SR3 Knightly Tournaments by Louis “sirlou” Kahn

A Guide to & Combat for OSR Games plus SampleThree Combat Scenarios file Starry Press

1 Knightly Tournaments

by Louis “sirlou” Kahn

A Guide to Jousting & Tournament Combat for OSR Games plus Three Combat Scenarios

CREDITS OSRIC™ Open License: This product uses the OSRIC™ System (Oldschool System Reference and Index Compilation™). The OSRIC™ system text may be Author: Louis “sirlou” Kahn found at http://www.knights-n-knaves.com/osric. The OSRIC™ text is Artwork: Brian Joseph Baker, Blackie Carbon, Jeshields, copyright of Stuart Marshall. "OSRIC™" and "Oldschool System Reference Indi Martin, Lawrence van der Merwe, Daniel F. Walthall, and Index Compilation™" are trademarks of Stuart Marshall and Matthew and Louis “sirlou” Kahn Finch and may be used only in accordance with the OSRIC™ license. Cartographer: Louis “sirlou” Kahn Editing: Kerri Tarvin Play testers:SampleRobert Greigo, Troy Herrera and Manny Rosales file Thanks: Many thanks to my wife for supporting my writing and to Starry Knight Press the dearly departed Nigel Terry, who portrayed my ©2018 Louis Kahn favourite knight of all, Arthur Pendragon, so eloquently in starryknightpress.com the classic film of and “Excalibur”. TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. FOREWORD

FOREWORD 1

II. TOURNAMENT RULES

A. INTRODUCTION 1 B. JOUSTING TERMINOLOGY 1 C. TOURNAMENT RULES 3 D. EQUIPMENT AND MOUNTS 3 1. BARDING 5 E. COMBAT RULES 6 1. MOUNTED COMBAT 6 a. JOUSTING INITIATIVE 6 b. ATTACK / “TO HIT” ROLLS 7 c. JOUSTING DAMAGE 7 i. DAMAGE FROM CRASHES 9 2. COMBAT ON FOOT 9 F. TOURNAMENT REWARDS 10 1. EXPERIENCE POINTS 10 2. MONETARY REWARDS 10 3. OTHER REWARDS (OPTIONAL) 10

III. COMBAT SCENARIOS

A. INTRODUCTION 11 B. TESTING ONE’S METTLE: CHALLENGE À PLAISANCE 12 C. A TEST OF HONOUR: CHALLENGE À LA GUERRE 13 D. TO SAVE ESKARTORP: CHALLENGE À LA MÊLÉE 14

IV. NEW MAGIC ITEMS

NEW MAGIC ITEMS 16

V. LEGAL

LICENSES 17 ARTWORK ATTRIBUTION 17 Sample file

i I. Foreword II. Tournament Rules

“I love the swelling of pride I feel at the A. Introduction: While there have been references Invocation! The rush of excitement when I’m and game statistics given for lances, warhorses, barding, hitting a shield on the Tree of Shields. and other jousting-related items in various OSR rulebooks The pounding of my blood as my mount and over the years, most original Old School and modern OSR I rush forward, the tilt blurring in my vision. game handbooks do not provide rules on how to actually It’s all so grand! Well, all apart from the cry of conduct a knightly tournament. I found this oversight “Atteint!” and the landing hard on your arse surprising as depictions of medieval jousting and hand-to- on the hard packed earth of the list.” hand combat have always captured my imagination, - Sir Jeffries, Knight Errant and appear widely in modern theatrical visions of the medieval world. Thus, I set about to create a set of simple This guide focuses on setting forth rules for simulating rules to incorporate this exciting style of combat into my medieval tournament style mounted and mêlée combat campaign world, and I hope you enjoy them. for use with OSRIC and 1E compatible retro-clones. The pageantry and show of jousting and tournament combat B. Jousting Terminology: The world of jousting was is a grand spectacle GM’s may wish to add to their quite complex and involved many intricate and varying fantasy campaigns based on our historical past, and this rules, based on the locale of the tournament. I have guide aims to help you and your players integrate that attempted to provide a streamlined form for roleplaying style of combat into your game. Whether it is chivalrous purposes, but there are several jousting specific terms combat for sport or combat to the death, our goal is to that the GM and their players may wish to familiarize have you (the GM) and the brave knights of your themselves with in order to run a knightly tournament in campaign straight into the action with a rules light their campaign, which are listed below. approach to this style of combat. GM’s note: Like many terms in role-playing games, this I also include three different tournament scenarios, so glossary uses many words from the Earth’s own French your players will be strapped to a warhorse and language, as this was the predominant courtly language hammering down a list at their opponent or charging into during medieval times in Europe. The author a tournament mêlée in little to no time! acknowledges this may be inappropriate and/or anachronistic for your campaign, in which case the GM is Once you’ve completed reading and enjoying this encouraged to freely modify and replace these terms as supplement, the fun doesn’t stop there! Peruse my store needed for their own campaign. (starryknightpress.com) to find other exciting offerings I have for you and your players! I look forward to providing Atteint: this was a term used to designate a hit had been you further adventures in the days to come, and thank scored in a joust. you for your custom on behalf of Starry Knight Press. Berfrois, scaffold or escafaut: a grandstand which was Louis “sirlou” Kahn built above the level of the lists, which was generally April 2018 reserved for noble spectators of the tournament.

