting Glory (pre-knighting): 152 (at least his father was less of a loser than his grandfather, if only because he got knighted.)

Annual Glory:

Traits/Passions: 65 (Arbitrary, Valorous, Hates Saxons, Honor)
Land: 6

Glory from knighting and becoming a vassal knight: 1050 (Even if The Leap were being used, Briant is apparently following in his father's footsteps)

This guy's story practically writes itself.

Briant's great-grandfather was an above-average knight, if his Glory was anything to go on. Maybe not the best, but pretty drat good. Then his grandfather gets murdered by raiders and his father almost shows some promise while killing Saxons, only to be slain immediately following the closest thing to greatness he ever achieved. The product of almost offensive mediocrity, Briant is cynical, bitter, and ambitious. He ostensibly follows the knightly code, but he doesn't hesitate to abuse the peasantry whenever he feels like it, and he pretty much never rules in favor of "lessers" in disputes or criminal cases. A mountain on legs, rare is the man who would criticize his actions to his face. On the positive side, he's quite generous to his lackeys, cronies, and yes-men, along with anyone else willing to treat him as though he were some sort of superior being, and he tends to avoid drinking to excess, preferring to keep his senses sharp. Along with swordplay, he is well-acquainted with battle tactics and scheming. He hates Saxons with a passion rivaled by few in the realm, and is an accomplished gambler, like all the men of his family. His saddle, studded with all manner of jewels and precious metal inlays, was won by his great-grandfather in a game of tabula many years ago, and has been in the family ever since. In appearance, he has dark brown hair and full beard, with icy blue eyes and a voice that could fill a great hall. Though massive, he is almost entirely muscle, capable of great feats of both strength and endurance.

Okay, that should be everything, aside from listing the stuff that everyone gets uniformly, because that stuff kind of goes without saying at this point.

EDIT: Added 1000 Glory to grandfather for being knighted, which becomes another 100 for father and 10 for Briant. The PDF never mentions it, so I didn't think it was there, but everyone else seems to be counting it.

EclecticTastes fucked around with this message at 05:00 on Jun 1, 2014

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."

potatocubed posted:

Manor: Newton

Get outta my house. :catstare: (Jokes aside, I rolled Newton on my character, so that manor is claimed, you'll need to roll again until you get one that isn't already taken.)

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Okay, let's lobby for some experience!

Arbitrary: You saw how he treated his "guest". He's basically treating the guy just well enough to avoid getting dirty looks from other knights, he's even letting the servants speak ill of the guy! Plus he wanted to ransom the squires for their measly six pounds of worth. Oh, yeah, and he's got his defeated foe's shield, heraldry included, hanging on the wall as a trophy.

Valorous: Briant has been throwing himself into battle pretty hard.

Energetic: In fact, he's been pretty much constantly flitting about, if not serving the earl, then advancing his various plots. Fella's a regular dynamo.

First Aid: Honestly I think we all earned this one, given how we drat near mummified those other knights trying to stop them from bleeding out. What was that, like, twenty First Aid rolls? Figure we'd get a check just from trial and error.

Courtesy: Even if it ends up that I don't use that coin to crit my Courtesy roll in the thread, I figure Briant's been working pretty hard to socialize with folks.

EDIT: Ohhh, I misread a thing in the game thread, never you mind the thing I edited out.

EclecticTastes fucked around with this message at 22:52 on Feb 14, 2014

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Hey, just noticed, in the OP, you have me and Epicurius mixed up, on the list of characters.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Okay, so, experience rolls.

Honor
Love(Family)
Hate(Saxons)
First Aid
Sword
Lance
Courtesy
Valorous
Arbitrary
Energetic

Dear Orokos: I hate you, Sincerely, Sir Briant. Seriously I couldn't beat tens. Ugh. Well, at least my weapon skills went up, and it appears that Briant is now somehow legendary for his Honor!

(New trait-related annual glory: 65, from Hating Saxons, being Valorous, being Honorable, and being Arbitrary)
(New Sword and Lance levels: 16 and 7, respectively)
(Also I gain a point in Hate(RNG), but that's me, not Briant)

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Bledri critted a Lance charge, probably deserves at least a check on Sword since he was swingin' it as much as the rest of us (ditto a check on Valorous for entering combat as eagerly as any of us), and likely deserves a Temperance check for declining to roll any Passions, even when prompted. Bledri's really level-headed. Those are my suggestions.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."

