Hastiludes Prizes & Rules for Melee and Joust

In game stuff for Melee:

- Only spells which require touching the target are allowed, and they must be cast in the most showy and dramatic way possible. (The player should describe what casting the spell looks like, etc)

- Special abilities inherent to the combatant are allowed, but not if they have an effect similar to a ranged weapon. (You can do whatever, but the Marshall in game may get weird or disqualify you).

- Ranged weapons are banned from the Melee event. One may throw things upon the field, but weapons designed to be thrown or project missiles are not allowed.

- All Knights forced to surrender while conscious during an event shall turn over their mount and armor, or the value thereof, to the one who bests them. 

- All Knights knocked out during an event will give 95% of the above amount to the one who bests them, and 5% to the medic who tends them, or be indebted under law.

MELEE

D&D combat as adjudicated by me or made up to suit whatever weird shit you come up with.

This is essentially Warlords of Vornheim without teams or Hardcore Mode. I thought about including Hardcore Mode, but I don't think it makes as much sense in a winner-take-all game without teams. 

You either Yield, get knocked out (IE lose all HP), or win. If you get knocked out, there are medics standing by. HOWEVER - the Melee is more dangerous than the Joust, and accidental death is possible.

Anyone taking half their HP in damage from one hit is Wounded which might result in a permanent effect - a scar, broken tooth, bad eye, limp, palsy, etc. 

Anyone reduced to negative half their HP or Con score + level - whichever is lowest, is dead. This is unlikely but there you go.

Participants will gain Glory or XP commensurate with their victories.

THE JOUST

MOUNTS AND ARMOR VALUE

PCs may purchase the following before an event at these prices. These are also the values that must be paid to opponents who defeat you.

The Joust rules are in PDF form here. Special thanks to Mike D for his fun Jousts of the past and putting these rules together. 

The character creation page may be ignored if you're using your FLAILSNAILS PC, however, you may attempt to attract/hire a squire and/or retinue as per that page. Let me know via G+ if you'd like to do this and we'll work it out.

PRIZES

The following prizes are on offer from the Court. The entrant who wins the most events may choose first. Otherwise Glory and the wisdom of King Artan shall determine distribution.

- Waters of Avalon: Drinking these waters while focusing on an aspect of your physical self will change you. An ability may be increased or decreased. Your appearance my alter significantly. A special ability may grow, recede, or change completely.

- A Faerie sword that is very beautiful and light. The local Knights find it somewhat dishonorable to use, although adventurers not under the strictures of courtly life could well use it. A short sword that has a blade of strange reddish metal with a hilt wrapped in purple hide with gold wire. The blade is decorated with knotwork. A small rounded pommel provides balance. The quillions are shaped like dragon wings, and the blade emerges from a stylized dragon head. The decorative elements of the sword are composed of Mithril. There is a scabbard of oiled mint sheepskin leather with Black bear fur trim.

- CAUTION: HOT, a Hog Druid Knight from the Northern Kingdom of NO SMO, has offered to train an adept who proves their worth in the basics of Druidic ways. If one is sharp at it, one may learn some mystical ability.

- A dance with The beautiful Raven Aislynn, recently widowed and so young still, has been offered as a prize by her mother. Aislynn quickly fled to her chambers when this was announced, feathers ruffled. She has been noted for her intelligence and a slight mischievous humor in the past. She is set to inherit a small keep if her parents do not produce a son.

- A brief and private audience with King Artan and his counsel.

-A strange gem prized from the Irish in battle long ago. It seems to smolder in light and keep one warm.

Thee Fall Hastiludes Approacheth! Character Creation Notes.

ENTER YOUR KNIGHT (FLAILSNAILS PC) in the Joust, Melee, Pas D'Armes, Behourd, Trial by Combat, or Magical Duel by emailing metalvsskin at geemale dotcalm!

More details on those events and everything else here.
( +Reece Carter and everyone else: if you want in, get me an email in the next 72 hours or so!)

A RULES CHANGE: I believe I said somewhere on G+ that it was 1 PC per player. After some thought, I'll make it 1 PC per player per EVENT. So, you could enter 1 PC in the Joust, 1 in the Melee, a different one in the Pas D'Armes, etc. ( +Reginald Mc Reynolds +Ed Hackett )

I've been having fun making a few NPCs to test out the character creation for Thee Hastiludes and the Pendragon/After the Bomb campaign to follow. I love how swingy AtB attributes are - here are the stats of the first NPC I rolled up. This is directly from character creation!

STR   9

DEX   7

CON  6

INT    10

WIS   28

CHA  6

SPD  27

This weekend I'll be nailing down a few last details - I'm still figuring out what elements (if any) of Palladium combat I want to mash into Pendragon's system. I also did some funky things with the Kingdoms I think people might dig. Those of you who want to create native characters for the events next week, we should be able to do that right around Sunday or Monday (PST but I'm flexible for time).
(Don't worry +Noah Marshall +Courtney Campbell You've got a place reserved for a native knight if you want it)

THEE FALL HASTILUDES OF LAK ARKUN are here!

