For Introductions, I am Armond, servant and faithful squire to my master Sir Christoph Tetreaux. Earlier today, a letter from the city of Couronne was delivered to my master, Lord of the city known as Vlios in the Dukedom of Couronne. This letter bears the symbol of our King Louen Leoncouer, red and blue shield halves with a yellow lion rampart. The messenger, a squire dressed in the attire of the kings court was told specifically by the king he had to hand deliver this message to my lord. Upon summoning my lord to the squire, he broke the Kings seal, and read the message. Wide eyed, he looked upon me with excitement in his eyes and asked me to summon 13 messengers, and a handful of scribes to lay on paper what the kings orders were.

At that time, I did not understand why my master was summoning messengers and scribes, but I would come to find out in the next few minutes.

“The King has bestowed upon my castle the summer cycle jousting tournament. That is why I have summoned all of you.” He said. “This is a time honored tradition in Couronne, the King is quite a fan of Jousting tournaments, and by the Kings orders, and I have the privilege of hosting this summers event.” He said excitedly, knowing that many noble knights and fair maidens of Bretonnia will now enter my Lords land, and judge Him, his Hospitality and his Honor.

We then understood why the messengers and scribes were summoned.

He then spoke directly to the scribes:

“You will now write 13 letters to each of the capitals of the Dukedoms in Bretonnia. I will entail the rules in each parchment, complete with sign up sheets.”

He began to speak as the scribes wrote feverishly…”The tournament will start in 2 weeks, which is more than enough time to come to my lands and set up their camps. The tournament will consist of 32 participants, Bretonnian Nobility Only, which must be shown with their papers of nobility on both sides of their family.

There will be two events at this tournament:  The first event, the Quintain is a joust that will pit the knight against an Orc body with a shield, and mace. This will be a warm up for the main event…The Joust.

In the Quintain, every Knight will run three times against the orc, he will hit the shield on 4+ and he will be hit by the manikin at the 6+. If hit by the morning star the Knight will suffer of a penalty of 20 pts and he will be unhorsed on a further roll of 4+. 

Points: A roll of 4 will score 10 pts to the Knight,  a roll of 5 to hit will score 15 pts to the Knight and a roll of 6 to hit will score 20 pts to the Knight.

Tactics: A Knight can choose to improve his chances to center the target or he otherwise can try to attack in a safe mode.

Running at nomal speed, the normal rules apply.

Running slow, in that way the knight has more time to aim at the center of the target, but the mornig star’ll hit him easier. The Knight has +1 to hit and he will be hit by the Orcish manikin at the 5+.

The main event is The Joust. In this joust, the goal is to break three of your lances against your opponent. Hitting the crest of your opponent is worth two broken lances and unhorsing him automatically wins you the round.

All Knights will be considered having Hero statistics in the tournament. This means that Knights will hit others on a 4+

All Knights will have lances; shields, heavy Armour and barded horses, and thus an Armour save of 2+. 

    Only one roll to hit will be allowed in each pass, but each round might consist of several passes. If the to hit roll succeeds, the Knight will be allowed a roll to wound. All Knights will wound others on a 2+. If you roll a successful hit and wound you are considered to have broken your lance even if the wound is saved. A wounded Knight will be unhorsed on a further roll of 1, 2 or 3. Any Knight suffering a second wound will automatically be unhorsed. The first Knight to break three lances or unhorse his opponent wins the round.

Armour saves will be made with a -3 due to the strength of charging with lances. This means that Knights will usually save on 5+. As tournament lances are rebated (blunted), the wounds caused will not actually kill the Knights, but the wounds will not heal from one round to the next either.

Tactics

    The joust is conducted in rounds. In each round the contending Knights and Wood Elves make a number of passes to decide the winner. Each pass is started by choosing one of the following jousting tactics. The tactic chosen will decide who strikes first and might also bestow other bonuses. Contestants choosing the same tactic will strike each other simultaneously.

