# Knights
Starting Player-knights begin as young adults who have just realized a lifetime goal by taking the oath of knighthood. Each knight is an immensely powerful and privileged person in a world where most people are downtrodden commoners whose ancestors long ago traded their freedom for safety. Knights are their protectors, with a sacred duty to spend—or even sacrifice—their life on behalf of others.
Knights are born into privilege and commoners born into servitude. No one questions this. Everyone obeys this. Knights live off the labor of the commoners, and although entirely dependent upon that labor, come no closer to it than ordering commoners around and making sure they work hard. Custom forbids knights to labor whether in farming or business, and they risk losing their revered status if they do.
Knights are warriors, whose sole duty is to protect their lords, commoners, clergy, and noblewomen. Knights have armor, weapons, and powerful horses to perform their dangerous job. They live in well-protected castles or halls; they eat well, with plenty of meat, and drink wine or ale. They live by a code of honor which dominates their every action, and whose loss would break them from their noble status down to that of a commoner.
Knights are not entirely free. They must conform to custom and law. Most importantly, every knight is honor-bound to obey their liege, a higher-ranking lord who interprets that custom and law for their underlings. To disobey one’s lord is to destroy a knight’s honor. To speak back to the lord is dangerous even if they have ordered a heinous crime be committed. A knight’s primary duty is to faultlessly obey their lord, even superseding the protection of the weak. At the start of Arthur’s reign, wicked lords and their duty-bound knights do much evil across the land; the Boy King begins changing this dynamic through the introduction of Chivalry, and the idea that knights and lords must always strive to do what is good for society at large.
The rights of the knight and their lord are God-given. When humankind lost the bliss of the Garden of Eden, they fell upon each other with all the vices known today. Knights (called milites at first) were the chosen ones among the best of them, one knight per thousand (mille) people, granting them their rights and duties. Both divine law and common tradition sanction the office. No one considers any alternative seriously.
# The Measure of a Knight
The measure of a knight’s greatness is their Glory, a combination of renown, reputation, prestige, position, fame, and infamy. It reveals the magnitude of a knight’s accumulated deeds. Nothing is important to a knight if it does not contribute to their Glory. Honor is a measure of a knight’s qualities, their integrity, reliability, decency, and morality. Glory without Honor is the measure of a bad knight.
Only knights and other combatants have Glory, and only knights, lords, and ladies have Honor.
Her harty wordes so deepe into the mynd
Of the young damzell sunke, that great desire
Of warlike armes in her forthwith they tynd,
And generous stout courage did inspyre,
That she resolu’d, vnweeting to her Syre,
Aduent’rous knighthood on her selfe to don...—Ed, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto iii
# Female Knights
Knights in Pendragon may be of any gender.
In Pendragon, “Knight” is a gender-neutral term suitable for both women and men who have undergone a ceremony of knighting and taken up a life at arms. If something concerning just one gender comes up in the text, then you will find the gendered terms “male knight” or “female knight” as specifications. The correct honorific to address a female knight is “Dame,” which is equivalent to the male knight’s “Sir.” Thus, Dame Briant is a knight, with all the knight’s privileges and obligations.
“Woman-at-arms” is a general term that includes female knights and any other female who takes up the profession of arms. They may, like men, be hobelars, guardswomen, or squires serving knights. Some all-women organizations exist, of which the Daughters of Boudicca are the most prestigious.
The rights of the female knight go beyond simple fighting. Her role encompasses all the privileges of knighthood: she is the head of her household and family, inherits the family name, arms, and armament, and the right to pass them on to her heiress or heir. If she marries a male knight, then they both have knightly rights and share responsibilities according to however they or their liege sees fit.
The arms and armor of female knights are just like those of their male counterparts. There are no mail bikinis here, nor are there any iron breastplates suitable for catching weapons and crushing chests from a fall. Both are distracting and demeaning.
Some Players and Gamemasters may wish to ignore the option of female knights entirely, and may do so; Your Pendragon Will Vary, after all. Some people prefer to keep their own personal view of historic and literary purity. The rules do not change significantly. The unchanging key to the game is that it is primarily about knighthood.
