Level 4. ~~ Setting: High Summer in a Mythical & Anachronistic Dark Age.
Each player shall concoct a portentous secret their character discovered about the Grail or the Questing Beast. You ride seeking Camelot.
Background:
For nigh twenty years a mysterious Questing Beast has been spreading chaos and ill omens, posing riddles and working magic. Arthur has reigned as king for decades, and many sons and nephews and even grandsons of his eldest knights have grown to manhood and have been dubbed knights themselves. Though undefeated in twelve battles and three wars, Arthur is now aged and sick, his sons by Gwenevere are dead, and the giants and dragons that had retreated from his kingdoms have begun to return.
The knights of the Round Table are no longer as united nor exalted as they once were, when Arthur was still hale, and his kingdom greener and more plentiful. Young Sir Mordred feuds with Sir Erec, and Bagdemagus with Tor, and Sir Agravaine with his own brother Sir Gaheris, while Sir Tristan has at last reconciled with Sir Segwarides. The shores of both Lyonesse and Ys are slowly but inexorably sinking into the sea, all the unicorns seem to be vanishing, bandits grow bolder, and defiant vassal lords are very likely plotting rebellion. The years of peace are done. Archmagician Merlin has been missing for months; the last tournament at Camelot ended in a tragic accident when Sir Ganor was mortally wounded jousting fellow Round Table knight Sir Lancelot; Queen Gwenevere publicly admonishes her husband to banish from their court Morgana his half-sister; and year after year in vain venerable Sir Pellinore hunts the elusive Questing Beast.
Too soon, the glory of Camelot wanes, yet now arises tantalizing hope for redemption and revitalization, for visions of the Holy Grail are witnessed by many, foretelling of quests by the boldest and the purest of heart to seek the lost relics that heal entire kingdoms ...
Recruiting a group of friendly players, encouraging 2-5 posts per week per participant.
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Our game shall be one of wilderness adventure on the roads to Camelot, with lots of magic and mounted combat, crossings of perilous rivers and sea, visiting strange castles and villages, rescuing innocent captives, and occasionally facing a choice of whether or not to follow a short-cut through Faerie or another otherworldly passage. Instead of counting experience points, fifth level will be attained upon completion of this campaign, when your heroes finally reach Camelot and gain a royal audience to tell your tales.
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All are welcome! Players should discuss their character ideas and brainstorm together with the other players on our public forum, collaborating with the goal of a cohesive party where everyone can choose a role and personality they will enjoy playing. First three players to "Join" shall be our first three players; then we will decide if we want or need more players until we fill all roles & archetypes and complete our gallant party.
Player character instructions or considerations:
Players may invent and name entirely original characters, or else adopt for themselves any canonical characters living, except for Arthur, Gwenevere, Merlin, Bercilak, or Tom Thumb. Players are invited to roleplay, for example, Morgana le Fay or Mabon the Enchanter as the apprentice magic-user, Taliesin the chief of bards or the precocious page boy Tom Malory, Viviane Nymue or Celise Seraide of the Lake, or knights such as Lancelot, Lionel, Kay, Gawain, Galahad, Galehodin, Tristan, Dinadan, Sagramore, Palamedes, Moriaen, or Mordred.
If inventing an original character, knights and squires are supposed to all be men, though it is certainly possible for a woman to be knighted: disguised as a man perhaps, like Avenable the Roman seneschal or crown princess Melora did, or else openly. The woman Bradamante is counted among twelve paladins of the young Frankish king Charlemagne, Clorinda is a female knight and champion of the Saracens, Sir Artegall of the Round Table is betrothed to the warrior maiden Britomart, and at least three Amazons dwell in Britain. Conversely, mistresses of the lakes and grail maidens with one or two exceptions are exclusively female characters, while singers and magicians may be either gender. Bercilak only accepts males as his squires, but another ranger player option could be the enigmatic and alluring Green Lady, who is wife to the Green Knight, or else a courageous damsel in her service or training. Another example may be found in the ranger woman Belphoebe, a monster-slaying huntress from Faerie, who loved then hated Timias the squire to Arthur.