Challenge: when a combatant calls another out to combat. A challenge could be “à plaisance”, meaning a friendly sporting match; or it could be “à la guerre”, meaning it was a warlike match, which may be fought to first blood, to an honourable yielding, or to the death. However, in most good-aligned nations, challenges “to the death” are not allowed in tournaments and intentionally slaying an opponent will subject the perpetrator to the full force of the nation’s justice system, Samplewith honour demanding theirfile immediate capture.

1 While underground “death matches” might occur in such This varies per tournament at the GM’s discretion, with lands, anyone involved will be severely punished. higher entry fees creating a greater purse for the victors. However, tournaments with battles “to the death” might Generally this will range from as little as 1gp, for a be common occurrences and/or even sanctioned in tournament with a purse of 50gp, up to any maximum neutral or evil-aligned nations. Consider the gladiatorial amount the GM wishes (perhaps 1,000gp for tournaments combat that was so popular during the time of the involving exotic mounts with high level combatants). ancient Roman Empire here on Earth. This is an unsavory option, though, and it is solely at the GM’s discretion Pas d’Armes or Passage of Arms: a jousting and martial whether he or she will allow it. tournament, conducted “à plaisance” where knights met to test their mettle in a pleasant and chivalrous Coup de Grace: a killing stroke a combatant gives to a environment. mortally wounded opponent in a challenge à la guerre”. Pavilion: these are the round, brightly coloured and often Invocation: this was a ceremony performed at the striped tents which housed the knights, their retainers and beginning of a tournament. others at the tournament. Should a player wish to purchase their own pavilion, they cost 25gp, weigh Joust à plaisance: an elimination event in which jousting 40 pounds, and are roughly 10’ in diameter. contests were held over several days, with an eventual winner determined on overall points. Recess: this is the rest area where a combatant and their mounts and retainers could stay without fear of assault, even in a challenge à la guerre.

Tenans: this is the name given to the defenders in a pas d’armes. Lance: the primary weapon used in a joust. The standard tournament lance weighs 10 pounds. In tournaments Tilt: this was the barrier placed between combatants, most lances are tipped with a three-pronged metal cap believed to be introduced in the 14th century. The tilt that makes it easier to catch on an opponent’s shield helped to avoid head on collisions and provided greater and less likely to cause physical harm, doing only 1 point safety for rider and mount. Jousts conducted without a tilt of actual damage to an opponent upon a successful are performed at a greater risk to the knight and their strike, with the remainder of the damage counted as mount, and each combatant must make a successful subdual damage. A war lance is more deadly as it is ability check to avoid a crash (See Jousting Combat heavier, weighing 15 pounds, and more dangerous, and Rules, below). has a pointed steel cap meant to pierce armor and cause injury. The damage for a war lance is 2d4+1 (S/M) Tree of Shields: tournaments would place brightly and 3d6 (L). This damage is doubled if the wielder is riding coloured shields (known as a knight’s “arms”) depicting a heavy warhorse (See Equipment, below). All lances the contestants at the tournament, and then knights range in length from approximately 10’ to 15’. would choose their competitor by hitting the appropriate shield. Players wishing to enter a tournament should Lists: these barriers set the limits of a battlefield in a provide the GM with their personal arms. tournament. If a combatant ends up outside the lists during combat they may be disqualified. Venans: this is the name given to the challengers in a pas d’armes. Mêlée: a mêlée was, as the word implies, a “free for all” combat among teams of combatants, often focused on specific weapons, with all combatants limited to fighting with an axe, sword, hammer and so on. Nail Money:Samplethis was money paid to a tournament’s file organizers for the tourney’s herald to affix the knight’s colours to the Tree of Shields.

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