Other gender-related issues may come up as well, depending on how the Gamemaster and Players wish to construct the social and gender roles in their version of Arthur’s Britain. The important rule is that everyone at the table is comfortable and having fun.
# Becoming a Knight
Knights are born of noble families. As children, their mothers or nurses fulfill the duty of raising them, hopefully protecting them from the ways of the cruel world. Customarily, at age seven all noble children, whether boys or girls, enter under the foster care of a liege lord, a relative, or a family friend. They become pages, petty servants who do increasingly difficult chores around the household and learn the basic facts of nobility, such as protocol, manners, riding, serving, and obedience.
At the age of fourteen, after seven years as pages, boys begin their training as squires. Most girls learn the duties of a lady in the solar (a private upstairs chamber). Some, wishing for a martial life, also become squires. If their parents designate them for a holy vocation (or they have this inclination), they retire to live a religious life.
Squires are assigned to a knight, whom they serve just as a knight serves their lord. The knight is the squire’s teacher and instructs them in both foot and mounted combat, battle tactics, horsemanship, courtly comportment, and all the other obligations of the knightly class.
At age 21, squires are freed from service. Those who are destined for knighthood are sworn to their duties and take an oath under a new lord. Squires who are heirs of property, usually first-born sons, become always knights, but younger offspring are not certain of receiving this honor. Some squires do not become knights and are instead called esquires.
Not all knights equal in standing. Pendragon defines the many ways they differ through the hierarchy of knighthood. Most knights (about four in five) are either mercenary knights or household knights: they serve other knights, either through paid contract or the bonds of homage. All of the Player-knights included in this box fall under these categories. Very few (almost one in five) are vassal knights: they hold land granted by the king or other great lord. Even fewer (one in a hundred) are bannerets, a lord without title who holds at least ten other knights in vassalage. All seek Glory with equal passion, of course. Note that the highest form of knighthood, the banneret, is not inherited by the children of those who achieve this rank. It is only to be earned in battle, conferred directly by the king.
# What Knights Do
Following is a brief description of the primary responsibilities of knights as combatants, and the day-to-day, mundane lives of household knights, the default Player-knights.
# Responsibilities
Every knight has three responsibilities: auxilium, consilium, and aids.
Auxilium, the first responsibility of a knight, is to be a soldier for their lord, obeying every command. The loyal knight must wield their sword in battle and on quest, facing death without cowardice. The knight must provide troops when called for and attend to any other military duties their lord asks of them.
Consilium, the second responsibility, obliges the knight to offer their person in service to their lord. This may come in the form of advice given when asked for, to service as a personal guard, to standing in as a hostage for the lord, to providing their children as squires for training at the lord’s court.
Aids, the third responsibility, cover the knight’s financial obligations to their lord, most notably in the form of paying the lord’s ransom in the event of capture. Other aids include knighting of the lord’s first-born or paying for the lord’s marriage.
The obligation of obedience cannot be stressed enough. If the lord commands a knight to do anything, the knight must jump to it. That is an essential part of the feudal bond. Knights pledged to an evil lord do evil things, but ironically, do so because they are good, loyal, obedient knights. If their lord dies, then they are obviously free from their oaths and may feel some measure of relief—if they do not, then they are as wicked as their lord!
As King Arthur’s benevolence spreads over the kingdom, a knight’s responsibilities extend to include protecting all non-martial women, the weak and powerless (including commoners), and the church. These new responsibilities remain a personal choice, not a hard and fast requirement.
# Quest and Adventure
Considerable activity in the game deals with quests and adventures. Though the activities undertaken are similar for both, a difference does exist. All quests are adventures, but not all adventures are quests.
On an adventure, a knight accepts whatever challenge comes their way, perhaps as part of a specific mission or simply riding errant. Adventures are easy or difficult, simple or grandiose, but are within reach of accomplishment for those brave enough to make the attempt—though success is far from assured! Killing predatory beasts is an adventure, as is driving out robber knights, rescuing captives, traveling to foreign lands as an ambassador or to obtain exotic goods, seeking a wife, and hunting down the murderer of your father.
