[Solo GPC] 527: White Horse Vales

Here's an adventure I've been looking forward to running not just since the inception of the GPC but basically since I first bought the Pendragon 4th Edition rulebook. Included in that tome (oddly in two versions, one short and one long) is a scenario called the "Adventure of the White Horse". Ever since it became evident that we'd most likely be starting with Loholt as a squire or very young knight, I've been planning on running this adventure for him. Truth be told, it's the whole reason I had him squired at Uffington (the fact it made narrative sense for him to be sent to study under the father of Countess Katherine was only icing on the cake).

So after all those years of anticipation, how did it measure up? Read on...

On the rich variety of Old School play

The important thing to take from this section isn’t the four styles [Power-Gaming, Wargaming, Story-Telling, Role-Playing] or their labels (as there are other systems for describing this with their own labels), but the idea that there were many different styles of “old school” play back in the “old school” days – not just the single style stressed in some “old school” blogs, forums, and web sites. Don’t let those sites make you believe that you aren’t playing old school right if your campaign isn’t strongly in the wargaming camp. Most successful campaigns back in “old school” days were a mixture of all four major styles – and a heaping helping of minor styles.

The above quote was taken from an excellent post on the Retro Roleplaying blog. Taking Matt Finch's justifiably well-known "Old School Primer" as its starting point, the post rightly points out that a variety of play styles appeared in the hobby as soon as it grew beyond its wargaming roots.

If there's one sin the OSR community has been largely guilty of, it's in its emphasis on player skill, high character mortality, and hex-and-dungeon-crawl-driven play - what the Retro Roleplaying article calls the Wargaming approach. I understand that this emphasis rightly grew from (a) an attempt to go back to the earliest roots of the hobby (when the Wargaming style was all there was) and (b) a reaction against the excesses of railroady "adventure paths" that have come to dominate the hobby, but it's still nice to see someone acknowledge that the roots of "story games" and character-driven roleplaying are nearly as old (and just as "legit") as save or die poison traps and character funnels.

Pic unrelated.

[Solo GPC] 526: A Squire's Life

For this first installment in the new phase of the campaign, I decided to cheat a little bit. There's a little introductory scenario that comes in the back of the Pendragon core rulebook; I think everyone who's played Pendragon is familiar with it. I've run it before (although not for Des) and she's run it for me (twice, in fact!). Yet, because the GPC starts out (way back in 485) with a different intro scenario, the adventure had so far not featured in this particular campaign. I felt this was a shame, as it's such an iconic Pendragon experience. I asked Des if she'd mind playing through the adventure since she'd only experienced it from a GM's perspective. She had no problem with this, and so we faded in on the Vale of the White Horse on a breezy early summer morn...

The arms of Baron Uffington

[Solo GPC] Loholt, Squire of the White Horse

We're a couple sessions into the new year of Pendragon gaming with Des's new character, Loholt. As mentioned before, with Meleri's premature retirement we decided to roll with the changes and bring in Arthur's illegitimate son (via Meleri) while he's still a squire. The first two years of Loholt's squireship have been full of fun teenage drama and unexpected twists and he's well on the path to knighthood. Here are his stats (after two years of play) at the beginning of what will hopefully prove an illustrious career befitting the son of a king and queen!

Loholt
Personal Data
Age: 16
Son Number: 1
Homeland: Carlion
Culture: Roman
Religion: Roman Christian
Liege Lord: Earl Robert of Salisbury
Current Class: Squire
Current Home: Uffington

Statistics
SIZ 12
DEX 16
STR 10
CON 12
APP 15

Damage 4d6
Healing Rate 3
Move Rate 2
Distinctive Features: Red Hair; Piercing Gaze
Hit Points 24
Unconscious 6

Family Characteristic: Keen on Status

Personality Traits
Chaste/Lustful 17/3; Energetic/Lazy 10/10; Forgiving/Vengeful 14/6; Generous/Selfish 10/10; Honest/Deceitful 8/12; Just/Arbitrary 10/10; Merciful/Cruel 15/5; Modest/Proud 12/8; Pious/Worldly 8/12; Prudent/Reckless 10/10; Temperate/Indulgent 14/6; Trusting/Suspicious 8/12; Valorous/Cowardly 16/4