Ordinary humans predominate of course, but the knights of the Round Table also include the half-giant Galeholt, half-fey Gingalain, dwarf Eiddilig, wee little Tom Thumb, and the werewolves Gorlagon, Marrok and Melion. Magicians often are tiefling-born, including grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the incubus that sired Merlin, and some grail maidens were born in Celestial, Heavenly, or Edenlike realms. Daughters of naiads and of sirens frequently join Arthur and his knights and companions too.
Your characters might have already fought ahorse alongside one another, feasted in fellowship, witnessed wonders of magic, and adventured on one quest or many. Mayhap you already won some honor or notoriety in the court of Arthur, and you likely have garnished some reputation that proceeds you. You know full well the perils of the journey before you: lions, griffons, serpents, wyverns, ogres, pixies, ghosts, enchantresses, enemy knights or other adversaries could challenge you, but you are prepared, right well armed and horsed, and should not lack for food nor supplies, with gold and silver plenty to spend.
Iron-shod warhorses & more: your party and each player character have steeds and/or beasts of burden. Choose!
Each player chooses either a warhorse or a draft horse, and also chooses either a riding horse or a mule. Steeds should be named, and their color described.
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Knights of the Round Table also receive one set of barding: half-plate, hide, or studded leather, plus a caparison of colorful cloth.
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A green squire or ranger of the Green Knight or Green Lady may opt to be accompanied by a green horse: identical to a warhorse with a magic Barkskin transmutation.
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A damsel of the Lake has amphibious steeds: ordinary in all other ways except perhaps for an unusual color, and they are able to breathe both air and water.
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Your party also has a pair of male donkeys hitched to transport your tents and miscellaneous equipment, but these have riding saddles too if ever needed.
Wondrous Magic! Each player chooses magic treasure & more perhaps...
Each player chooses one common magic item plus one that is uncommon, or else alternatively chooses a single rare Cursed item, such as a Shield of Missile Attraction, a Berserker Axe, or one of the storied Broken Swords (Found or clove by Sir Bors the Exile, Sir Galahad, Sir Gawain, Sir Mordred, Sir Percival, Sir Tristan, the Grail Templar Eliazar, or the coven of wicked witches in Gloucester, all Broken Swords are holy or arcane blades that can be mended, but the curse sunders them again after 1d4 hits. More famed than all those is the nigh unrepairable Sword of the Stone that Arthur ceremonially drew and wielded until sundered forevermore by the might of Pellinore and eldritch power of the Questing Beast: any player characters may opt to have collected some of its incomplete shards in place of another magical item.)
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Characters able to craft magic items may choose additional treasures they could create, one common plus one uncommon.
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Grail maidens and minstrels both gain another additional magical treasure: one of the twelve lesser grails or magic chalices, such as the divine goblet of Saint Andrew or the unholy grail of Judas Iscariot, or one of the rare and wondrous Instruments of Bards, such as the Cli lyre or Canaith mandolin.
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Wizards and sorcerers in this setting can cast Cure Wounds spells, adding it to their spell-books for free or receiving it as an extra spell known, and the apprentice magician additionally gains a Potion of Healing, Philter of Love, and Elixer of Health, as they do in the chronicles and other ancient books.
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No familiars at the start of play, but such creatures may be summoned later.
Colorful Shields & Shining Armor. Choose!
Any character with proficiency may bear a painted shield and keep a spare. Knights of the Round Table choose chain mail, plate or half plate armor, plus barding for one horse: either half-plate, hide or studded leather barding. All other characters choose leather armor, chain shirt, scale mail, or no armor, and no barding. Armors, especially helmets and shields, are often important not only for bodily protection, but also in identifying the wearer (or impersonating a previous owner) through heraldic decorations.
Arm thyself for combat! Choose your weapons.
Any early medieval hand weapons your character and horses can carry. Knights should be well armed with at least one lance, sword and dagger, and may wield other weaponry also, although the use of crossbows is generally considered unknightly.
Ammunition such as arrows you should have in plenty, and rarely are lost without being recovered, so no need to keep count.
Gear & Coin, including Garments, Accoutrements, Impedimenta, etcetera.
