Arthurian Adventures Introduction Welcome to the Sixth Century that never was. This is northern Britain as recorded by the bards, the skalds and the troubadours, a world both familiar and unreal. As the Gothic invaders began sacking the heart of the Roman Empire, Rome pulled her legions out of Britain, leaving her defenseless against her own barbarian hordes, the Scots and the Picts. King Vortigern, needing help against them, invoked celesine (a sort of military alliance) with the Sea Wolves, specifically the Angles, Saxons and Jutes of the north of what would one day be Germany. This proved disastrous. As the northmen gained ground against the Scots and Picts, they held it instead of turning it over to the Britons and then invited more and more of their kin. The Britons found themselves facing a foe worse than the one the Sea Wolves were recruited to stop. For four generations, the Britons fought a losing struggle against the Anglo-Saxon invaders. Then, out of the blood, emerged a giant: King Arthur. Conceived through the lust of his father, Uther Pendragon (with the aid of the great wizard Merlin), Arthur pulled the sword from the stone, fulfilling the prophecy of the coming of a mighty king. In 12 battles, he first deposed the usurper King Huail ap Caw and, in the first five battles, united the petty kings under his banner. The Duke of Battles then led the war against the Anglo- Saxons, finally defeating them at Badon Hill, killing 960 of the invaders all by himself! This brought a peace toSample the realm unknown file for decades. During this peace, he gathered the greatest warriors in the British Isles to his Round Table and they kept the peace, righted wrongs and sought adventure throughout Arthur’s long reign. Arthur’s 12 battles were: • 1) The River Glein (River Glen, Northumberland, England) • 2-5) The River Dubglas (The River Douglas, Lennox, Scotland) • 6) The River Bassas (Bass Rock, the Firth of Forth, Scotland) • 7) Cat Coit Celidon (Caledonian Forest, Scotland) • 8) Fort Guinnon [White Fort] (Wedale, Scotland) • 9) The City of Legion (York, England) • 10) Tirbuit (Mouth of the River Avon, Bo’ness, Scotland) • 11) Agned (Edinburgh, Scotland) • 12) Mons Badonicus [Badon Hill] (Bowden Hill, Linlithgow, Scotland) • Camlann [Arthur’s Death] (Camboglanna, Fort on Hadrian’s Wall, Cumbria, [Rheged], England [on the Scottish border]) Playing in This Milieu The legendary world of King Arthur is ideally suited to fantasy role playing games. The Arthurian romances served as fantasy literature long before Robert E. Howard, J.R.R. Tokein and C.S. Lewis took the genre out of the “real” world and put it in their own constructs. Players will need to tailor the adventuring slightly, though, so as not to kill the “flavor” of an Arthurian campaign. Races The world of King Arthur is heavily weighted to human player characters. Elves are the “fair folk.” They are the great, immortal race the humans defeated and drove away into the forests and “fairy mounds” of the land, or to Otherwhere, from whence they came. The Irish and Scots call them the “daoine sidhe.” Their command of magic is inherent and nearly godlike (or so it is said) and they have advantage on saving throws versus magic. Elvish children have a random cantrip. All full-grown elves are Sorcerers (owing to their inherent, natural ability to channel magic and without the wild penalties) and advance automatically in level with every level they advance in other classes. Upon reaching maximum level in the other class (typically Ranger), they earn double experience points as a Sorcerer. But for all their power, iron is poisonous to them, which is why the steel-wielding humans so many millennia ago won. Opponents attacking them with iron or steel weapons have advantage and elves wearing or bearing anything containing iron have disadvantage on all rolls. Their own weapons and armor are made of the mystical silver-based alloy, mithril, and are typically enchanted. Arthur’s sword, Excalibur, is such a weapon, a gift of Nimue, the Lady of the Lake, and herself likely of considerable fey blood. Elves in this setting are less distinguishableSample from humans, file their slanted eyebrows and earpoints being far less pronounced than in most RPG worlds. Their ways are inscrutable to humans, so for alignment purposes, we can call them “neutral” in general. The Trow (or Drow), however, are malevolent to their very core. Because of the nature of the elves in this world, elvish player characters simply wouldn’t work. DMs using sidhe NPCs can apply the above modifications to the “Elf” description in the Player’s Handbook. Half-elves can be permitted in small doses, provided the player comes up with a really good backstory to explain it and understands that