Epicurius posted:

Ok. So Modest, Lance, Sword, Valorous, and Temperance.


Roll Against Modest (13): 1d20t13 0
Roll Against Lance (15): 1d20t15 0
Roll Against Sword (15): 1d20t15 0
Roll Against Valorous (15): 1d20t15 0
Roll Against Temperate (13): 1d20t13 0

So failed them all!

I honestly think this fiasco is worth a check on Gaming.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
We also need to do the training and practice step. Also, Briant scored an invite to Hywel's place, when should I move to capitalize on that? I'll totally use my Winter coin to do awesome at whatever roll is needed to advance Operation: Marry Hywel's Daughter (Briant is not very creative).

PS: I think Derek should just get a full enemy's worth of ransom, we could assume Owain was a nice enough guy to share his extra hostage. I figure he fought with the rest of us, he deserves a full share of the loot.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Oh, hey, we're still going? Okay, then! I had given the threads up for dead, but I'm still in if everyone else is.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Manor build projects are listed in the 5e book. Churches are listed at fifty pounds (still too rich for our blood), but chapels are listed at an affordable eight pounds, in case Derek wants one to show off his own faith. Briant will be living as a Rich knight at 9 pounds, as well, but the remainder will be banked either for future years, or any investments he needs to make in forwarding his plans to marry Sir Hywel's daughter.

Now, for rolls. Note that we did not perform the training and practice step (edit: Though DCB totally did it and I didn't notice so you probably already knew to do it), so we can still choose our method for skill increase. I'll take the 1d6+1 option. I got six points! This allows me to increase Courtesy to the max of 15, with one point left over, which will go into Romance. Note that you can't increase skills tagged "Non-knightly" with these points, but "Non-knightly" is a distinct descriptor, and does not just mean any skill without the "Knightly" tag. I had been worried until I realized that one.

Oh, and I'll roll Courtesy (using my old total of 10) to see if I can bank a +1 on the marriage chart, just in case my plans fall through. And I make it.

And now for family events! Looks like I got lucky, it's a scandalous rumor! They're kind of a pain, but they're interesting and that's always fun. Now, who's it about? Apparently one of Briant's three brothers. I think I'll go with Gracian and/or Alein (they're pretty much interchangeable), his twin younger half-brothers (they're the legitimate ones, by dad's second wife, who is not Briant's mother by virtue of Briant having had to have been born before the year the marriage event occurred on the timeline). So, what did he/they do? Illicit love affair! Well, they're still squires so it's unlikely anyone would care unless it were with each other and I'm gonna say emphatically that that is not the case. That said, since it's gotten this far, Briant's probably gonna whack both of them upside the head (regardless of whether or not the other twin was even involved, all the better to remind him not to get into that stuff).

I'll do as DCB did and repost my character sheet with updated info momentarily.

EclecticTastes fucked around with this message at 07:48 on Apr 7, 2014

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."


Name: Sir Briant (known as "The Feckless" among those outside his range of hearing)
Age: 27
Religion: British Christian
Home: Newton
Family characteristic: Clever
Heirloom: Decorated Saddle

Traits:
Just/Arbitrary: 4/16
Valorous/Cowardly: 16/4
Generous/Selfish: 13/7
Energetic/Lazy: 13/7
Chaste/Lustful: 13/7
Temperate/Indulgent: 13/7
Forgiving/Vengeful: 9/11

Passions:
Loyalty (Lord): 15
Love (Family): 15
Hospitality: 15
Honor: 16
Hate (Saxons): 17

Attributes:
Size: 18
Dex: 8
Str: 15
Con: 21
App: 8

Damage: 6d6
Hit Points: 39
Unconscious at: 10
Move Rate: 2
Healing Rate: 3
Distinctive Features (2, chosen rather than rolled): Haughty Sneer, Booming Voice