Your party is encamped in pavilion tents, and characters may dress in fine and expensive clothing, with two or three complete outfits each. You are amply well provisioned, with more than enough wine and mead, firewood and horse fodder, and also all the tools to hunt and cook game both large and small. There is an assortment of musical instruments, even a high harp, and other luxuries like large mirrors of polished bronze or even glass. For letters you have goosequills, squid ink and unbound pages of vellum. You might hitch your dray animals to carts or wagons in order to carry various other mundane and inexpensive equipment: listing everything is probably unnecessary. However, you should be allowed nothing that might be called unchivalrous or craven: no mechanical traps, no caltrops, no vials of poison, no manacles nor tools of torture, no scalding tar nor the like, neither incendiaries nor explosives, and no alchemy. Individually each character also possesses as much as two hundred gold bezants plus an equal number of silver pieces, or jewelry of the same value, probably stowed in sacks you lock inside chests of hardwood bound in lead and iron.
Religion? Magic of old gods fades from this world as the faith in the One God spreads, and angels do exist and so too do fiends, but Beyond is divine mystery...
While knights of the Round Table are predominantly Christian, several Saracens also have been honored with seats, such as Astlabor and his three sons as well as Feirefiz.
Merlin may have been the last Druid. The sacred relic called Holy Grail by Christians was also known to many heathens of old as the plentiful divine cauldron of Bran the Blessed.
Noble Language & vulgar tongues. Read & Choose!
Languages:
All characters speak Latin plus at least one vernacular language: Brythonic, Gaelic, Welsh, Orcadian, Hungarian, Saxon, French, Danish, Moorish, etc.
Exotic languages include Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Coptic, Ethiopian, Babylonian, Sindhi, Tartar, and Pictish.
Archetypes? Each player chooses: Knight of the Round Table, Former Apprentice of Merlin, Lady of the Lake, Grail Maiden, Green Guard, or Bardic Minstrel.
I request a specific party configuration of classes and archetypes, Level 4. Please no monks, no assassin rogues, & no artificers.
Knights of the Round Table of course include fighter-cavalieres and paladins, but also eldritch-knights as well as multiclass fighter-bards, barbarian-cavalieres and perhaps other classes, subclasses and multiclass combinations. Ideally our party will include two, three or even four player characters of this archetype.
Former apprentice of Merlin: our party would seem incomplete without one. Merlin is lost, fated to be trapped forevermore. Potentially he was a sorcerer, a wizard, a warlock, the last druid high priest, or a great bard who played the harp: that shall be determined by the player of this archetype choosing either sorcerer, wizard, warlock, druid, or bard (or a multiclass combination) for his or her character class.
OPTIONAL - One, two or three additional player characters may join the party representing the following optional archetypes:
Grail Maiden or another charismatic or wise woman from the dragon-despoiled invisible castle of Corbenyc: no more than one may grace our party. She may be a cleric, or a celestial-patron warlock, a divine-soul or other sorcerer, or possibly a paladin or an enchanter-wizard or a multiclass combination.
Green Guard: a squire, ranger, warden, ovate, emissary, harbinger, handmaid or huntress who may or may not be associated with the Green Knight Bercilak or his Green Lady, but only one that was in their service should have an extraordinary green horse as described above. Ranger or wild-magic barbarian are appropriate for this archetype, and so are primeval druid, rune-knight fighter, or giant-soul sorcerer, multiclass, etc. No more than one player should represent the green archetype please.
Lady of the Lake or another water-witch: she could be a human spellcaster or a fey of any allowed class. The player may submit a favorite aquatic or faery-like race from any publication, or instead create your own "homebrew" freshwater fey. You have dwelt within or at the boundary of a supernaturally peaceful Otherworld realm of enchanting mists and shadow magic, where Time itself may float and ripple. No more than one player character should represent this archetype please.
Minstrels and singers are bards of course but could be any characters with proficiency in Performance. Heralds, jongleurs, fortune-tellers, jesters, pages, sages, chroniclers, poets, minnesingers and knaves are all options or variations appropriate for this archetype, but actors, mummers, prostitutes and lawyers are strictly prohibited. Up to two different characters may be permitted to join our party. Travelling performers usually are welcomed wherever people gather, and most can boast of magic tricks and spells as well as songs and music-making: you are much more gifted than most.
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