Chivalry Bonus: NO
Religion Bonus: NO

Passions
Loyalty (Lord) 11
Love (Family) 10
Hospitality 5
Honor 18
Hate (Pellinore's Murderer) 8
Amor (Orlande) 36

Skills: Awareness (7); Chirurgery (5); Dancing (2); Faerie Lore (1); Falconry (2); Flirting (3); Gaming (2); Heraldry (7); Hunting (5); Law (14); Orate (8); Play: Harp (1); Read: Latin (4); Recognize (2); Religion: Roman Christian (2); Romance (4); Singing (1); Stewardship (2); Swimming (2); Tourney (2)

Combat Skills: Battle (7); Siege (5); Horsemanship (12); Sword (5); Lance (9); Spear (2); Dagger (5)

Equipment: Chainmail armor (10 points); Shield (6 points); Sword; Spear (5); Charger (White Star); Rouncey (2); Sumpter; Arm Ring of Chastity

Since Loholt spent the majority of his childhood in residence at Carlion with Meleri, Des decided he identified more with the culture of that city (Roman) than of his "homeland" Salisbury (Cymric). Romans are much more court-oriented (their special skill of Law encompasses Courtesy, Intrigue, and Folk Lore), but this is well-timed as we're gearing up to head into the Romance period. And speaking of Romance - check out that Amor passion! The love story will begin to unfold with the first session update (Year 526), so you'll just have to wait for the details. Also of note in Loholt's passions are his abysmally low Hospitality (I guess he's got a lot to learn about being a proper host) and his lack of the family Hate (Saxons) passion - he's trying to move past old prejudices in this new world. Loholt's family gift turned out to be an Arm Ring of Chastity; perhaps it was given him by King Alain so Loholt might avoid some of the pitfalls of lust that tripped up his mother and grandfather?

Pardon Me While I Geek the Eff Out

I've written before of my deep and abiding love for the Lone Wolf gamebooks and the game world presented therein, Magnamund. Aside from my natural nostalgic inclinations, the setting itself is a damn fine example of Silver Age fantasy world-building and one my longest-held unrealized gaming goals is to run a campaign set in Magnamund simply because I think it'd be a great place to adventure. All other elements aside, the books are still a good read, even a quarter-century later, and I return to them for linguistic and aesthetic inspiration at least once every couple years.

As a result, I try to stay plugged in with the Lone Wolf fan community online, perusing message boards and so forth. On my latest trawl a couple months ago, I learned of a new project being undertaken by Lone Wolf author Joe Dever in partnership with an Italian fantasy illustrator, Francesco Mattioli: a poster-sized map of the world of Magnamund!

To say I was excited by this news would be an understatement, but when I received the actual map in the mail yesterday I went into full-on geek mode. I'm not normally one to fan-boy out, but this thing had me "squeeing" as if Joss Whedon himself had come down from on high, killed George Lucas, and appointed all 11 Doctors as new rulers of the world.

The map comes folded in a sturdy slip case with an absolutely gorgeous cover illustration.

It's a full-size poster map; the colors are rich and the paper is glossy and of heavy stock.

This is called "the definitive map of Magnamund," and I can well believe it - every island is named, every landmark noted, every settlement shown.

So this is when I absolutely turned into a drooling Fanboy Spawn; a personally-inscribed signature from Joe Dever himself! My inner 10-year-old's head exploded with joy.

The signature aside, what I really love about this map is how it absolutely nails the visual aesthetic of the gamebooks. The last 10 years have seen the world of Lone Wolf getting a lot of support from Mongoose Publishing (the original books being re-released, two RPGs being put out), but my reaction has been decidedly mixed and this has been founded largely on the art direction of the Mongoose books. No matter what artist they used, they seemed completely, almost willfully, incapable of doing anything but make Magnamund look like Generic Fantasy World #815 (and some of those artists were absolutely terrible on a technical level to boot, only adding insult to the injury). What Mattioli has done with this map is demonstrate that there are still people out there who understand part of the appeal (a big part) of Magnamund lies in the visual aesthetic developed by Gary Chalk and Brian Williams. Seeing Magnamund transformed into some kind of WETA Workshop reject was an ongoing source of quiet distress for me, and I'm simply overjoyed to finally see a product that recalls the past glories of the game books. Here's to way more where that came from!