Skills:
Awareness 10
Boating 1
Compose 1
Courtesy 15
Dancing 2
Faerie Lore 1
Falconry 3
First Aid 10
Flirting 3
Folk Lore 2
Gaming 13
Heraldry 3
Hunting 10
Intrigue 3
Orate 5
Play (Harp) 3
Read (Latin) 0
Recognize 10
Religion (Christianity) 2
Romance 3
Singing 2
Stewardship 10
Swimming 10
Tourney 2

Battle 15
Horsemanship 10
Sword 17 (Bonus Point used here)
Lance 7
Dagger 5

Army:
Middle-Aged Knights: 3
Young Knights: 6
Non-lineage Men: 12
Levy: 56

Who the family knights are:
Middle-Aged:
-Guy (Briant's uncle, a far more accomplished knight than his older brother, Briant's father. Father of Floridas and Gauter, with Floridas taking strongly after him in every respect. Briant is less loathe to accept aid from Guy than Floridas, though Guy is generally much busier and thus less able to drop what he's doing and lend a hand.)
-Eliot (The other younger brother of Briant's father, has no sons, treats Briant like his own, but doesn't have a great deal of influence, as he's only an average knight.)
-Adtherp (illegitimate brother of Briant's father, grateful to have even been given land and knighted. He's probably a far better knight than he's given credit for, but he doesn't assert himself very well, so everyone walks all over him.).
Young:
-Gracian and Alein (Briant's twin younger brothers by his father's second wife, the woman he married in 464, they admire their brother, but Briant sees them as reminders of his father's total inability to claim any sort of glory for himself. The idiots recently got caught fighting over a barmaid's affections, to their embarrassment. Luckily, they're not yet full knights, so Briant just boxed their ears and hopes the matter will quietly fade away.)
-Floridas (The elder son of Guy, a far more dashing and popular knight than Briant, or anyone else in his age bracket for that matter, though lacking Briant's bulk and strength. Always willing to help out a family member in need, but Briant cannot so much as ask without passing a Love(Family) check, due to his seething hatred of the prancing fop.)
-Gauter (Younger son of Guy, overeager and with a penchant for getting himself into trouble. Knighted the same year as Briant & co., his lack of caution will have gotten him chewed out quite thoroughly after some foul-up or another, possibly requiring a bail-out from Floridas.)
-Melion (Son of Briant's deceased maternal uncle, feels similarly resentful for having an incompetent milksop for a father. A couple years Briant's senior, he's acquitted himself well enough as a knight, but he's yet to stand out. Briant considered him one of his few friends growing up.)
-Perin (Briant's illegitimate younger brother by a house maid of his father, hates Briant's father more than Briant himself, and they have found commonality and friendship in their mutual disdain for the dead fool.)

Family History:

Great-Grandfather: Elias, Roman Christian, Glory at Death: 2300

Grandfather: Adelbert, Roman Christian nee British Christian, 1255 starting Glory, fought at Carlion, survived with 60 Glory earned, did not hold it against the Irish, served garrison and survived the Picts in 440 and earned 10 Glory, survived 441-442 with 20 Glory earned, finally killed by Garrison in 443 with a final total of 1365 Glory. His father would have been so proud.

Father: Edward, British Christian, 1137 starting Glory, serves garrison from 460 to 464, gains a paltry 50 Glory from marrying a widow in 464, fought at Carlion and survived with 60 Glory in hand, fought at Snowdon and survived with a pittance of 30 Glory for showing up, finally found his calling when he earned 200 Glory murdering Saxons, decided to try his luck at Windsor, died like a chump with a posthumous reward of 45 Glory. Embarrassed son takes it personally. Final Glory was 1522. At least he did better than his father.

Annual Glory:

Traits/Passions: 65 (Arbitrary, Valorous, Hates Saxons, Honor)
Land: 6

Other:

Status: Rich (theoretically, for the next five years after this one, which should hopefully be more than enough time to lock down the Hywel heiress and ensure a more permanent standard of living)
Cash in coffers: 15 pounds (unless an affordable expenditure can provide a more efficient tangible benefit for him than a 1:1 Glory boost for this year)
Special assets: Open invitation to Hywel's estate (to be used at first opportunity to get some progress made towards marrying the rich girl)

Current Glory: 1492 (226 (normal Glory) + 49 (Traits) + 6 (land held) + 9 (made it rain))

Note: In one year, Briant managed to exceed his grandfather's final tally by over one-hundred points, and will certainly surpass his father, even if he fails to reach next winter. His family produced The Worst Knights.

