Can’t think of the song now, without seeing in my head, the scene in ‘A Knight’s Tale’, where the jousters are coming into London. Which marries in nicely with my theme, which is the continuation of the Pendragon campaign. As those of you who regularly cast an eye at these blogs know, you’ll find I occasionally blather about a campaign (role-playing), using a variation of Pendragon rules, taking a group of saxon peasants through the Third Crusade.
So, with the New Year looming, and my next piece in preparation, here’s where, how and why it’s going. The Third Crusade is well researched, and my guys have all done stuff that really happened. It was a bit ‘Boys Own Adventures’ but I imagine the lot of a peasant soldier to be pretty dull. So, they attached themselves to a group of professional soldiers, Gascons, favourites of Richard, and thus managed to take part in most of the assaults. Ok, they annoyed their English (Norman) lord, but I reckon he died out there. Unfortunately, they also really annoyed his chief sergeant, a Norman man-at -arms.
So, laden with the good wishes of their King, and some degree of booty, our heroes will start the next session as their ship comes into London. Hence the title, and earlier rambling. The problem is, the sergeant has been home for a few months now, and may have been wreaking his revenge (don’t want too many spoilers for our lads). So should this nasty man, say, have taken a job as tax-collector for the newly created Sheriff of Nottingham, would this mean our heroes may be roughing it in Sherwood Forest? Outlaws and wanted men?
The good thing for me and my players is history now is only in the background. Pretty much all the NPCs will be made-up, as will most of the events. I did wonder if I should create a Robin Hood, as an NPC, to direct stuff, but decided against it. I’ll maybe give them supporting characters, perhaps a chunky clergyman, but they will live or die by their own efforts.
As Richard is currently missing, hoped dead (that part of history we’ll keep), they have no friends in high places. They know the area, and have familes all over the place. Or had. The Middle Ages were tough on poor peasants, even without our lads’ help in irritating important people. And the new Sheriff, he wants to raise as much money as he can. His reeves will be brutes, and law-breakers will be harshly dealt with. Basically hung.
This will be interesting for me, and you lot will probably find out the results. Will our heroes fight a guerilla warfare from the woods, and eventually bring justice? Or will they squabble, be ineffectual, and die horribly? No wagers accepted…
TheBattlehammer 