In the wake of Cynrain's departure, the remaining knights of Salisbury travel far and wide outside their county borders...and things get pretty weird.
Featuring:
Brendan
Renae
David S.
And...Edie the Dog
The campaign's wiki can be found here.
Yeah, super weird. Back to back to back fumbles, guys.
ReplyDeleteI have a weakness for genre mash-ups, and this episode went through at least 4 different genres in rapid succession, the realistic alternating with the fantastic. Excellent stuff.
ReplyDeleteBut once again our alleged heroes prove miserably unfair in their attitude to poor Sir Blains! That is, if they're sincere and not just stirring up trouble to suit their evil plans. Let's look at the facts from an unbiased (= Blellen fan) perspective.
Blains takes steps to build good working relationships with the next generation of Salisbury knights (in a world in which inherited vendettas are sadly frequent), and this is supposedly sinister.
Blains also organizes a joint Salisbury-Silchester mission in which the Salisbury knights have a chance to witness and experience the kind of petty humiliation at the hands of the Saxons with which their Silchester compatriots have had to deal.
Again, this is clearly a statesmanlike move aimed at getting Salisbury and Silchester to move past old rivalries, but do the Empty Goblet knights respond in the same generous spirit?
Meanwhile, what have the Empty Goblet faction been doing? As I commented last week, they've installed their leader as lord of a nearby county, in a strong position to exploit a crisis, if anything should anything happen to poor little Robert or his protector Sir Blains.
In keeping with that, now they forge a strategic alliance with another powerful lord outside the county. What's revealing about this is that, for all the anti-Silchester rhetoric, they cosy up to Clarence, which, unlike Silchester, is a proven aggressive expansionist that has attacked and subjugated one of its neighbors. Not only that, but they "bring back into the fold" the banneret Sir Hywel, who is hardly a poster child for loyalty to Ellen and Robert.
Birds of a feather flock together. You can tell a lot about the Empty Goblet faction's true intentions from their choice of associates.
You have some very valid comments. Unfortunately, Blains is still a giant douche. Our Hate: Blains passions and super high Suspicious traits make these things only too noticeable.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting the first session not only without Cynrain, but without any of the original four knights present. The torch is passing from one generation to the next, at least until that pesky "real life" that sometimes forces players away from the table is resolved. I hope Jen can come back soon, and that she also is just away on vacation causing people to over-react to her absence or something!
ReplyDeleteAlso I innately approve of any quest situation where the players stare blankly at the situation presented, collectively shrug their shoulders and move along, confident that this whole talking animal problem will just sort itself out. I mean intervening in fairy matters never results in anything good. Unless you like leaves. I don't. You might.
Also, based on a request FROM THE FUTURE here's what I looked like listening to Sir Blains's decision to brainwash a generation: http://tinyurl.com/BlainsApproval
Oh yes! Also as someone who does quite enjoy reading your Wiki, why do your players automatically reduce their Passion by 1 when they fail a roll, and then further lose another point to not go melancholy? According to the rules written on your wiki that are specifically italicised, you do not automatically lose a point, you only lose a point when you decide to not get melancholy. I refer to this page here: https://a-matter-of-britain.obsidianportal.com/wikis/failing-a-passion-roll
DeleteOh, nice find there. A good example of a house rule I ported over from my first run-through of the GPC that has since been modified--ironically, via player feedback.
DeleteThrough in-game experience, I've come to feel that dropping two points off a passion is a suitable price to pay in exchange for avoiding melancholy. I'm still sticking with the other bit about low passions not causing madness, though. :)