EclecticTastes fucked around with this message at 07:56 on Apr 7, 2014

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Hey, I'm just thinking aloud here, but if we get coins for the Winter Phase, and if we're allowed to use them like that, I'd like to spend mine to make Epicurius have succeeded on one of those experience rolls of his. Whichever he wants.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."

Epicurius posted:

Now, I'm going to roll for skills, which unfortunately, just gives me 2 points

Friggin' Orokos. :catstare:

Isn't there some kind of safety net for this? This is just messed up. Like, I got six skill points on my roll, can I just undo spending one and give it to him? Nobody deserves such bad rolls, especially not one of the players on the lower end of the Glory chart, and I dunno about Epi, but if I were in his situation, I'd be feeling pretty discouraged. Maybe I'm just weird, but I'm feeling kinda :smith: about his stuff there.

Which I guess is ironic since I'm the one playing the grasping, amoral, hard-hearted social Darwinist.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
I'm not sure whether this guy is Briant's new best friend, or if Briant would consider such blatant abuse to be a little tacky. Like, just whippin' a dude in the middle of the road is a bit much.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Hey, sorry for the delay, I was out a bit over the weekend and then the crash happened but I'm getting a post together presently. Mea culpa, friends.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Okay, I don't like being unfair about game resources, but Briant is exactly the sort of person to take a little extra credit. An Arbitrary roll is how I decided whether to go with Briant's or my own preferred method of handling things. As you can see, Briant's method won, and so I will be skewing the Glory handouts. I have decided to call on math to arbitrate this matter. Briant will ensure that no man receives less than 15 Glory so as not to seem unduly greedy (and I really don't want to deny anyone too much of their rightful reward). However, the remainder will be based on how much damage they did to the giant (a method chosen entirely because Briant's strike was the mightiest in that brief battle, and he knows it, so he doesn't even need to bend the truth to claim primacy of reward). Twelve points of Glory are available (the two in excess of 15 from each member of the party), and a total of seventy-seven damage was dealt to the giant. Briant dealt approximately 44% of that damage, which equates to about five points of Glory. Mathing the remainder out (and rounding down for everyone except Bledri), the Glory would be distributed as thus:

Briant: 20 points
Derek: 19 points
Pellogres: 17 points
Bledri: 16 points
Grigor and Rhun: 15 points

If this distribution works, this is what I'd like to go with, but if it's a problem we can just do 17 each, but Briant would still be seeking the lion's share of the attention. While I was thinking on this, I thought to make an Orate roll under Briant's meager skill of 5, to see if perhaps he could tell the story well enough to increase the pool a bit, like perhaps to an average of 20 rather than 17. He succeeded, luckily enough. So if that would have any effect on the amount available, I would keep the same minimum of 15 Glory for everyone (meaning that's what Grigor and Rhun get, sorry, guys), and the following percentages for the rest (round down, except for Bledri):

Briant: 44% (28 if the average were to become 20)
Derek: 36% (25)
Pellogres: 18% (20)
Bledri: Remainder (17)

I figure the in-character portion of this will occur after Roderick and co. return from their killing spree, but I wanted to get the numbers stuff out of the way now. Guess it's a lot of work to just monkey around with a small handful of Glory, but I like doing simple math and statistics, so here we are.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."

DivineCoffeeBinge posted:

Oh man, my brain sequed from that scene to the one where Peter walks into the office and grabs the power drill and now I have this wonderful mental image of the party slow-motion walking into Court and rearranging the tapestries to better suit themselves while "drat It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta" plays and it is wonderful

You've been reading Briant's journal, haven't you? Seriously, all he needs is one little piece of blackmail material and he's riding the gravy train to abuse of power station. Also you guys get to come along because Briant likes people he knows aren't his enemies (translated, it means I don't like being a selfish player).

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Well, my plans for Briant's descendants are probably best compared to the classic animated film, American Pop. Except with one probably one fewer generation, since we don't have all that much time (although getting to play through a little bit of the post-Arthur landscape might be cool, end on a hopeful/depressing note, depending on how we do during that part).

