Dark Albion: the Origin Thread

[Yong Kyosunim]

Pundit,

Since Dark Albion somewhat emulates Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, do you plan on having mechanics for your game in regards to going insane from dealing with the horrors Man Was Not Meant to Know, the Dark Gods of Chaos, etc.? Also part of the fun of WHRP was that playing around with Chaos risked mutations or becoming corrupted by it (Tome of Corruption is a great book). Do you have an idea for that as well or are these things that not emphasized in this campaign?

[RPGPundit]

Pundit,

Since Dark Albion somewhat emulates Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, do you plan on having mechanics for your game in regards to going insane from dealing with the horrors Man Was Not Meant to Know, the Dark Gods of Chaos, etc.? Also part of the fun of WHRP was that playing around with Chaos risked mutations or becoming corrupted by it (Tome of Corruption is a great book). Do you have an idea for that as well or are these things that not emphasized in this campaign?

First of all, I assume that by "in your game" you mean in my campaign? Because I'm not actually making a separate RPG of this.

In my albion campaign I have not, as such, made mechanics for insanity, though I certainly could have, and could see such mechanics work well for the setting.  I am using chaos mutations, directly ripping them off from the Tome of Corruption (one of my favorite books). So far only one PC has gotten mutations, but she's got like three of them (she's an "evil" character); of course, she's also been extremely lucky that her mutations can be more or less hidden because chaos mutation is an automatic death sentence in Albion if the Clerical Order catches you.

RPGPundit

[Yong Kyosunim]

Hi Pundit,

Back then what was the currency in 1455? How many pence equaled a shilling and how many shillings equaled a pound (or were they called crowns back then)?

Also, I take that adventuring back in those days didn't really net a lot of cash, so how do you handle treasure / economics in your campaign? To put this in perspective for me, assume for example that if you had a party of 5th level characters and you were playing a standard D&D adventure where they find 1,000 gp worth of coins (not including magic bling or other swag), what would Albion's take on that be? Would it be 1,000 gp worth of other treasure (goblets, silver plates, etc.), 1,000 gp worth of goods, or just a handful of shillings and rotting cheeses and hard bread as the grand treasure?

[RPGPundit]

Dark Albion: Timeline

1458
-Calixtus III, Pontifex of the church of the Unconquered Sun, dies in Arcadia.  He's replaced in the solar throne by Pius II, who in addition to being a priest is a poet and writer of romances.  In Albion, the election of Pius II to the Pontificate is very popular on account that Pius had once visited Albion. He is not without controversy, however, both for the poetry and the fact that he is known to have a great many bastard children.

-John De La Pole (age 16) married to Elizabeth Plantagenet (age 14), daughter of Richard of York.  Young John had been disinherited from the Duchy of Suffolk which would have traditionally been his, due to his father having been attaindered for gross incompetence in the wars against the Frogmen.  For the Yorkists, however, this was seen as a mockery of justice, as De La Pole was used as a scapegoat for the much greater incompetence and outright theft committed by the Queen's favorite of that time, the Duke of Somerset, who escaped punishment.  Thus, Richard marrying young John to his daughter makes it clear that should he become king he would restore John to the Duchy of Suffolk; it is a wedding that is thus also an act of propaganda.

-Thomas Stanley, King of the Isle of Mann, dies aged 54;  his son Thomas (age 23) succeeds him in the throne of the Impenetrable Isle, and for the moment continues to try to play at neutrality in the Rose War.

-The Earl of Warwick, in his capacity as Captain of Calais, fights in naval battles against Iberian pirates, lead by the infamous Capitan Fracas.
 
-Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devon (age 44) dies, possibly poisoned, while visiting an abbey.  He'd been imprisoned over the feuds of his son with the yorkist Bonnville family, but was released by the Queen after she retook power, and given the title of High Steward. His son Thomas (age 26) inherits his lands and titles.

-Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, orders a grand council in London for a celebration of "Love Day", to make peace between the warring factions in the nobility.
-At the start of the council period, just as the cream of Anglish nobility are entering the city, a mysterious new plague affects the city.
-at Love Day, The Mad King, Henry VI, declares Richard of York his second in line to the throne (to inherit after the king's young son Edward of Lancaster). Several nobles are notably absent from Love Day, among them Lord Clifford (who has sworn not to rest until he avenges his father's death by slaughtering the entire house of York), and particularly the Queen, who has remained in Coventry.

