The Inside Scoop on Gaming

In Chaosium's game of Knightly role-playing, one of the main aims for characters was to become 'landed'. That is, to be gifted lands by their respective leiges. And before this book was produced, land was merely a source of income for the knight, with little or no input required to keep things ticking along (except for the occasional judging of a dispute between various farmers or merchants). Lords had it easy. They could still go erranting about the countryside, doing their own little thing, and getting away with it. Then, for the Winter Phase, go back to their warm and cosy manors and rest until next summer.

But no more. Now, should a lord attempt such frivolous activities, they may very well find that their lands have been pillaged by raiders, their peasants in revolt, and the steward having taken over the manor.

The book is packed with loads of background information about running noble and landed knights, and how to get involved with the very evolution of your estate. From building huge castles, to running your mews (where your falcons and hawks are kept and trained). There are rules for raids (for the attacker and the defender), sieges and invasions. There are expanded rules for tournaments and feasts (both of which a lord is expected to host at least once every four years). An excellent section on the various forms of hunting. Background on the ranks of nobility, the types of fief you can expect to own, and how to create them, and what happens to them from season to season. The rules cover the various Phases of the Arthurian campaign, and upgrade the fortifications and facilities available to you throughout the whole eighty years, providing a consistent and enjoyable continuity to the whole book.

You will wonder how you ever ran a fully fleshed out campaign without it.

At the back of the book, there is an excellent adventure to get your players used to the rules contained in the rest of the volume, and they needn't even have lands already. [Adventure spoiler alert.] The players are asked by their lord to hold the lands around Oxford from the two evil brothers who had (with their now dead third brother) deposed the Duchess of Rydychan – at least until Duke Ulfius can spare troops from his battles with the Saxons to relieve the players. This puts the players in the thick of things, having to regroup the populace, build fortifications (Oxford was razed), upgrade the various facilities left behind by the previous Duke Rydychan, and fend off the machinations of the brothers, Bellius and Bege. It should be run during Phase 1, but can be run early on in Phase 2 if required.

The only gripes I have about the sourcebook are the artwork and the many typos that are strewn around the last half of the book particularly. The art throughout does not really give me the atmosphere of medieval times, and Mark Angeli's pictures have the feel of cartoons. I get the impression they are supposed to be representations of the stylised art of the period, but they look decidedly dodgy to my (admittedly not very artistic) eye. Elsi Fowler's work is much better, but is still rather sketchy.

The typos are a minor annoyance, but give the feel that the whole project was slightly rushed (as does the artwork), and I for one feel that I should expect more quality from such a large company as Chaosium.

All that aside, though, the content more than makes up for these gripes, and it was some time (about half the book) before the quality of the typing and artwork began to sink in.

If you want to run more in-depth and detailed campaigns of Pendragon, or just want to find out how Lords carried on in medieval times (including such things as Pagan festivals, and customs, heraldry, and what exactly is a Trebuchet), then you should get this book.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Lordly Domains
Author: Angeli, Chessell, palmer, J. Routt, L. Routt, Stafford, Trout, Badower, Fowler, King Category: game Company/Publisher: Chaosium Inc. Line: Pendragon Cost: $19.95 Page count: 120 ISBN: 1-56882-050-X SKU: 2719 Playtest Review by David Plank on 07/06/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Historical	In Chaosium's game of Knightly role-playing, one of the main aims for characters was to become 'landed'. That is, to be gifted lands by their respective leiges. And before this book was produced, land was merely a source of income for the knight, with little or no input required to keep things ticking along (except for the occasional judging of a dispute between various farmers or merchants). Lords had it easy. They could still go erranting about the countryside, doing their own little thing, and getting away with it. Then, for the Winter Phase, go back to their warm and cosy manors and rest until next summer. But no more. Now, should a lord attempt such frivolous activities, they may very well find that their lands have been pillaged by raiders, their peasants in revolt, and the steward having taken over the manor. The book is packed with loads of background information about running noble and landed knights, and how to get involved with the very evolution of your estate. From building huge castles, to running your mews (where your falcons and hawks are kept and trained). There are rules for raids (for the attacker and the defender), sieges and invasions. There are expanded rules for tournaments and feasts (both of which a lord is expected to host at least once every four years). An excellent section on the various forms of hunting. Background on the ranks of nobility, the types of fief you can expect to own, and how to create them, and what happens to them from season to season. The rules cover the various Phases of the Arthurian campaign, and upgrade the fortifications and facilities available to you throughout the whole eighty years, providing a consistent and enjoyable continuity to the whole book. You will wonder how you ever ran a fully fleshed out campaign without it. At the back of the book, there is an excellent adventure to get your players used to the rules contained in the rest of the volume, and they needn't even have lands already. [Adventure spoiler alert.] The players are asked by their lord to hold the lands around Oxford from the two evil brothers who had (with their now dead third brother) deposed the Duchess of Rydychan – at least until Duke Ulfius can spare troops from his battles with the Saxons to relieve the players. This puts the players in the thick of things, having to regroup the populace, build fortifications (Oxford was razed), upgrade the various facilities left behind by the previous Duke Rydychan, and fend off the machinations of the brothers, Bellius and Bege. It should be run during Phase 1, but can be run early on in Phase 2 if required. The only gripes I have about the sourcebook are the artwork and the many typos that are strewn around the last half of the book particularly. The art throughout does not really give me the atmosphere of medieval times, and Mark Angeli's pictures have the feel of cartoons. I get the impression they are supposed to be representations of the stylised art of the period, but they look decidedly dodgy to my (admittedly not very artistic) eye. Elsi Fowler's work is much better, but is still rather sketchy. The typos are a minor annoyance, but give the feel that the whole project was slightly rushed (as does the artwork), and I for one feel that I should expect more quality from such a large company as Chaosium. All that aside, though, the content more than makes up for these gripes, and it was some time (about half the book) before the quality of the typing and artwork began to sink in. If you want to run more in-depth and detailed campaigns of Pendragon, or just want to find out how Lords carried on in medieval times (including such things as Pagan festivals, and customs, heraldry, and what exactly is a Trebuchet), then you should get this book. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Lordly Domains