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KingArthur

KingArthur


My reasons are mine own.

I have been planning a D&D 5E campaign of episodic journeying through wilderness roads to the sea and then onward to Camelot, with the players joining to roleplay famous characters like Galahad and Mordred and Morgana le Fay, or obscure characters such as the werewolves and half-giants that became knights of the Round Table according to various medieval records and traditions, or invent an original character that somehow has been omitted from history and legend or even worse was remembered by bards and minstrels only as a bad tipper.

4th level emphasizing mounted combat & magic in conflicts, with fights to the death possible but more likely until either side yields and surrenders. Adventure, romance, mercy, redemption, betrayal, enchantment. Centuries of lore that rarely fails to contradict itself but remains iconic. The map is based entirely on real world geography but there are additionally invisible extraplanar castles and time-distorting quasi-real lakes and weird unmappable islands, often by inhabited by faeries and by magicians otherwise.

Set in the high summer some months after Merlin disappeared, the quest for the grail has not yet been formally announced though there are many reports of visions, a questing beast rampages across the lands, and the dragons and giants that had retreated from Camelot at the height of its glory have already begun to return.

Party would all ride horseback with wealth befitting aristocrats and beware attacks by adversaries and monsters. Twas apparently most fashionable in those days to travel in small groups without guards or minions because self-defense is more courageous.

KingArthur

KingArthur


My reasons are mine own.

I have been planning a D&D 5E campaign of episodic journeying through wilderness roads to the sea and then onward to Camelot, with the players joining to roleplay famous characters like Galahad and Mordred and Morgana le Fay, or obscure characters such as the werewolves and half-giants that became knights of the Round Table according to various medieval records and traditions, or invent an original character that somehow has been omitted from history and legend or even worse was remembered by bards and minstrels only as a bad tipper.

4th level emphasizing mounted combat & magic in conflicts, with fights to the death possible but more likely until either side yields and surrenders. Adventure, romance, mercy, redemption, betrayal, enchantment. Centuries of lore that rarely fails to contradict itself but remains iconic. The map is based entirely on real world geography but there are additionally invisible extraplanar castles and time-distorting quasi-real lakes and weird unmappable islands, often by inhabited by faeries and by magicians otherwise.

Set in the high summer some months after Merlin disappeared, the quest for the grail has not yet been formally announced though there are many reports of visions, a questing beast rampages across the lands, and the dragons and giants that had retreated from Camelot at the height of its glory have already begun to return.

Party would all ride horseback with wealth befitting aristocrats and beware attacks by adversaries and monsters. Twas apparently most fashionable in those days to travel in small groups without guards or minions because self-defense is more courageous.

EDIT: Here is some of the stuff I wrote so far that I may refine later in 2024, so let me know if it is any good or needs improvement; constructive criticism is always something I strive to recognize and utilize in any endeavor. If you like it I have more to share. I have already accepted that any players are inevitably going to ignore all of this and immediately ask me how high their scores are allowed be or possibly question why this is game level four when it should obviously be some different level.

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.

 

  • Knights of the Round Table also receive one set of barding: half-plate, hide, or studded leather, plus a caparison of colorful cloth.

 

  • 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.

 

  • A Lady of the Lake has amphibious steeds: ordinary in all ways except perhaps for an unusual color, and they are able to breathe both air and water.

 

  • 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.

Three-Score-And-Ten Examples of Names of Horses

Use this list at your option as inspiration, or perhaps make up a story of how you gained your steed from another through a tournament victory, gift or loan, plunder, etcetera.