they, too, will be “allergic” to iron, suffering the same penalties as elves. Elves come and go from Otherwhere at will. Humans stumble on it by accident. Half-elves have a DC of “Easy” to notice a nearby Otherwhere gateway (if it exists). Due to their fey blood, half-elves gain one random Sorcerer cantrip per three levels and have advantage against saves against magic. The race is otherwise as described in the Players Handbook. Dwarves are a little different from their typical fantasy counterparts. In the old legends, they are typically servants to some powerful magical being, such as Morgan Le Fay, and are ugly, misshapen and surly. Player characters should knock off an extra point of charisma to be an Arthurian dwarf. Far from being poisoned by iron, the dwarves are unparalleled masters in crafting with it, making steel weapons and arms unmatched by any human artisan and one big reason for the great enmity between them and the “fair folk.” (The servitude of the Dwarves is likely another.) Although they are from Otherwhere originally, because of their inherent nonmagical nature, dwarves have no better chance than humans of finding a path into Otherwhere. Dwarves otherwise do not differ from their description in the Players Handbook. Gnomes, halflings, half-orcs and dragonborn do not appear in the Arthurian tales. Tieflings do, after a fashion, but for much the same reason as elves, they are unworkable as player characters; DMs, though, please have at it for an interesting non-player character. Classes Most classes are available and any background suitable to a western European setting will be considered. Some fit especially well into the setting, though. Fighter – When all is said and done, it’s about the fighters, isn’t it? The stories are ultimately about Arthur and his knights, and “knight” means “fighter.” Rangers and Paladins fit right in (Arthur and Galahad are both Paladins and Launcelot was before he shagged Guinevere). Recommended archtype for the Fighter is the Champion, for obvious reasons. Any Paladin oath is appropriate but Rangers should stick with the Hunter archtype (Beast Master doesn’t really fit this milieu). Any non-Asian background could be considered, although Nobleman and Folk Hero (think Percival!) are particularly appropriate. The Sailor background is also appropriate. Sample file Barbarian – Appropriate for characters playing Anglo-Saxon or Pictish characters. If chosen, remember that you will not be particularly welcome in British areas. Rogue – Really, have at it. Cleric – And Druid The official religion of the British realms, over which Arthur is head, is the Celtic Christian Church. It and its priesthood will be described later. Any non-Asian backgrounds will be considered; Hermit and Sailor work especially well. Druids still exist on the fringes of Arthur’s kingdom. Wizard – Where would the old legends be without Merlin, Morgan Le Fay or the Lady of the Lake? Wizards fit right in but are shrouded in much more mystery and awe than in a “traditional” fantasy campaign. No school is barred, but the legends have an emphasis on Illusionists, Enchanters and Diviners. There are no magic shops (other than crones dealing in petty potions and talismans) and magic items and scrolls will be hard to find. Expect the weak to hold you in fear and awe and the strong to regard you with a mixture of respect and mistrust. Any non-Asian background is worth considering. Warlock – Medieval Europe is rife with tales of those who sold their souls for power and knowledge. Have fun. Sorcerer – The old tales do not have those who wield magic innately but later Arthurian literature does, so let’s include them. We’ll skip the draconic and go with the “wild” description and attribute it to fey ancestry. Bard – If not for the Bards and their late-medieval successors, the Troubadours, we wouldn’t even have the stories of Arthur. Arthur even had a Bard of his own, Dinadan, whom he sent to King Mark to satirize him. The Bard is most welcome in the world of King Arthur. Bards will use the College of Oghma I will present later. Monks are not appropriate for an Arthurian campaign. The World Alt Clud (Logres) – Contrary to assertions in many of the old legends and books, Arthur was not “king of all England.” England did not even exist at the time. An analysis of Arthur’s 12 battles puts 10 of them in what is now southern Scotland with another two in northern England. This makes Arthur a Strathclyde Briton or, more accurately, a king of Alt Clud (later Strathclyde and, later still, Lanarkshire, Galloway and Ayrshire). His capital is at Dumbarton, at the mouth of the Clyde River, and his castle, Camelot, is built upon the great rock after which the country is named (in the modern era called Dumbarton Rock).