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Adventure with young Arthur in his quest to claim the kingship of Britain. Battle enemy lords, defend the realm against savage invaders, and clear the land of a wesome monsters. Find glory in the dozens of adventures provided.

Hk B o v KIN(, CONTAINC eveiything needed to run an 80-year cam- paign spanning from tietore

Arthur pulls the Sword of Kingrhip from the stone to the height ot his empire CHARACTER GENERATION details character creation for the time tittor Arthur's reign. BRITAIN BEFORE ARTHUR presents a chronology of events important to the realm. BEFORE ARTHUR and THE SAVAGE FOREST provide opportunities to integratc pl,iycr knights into the ongoing events of Britain. The R n Y KING CHRONOLOGY

details the glorious battles and dozens of potential adventures to help Arthur gain his kingship, pro- vicling interaction with the great figure of legend. THE ADVENTURE OF THE CASTLE OF JOY provides a long narrative scenario wherein player-knights are tested for their worthinesr to help defend the castle of the Holy Grail. CITIES describes the nature ot Medieval cities, and provides maps anti details for both London ,ind Camelot. LATER CHRONOLOGY oLltlines other events of the campaign, including

Ldncelot and Guenever's atfair, the Grail (&est, and the death of Arthur - a ( 01

Plete 80-Year campaign. This reprint includes a new section

adding rnagic system statistics for nicigil ( haiacters and a graphical timeline.

WHAT IS PENDRAGON? Pendragon is a roleplaying game wherein you and your friends participate in heroic adventures. Or player, the gamemaster, presents the story. Everyone else creates knight-characters-the heroes the tale. Each player verbally responds to the gamemaster's plot and the actions of the villains, ar describes how his or her character reacts. You can face the same dangers that Arthur and Lance1 encountered, but this time you decide your knight's actions!

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For a FREE CATALOG of Chaosium books and games, write to:

I Chaosium Inc 950-A 56th St. Oakland, CA 94608

Visit our web site at http://www.sirius.com/-chaosium/chaosium. html

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Boy King by Greg Stafford

PATRONS OF THE ARTS: Roderick and Ellen Robertson

EDITOR: Sam Shirley COVER DESIGN: Sam Shirley

COVER ARTWORK: Stephen King COPY READING: Britt Daniel

LAYOUT: Sam Shirley, Shannon Appel

INTERIOR ARTWORK: Arnie Swekel WHISPERING PATH, STRANGORE, ROMAN WAR,

SAXON WAR, POST ROMAN and EVENT MAPS: Kevin Zucker CELTIC DECORATIONS, SHIELDS, WHERE THEY LIVE, LONDON,

CAMELOT, and FOREST SAUVAGE MAPS: Gus diZerega

CHAOSIUM INC. 1997

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Contributors: Britt Daniel, William Dunn, Katherine Kerr, Michael 'Trout

Fourth Edition Conversions: Roderick Robertson

Helpers and Pluytesters: Ken Kaufer, Anne Merritt, Suzanne Courteau, Gus diZerega, Donald

This work was prepared using the Penguin Classics edition of Le Morte D 'Arthur, edited by Janet

Frew, Derek Boain, Les Brooks, Jim Hooker, John Carnahan, Britt Daniel

Cowen.

THE BOY KING is published by Chaosium Inc. THE BOY KING is copyright 0 1991, 1997 by Greg Stafford Similarities between characters in THE BOY KING and persons living or dead are strictly coincidental. Cover painting copyright 0 1997 by Stephen King. All interior illustrations copyright 0 1991 by Arnie Swekel. Celtic borders, Forest Sauvage map, Where They Live map, Camelot, and London maps copyright 0 1991 by Gus diZerega. Whispering Path, Strangore, Roman War, Saxon War, Post Roman, and Event maps copyright 0 1991 by Kevin Zucker. The reproduction of material from this book for the purposes of personal or corporate profit by photographic, electronic, or other methods of retrieval is prohibited. Address questions and comments concerning this book as well as requests for free catalogues of Chaosium books, games, and supplements to: Chaosium Inc., 950-A 56th Street, Oakland, CA, U.S.A., or by email to: chaosium@chaosium.com Visit our web site alt: http:Nwww.sirius.coml-chaosium/chaosium.html ISBN 1-56882-123-9. Chaosium Publication 2708. Published December 1997.