  1. Aiyla, a white mare, beautiful and brave, that King Arthur rode.
  2. Arondiel, also called Ariondele, a plow-horse that the humble Round Table knight Sir Fergus of the Fair Shield rode into battle versus a Scottish giant.
  3. Aubagu, another steed that King Arthur rode.
  4. Auferrante, also called Iron-shod, one of the steeds that the Round Table knight Sir Tristan rode.
  5. Bastard, another steed that the Round Table knight Sir Tristan rode, strong enough to run even bearing two armored knights.
  6. Baucent, a warhorse treasured above all treasures by Duke Guillaume of Orange, a cousin of King Charlemagne of Frankia.
  7. Bayard, a magical talking bay-colored horse.
  8. Beast
  9. Bel Joeor, the best steed that the Round Table knight Sir Tristan ever rode, strong enough to run even bearing two armored knights.
  10. Beric, also called Berring, a snow-white stallion that the Round Table knight Sir Lancelot of the Lake rode.
  11. Bucheslom
  12. Black
  13. Blanchard, a magnificent steed that the faery princess Tryamor gifted unto her beloved Round Table knight Sir Lanval.
  14. Brunfort, a beautiful black stallion Morgana Le Fay sometimes offers to loan to a favored adventuring Round Table knight, such as Sir Floriant of Sicily, or Sir Tristan of Lyonesse.
  15. Caliburn, a black charger named after a magic sword of King Arthur.
  16. Chestnut Long-Neck, a lively steed in the stables of the Round Table knight Sir Kay the Seneschal.
  17. Cloven Hoof, a steed plundered by the Round Table knight Sir Yvain the Lion Cavaliere.
  18. Cornan, a steed that the Round Table knight Sir Percival Long-Spear rode.
  19. Corvan
  20. Drwgddyddwg, also called Evil-Bringer
  21. Du
  22. Dun-Grey, a pack horse.
  23. Fauviel, a steed stolen from the Round Table knight Sir Gawain by Lord Gaudiones, then acquired by Lord Bauduins.
  24. Favelhand, also called Sorrel-Hand, a steed that the Round Table knight Sir Ironsides rode.
  25. Fawnell, a Frisian warhorse that the Round Table knight Sir Florent of France rode.
  26. Ferrant
  27. Fetlock, also called Grey Fetlock
  28. Grey
  29. Gringolet, also called Kincaled, a famously strong white charger with red ears, reared at the Grail Castle, often ridden by the Round Table knight Sir Gawain but also frequently loaned by him to kin or fellow knights.
  30. Grissel, a steed that Sir Gawain of the Round Table rode in a joust versus Sir Galleron of the Round Table that nearly slew this horse.
  31. Guilodien, another steed that the Round Table knight Sir Gawain rode.
  32. Gulistardo, the first warhorse that the Round Table knight Sir Tristan rode.
  33. Guverjorz, a Castillian warhorse offered by King Grigorz of Ipotente.
  34. Gwinam Goddwf Hir, another steed in the stable of the Round Table knight Sir Kay the Seneschal.
  35. Gwyn Dun Mane, also called Drudwyn, a courser once obtained by King Arthur for Mabon the Enchanter to ride.
  36. Heith
  37. Hengreon, a stallion that King Arthur rode.
  38. Huge Yellow
  39. Hwyrddyddwg
  40. Inglariant Short-Ears, a magnificent warhorse of the Grail Castle that strayed on the battlefield away from the Round Table knight Sir Gawain but was found by the Round Table knight Sir Percival.
  41. Little Piebald, a tame and docile palfrey with one white cheek and one black and a line greener than a vine separating the white and black sides, exceptionally capable of learning many clever tricks.
  42. Llamrei, a courser that King Arthur rode and sometimes lent to other heroes on hunts or quests, a mare strong enough to bear four men upon her back.
  43. Lluagor, also called Host-Splitter, a mare that the Round Table knight Sir Carados Strong-Arm rode.
  44. Llwyrddyddwg
  45. Long-Tongue, plundered by the frivolous bard Cadwallawn.
  46. Lyre, a steed that the Round Table knight Sir Palamedes the Saracen rode.
  47. Marchepierre, a steed offered by Merovingian King Faramond of the Salian Franks.
  48. Meinlas, also called Slender Grey
  49. Milan, a palfrey that page and bard Tom Malory rode.
  50. Morel, a black charger that the Round Table knight Sir Sagramore the Impetuous rode.
  51. Moro, a black stallion strong enough to swim bearing a burden of seven and a half people upon his back.
  52. Pale White, Lively Black, possibly a fiendish steed.
  53. Pale Yellow
  54. Papillon, a steed the paladin seafarer Ogier the Dane rode while serving Charlemagne and while serving Morgana.
  55. Passebruel, a fine charger, the favorite steed that the Round Table knight Sir Tristan rode, coveted by Duke Mark of Cornwall.
  56. Passelande, another steed that King Arthur rode.
  57. Pegasus, named after a mythical winged horse.
  58. Piantagiorno, a white warhorse that the Round Table knight Sir Tristan rode.
  59. Red Wolf Tred
  60. Roan Cloven-Hoof, a deerlike horse that Saint Ceiddio rode.
  61. Rudvreon Tuthvleid, also called Ruthir Ehon Tuth Bleit
  62. Silver White, Proud and Fair
  63. Sorry Nag
  64. Spotted Dun, a steed that the frivolous bard Rahawd rode.
  65. Spumador, also called Seafoam, another steed that King Arthur rode.
  66. Swift Roan
  67. Tall Black-Tinted
  68. Tawny
  69. Tencendur, also called Strife, a warhorse that King Charlemagne of Frankia rode.
  70. Veillantif, also called Brigliadoro, a foal in the care of the childe Roland, who is a page in the court of King Charlemagne of Frankia.