A quest requires that the knights go in search of something, embarking on an adventure arduous and out of the ordinary. One does not stumble upon a quest but determines beforehand to specifically undertake it. It is extraordinary and unique—a one-of-a-kind challenge no one can attempt twice. A quest requires that the knight undertaking it swears an oath, obliging them to complete it no matter how many difficulties stand in their way. Completion grants significant extra Glory to the successful quester.
What distinguishes a quest from an adventure is the formality of the undertaking. Killing a dragon can be a quest, as can purging evil from a land, freeing a forgotten god, opposing a supernatural entity or place, visiting the Kingdom of Overthere to steal a magical artifact, seeking to marry a princess, exterminating an entire clan of evil-doers, and, of course, the sacred quest for the Holy Grail. Many of these could also start as adventures instead. A knight may find a weeping damsel beside a fountain and swear an oath to avenge the wrongs she has endured; this is still an adventure, despite the oath-taking. Had the damsel come to court and begged for assistance, upon which the knight swore an oath before the king or lord, the adventure would instead have become a quest, with the attendant Glory bonus at the end. Heroic knights are not ditherers. They do not wait around or seek permission. A knight must accept adventures when they occur, not stopping to check in with their lord. Quests appear at court and knights ask to complete them with the lord's blessing.
# Daily Life
The daily schedule in a castle or manor hall follows the cycles of nature. Everyone rises around dawn, washes, dresses, and—if they are spiritually oriented—prays. Breakfast follows at midmorning.
First, everyone clears the great hall of blankets and other personal goods. Servants place the boards where knights slept last night upon trestles to make tables, forming long rows whose front ends are perpendicular to the raised dais at the front of the hall, where the lord sits. Benches are brought from the sides of the hall and set up to either side of the tables. The seating order is fixed, with those most honored close to the front by the high table. At a typical breakfast where few guests are in attendance, the commoners who work in the castle may sit in as well, though they are seated at the farthest ends of the tables.
The officers of the castle enter from their private quarters and take their places at the High Table. The last to enter is the lord. If the lord is married, their spouse may be beside them; for a noblewoman, her female staff are present among the other servants. However, the rudeness and rowdiness of a hall full of rough, uneducated knights may encourage the lady to take her meals in the solar, with her handmaidens.
Squires, or servers from the kitchen, are normally tasked to serve knights. A knight supplies their own eating knife. If there is soup, servants also pass out spoons. Forks do not exist yet. During the meal, people both enjoy congenial conversation and discuss plans for the day. Afterwards, servants clear the hall, putting the trestles and boards to the side.
The morning business takes place as the lord or officers tell the knights their duties for the day. A knight’s daily tasks include one or more of: guarding their liege, riding patrol, standing sentinel, practice with weapons, practice at battle maneuver, hunting from horseback, caring for their horses, escorting someone to a distant site, instructing and training their squire, and anything else the liege asks of the knight.
Meanwhile, in the hall, the lord sits upon their high seat and receives supplicants seeking justice, visitors from far parts, or holds a conference with all the knights present to listen and offer their opinions. A knight has little spare time, but can squeeze in moments of conversation, gossip, and news from visitors at court between tasks or when doing something that does not require their entire attention.
Around midday a light meal is available, followed by a break during which off-duty knights may sleep, play games, or engage in other private activities. Then the afternoon business occurs, much like in the morning.
In the late afternoon, dinner takes place. Servants again set up tables and bring out food, placing it at the center of the table. Knightly fare includes meat at each meal, a hollowed-out loaf of crusty bread as a bowl or a “plate” of stale bread, cheese, and perhaps some vegetables. Meat roasting follows various recipes that take advantage of local fare to create a tasty meal. Fruits and honeyed dainties comprise dessert for the evening meal. Ale is the usual drink, while the liege and favored advisors get wine.
Entertainment follows, and torches or rushlights provide lighting after sunset. In private quarters, candles may replace torches, but they are expensive and not suitable for general lighting. This after-dark period does not last too long because fires are dangerous. Household knights sleep in the great hall, perhaps upon a trestle table but more likely upon the rush-strewn floor. Knights keep straw-filled mattresses and blankets rolled up by their personal chest of possessions that are lined up around the edges of the room.
Another day has ended.