-Humphrey Stafford, son and presumptive heir of the Duke of Buckingham, dies of the plague, never having fully recovered his health after injuries sustained three years earlier, at the battle of St. Albans.


In our campaign: the Player Characters were participants in Warwick's adventures at sea; they followed Captain Fracas to the Azure Islands where he had his secret hideout.  For this adventure, I used a heavily-modified version of the module "Isle of Dread".
Later, the PCs were set to investigate the mysterious "plague" that had befallen London on the eve of Love Day; they discovered that it was in fact a poison being prepared by evil Ratmen, along with their ally: Pierre de Braap! Yes, the dastardly Frogland General who had escaped the destruction of his forces at Sandwich the year before, and had been hiding out with a few of his fellow survivors as guests of the Ratmen in the London catacombs, waiting for his chance to strike as much chaos as possible into the heart of Albion (and what better opportunity than when virtually all the nobility of the kingdom are together in one place?). Of course, the PCs defeated them; in the Yorkist campaign they managed to capture De Braap (and subsequently he was executed), but in the Lancastrian one he escaped, to perhaps continue to cause trouble for the PCs.

RPGPundit

[RPGPundit]

Hi Pundit,

Back then what was the currency in 1455? How many pence equaled a shilling and how many shillings equaled a pound (or were they called crowns back then)?

Also, I take that adventuring back in those days didn't really net a lot of cash, so how do you handle treasure / economics in your campaign? To put this in perspective for me, assume for example that if you had a party of 5th level characters and you were playing a standard D&D adventure where they find 1,000 gp worth of coins (not including magic bling or other swag), what would Albion's take on that be? Would it be 1,000 gp worth of other treasure (goblets, silver plates, etc.), 1,000 gp worth of goods, or just a handful of shillings and rotting cheeses and hard bread as the grand treasure?

I'm actually using the economic system from Lamentations of the Flame princess, which I feel is good enough for me.  10 pennies are a shilling, 50 shillings are a pound.

And economics by the 15th century was fairly advanced; yes there were barter goods still, but by then there was a decent amount of coinage going around.

The economics in Albion as a setting have variant prices (and availability of products) in urban versus rural areas; and the economy is shilling(sp)-based.

I use fairly typical levels of treasure as in any old-school D&D game, but reduced one level of coinage; so a treasure that'd be 1000gp in, say, Mystara, would be 1000sh here.

RPGPundit

[RPGPundit]

Albion: Level Distribution

Its been a while now, between Lords of Olympus or Arrows of Indra, that I've had a chance to talk about the Albion setting.

So I just thought I'd share this little table, which I use for when I really need a totally random determination of an NPC's level in the setting:

d100:      Level
1-50        Normal man (0)
51-75       1st
76-87       2nd
88-94       3rd
95-97       4th
98-99       5th
00            6th

Its pretty much impossible that any random person the PCs meet would be higher than 6th level.  There are perhaps a few hundred people in Albion who are somewhere between levels 7-9, but this makes them rare enough that they shouldn't be a random encounter.
There are perhaps 50 people in all of Albion who are higher than 9th level, and all of these would be either extremely famous or extremely secretive. The highest-level human in all of Albion after the death of Sir John Falstoff is probably 12th or 13th level (almost certainly a specialist, a crime lord in one of the London gangs, who keeps a very low profile and would not have great public fame, though he might be very well known in that underworld).

So there you go, just a little update elaborating how I handle level distribution in the setting.

RPGPundit

[RPGPundit]

Dark Abion Update: The Timeline (cont.)

1459

-The Earl of Warwick fights naval battles against the Teutons, who have been engaged in pirate activities against Albion because of Albion's alliance with the Commonwealth, their hated enemies.

-James Butler ("the Eireman"), John Sutton (Baron Dudley), Jasper Tudur, John Bourchier, the Earl of Warwick and Sir Thomas Kyriel  are all made Knights of the Star.

-Pontifex Pius II supports Prince Vlad of Wallachia's struggle by declaring a crusade against the Turk.

-The Earl of Warwick takes on the duty of tutoring Richard of York's youngest son, 7-year old Richard Crookback, who was born deformed. Warwick sees that in spite of the child's deformity he has exceptional intelligence.