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 Sword (Like those claimed by Sir Bors the Exile, Sir Galahad, Sir Gawain, Sir Mordred, Sir Percival, Sir Tristan, the Grail Templar Eliazar, as well as 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.)

  • Characters able to craft magic items may choose additional treasures they could create, one common plus one uncommon.

 

  • 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.

 

  • 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.

 

  • No familiars at the start of play, but such creatures may be summoned later.

Colorful Shields & Shining Armor (or none). 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. Behold! 

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 the 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 other 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 Ranger, or Bardic Minstrel.

I request a specific party configuration of classes and archetypes. 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 Corbenic: 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 multiclass.

Green Guard: a squire, ranger, ovate, emissary, 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 like they do. A sojourner from Faerie instead may opt for antlered horses without special abilities, though might have ridden in a Wild Hunt. 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 also 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.

 

KingArthur

KingArthur


My reasons are mine own.

I have been planning a D&D 5E campaign of episodic journeying through wilderness roads to the sea and then onward to Camelot, with the players joining to roleplay famous characters like Galahad and Mordred and Morgana le Fay, or obscure characters such as the werewolves and half-giants that became knights of the Round Table according to various medieval records and traditions, or invent an original character that somehow has been omitted from history and legend or even worse was remembered by bards and minstrels only as a bad tipper.

4th level emphasizing mounted combat & magic in conflicts, with fights to the death possible but more likely until either side yields and surrenders. Adventure, romance, mercy, redemption, betrayal, enchantment. Centuries of lore that rarely fails to contradict itself but remains iconic. The map is based entirely on real world geography but there are additionally invisible extraplanar castles and time-distorting quasi-real lakes and weird unmappable islands, often by inhabited by faeries and by magicians otherwise.

Set in the high summer some months after Merlin disappeared, the quest for the grail has not yet been formally announced though there are many reports of visions, a questing beast rampages across the lands, and the dragons and giants that had retreated from Camelot at the height of its glory have already begun to return.

Party would all ride horseback with wealth befitting aristocrats and beware attacks by adversaries and monsters. Twas apparently most fashionable in those days to travel in small groups without guards or minions because self-defense is more courageous.

EDIT: Here is some of the stuff I wrote so far that I may refine later in 2024, so let me know if it is any good or needs improvement; constructive criticism is always something I strive to recognize and utilize in any endeavor. If you like it I have more to share. I have already accepted that any players are inevitably going to ignore all of this and immediately ask me how high their scores are allowed be or possibly question why this is game level four when it should obviously be some different level.

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.

 

  • Knights of the Round Table also receive one set of barding: half-plate, hide, or studded leather, plus a caparison of colorful cloth.