Second Edition. Printed in the United States.

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Table of Contents Introduction ......................................... 4 What’s In Here? ..................................... 4 The Pendragon Chronicle ...................... 5

The Epic Tapestry (box) ...................... 5 Using Malory ...................................... 6

New Round Table

......................... 7 Battle Scene (illo) ................................ 7

Character Generation ......................... 8 New Lands (box) ................................. 8

A Royal Herald (illo) ......................... 10 Britain Before Arthur ........................ 11

Post-Roman Tribal Movements (map) 12 Phase 1: Anarchy ............................... 14

Politics ......................................... Escalation .. ................... 14

Saxon Expansion: 495-508 (map) ..... 16 Events ..................................

The Forest Sauvage ............................. 17 Faerie Places (box) ............................ 18 Forest Sauvage (map) ........................ 19 A Circle of Standing Stones (illo)

Phase One Adventures ....................

Beginning Skill Values (box) .............. 9

Norman Knight (illo) ......................... 15

The Whispering Path (map) .............. 26 Guardians of the Whis . Path (illo) .... 27 Coping with Castles (box) ................. 28 The Cave of the Black Annis (illo) ... 29 Merlin (illo) ........................ 33 Roman Tomb (illo) ............................ 34

Battles and Sieges .............. , ............... 35

The Assault ........................................ 36 Phase 2: Unification ........................... 38

Escalation .......................................... 38 510: Adventure of the Boy King ......... 39 The Sword in the Stone (illo) ............ 40 Events of 51 0 (map) .......................... 41

51 1 ....................................................... 44 Format for Annual Court Events ....... 44

512 ........ ............................. 45 Brown Knight of the Wilds (illo) ...... 45 Arthur’s Swords ................................ 47 Sir Balin (illo) ................................... 48 Events of 51 1-5 13 (map) ................... 49

51 3 .................... ..................... 50 King Lot (illo) ................................... 52

514 ....................................................... 53 King Arthur’s Wedding ..................... 53

The Dolorous Stroke ......................... 56

Sir Kay (illo) ..................................... 57 The Saxon Wars: 515-518 (map) ...... 58

................... 59

5 I5 ...................................

..................

5 18 ........................ ................... 62 Battle of Badon (map) ....................... 64

5 I9 ....................................................... 65 Events of 519-524 (map) ................... 66 Strangore. Showing Battles (map) .... 67

520 ....................................................... 67 521 ....................................................... 68

Morgan le Fey (illo) .......................... 69 Morgan’s Grand Plot ......................... 69

522 ......................

5 24 ............................. Phase Two Adventures ........................ 74 The Adventure of the Castle of Joy ... 76 Merlin’s Island ................................ The City of Glass ................................... 77 The Trail of Chivalry ............................. 78 The Castle of Joy ................................... 78

King Fisher (shield) ............................. 79

......................... 83

King of Chaste Mortal (stats) .....

Lord Eurain (shield) ............................ 85 Baudwin of Britain (shield) ................ 85 Lamorak de Gales (shield) ................. 86

Rombold Moor .................................... 86 Alain le Gross (shield) ....... The White Knight (shield) ................ 88 Sir Bavid of Sauvage (shield) ......

New Monsters (box) .......................... 89 The Battle of the Plains of Joy .......... 90

Phase 3: Consolidation ...................... 92 Escalation ....................... .... 92

525 .......................................... .... 93 Rome Demands Tribute ..................... 94 Sir Lancelot (illo) .............................. 94

526 ....................................................... 95 Arthur’s Continental Campaign (map) 96 The French Campaign ....................... 97

Thwarting Enemies of King Fisher

527 ....................... The Conquest of Arthur the Emperor ......................... i02 In Rome ................