Speaking of the turbulent times to come, game designer John Wick actually introduced some difficulty in whether or not to side with Cornwall during the rebellion (he runs Pendragon a lot, it's like his favorite RPG), by making the Duke of Cornwall such a great guy that his players felt bad turning their backs on him.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
By the way, since the subject of Briant's family came up, I figured I'd write up a bit more about them than is on the character sheet.

Uncle Guy: Guy was more or less exactly like Floridas when he was younger, the pride of Salisbury and Mr. Popular to boot. These days, he remains as swell a guy as he always was, but he's very busy, as he's attained quite a bit of status and responsibility. It's even said he declined promotion to Duke some years back, preferring to stay in Salisbury. He tries to go to his family's knightings, but couldn't make it to Briant's. "Luckily", he's free to attend Gracian and Alein's knighting next year. Briant somewhat resents him for being the father of Floridas, and also being everything Briant wishes his father had been, but more readily accepts help on the rare occasion that Guy is idle enough to offer it.

Uncle Eliot: While he's not spectacular as a knight, in any capacity, he does his best and manages not to die. He hated his father, Briant's grandfather, when he was younger, but has since come to terms with his dad being a loser. He saw much of his younger self in Briant, and has always doted on him as a result. He'd hoped to help Briant let go of his resentment, but it has clearly failed to take. Briant likes him well enough, but his "help" is more often "meddling".

Uncle Adtherp: The son of grandpa's housemaid, Adtherp is probably one of Salisbury's more skillful knights, but he rarely receives due credit, because he has very little force of personality. More gregarious knights end up receiving most of the glory that's rightfully his. Briant pities him and his lack of backbone. Adtherp is likely to do anything a fellow knight asks of him, but not even Briant is enough of a jerk to take advantage of the poor guy.

Gracian and Alein: Briant's half-brothers, by his father's second wife. They admire Briant and do their best to impress him, but he can't stand being around them. For starters, they don't have a lick of good sense between them, but the real reason he dislikes them is that he hates their mother. His father failed to marry any of the more influential widows in 464, and these two are a reminder of that. They're scheduled to be knighted next winter, they'd have been knighted this year if they hadn't been caught fighting over the affections of some commoner girl recently. All of the family knights plan to be in attendance, and since Briant lacks a decent excuse, he'll likely be there, too.

FLORIDAS :argh:: Mr. Perfect himself, Floridas is what every knight wishes he could be. He's got both the Chivalry AND British Christian trait bonuses active on top of an extremely well-balanced set of personal skills and attributes. Briant hates him with every fiber of his being, but Floridas is completely oblivious to it. As long as it doesn't interfere with his own duties, he'll help any fellow knight who asks, but Briant has to pass a Passion roll just to ask. Floridas loves all of his relatives dearly, however, and is quick to include himself in any situation he sees a cousin or sibling involved in. However, he does have two weaknesses. As a compulsive people-pleaser, if it ever gets through his head that even a single person dislikes him (note that he will never, ever realize that Briant hates him), he will go to extreme lengths in his efforts to make that person like him. His other weakness is that if someone else should arrive and prove to be even more perfect and lovable than he is, his self-esteem would rapidly collapse, requiring someone to help remind him that everybody still thinks he's awesome and that nobody could truly replace him.

Gauter: Floridas' little brother, knighted within a few months of us. Gauter's got solid skills, but his eagerness and hotheaded nature lead him into trouble constantly. Floridas or Guy bail him out whenever he gets in over his head. If someone is being yelled at, there's a fair chance it's Gauter. He'd have probably been stripped of his knighthood already, were it not for the influence of his father and brother. Briant considers him a walking hazard, and avoids him.

Melion: Briant's only living relative on his mother's side, he's the only cousin Briant likes. They both hate their fathers for being dumb dead idiots who didn't get any glory, and spend much of their time discussing how to improve upon their fathers' lackluster careers. Melion is a knight of minor renown, being a couple years older than Briant and having been a knight even longer (since Briant's squire period was a bit longer than most). He'll readily assist Briant or his allies, but his influence is minor at best, and he's as quick to take advantage of opportune situations as his cousin, but he doesn't always have as clear a view of the long-term, so he's come perilously close to burning bridges on several occasions.