-The Queen, no longer willing to wait out the Yorkists, calls for all of Albion's nobility to swear an oath of Allegiance in the Lancastrian court in Coventry. Queen Margaret specifically summons York and Warwick to Coventry but both refuse to attend, knowing that it would be a trap (forcing them to either submit to the King and give up all claims to the throne or risk arrest as traitors).  Richard of York's refusal marks an immediate return to hostilities as both are declared criminals by the court. Nevertheless, many previously Yorkist nobles do attend at Coventry and switch sides, swearing loyalty to the Mad King.  Most notable among those who've changed sides are the Duke of Norfolk and Sir Thomas Kyriel.
-At Coventry, Queen Margaret starts a new order, of Knights specifically loyal to her, which she marks with the emblem of the Silver Swan.

-The Archbishop of Canterbury, incensed by what he sees as the Queen's betrayal of his Love Day efforts, becomes firmly Yorkist and blesses Richard of York's venture.

-The Battle of Blore Heath: A force of 5000 Yorkists under the Earl of Salisbury were trying to unite with the main Yorkist army at Ludlow castle; Baron Audley was sent to lead 10000 Lancastrian troops to try to stop them. The Lancastrian commanders include Baron Dudley and Edmund Sutton; among the Yorkist forces are Sir John Wenlock (called "the Prince of Traitors"), and Sir Roger Kynaston.
The forces were initially arrayed some 900ft away from each other when they stumbled upon each other. There was a fast-flowing brook between the two armies.  Initial archery salvos proved inconclusive because of range; after some initial conflict, Salisbury feigned a retreat and the Lancastrian cavalry charged after him, at which moment he turned back and attacked the Lancastrian forces as most of the troops were still trying to cross the brook.  Baron Audley is slain in the fighting by Sir Roger Kynaston; Lord Dudley took command and rallied the Lancastrians to a second attack, Dudley fighting on foot; but the desperate counterattack fails and Dudley is wounded and captured. By the end of the battle, 2000 Lancastrians and 1000 Yorkists are dead; the brook flows red with blood for 3 days.

-Battle of Ludlow: After their victory at Blore Heath, the Yorkists manage to converge at Ludlow castle; 8000 Yorkists begin to march toward London but are faced with a massive force of 16000 Lancastrians led nominally by the Mad King himself (though in fact he is only there for morale purposes); the Yorkists fall back to Ludford bridge forming ditches on their side of the bridge and set up cannons in barricades.
In the night, Andrew Trollope (commander of Calais garrison, which had been brought to the yorkist army by Warwick) takes his 600 men and crosses over to join the Lancastrians.  The Calais garrison were by far the most elite unit of fighters on either side, and Trollope's betrayal adds to the already dire odds against York.  Morale hits a new low; particularly as many of the Yorkists in the army were very happy to fight against the Queen and her corrupt nobles but express reluctance to fight an army where the King himself is present.  Realizing they can't win, Salisbury, Warwick and York flee at midnight along with York's older sons Edward (Earl of March) and Edmund (Earl of Rutland).
York's wife Cecily and his younger sons Clarence (age 10) and Richard (age 7) are left behind.
In the morning, the entire Yorkist army surrenders to King Henry, kneeling in submission to him. He pardons all who are present; Richard of York's wife and younger children are kept as prisoners and put into the care of the Duke of Buckingham.  Lancastrian soldiers loot the town of Ludlow.
Warwick, Salisbury, and York are all stripped of their titles and declared outlaws; York and Edmund flee to Eire Land where he has loyal forces, while Warwick, Salisbury and Edward flee to Calais.

-Sir John Falstaff, one of the last great heroes of Agincourt, dies of old age.

-Sir Walter Devereux, Yorkist Chancellor of Eire, dies, presumably of natural causes.

-The Queen arranges for the title of Captain of Calais to be given to the young and handsome Duke of Somerset; when he attempts to take up his ordered title, the forces of Calais (who are loyal to Warwick) repel him twice.
Incensed, the Queen orders the construction of a war fleet in the port of Sandwich to be used to recapture Calais from Warwick; but as soon as the ships are ready, Warwick sends a team of men in secret to Sandwich who steal the war fleet in a night raid and sail the warships safely to Calais, adding to his strengths.

In our Campaign: the PCs participated in an adventure with the aging Sir John Falstaff, enjoying a last hurrah with the by-now senile and morbidly-obese old knight, when he called for help to overcome a cult of chaos he believe had taken over the lands around his Caister Castle; although at first it seemed nonsense it turned out that there was indeed a cult to some dark sea-gods, and the PCs along with Sir John had to root them out.