528 ...........................................

Camelot ..................................

Chronology After 531 ...................... 116

Phase 4: Apogee ....

Chronology ...................................... 119

ers ...................... 124 Young Lancelot ............................... 124 Young King Arthur. in 5 I O

The Brown Knight. in 512 .............. 125 Young Gawaine. in 514 . 126 Griflet, in 518 ...................... 126 Young Guenever, in 5 14 .................. 127 Kay, in 522 .....................

Balin le Sauvage, in 5 12 ...

Merlin, in 510 .................................. 129 Mordred. in 531 ....... Morgan le Fay. in 52 Pellinore, in 5 12 .............................. 130 Sagremor le Desirous, in 516 .......... 131 Vivianne, in 520 .............................. 131 The White Knight. in 5 I7 Young Yvaine. in 521

Appendices ....................................... 133 Appendix I: Fourth Edition Conv ...... 133 Appendix 11: Pendrag Appendix 111: Horses . Appendix I V Adventures

List of Adventures ........................... 141 List of Battles .................................. 141

Index ................... 142 Character Sheet ............................... 143

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4 lFie ’Boy King

Introduct ion Welcome to The Roy King

HIS IS A BOOK OF MATERIAL to be used with the Pendragon T roleplaying game. It provides ma-

terials for gamemasters to use to bring the Arthurian realm to life for themselves and their players. It includes finished adven- tures, raw material, and instructions spe- cially for gamemasters.

The Boy King is a game supplement to allow players to participate in the story of “How King Arthur Became Emperor” and conqured Rome

This supplement provides guidelines to run a year-by-year Pendragon cam- paign that allows each player to establish a dynasty of knights whose family story coincides with King Arthur’s. Through play they help or hinder the High King establish his dream realm.

The Boy King begins its events be- fore Arthur is king. This is a big step backwards from the glittering realm of chivalry portrayed in the Pendragon rules - 30-40 game-years back!

What’s LAN YOUR OWN PENDRAGON campaign from the start. Establish P some long-term objectives for

yourself and your campaign. Remember the structure of the game system, and be- gin thinking of how you can apply some of your favorite rules to play.

Look over this whole book, and de- cide which scenarios and adventures come first. Don’t be in a hurry to use them all immediately! Save the best ad- ventures for later, when you and the play- ers are experienced enough to enjoy the subtleties.

Pendragon has many unique rules. This book provides the methods to incor- porate those rules into your campaign. Some of the rules will be nourished by this book. It facilitates these important as- pects of the game:

The result of playing in this era is that instead of using the “Family History Ta- ble” (Pendragon, p 48) when children come of age around the year 530, players will have a character with a complete, played-out game history,

This step backward requires some changes in details of the rules provided in Pendragon, but not many. In general, knights start in an era of material, cul- tural, and spiritual poverty whose details are given at the start of each 15-year cam- paign phase. They join the struggle to im- prove themselves, their lands, and their kingdom, and as years progress they reap the benefits of the changing times. These changes in material goods, customs and ways of life provide temporal color, give knights something to talk about, and help keep the games from being boring.

The Boy King ends in the year por- trayed in Pendragon: 53 1. For events and adventures after 53 1, see “After The Boy King,” at the end of the book.

He re - - Passage of Time: A chronology provides interesting events which affect the player knights’ lives. Aging and family-raising are placed into context.

Exploring the Realm: Enchanted Brit- ain is an extensive realm, and adventures even go outside of the island to the conti- nent.

Participating in Arthur’s History: King Arthur’s life affects everyone, and the player knights can participate in the great events of his history.

Meet Important People: Many colorful characters pass through Arthur’s life, and they are introduced here, where their sto- ries are briefly told.

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Introduction 5

Some Designer Assumptions The average party of player knights is as- sumed to be about two to six characters. The characters are of various ages, social levels, states of wealth, and ranks of Glory. One may have acquired Extraordi- nary statistics.