Perin: Briant's illegitimate younger brother is the only person who hates Briant's father more than Briant does. The son of a housemaid, his father couldn't even muster up the courage to secretly pay for his upbringing (and risk discovery), so he lived in constant danger of starvation. The dead fool left a letter in his desk that would acknowledge Perin in the event of his death, making Perin's knighthood the one good thing to come out of Edward's pathetic demise. Despite being younger by two years, he was knighted the year before Briant, much to his consternation. However, the two remain on good terms, though Perin's ambition is not nearly so subtle as Briant's. Where Briant will stand back so as not to seem obvious in his grasping, Perin will push forward, exposing his true motives at inopportune times, and making himself his own worst enemy. However, this also makes Perin more predictable, and one need not wonder if Perin is behind something, for if he is, he'll reveal himself in due time, whether he means to or not.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Briant sees the advantage in both their success and failure. He can imply his own flub inspired them should they succeed, and get cred for being both humble and a role model of sorts. If they fall on their asses, he gets the fun of watching. By the way, Floridas did not succeed when he made the leap. The horses present started fighting over who'd get the privilege of having Floridas land on them, and his own horse was knocked out of place in the middle of his jump. He stuck the landing, though, landed square on his feet, right where his horse's saddle would have been.

(And yeah, American Pop is indeed Ralph Bakshi. As with most of Bakshi's stuff, it's not especially suitable for children, though in this case it's mostly because much of the nuance would go over a kid's head. It's pretty good inspiration for familial legacy games, lot of good ideas in there.)

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Hey, so, next Winter for the little visit to Sir Hywel's manor, then? Well, anyway, time for experience checks. First, I'll put my bonus skill point in Sword, raising it to 18. Then, here's the d20s. I forgot I had a seventh check, so I'll link the make-up roll next to the relevant skill.

Awareness - 7 - No
Courtesy - 4 - No
Generous - 14 - Yes (goes up to 14)
Sword - 20 - Yes (goes up to 19)
Honor - 5 - No
Loyalty (Lord) - 1 - No
Love (Family) - 1 - No

I would also argue that our lack of hesitation at whipping a giant merits checks on Valorous for the lot of us and that Briant deserves a check on Arbitrary for not just skewing the Glory results from the giant, but doing so in such a way that it still carries the veneer of fairness. Plus maybe Stewardship for doing actual math to accomplish it. Also, I'd say we all merit checks in Faerie Lore and Folklore, seeing as our skills are so low that we must have learned something.

Now, the dice have not exactly been my best pals this time around, but I'm going to go with the skill points again. Four points! Average, but could be worse. I'll put those points into Romance, as Briant is studying up on the procedures of courting women, since he's still got designs on Hywel's daughter (or, more accurately, Hywel's manors, the wife is more of a secondary benefit in his mind).

For Glory, my annual Glory gain is 80 for the time being (9 for $$$, 65 from traits/passions, and the base 6 for my land). Adding that to my year's Glory of 145, I have gone up 225 points, to a new total of 1717! Two years, and he's already surpassed both his father and grandfather in Glory. Family time! Looks like there's a new little bundle of joy in the family. Yay. Affecting his... cousin? Now things are interesting. Looks like Gauter's had some indiscretions. Of course, he has FLORIDAS :argh: to run damage control for him. Briant had to excuse himself from the room when he heard the news, so he could laugh uproariously without anyone seeing. Sure, his idiot brothers got themselves caught fighting over a barmaid, but Floridas' brother fathered a bastard within a single year of having been knighted.

Updated sheet coming shortly, after I get a yes/no on my check lobbying.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Pretty sure Chivalry and Trait bonuses to Glory don't apply during the same Winter you achieve them.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Hey, I don't mean to be "That Guy", but is everyone okay? It's been a while since anyone's posted.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Hey, do we get coins for this thing? Because if we do, I'm using mine to make Bledri succeed on his Courtesy roll. Everyone's going home a winner tonight if I can help it.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Yeah, I thought so. Was sort of hoping this fell into, like, I dunno, Autumn? Ah, well, no lasting harm done. So, Winter Court, all right! More time to cozy up to Sir Hywel until he's just like, "You know what, fine, you can marry my daughter, I don't care, just leave me alone!"