They also participated in the battles of Blore Heath and Ludlow.  As I'm running both a Lancastrian campaign and a Yorkist one, the points of view on either side were very interesting: in the Yorkist campaign, the battle of Blore Heath was a tremendous victory for them, and so the shock was all the more terrible when the Yorkist commanders then abandon their men and slink away in the dead of the night at Ludlow. The Players couldn't believe it, and for some it deeply strained their sense of loyalty, while others became even more devoted in spite of knowing that they were going to be suffering for having been left behind as known rebels. Some of the PCs decided to flee, managing to steal a boat to get them to Calais. Curiously, not one of them chose to actually switch sides to the Lancastrian cause.

For the Lancastrian group, they got to Blore Heath late (they had gone off in search of goblin warrens), and by the time they arrived at the fight it was clear the whole thing was lost.  Some of them wanted to stay behind and try to somehow turn it around but in the end the majority ruled and the PCs fled back to the main Lancastrian army.  The Lancastrian PCs also couldn't believe that Richard of York and his chief backers would abandon the field at Ludlow, and felt convinced that this would mean that there was no way that York could ever recover from the shame of this.

My Yorkist PC group also played an adventure where they were the elite team sent in to steal the Queen's War Fleet out of Sandwich.  They had quite a lot of fun with that one.

RPGPundit

[RPGPundit]

Dark Albion Timeline Update: 1460

1460
-The Earl of Warwick lands with a force in Sandwich (destroying the second fleet that the Queen ordered built, mostly before it could leave port), along with the Earl of Salisbury and Edward Earl of March.  They raise up a force of Kentishmen (with the support of the Archibishop of Canterbury) and enter London quickly (the cannons of the tower of London are fired on the city of London; under orders from Thomas De Scales, commander of the knights of the Star, who holds out against yorkist siege there) and then march to face Henry VI's forces. The Duke of Norfolk (John Mowbray) and Thomas Kyriel switch back to their side, as does William De Neville (Lord Falconberg) who had earlier freed Henry VI on orders of his brother Westmoreland; the remainder of the Westmoreland Nevilles continue to support Lancaster.

-Battle of Northampton: Earl of warwick (with Norfolk, Kyriel, Salisbury; Edward of York, Lord Falconberg and Lord Cobham) with 25000 men vs Henry VI and Buckingham (and Viscount Beaumont, Earl of Shrewsbury, Sir John Talbot, Sir Christopher Talbot, Sir Edmund Grey, and Lord Egremont) with 15000 men.
The Lancastrians have some bombards, which they place with their backs to the river Nene. However, strong rains when the battle begins hampers both the lancastrian archers and cannons. Also, Warwick paid off Sir Edmund Grey (promising him a Lordship) to let him pass the flank. The Duke of Buckingham (58 years old, Knight of the Star) is killed by kentishmen.  The Earl of shrewsbury (70 years old, KS), his son, the Cleric Sir Christopher Talbot (36 years old) also die in battle; John Talbot (47a) the Earl of Shrewsbury's elder son and heir, dies some time after the battle from his wounds..  Thomas Percy- Baron Egremont (38 years old and younger brother to Lord Percy, Earl of Northumberland) is killed by kentishmen.  These and several others die in battle trying to protect Henry's tent.
Viscount Beaumont (50a, KS) dies in battle.
The Mad King is taken prisoner and sent to the Bishop of London's palace in London.
Margaret and Edward Plantagenet were not at the battle but in Coventry. They flee to Harlech castle in wales, and then recruit allies from Scots Land, recruiting Scots barbarians in exchange for the promise of the return of  the city of Berwick to the Scots.

-Buckingham's grandson and heir, 5-year old Henry Stafford, is made a ward of the Woodville family. Richard of York's wife and younger children are recovered from Buckingham's household, and young George (age 11) and Richard (age are sent to Burgundy to court and for their (and the lineage's) protection.

-After the news of loss at Northampton and knowing that there is no aid coming, Thomas de Scales tries to flee the Tower (and London) in secret, but is murdered by the yorkist mob. By seniority, Baron Sudeley (Ralph Boteler) becomes commander of the Lancastrian Knights of the Star.

-York calls parliament in London, and tries to consider himself king but lacks support (in fact, the Earl of Warwick sabotages his efforts to a certain extent, wishing to make sure he can retain his control over the yorkists).  Instead the Act of Accord is passed which leads to York being Henry's heir.  Salisbury is given the title of Lord Chamberlain. The Magister of Oxford, George Neville (Salisbury's son) is made Lord Chancellor. Bishop Ralph Neville (son of lord falconberg) is made Keeper of the Great Seal. Clerical Lieutenant Commander Robert Stillington (yorkist) is made Keeper of the Privy Seal. Henry Bourchier (cousin of the Yorkist Archbishop of Canterbury) becomes Earl of Essex.