• 1. Aim for Shield: This tactic allows you to strike first.
• 2. Aim for Helm: This tactic gives your Knight or Wood Elf a +1 modifier to his strength, thus lowering his opponent's save by one point. He will strike before an opponent aiming for his crest, making a swipe or a dodge, but he will strike after an opponent aiming for his shield.

• 3. Aim for Crest: Knocking your opponent's crest off counts as two broken lances. You will be at -1 to hit and can never wound or unhorse your opponent. If you hit the crest it will be knocked off on a further roll of 4, 5 or 6. This tactic allows your Knight or Wood Elf to strike before anyone making a swipe or a dodge, but after anyone aiming for the shield or helm. Note that each Knight or Wood Elf only has one crest and that after it is knocked off it will no longer be an eligible target. Crests are however mended between rounds.
• 4. Swipe: This tactic is acceptable, but not considered very honorable. It will give you a +1 modifier to hit. You will strike after anyone using tactics 1, 2 or 3, but before anyone using a dodge.
• 5. Dodge: This tactic is defensive and you will strike last. It is considered dishonorable and will probably bring down hisses from the crowd. Your opponent will get a -2 to hit modifier and you will get a -1. This tactic can just be used once per round. A Knight using this tactic twice in the same round will be disqualified from the tournament for cowardice.

Bretonnian Virtues

    Bretonnian Knights are allowed two virtues (one always being the Knight's-, Questing- or Grail Virtue), others are not. The virtues have the following effects in a tournament:

• Knight's, Questing or Grail Virtue: Every Bretonnian Knight has one of these virtues, but they have no further effect on the joust.
• Virtue of Devotion: This virtue gives a Knight an automatic lady's favor, entitling him to three rerolls. The rerolls will automatically be used for the first three failed rolls.
• Virtue of Discipline: A Knight with this virtue will get a +1 to his Armour saves.
• Virtue of the Impetuous Knight: This virtue will allow the Knight to count his tactics choice as the choice above it in the list when it comes to deciding who strikes first. Example: If the Knight chooses to aim for the helm he would normally strike after someone aiming for the shield, but in this case their attacks will be simultaneous.
• Virtue of Knightly Ardour: This virtue entitles the Knight to a +1 modifier to his strength, thus lowering his opponent's save by one point.
• Virtue of Knightly Temper: This virtue entitles the Knight to reroll any failed to hit roll in the first pass of each round.
• Virtue of Noble Disdain: A Knight with this virtue will automatically disregard the first wound he suffers.
• Virtue of Purity: A Knight with this virtue will never use the Swipe or Dodge tactics but he will be able to reroll any failed Armour saves.
• Virtue of Valour: A Knight with this virtue will automatically have a random lady's favor. The rerolls will automatically be used for the first failed rolls.
• Virtue of the Joust: A Knight with this virtue will never use the Dodge tactic, but will always have a +1 modifier to hit.

Lady's Favors

    Before the jousting starts the contestants will parade before the assembled crowd. During the parade ladies might want to bestow favors on their favorite champions. Each contestant rolls two dice; if he gets doubles he will get a favor. The favor takes the form of a garment, which the lady ties to the lance of her champion. The favors have the following effects:

• Double 1s - Veil: This favor entitles the Knight to one reroll. The reroll will automatically be used for the first failed roll.
• Double 2s - Wimple: This favor entitles the Knight to two rerolls. The rerolls will automatically be used for the first failed rolls.
• Double 3s - Kirtle: This favor entitles the Knight to three rerolls. The rerolls will automatically be used for the first failed rolls.
• Double 4s - Girder: This favor entitles the Knight to four rerolls. The rerolls will automatically be used for the first failed rolls.
• Double 5s - Garter: This favor entitles the Knight to five rerolls. The rerolls will automatically be used for the first failed rolls.
• Double 6s - Tress: This favor entitles the Knight to six rerolls. The rerolls will automatically be used for the first failed rolls.

You have 2 weeks to respond to this entry. Good Luck, and have a safe journey to my lands.” My master finishes, and turns to me…….

“Armond, have the messengers go with speed to each Dukedom and post these letters.” After hearing these orders, I have done just that…..