They have various reasons to be to- gether: kinship, a common lord, member- ship in a group; and they all share both the status of knighthood and a desire for adventure. Other details will be worked out between characters.

Character interaction will contribute a significant portion of the activity of the game.

Character advancement varies wildly, but it is not unusual for a hard- working player character get 350 Glory points per year (100 for Chivalrous, 100 for various Traits and Passions, 15 for a manor and various holdings, and the other 135 during the adventure that ses- sion.) By comparison, normal everyday vassal knights are calculated to get about 50 Glory per year.

The early days of Arthur’s reign pro- vide opportunities to get huge amounts of

Glory, always at a very high risk. The later generation has no equivalent oppor- tunity.

The Pendragon Chronicle

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Year-by-year details are given for events between 495 and 53 1. Phase One expla- nations are brief, and to be used to start game and familiarize players with the rules. A year-by-year chronology is given for Phase Two and part of Three, covering the years 5 I O to 53 1. It is based primarily upon Le Morte d’Arrhur; by Sir Thomas Malory, with additions from other sources.

No Arthurian chronology can ever be correct; all are fiction. The best have an internal consistency which demands rec- ognition. Phyllis Ann Karr, in The Kin,? Arrhur. Companion, delineates a chronol- ogy drawn primarily from Malory’s Le Morte dArthur, and based upon events and ages of newly-appeared characters. This chronology draws on hers for its

foundation and includes many changes and additions.

When to Use it The chronology is not intended to be an inflexible list of event in the realm, but rather a guideline. Use it:

When people go to Carnelot or Arthur’s

To introduce new NPCs.

.To maintain a flow of background events in the campaign.

To provide adventures. Some years are of especial interest,

and gamemasters are urged to motivate the characters to come to court for those. For instance, everyone ought to be pre- sent when Arthur pulls the sword from the stone (5 10); to witness the start of the Balin story (5 12); and to participate in the major battles, especially Badon (5 18); and King Arthur’s wedding (5 14). Includ- ing the player characters in these events will ensure their sense of participation in the reign.

court.

The Epic Tapestry Your task, as gamemaster, i s to weave an epic. To help inspire you to the task we have included here part of a fabulous Ar- thurian artifact called the Beaune Tapestry which depicts many of the events in Ar- thur’s reign. Your task as gamemaster is to create a similar history, but in memory

rather than on cloth. Also, the main charac- ters of your epic are the player knights, not King Arthur. Your version of this tapestry will have the figures in the foreground.

Like the designers who planned the tapestry, you also have a wide choice of many rich materials, and you can decide

what to emphasize. Look upon the game as a set of tools: use the right one when you need it, and ignore those which you don‘t like. This book, by comparison, i s full of materials to use.

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6 %it? Boy King

Phases and Ehcalation The Pendragon chronology is divided into 14-year phases, starting Phase One at 495, when King Uther dies and leaves Britain kingless.

Each phase marlks a change in Ar- thur’s rule: Anarchy, Unification, Con- solidation, Apogee, and Downfall. The phases are used to mark the advance of culture as well as military equipment. As the time passes, the customs, architecture, armor, weapons, andl other facts change too.

Pendragon (page 4) mentioned the compression of two Arthurian eras, the dating and barbarian politics of the sixth century and the cultural history of the later, High Middle Ages. As a rough guideline, each phase is equivalent to a century of Western1 European history. Phase one is roughly equivalent to the eleventh century, Phase Two to the twelfth, and so on. Each year of Pen- dragon Chronicle roughly equates to 7 historic years to date the Arthurian weap- ons, horses, clothing, and castles.

Thus, the material culture of those centuries provides the rough background for the Arthurian setliing.

Using Malory I have tried to be brief where Malory was detailed. To get additional information gamemasters ought to get a copy of Malory and read the section of the chro- nology before playing. If you don’t like the Olde English jargon, get Steinbeck, who is especially close to the original at the start of his book.

