The Great Pendragon Campaign: Epic Play-Through Year 500

Summary: Our group is attempting a complete run of the Great Pendragon Campaign  using 5^th edition rules. Players are Matt, Mark, and Lilith. I am the GM.

Year 500

The fifth year in the Anarchy Period, there is no king in Britain.

Our current roster of characters:

•      Sir Safrax, played by Lilith.
•     Sir Quintus, played by Matt.
•     Sir Aeddan of Pitton, played by Mark.

King Idres of Cornwall marched on Dorset, but the combined forces of Dorset, Salisbury, and Somerset repulsed the Cornish advance. Praetor Jonathel of Dorset is thrilled, and solidifies his alliance with Salisbury.

Despite this win, there is bad news on the Saxon front. A new group of Saxons, the Angles, land in Caercolun and quickly overtake it, creating a new kingdom of Anglia. The Earls of Hertford and Huntington come running to Salisbury, looking for aid, as they are next on the chopping block.

In Wales, Escavalon conquers Estragales, creating a more powerful kingdom there. The King of Escavalon also looks to Norgales, where three usurpers rule, aiming to expand there as well.

In Salisbury proper, at the prompting of the player characters Countess Ellen agrees to a marriage with the son of Duke Killian of Clarence, securing an alliance with both Clarence and Marlboro. The allied block is quite large now, comprising most of central Logres.

Thoughts: The player characters are starting to change the scripted narrative. In the campaign book, Idres conquers Dorset, but through the diplomatic negotiations they undertook the players have changed that and secured a valuable ally. They also negotiated the marriage deal to bring Clarence and Marlboro into their alliance, creating a strong Cymric block in the center of all the invading nations, allowing them to resist much more effectively. The players put a lot of their efforts over the five years of Anarchy into this, and with good rolls and lots of legwork it paid off.

The Great Pendragon Campaign: Epic Play-Through Year 499

Summary: Our group is attempting a complete run of the Great Pendragon Campaign  using 5^th edition rules. Players are Matt, Mark, and Lilith. I am the GM.

Year 499

The fourth year in the Anarchy Period, there is no king in Britain.

Our current roster of characters:

•         Sir Safrax, played by Lilith.
•         Sir Quintus, played by Matt.
•         Sir Aeddan of Pitton, played by Mark.

The knights visit the ruler of county Dorset, Praetor Jonathel, and convince him an alliance with Salisbury is in his best interest. Jonathel has his eye on the encroaching Cornish king and agrees readily. Thanks to this alliance, it looks like war with Cornwall is on the horizon! King Idres has captured county Jagent, and Dorset is clearly next. King Idres’ son, Mark, has tried to woo the Countess of Salisbury but is rebuffed and sent packing.

Luckily, the Saxons continue their squabbles, with Kent and Sussex hiring fighters to go against one another. Sussex and Essex just ask for some fighting men instead of their usual tribute. Salisbury still does not submit, sending nothing to any Saxon but Wessex. Salisbury suffers no raids, the Saxons are too busy fighting amongst themselves.

The player knights take a grand tour, up through Gloucester and Marlboro, seeking alliances with Salisbury. Their great honor and courtliness impresses many of the lords here, and negotiations of alliance open. After helping the Countess of Rydychan regain her seat from usurpers, the newly restored Countess eagerly joins the alliance. Marlboro is interested in a marriage alliance, which is proving a bit harder to secure. Knights from Gloucester are appearing at court in Sarum, where the walls have been completed, strengthening the forces of the Countess.

Thoughts: This year is where the players really took the lead. They were determined to create a coalition among the counties remaining outside Cornish and Saxon control, and began laying the foundation for such an alliance. Their actions in aid of both Dorset and Rydychan created a good core, if they can see to it that Dorset is not destroyed by Cornwall next year. Their constant advocacy for strong leadership in Salisbury and alliances all around has made a big difference, as their actions start to make the dire situation in Anarchy diminish just a bit.