THE ONE KINGDOM OF THEE GREAT LAND OF LAK ARKUN hosts FALL HASTILUDES
Or, as the common joke goes, Hassle-i-tudes!

What is the One Kingdom of Thee Great Land of Lak Arkun?
Lak Arkun is the setting of a new game I will be soft-starting with these events, and running regular sessions starting in October. It is a combination of Pendragon and After the Bomb. I thought this was an original idea, then I searched a couple terms and saw Zak S proposing it months ago on G+. OH WELL. It'll be some version of FLAILSNAILS light.
The One Kingdom is the political name of the Kingdom of Logres in this setting, that ruled over by Artan, Beaver King, the anthropomorphic beaver equivalent of King Arthur. It's where Camelot is.
The Out Isles culture in the Pendragon book has been replaced with that of Feudal Japan.

What are THEE HASTILUDES?
Wikipedia says: "Hastilude is a generic term used in the Middle Ages to refer to many kinds of martial games. The word comes from the Latin hastiludium, literally "lance game"'."

This event, as noted in the title of this post, is to celebrate the coming of Fall and a break from the heat, and to commune and joy in each other as we enter the dark days of Winter. NOW! TO SPECTACLES!

All events are open to all FLAILSNAILS PCs as "visiting knights".

JOUST
No magic items. Using the rules from the FLAILSNAILS Tourneys last year. Play By Post. Horses/"lances" provided to those who are not able to provide/buy them for themselves, but uh, you probably want a better one than the pro-bono version. (horses tire and stumble, lances break...)

MELEE
Open to the first six FLAILSNAILS PCs or native knights that sign up. Run using Warlords of Vornheim rules over G+ hangout. If there's time, there will be a second one. Free-for-all combat.

PAS D'ARMES
A team of 5 PCs prepares the terrain and themselves to prevent single warriors from crossing the bridge and gate into the Tower of Mardun (a little-used tower King Artan has declared for the purpose). Challengers attempt to cross, winning glory if they succeed, and mockery if they fail. The team of 5 will get terrain info beforehand to prepare for a few days over G+ posts, then the event will be a hangout. Knights should sign up either as Tenans, that is, a team of 5 holding terrain, or Venans, challengers. First team of 5 to organize themselves and sign up as a team gets the spot. Hopefully we'll have time for many Venans to make the attempt.

BEHOURD
A single brave warrior prepares terrain and arms himself to defend a mock castle against team(s) of 5 attackers. Much like the above, with the numbers reversed. The single warrior will get days to prepare, then the event will be over hangout.

TRIAL BY COMBAT
All those violating the One Kingdom's laws and Those Laws ov Chivalry during these events will be fought to their doom by such Knights as volunteer themselves for that task. Sign up your Knight beforehand to volunteer to dispatch such cowardly villains. (logistics to come.)

THEE MAGIKAL DUEL
Magic is rare in the realms of Lak Arkun, but not unknown. However we hear it is utterly rampant in other lands. During these brief weeks when the walls between worlds are so thin, we wish to see wild displays of your magical talent! (Still working this one out - I'd like to do it over play-by-post, but still hammering out details. Might be a series of short hangouts. Magical equivalent of the Joust- winner of each duel goes to the next bracket.)

SIGN UP YOUR KNIGHT/MAGIC-USER FOR YOUR CHOSEN EVENTS ASAP!! The deadline is Sunday, September 22nd, but the sooner you sign up, the better. The Joust begins Monday, September 23rd. Other events may happen before that, we'll see how quickly things fill up. The Magical Duel will close the proceedings.

SIGN UP BY EMAILING THE FOLLOWING TO METALVSSKIN@GMAIL.COM

-a preexisting FLAILSNAILS character's stats and items, non-item related weirdness, spells, and two magical items you will have on you during events that allow them. Sneaking magical items into the Joust is possible, but those so discovered to do so will be duly punished in Trial By Combat.

OR

-your thoughts or unformed enthusiasm for a native Knight. We'll hangout to walk through making it at some point, or do it over private messages if you have both Pendragon and any of the Palladium TMNT/After The Bomb books with stats for making mutant animal characters.

(For native Knights during and regular sessions after THEE HASTILUDES are over I'll be incorporating Character Gen elements from Beyond the Wall, ideas from Bushido, and setting elements from Tenra Bansho Zero. Obviously I'll be using Mutants in Avalon too.
From the Player end, you'll be making a basic AtB/TMNT mutant animal, then layering a Pendragon character on top. Characters can be from different Kingdoms/cultures, they'll just be Ransom Knights - IE Knights on foreign exchange sent to make sure Kingdoms maintain diplomacy with each other.
I'll be posting about this more, either here or on G+. I'll have a character gen session some time in the next few weeks.
Do not be fooled, you may be playing a talking potentially psychic animal, but I am going to be running this shit seriously and death will be all around.)

Comment or ask questions on G+ here.