Or don’t: feel free to wing it. After all, this is to make your version of the story. But to give it the feel of being part of a huge picture, reading Malory is help- ful. There you will find details useful for most of the initial events of this chronol- ogy. The early years are treated in more detail than the later years in order to show the gamemaster how to integrate player knights into the story. Later, gamemasters are left more to their own initiative and creativity.

Events which are not in Malory are also treated with more detail.

Integrating Knights

This chronology has three applications of the Arthurian story to your Pendragon campaign. All relate to its use with player-knights.

As Spectators: For the player-knights as spectators, this chronology marks the passage of time. One-time events pass: Arthur marries Guenever, the Dolorous Stroke is struck, Lancelot first comes to court, and so on. You should remind play- ers that this new hero is so-and-so’s son, or grandson. Remind them that this mur- der is the result of such-and-so’s feud. Sometimes they will watch some famous adventure begin, and a year or two later hear of the result.

As participants: The player-characters are affected by some events along with everyone else. They should certainly par- ticipate in major wars, their lord’s wars, major tournaments, and events such as searching for the queen. Many adventures should be offered as voluntary: the search for Merlin, several searches for Lancelot, the hunt for the Troit Boar, and the Grail Quest (except for Round Table knights, for whom this quest is mandatory).

Your job as gamemaster is to put the player-characters into a story as replace- ments. Making up new plots is both tax- ing and tedious. You should do what all the medieval storytellers did: retell an old tale with new heroes.

Insert player-characters into estab- lished tales. Using this method, charac- ter-knights could replace any of the knights on (for instance) the Adventure of the Hart, Brachet, and Lady (year 514, Malory In, 5-15); or any of the knights of the Triple Quest (year 521, Malory IV, 16-28).

Replacement: Retell the same story with your own heroes, in a different place, with different non-player-characters. Me- dieval storytellers used this method ex- tensively. Three different stories are told about Guenever ‘s kidnapping. Three good stories use the same plot and motif: Gareth Beaumains, Alisander le Or- phelin, and La Cote Male Taile are all unknown new knights who accept their

New Round Table Members This l ist i s given in order to make it easy for the gamemaster to keep track of whether a knight i s yet on the Round Table.

0 514. Round Table established, with a capacity of 150 members. King Leodegrance, Sir Baudwin of Brit- ain, Sir Ector, Duke Brastias, King Alain, Cador of Cornwall, and other earls and dukes of note.

515. King Pellinore of the Isles.

0 516. Sir Bedivere the Cupbearer

517. 4 old knights: King Uriens, King Lak, Sir Hervis de Revel, Sir Galagers; and 4 young knights: Sir Gawaine, Sir Criflet, Sir Kay, Sir Tor.

0 518. Many knights, taken from the Secondary KnightsTable (Pen- dragon, page 194)

0 519. Sir Sagremor le Desirous, Dodi- nas le Sauvage, the Brown Knight of the Wilds.

0 520. Sir Lamorak de Gales.

521. Sir Gaheris de Orkney.

0 522. none

0 523. Sir Marhaus de Leinster

524. Yvaine, le Chevalier Air Lion

0 525. Hoe1 of Alclud

526. Sir Blamore de Canis, Sir Bleoberis de Ganis, Sir Berel, Sir Moris.

527. none.

0 528. Sir Lionel de Canis, Sir Bors de Ganis, Sir Boso of Oxford, Sir Pria- mus the Saracen, Sir Floridas the Pict, Sir Lucan the Butler.

529. Sir Aglovale de Gales.

0 530. Duke Galeholt of the Long

531. Sir Calegantis of Nohaut.

Isles.

maiden quest from a sharp-tongued young woman.

Lists of such repetitions are endless, so gamemaster should take the hint and use the technique themselves. Even this chronology has several repetitions of sto- ries (for instance, the sinking of Gwyd- dno Garanhir’s land and the sinking of Lyonesse later.) Believe me, your players will appreciate the recognition and react accordingly to what they have done be- fore.

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