 

  • 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.

 

  • A Lady of the Lake has amphibious steeds: ordinary in all ways except perhaps for an unusual color, and they are able to breathe both air and water.

 

  • 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 Sword (Like those claimed by Sir Bors the Exile, Sir Galahad, Sir Gawain, Sir Mordred, Sir Percival, Sir Tristan, the Grail Templar Eliazar, as well as 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.)

  • Characters able to craft magic items may choose additional treasures they could create, one common plus one uncommon.

 

  • 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.

 

  • 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.

 

  • No familiars at the start of play, but such creatures may be summoned later.

Colorful Shields & Shining Armor (or none). 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. Behold! 

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 the 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 other 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 Ranger, or Bardic Minstrel.

I request a specific party configuration of classes and archetypes. 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 Corbenic: 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 multiclass.

Green Guard: a squire, ranger, ovate, emissary, 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 like they do. A sojourner from Faerie instead may opt for antlered horses without special abilities, though might have ridden in a Wild Hunt. 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 also 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.

 

KingArthur

KingArthur


My reason is to include an important word: "is"

I have been planning a D&D 5E campaign of episodic journeying through wilderness roads to the sea and then onward to Camelot, with the players joining to roleplay famous characters like Galahad and Mordred and Morgana le Fay, or obscure characters such as the werewolves and half-giants that became knights of the Round Table according to various medieval records and traditions, or invent an original character that somehow has been omitted from history and legend or even worse was remembered by bards and minstrels only as a bad tipper.

4th level emphasizing mounted combat & magic in conflicts, with fights to the death possible but more likely until either side yields and surrenders. Adventure, romance, mercy, redemption, betrayal, enchantment. Centuries of lore that rarely fails to contradict itself but remains iconic. The map is based entirely on real world geography but there are additionally invisible extraplanar castles and time-distorting quasi-real lakes and weird unmappable islands, often by inhabited by faeries and by magicians otherwise.

Set in the high summer some months after Merlin disappeared, the quest for the grail has not yet been formally announced though there are many reports of visions, a questing beast rampages across the lands, and the dragons and giants that had retreated from Camelot at the height of its glory have already begun to return.

Party would all ride horseback with wealth befitting aristocrats and beware attacks by adversaries and monsters. Twas apparently most fashionable in those days to travel in small groups without guards or minions because self-defense is more courageous.

EDIT: Here is some of the stuff I wrote so far that I may refine later in 2024, so let me know if it is any good or needs improvement; constructive criticism is always something I strive to recognize and utilize in any endeavor. If you like it I have more to share. I have already accepted that any players are inevitably going to ignore all of this and immediately ask me how high their scores are allowed be or possibly question why this is game level four when it should obviously be some different level.

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.

 

  • Knights of the Round Table also receive one set of barding: half-plate, hide, or studded leather, plus a caparison of colorful cloth.

 

  • 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.

 

  • A Lady of the Lake has amphibious steeds: ordinary in all ways except perhaps for an unusual color, and they are able to breathe both air and water.

 

  • 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 Sword (Like those claimed by Sir Bors the Exile, Sir Galahad, Sir Gawain, Sir Mordred, Sir Percival, Sir Tristan, the Grail Templar Eliazar, as well as 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.)

  • Characters able to craft magic items may choose additional treasures they could create, one common plus one uncommon.

 

  • 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.

 

  • 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.

 

  • No familiars at the start of play, but such creatures may be summoned later.

Colorful Shields & Shining Armor (or none). 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. Behold! 

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 the 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 other 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 Ranger, or Bardic Minstrel.

I request a specific party configuration of classes and archetypes. 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 Corbenic: 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 multiclass.

Green Guard: a squire, ranger, ovate, emissary, 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 like they do. A sojourner from Faerie instead may opt for antlered horses without special abilities, though might have ridden in a Wild Hunt. 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 also 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.