-Warwick briefly adventures in the Isle of Wights as governor.

-As the Lancastrians rally in the north and Wales, Richard sends Edward to Wales, leaving Warwick in London, and Richard himself goes to the north to deal with the main Lancastrian forces, accompanied by his second son Edmund Earl of Rutland, and Warwick's father the Earl of Salisbury.

-Battle of Wakefield: The Duke of Somerset (along with his brother Edmund Beaufort), Duke of Exeter, Northumberland and Clifford (along with the Earl of Westmoreland, the Earl of Devon and his brother John who is knighted before the battle, and Baron Roos, the Earl of Wiltshire (James Butler, "the Eireman") and Andrew Trollope) with 18000 lancastrian troops, vs Richard of York, the Earl of Salisury and Edmund of Rutland (who is 17 years old); as well as Sir Thomas Neville (Salisbury's son), Sir William Bonnville and his son William Bonnville III, and Edward Bourchier, with 9000 yorkist troops. 2500 yorkists are killed, compared to only 200 lancastrians.
York had come north near York city, and was secure in Sandal Castle, but is subsequently tricked into thinking that the lancastrian force is only half its size when his scouts are intentionally deceived  by Somerset/Edmund Beaufort.  The other half of the lancastrian army comes out of the woods into the Wakefield commons where the battle is fought and the Yorkists defeated in but a half hour.
Richard of York, Edmund York/Rutland and the Earl of Salisbury are among the yorkist casualties; Richard is killed in battle, as is Sir Thomas Neville, and Edward Bourchier (26 year old younger son of the Earl of Essex); Rutland flees across the Wakefield bridge but is hunted down and slain by Clifford. Salisbury fled but is captured that night and beheaded by commoners (in spite of Somerset's orders that he be taken alive). Sir William Bonnville, son of Lord Bonnville, is captured and executed, as is his son the 18-year old William Bonnville III. York's head put on a pike in the city of york, wearing a paper crown.

-Edward becomes Duke of York, he declares Warwick his Lord Chamberlain. William de Neville becomes commander of the Yorkist Knights of the Star.


In My Campaigns:
This is a very eventful year in Albion.  Coming back from ignominious defeat and exile, first the Yorkists score a spectacular victory, recapturing the Mad King; and then their most terrible defeat, leading to the death of their leader, Richard of York.  There are so many moments in the war of the roses where someone who doesn't know the history (like several of my players) look at events and think "shit, this is obviously the end, there's no way this side is ever coming back from this".  So in pretty much every session from this year, the PCs were really surprised by the turns of events.
My players participated in the big battles of the year, of course.  In my Spanish (yorkist) group, they also went on adventure with Warwick to the terrifying Isle of Wights, where a couple of their number were slain in the tunnels below the town, facing off with subhuman chaos-mutants.  The English (lancastrian) group went off "north of the wall" to Scots Land to try to recruit Scots mercenaries to the Queen's cause, where they ended up having to face some dungeons full of ancient Northman treasures (and undead).   At the battle of Wakefield, the Spanish group were also faced with a terrible personal dilemma, when they decided to kill the Earl of Salisbury rather than allow him to be captured alive by the Lancastrians, who wanted to use him as a bargaining chip against his son, the Earl of Warwick.  This was a particularly ballsy thing to do, given that the Spanish PCs all work for Warwick.

RPGPundit

[RPGPundit]

Dark Albion Update: 1461

Chronology of important events in 1461:
-Pontifex Pius II declares the Commonwealth and Teutons anathema until they cease their warfare with each other.

-battle of Mortimer's Cross (Edward of York vs Jasper Tudur) Edward, George, and Richard of York; and Sir William "Ap William" Herbert, Baron Audley (who's father had been killed fighting for Lancaster at Blore Heath, but who meets with Edward and changes allegiance to York), and Sir John Wenlock fight Jasper and Owain Tudur's welsh army.  Before the battle a parhelion, a triple sun, is seen at dawn, which is taken as a portent for the three sons of york being destined to rule.  It is a Yorkist victory.  Owain is captured and executed, jasper manages to flee. Some 4000 welshmen are executed.