Briant takes an approach to social climbing not unlike Hans Florine's approach to rock climbing.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Hey, is anyone still here, or have we finally succumbed to Being A Play-By-Post? This is the longest-running game I'm a part of, so I'm kind of hoping it picks back up.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
You guys need to get with the times, the only way to win a woman's heart is to charm her father into giving it to you. :smugbert:

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Okay, I'd say it's about time for the annual character sheet update. I'll just put an edit in here for any additional Glory we get, and I'll omit the family stuff from future postings, since it's all there on my original sheet. I've also added all my 10/10 trait pairs so I remember to talk about them. Given that it's still technically Winter, I was wondering if I could lobby for some rolls on them to get Briant more defined. Like, I figure he's probably earned a few points of Proud outright, but a check would be nice. And actually I did get a check on Suspicious when we were dealing with Merlin, I forgot to mark it down. Never mind, moot point. Oh, right, everyone, pretty sure we all get 18 more annual Glory thanks to our new Loyalty trait.



Name: Sir Briant (known as "The Feckless" among those outside his range of hearing)
Age: 28
Religion: British Christian
Home: Newton
Family characteristic: Clever
Heirloom: Decorated Saddle

Traits:
Just/Arbitrary: 4/16
Valorous/Cowardly: 16/4
Generous/Selfish: 14/6
Energetic/Lazy: 13/7
Chaste/Lustful: 13/7
Temperate/Indulgent: 13/7
Forgiving/Vengeful: 9/11
Honest/Deceitful: 10/10
Modest/Proud: 10/10
Pious/Worldly: 10/10
Merciful/Cruel: 10/10
Prudent/Reckless: 10/10
Trusting/Suspicious: 10/10

Passions:
Loyalty (Lord): 15
Love (Family): 15
Hospitality: 15
Honor: 16
Hate (Saxons): 17
Loyalty (Party): 19 (NOTE: I'd totally forgotten I got a crit the first time I rolled it, which means free point.)

Attributes:
Size: 18
Dex: 8
Str: 15
Con: 21
App: 8

Damage: 6d6
Hit Points: 39
Unconscious at: 10
Move Rate: 2
Healing Rate: 3
Distinctive Features (2, chosen rather than rolled): Haughty Sneer, Booming Voice

Skills:
Awareness 10
Boating 1
Compose 1
Courtesy 15
Dancing 2
Faerie Lore 1
Falconry 3
First Aid 10
Flirting 3
Folk Lore 2
Gaming 13
Heraldry 3
Hunting 10
Intrigue 3
Orate 5
Play (Harp) 3
Read (Latin) 0
Recognize 10
Religion (Christianity) 2
Romance 3
Singing 2
Stewardship 10
Swimming 10
Tourney 2

Battle 15
Horsemanship 10
Sword 19
Lance 7
Dagger 5

Army:
Middle-Aged Knights: 3
Young Knights: 6
Non-lineage Men: 12
Levy: 56

Annual Glory:

Traits/Passions: 84 (Arbitrary, Valorous, Hates Saxons, Honor, Loyalty (KotH))
Land: 6

Other:

Status: Rich
Cash in coffers: 1 pound cash, 1 pound material (Gold ring, emerald inset)
Special assets: Open invitation to Hywel's estate (to be used at first opportunity to get some progress made towards marrying the rich girl), impressed the king (unknown value), nukalavee sword (belongs to us all, but Briant is apparently its designated keeper).

Current Glory: 1885

EclecticTastes fucked around with this message at 22:53 on Jan 14, 2015

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
So, this Winter's going to be clear, right? I've been working Hywel over since the game began, and because I started Briant at 26 (for maximum chargen power), he's getting close to 30, so he needs to seal the deal on this soon if a kid's going to come of age before Briant kicks it. I figure, I can finally take the guy up on his invitation to drop by, from way back when we kicked some Saxon rear end. That's where I'll make my move. I figure I've built up so much good will with the guy that he'll either be overjoyed to see Briant's interested, or will let Briant marry his daughter just to get the guy out of his hair. Either way, I'm good.