 

KingArthur

KingArthur

I have been planning a D&D 5E campaign of episodic journeying through wilderness roads to the sea and then onward to Camelot, with the players joining to roleplay famous characters like Galahad and Mordred and Morgana le Fay, or obscure characters such as the werewolves and half-giants that became knights of the Round Table according to various medieval records and traditions, or invent an original character that somehow has been omitted from history and legend or even worse was remembered by bards and minstrels only as a bad tipper.

4th level emphasizing mounted combat & magic in conflicts, with fights to the death possible but more likely until either side yields and surrenders. Adventure, romance, mercy, redemption, betrayal, enchantment. Centuries of lore that rarely fails to contradict itself but remains iconic. The map is based entirely on real world geography but there are additionally invisible extraplanar castles and time-distorting quasi-real lakes and weird unmappable islands, often by inhabited by faeries and by magicians otherwise.

Set in the high summer some months after Merlin disappeared, the quest for the grail has not yet been formally announced though there are many reports of visions, a questing beast rampages across the lands, and the dragons and giants that had retreated from Camelot at the height of its glory have already begun to return.

Party would all ride horseback with wealth befitting aristocrats and beware attacks by adversaries and monsters. Twas apparently most fashionable in those days to travel in small groups without guards or minions because self-defense is more courageous.

EDIT: Here is some of the stuff I wrote so far that I may refine later in 2024, so let me know if it is any good or needs improvement; constructive criticism is always something I strive to recognize and utilize in any endeavor. If you like it I have more to share. I have already accepted that any players are inevitably going to ignore all of this and immediately ask me how high their scores are allowed be or possibly question why this game level four when it should obviously be some different level.

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.

 

  • Knights of the Round Table also receive one set of barding: half-plate, hide, or studded leather, plus a caparison of colorful cloth.

 

  • 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.

 

  • A Lady of the Lake has amphibious steeds: ordinary in all ways except perhaps for an unusual color, and they are able to breathe both air and water.

 

  • 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 Sword (Like those claimed by Sir Bors the Exile, Sir Galahad, Sir Gawain, Sir Mordred, Sir Percival, Sir Tristan, the Grail Templar Eliazar, as well as 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.)

  • Characters able to craft magic items may choose additional treasures they could create, one common plus one uncommon.

 

  • 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.

 

  • 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.

 

  • No familiars at the start of play, but such creatures may be summoned later.

Colorful Shields & Shining Armor (or none). 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. Behold! 

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 the 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 other 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 Ranger, or Bardic Minstrel.

I request a specific party configuration of classes and archetypes. 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 Corbenic: 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 multiclass.

Green Guard: a squire, ranger, ovate, emissary, 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 like they do. A sojourner from Faerie instead may opt for antlered horses without special abilities, though might have ridden in a Wild Hunt. 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 also 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.

 

KingArthur

KingArthur

I have been planning a D&D 5E campaign of episodic journeying through wilderness roads to the sea and then onward to Camelot, with the players joining to roleplay famous characters like Galahad and Mordred and Morgana le Fay, or obscure characters such as the werewolves and half-giants that became knights of the Round Table according to various medieval records and traditions, or invent an original character that somehow has been omitted from history and legend or even worse was remembered by bards and minstrels only as a bad tipper.

4th level emphasizing mounted combat & magic in conflicts, with fights to the death possible but more likely until either side yields and surrenders. Adventure, romance, mercy, redemption, betrayal, enchantment. Centuries of lore that rarely fails to contradict itself but remains iconic. The map is based entirely on real world geography but there are additionally invisible extraplanar castles and time-distorting quasi-real lakes and weird unmappable islands, often by inhabited by faeries and by magicians otherwise.

Set in the high summer some months after Merlin disappeared, the quest for the grail has not yet been formally announced though there are many reports of visions, a questing beast rampages across the lands, and the dragons and giants that had retreated from Camelot at the height of its glory have already begun to return.

Party would all ride horseback with wealth befitting aristocrats and beware attacks by adversaries and monsters. Twas apparently most fashionable in those days to travel in small groups without guards or minions because self-defense is more courageous.

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