-2nd battle of St.Albans (the Mad King is present as a prisoner, and laughs and sings during the battle) 15000 Lancastrians vs 10000 Yorkists (losses 2000/4000).  The Duke of Somerset, Earl of Northumberland and Lord Clifford, as well as many Scots Men Reivers recruited by Queen's agents, are on the Lancastrian side.
Warwick arrives with the Duke of Norfolk and John Neville, as well as the Earl of Arundel, and Sir John Wenlock; and Henry VI in his caravan as a prisoner.  Warwick sets himself up north of St.Albans with barricades, cannons, caltrops, and Burgundian riflemen. However, their defenses face north, and Margaret divines this; she goes round and comes south from the town, setting up her archers along the roofs of the town's apartments.  As it begins to snow, the yorkist cannon and guns often fail to fire, while Henry de Grey, Lancastrian magister, sends out great magical attacks against the Yorkists including demons. Sir Henry Lovelace, a personal man of Warwick's and one of his commanders, betrays him mid-battle. By evening Warwick is forced to
retreat, abandoning king Henry's wagon in the panic; Lord Bonnville and Sir Thomas Kyriell, his wardens, are murdered by the Lancastrians on young Prince Edward Lancaster's orders. John Neville is also captured but not executed, to be used for prisoner exchange with the Duke of Somerset's brother.  The lancastrians, hearing of the loss in mortimer's cross, and fearing that London would not open its doors, do not take advantage to march on London. Andrew Trollope is knighted, as are Thomas de Roos and other lancastrian leaders. On lancaster's side, John Grey (husband of Elizabeth Woodville) dies in the battle, leaving her a widow.

-Sir John Wenlock besieges the Tower of London, taking it and securing Edward of York's entrance into London.

-Edward IV crowned in London by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Sir John Wenlock is elevated to the Knights of the Star and given the title of Chief Butler. William Ap William is made Lord Herbert. King Edward also makes George Duke of Clarence and (provisional) Knight of the Star, as well as William Hastings, who is made Lord Hastings . He makes the magister Baron Tiptoft, who has just returned from pilgrimage in Heliopolis, the Constable of the Tower (where he quickly gains the nickname "The Butcher of Albion" for his gleeful execution of Lancastrian prisoners).

-Berwick is retaken by the Scots men. It is ruled over by chief Robert McLauder.

- Battle of Towton (Queen margaret's army destroyed), fought in a vicious snow storm on the spring equinox; 25000 troops to each side (14000 die on each side). Henry and Margaret remained in York, the lancastrian leader was the Duke of Somerset, along with Exeter and Northumberland, James Butler (the Eireman, earl of Wiltshire) and his brother John "The Gentleman" Butler, the Earl of Devon, Thomas de Roos and Ralph Dacre, and Lionel de Welles.
Initial yorkist forces reach Towton under William De Neville (with his brother Sir John Neville of Westmoreland, John Sutton Baron Dudley who had switched sides to York, and his son Edmund Sutton, and William Lord Hastings); waiting desperately for reinforcements from Duke of Norfolk, De Neville takes advantage of strong wind on his side to fire arrows at the lancastrians, who cannot shoot back, forcing them to draw back (and collecting the arrows they left behind and misshot) and giving time for reinforcement (Norfolk, Warwick and Edward) to arrive. Norfolk and Edward had been delayed by a chance encounter with Clifford and a small force of 900 men at "Ferrybridge"; rather than flee, Clifford held the bridge, and fought to the death (dying from an arrow shot).  
The two armies proceed to fight for hours in the snowstorm, but finally the lancastrians rout.  The turning point is when Warwick, injured and his horse dead, cries out "let him fly that will, but I will tarry with him that tarries with me!"  
Northumberland (Percy) dies in battle, Dacre dies from a sniper's arrow. Thomas Courtenay (Earl of Devon) dies. Lionel de Welles dies. Sir Andrew Trollope dies. James Butler is captured and beheaded, his brother John was also captured but is spared though not given his brother's Anglish title (though still "Chief of the Ormonds" in Eire Land).  William Beaumont (viscount) is taken prisoner.  On the Yorkist side, Sir John Neville of Westmoreland dies.

Henry escapes with Margaret to Scots' Land; soon joined by Somerset, Exeter, Roos and Humphrey Dacre (son of baron Dacre).

-William De Neville is made Earl of Kent for his service, Warwick made Lt. of the North and Lord Admiral. Humphey Bourchier (son of  Earl of Essex) is made Lord Cromwell. Sir Walter Devereux is made Lord Ferrers.