Note that pretty much everything public Briant has done has, as much as anything else, been to impress Hywel. Even spending the majority of his ransom dosh on bling for the king was meant to impress Sir Hywel. Briant is going to stalk and Courtesy this man until his daughter (and her inheritance) are his.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."

DivineCoffeeBinge posted:

Just watch, he'll end up marrying his daughter off to someone else for political reasons and then offer Briant the hand of her younger sister. ;)

Sir Hywel only has the one daughter, that I'm aware of. Also I'm pretty sure England practiced gavelkind inheritance, not primogeniture, so I'd still get something out of the deal.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."

ibntumart posted:

Briant strikes me as the sort of person who can work around such difficulties. Like asking the suitor to help with bandits on his manor and accidentally forgetting to warn him about the spiked pit trap he set up along the path.

Precisely! Briant is CrusaderKings.txt. Someone gets in his way, they have an accident, then they're not in his way anymore.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."

Epicurius posted:

I almost started courting this season, but for whatever reason (mostly posting laziness), I missed most of winter court. And I'm sure my "That bastard Merlin tricked us into fighting supernatural beasts so he could give that magic sword to you, King Uther, which you really don't need and shouldn't use." speech probably didn't impress the ladies much.

Well, keep in mind, if you can't find someone special through roleplaying, you can always put your trust in the dice and roll for a random marriage. I'm going to guess that you can parlay this year's questing into a sizeable bonus on the rolls.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Huh, something about the game rules I just noticed in the Allegorical Animals sidebar. Apparently the beaver and its, uh, special metaphorical meaning triggers a check for Cowardly. This is odd, since the classical interpretation, particularly in the Christian faith, is more one of temperance, in putting one's life before one's vices, or putting the Kingdom of Heaven above earthly pleasures. Perhaps for Pagans it might be Cowardly, but I'd think that for good Christian knights, they'd get the check on Temperate, or perhaps Pious or Chaste. And how does anything related to that description of pelicans equal Piety? And when exactly would BRITISH KNIGHTS encounter elephants?!

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."

Mors Rattus posted:

Pelicans are piety because the pelican, when it finds its children dead, will stab itself in the breast and bleed upon them, resurrecting them in a mirror of the Easter miracle.

(No, really, that's what medieval people thought.)

Except the book says that the pelican killed them itself in a fit of righteous anger.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."

DivineCoffeeBinge posted:

Righteous anger is plenty pious - just ask the moneychangers.

Medieval notions of piety and modern ones really have remarkably little common sense.

This is how I read it at first. :dawkins101:

Also, I should apologize for all the crits I'm getting, holy poo poo. No joke, though, the main reason I made a Hunting roll instead of following or at least rolling a Passion is specifically because I was like, "Hell, I might crit this one, too." And I was right.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Hey, I know the holidays were crazy and all, but c'mon back, guys.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."
Hell yeah, Briant's got cred to build! For all of us! But also himself. Especially himself.

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."

ibntumart posted:

New post is up!

Unfortunately, Mors Rattus has had to drop out. As long as the rest of you are still onboard, however, I think we're fine moving forward without needing to recruit another PC.

Indeed, although I may need to return to the first grade for a refresher on how to read. I went and told the story of the hunt when, in fact, we were asked to talk about Sword Lake. :negative:

I'm just gonna pretend Briant told a ripping yarn about that adventure instead. Of course, the last time I told the story, it was typo-laden and barely coherent due to lack of sleep, so apparently nobody will ever see the true version of Briant's tale.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

EclecticTastes
Sep 17, 2012

"Most plans are critically flawed by their own logic. A failure at any step will ruin everything after it. That's just basic cause and effect. It's easy for a good plan to fall apart. Therefore, a plan that has no attachment to logic cannot be stopped."

ibntumart posted:

No worries, we can just say it was Briant workshopping new material for his one-man show "Briant: the Mad Quest For Glory." (A quest that's going well for all of you so far! Your PCs' heirs will be so proud once your knights actually have some.)

Woo! Quest for glory!

:qfg:

  • Locked thread