-Sir Jasper Tudur is attaindered, as is the prisoner Viscount Beaumont, and Thomas Baron Roos, 12 year old Henry Percy (northumberland's son) is imprisoned in the tower of London.
Lawrence Booth, cleric to queen Margaret, submits himself to Edward IV and is fully pardoned. Richard de Welles submits to Edward and is pardoned.
Richard Wydeville submits to Edward.

-Roos and Dacre return to north Albion to raise a rebellion, but Lawrence Booth, William Booth (archbishop of York) and Ralph Neville (bishop of Durham) command forces that push them back and quash the rebellion.

-The Duke of Norfolk, John Mowbray, dies of natural causes; his son John becomes the new Duke.


This year marked the end of our English-language campaign; I decided to quit that party on a high-note for the Lancastrians (which side the PC's belonged to) just before the battle of Towton. Both groups participated in the battle of 2nd St.Albans, which was significant as a battle where (in the campaign) magic was heavily used on both sides.  It was also significant for one of the PCs, Henry Woodville, as his sister's husband died there. At this time, the Woodvilles had members of their extended family fighting on both sides of the war.
The Spanish Albion campaign went on in this year to fight at Towton, and to later assist in putting down the northern rebellion; they would stay in the north after that for some time, as Henry Woodville had been given a knighthood and the title of "warden of the scots' land frontier".

RPGPundit

[RPGPundit]

Interlude: The Ongoing Stuggle Against the Frog, circa 1471

(reposted from another thread)

In the Albion campaign, the Frogmen took all the Anglish holdings on the continent except of Calais before the campaign even started. They're on the rise right now in the campaign. The human nations around there (Albion, the Principality of Lorraine, The Grand Duchy of Burgundy, the Canton Confederacy, the city-states and Pontifex-states of Arcadia, and the kingdoms of Iberia are all too disjointed and distrustful of one another to actually get organized and take the Frogmen down.

That was actually the one great ambition of the Kingmaker (Warwick); he sought to marry King Edward of York to a princess of Lorraine, who was also the niece of Philip of Burgundy, creating a triple alliance that would then go to war against the Frogmen together; but then Edward fucked it all up by marrying a lower noble (Elizabeth Woodville) in secret. This broke any chance of alliance (as well as fucking up all of Albion by turning Warwick and the king against each other and reigniting the civil war). Meanwhile Burgundy went to war alone, kicked the shit out of the Frogmen and got within sight of the Paris Swamp, but was pushed back and died soon after.

His son Charles the Terrible is much less competent and got into a fight with his cousins in Lorraine; who were then opportunistically attacked by the Frogmen; Lorraine was only saved because at the time it was full of very powerful and experienced Lancastrian Knights who fought for Lorraine in exchange for the Prince's support against their mutual enemies in the house of York.

Now the Kingmaker and both the Mad King and his son Prince Edward of Lancaster are dead, ending the Lancastrian threat (except for the minor house of Tudur, which is in exile on the continent with no real allies and everyone is fairly sure will be assassinated shortly), but any hope of a grand alliance against the Frogmen seems to have crumbled to dust.

Even so, there are rumblings about a young surviving son of the last Duke of Brittanie trying to raise up a rebellion in frogmen territory...

RPGPundit

[RPGPundit]

Incredibly, its been almost 2 years now since I started working on this.

[RPGPundit]

Dark Albion Chronology: 1462

Important events 1462

-Sir John Wenlock, Lord Hastings, Lord Herbert ("black william"), Sir John Astley and George Duke of Clarence (provisionally), become Knights of the Star.

-Harlech Castle in Wales is besieged. Among those inside is Henry Tudur.

-Sir Ralph Percy surrenders bamburgh castle to the king, he's pardoned and restored.

-The Earl of Oxford and his oldest son are executed for treason; his younger son John De Vere is spared.

-The Mad King and his remaining forces base themselves in Berwick, Scots' Land.

-George Duke Clarence (age 13) is made Governor of Ulster, sent to Eire Land.

-Vlad Tepes marches through the land of the Bulgars, part of the empire of the Turks, and slaughters 24000 men, women and children.

-The Duke of Somerset switches allegiances to York, is pardoned.

-William Percy, chief magister of Cambridge collegium, dies.  He's replaced in his role by Magister John Booth who also becomes the King's magister-secretary.

-The Turk invade Wallachia again with 90000 troops (Vlad's own army is at best 1/3rd the size).  In a daring "night attack", Vlad kills 15000 of them. The Turk are forced to retreat. The Pontifex's office orders celebrations for Vlad's victories.

In the Campaign:
The player characters spent this game year acting as guardians in the North; based out of Durham and answering to the Prince-Bishop, they were in charge of helping to maintain order and watch the border region with Scots' Land, and the wilder areas of the North in the Pennine mountains.
In the adventures in this year, the PCs fought against two different bandit groups that were causing huge havoc in the mountain roads between Durham/Newcastle and Carlisle. Along the way, two of the PCs found wives through fairly different means: one rescued a "rich merchant's daughter" (he only later found out the merchant wasn't actually very rich at all) who had been kidnapped by bandits looking for ransom; the other spared a bandit woman her life if she'd marry him.  What can I say? It was the 15th century. Both marriages have surprisingly lasted and proved fruitful for the PCs.

RPGPundit

[RPGPundit]

Dark Albion Update: 1463

Important Events

- In Wallachia, Prince Vlad's own brother, Radu Bey, betrays him and most of his nobles to the Turk; Vlad is defeated in battle and presumed dead.  Radu Bey now rules over Wallachia as a territory of the Turk. The Turk expands as far as Herzegovina.

-Baron Scrope and Sir Robert Harcourt are made Knights of the Star. John De La Pole is restored as Duke of Suffolk (he's married to King Edward's sister).  The aristocratic Magister, Baron Tiptoff, constable of the Tower (nicknamed "The Butcher") is made Steward of the Royal Household.

-Sir John Neville (Baron Montegu) becomes Chief Steward of Durham and Warden of the Northern Marches.

-Edward IV meets Baron River's daughter Elizabeth Woodville while on his tour.  He is immediately smitten with her.

-The Duke of Somerset switches allegiances back to Lancaster, taking his forces north. In Berwick, Henry De Gray becomes the Lancastrian Magister-Royal.

-William de Neville, Earl of Kent, dies of natural causes. His son Thomas ("the bastard") is made Lord Falconberg at age 13. William was commander of the Knights of the Star (for York), and is replaced in that position by Henry Bourchier.

-Lord James Berkeley ("the just") dies of natural causes. His son William de Berkeley (aka "William Wassail" becomes Baron Berkeley.

-Pontifex Pius II prohibits the enslaving of converts.



In The Campaign

This was in some ways a politically slow year on the surface; but of course it marks a crucial moment in the history of Albion, when King Edward of York first meets Elizabeth Woodville. The first part of the year's activity was spent by the PCs, in their capacity as agents for the Lieutenant of the North, discovering and exploring the Pod Caverns of the sinister mushroom men. It was a dungeon my players were initially enamoured with but eventually that feeling soured as the the module went on too long and felt too repetitive.

In our campaign, one of the Players (who had been lucky enough to get a minor-noble social status) was playing Sir Henry Woodville, younger son of Baron Rivers and brother to Elizabeth Woodville. In our game he was the one who, accompanying the King in his progress, suggested they go to his home estates, causing King Edward and Elizabeth to meet.  It played in the campaign a little bit like a romantic comedy; with her initially hating the king (her deceased husband had died fighting in the war for the other side, after all), and him desperate to get her to like him.  Amusingly, Sir Henry's player didn't initially understand what was happening, and later (not knowing anything of the history of all this) found himself in what he thought was the unenviable position of trying to avoid the king's ire while at the same time preserve his sister from becoming a mere mistress.  Fortunately, he did something smart and went to his father for advice, who started manipulating the situation to the Woodville's favor.

I believe it was at the end of this session that someone first exclaimed about King Edward, the famous line "Oh shit, he's Robb Stark!"

Finally, the game year ended with the PCs having to go off to Bristol to rescue an NPC friend and sometimes-teammate of theirs, Smiley the Scot, who having fallen into grave debts and fled for his life, had a bounty put on his head by the foremost criminal gang in Albion, the moneylenders of the Burgundian mobster, Gilbert de Hutt. By the time the PCs found out about it, he had already been betrayed and captured (by famed bounty hunter Robert Fett) and transported to de Hutt's underground palace, so it was up to the PCs to trick their way in and save their friend.  This adventure was played much more for laughs than just about any other in the campaign, the whole thing being one big RotJ sendoff, but the players seemed to enjoy the break from vile darkness and court intrigues.

RPGPundit

[Benoist]

Gilbert de Hutt. LOL

[RPGPundit]

Gilbert de Hutt. LOL

I figured you'd like that.