Tournaments

Lords, barons, dukes, and kings often host tournaments to show their power and wealth. The majority of tournaments consist of melee and archery events, but all feature the real attraction—which is the joust.

Jousting is a sport beloved by nobles and common folk alike. Many spectators dress in the colors of their favorite knight, cheering with fervor for him and booing with equal passion at his opponent.

Most tournaments are three-day events that consist of feasting, drinking, and dancing in addition to the knightly games. On the first day of the tournament, knights arrive from the surrounding lands and strike camp near the tourney grounds, setting up colorful tents with the help of their squires and other servants. It is tradition for a knight to fly the banner of his liege and his personal pennant atop or near his tent to let the people know of his arrival and intent to participate in the games. On the evening of the tourney’s opening day, all the knights gather for a grand banquet beneath their host’s roof. Dancing and socialization follow the feasting. It is during this time that the knights seek favors and vie for the blessing of their host’s Person of Honor by showing their prowess at dance, poetry, and other chivalrous pursuits.

The following morning brings the melee event, where knights square off against one another with swords before demonstrating their skill with the bow in the afternoon. While not as popular as the joust, these contests still draw a large crowd, as spectators cheer on their favorite knight. This display of martial ability also gives the Person of Honor a chance to watch knights of their interest, witnessing how valiantly they fight and how humbly they win or lose.

On the morning of the joust, all the knights dress in their finery and parade the tilting field before coming to rest before the host and the Person of Honor. It is at this time the Person of Honor calls forth a knight from the ranks on which to bestow their blessing. With the blessing granted, the knights prepare for the joust!

Tournament Mechanics

While real war can be harsh and bloody, a tournament is meant to be a grand affair. All participating knights are expected to use non-lethal force and to conduct themselves in a courteous and fair manner at all times.

In addition, a knight’s code of honor prevents him from using any magic such as weapons, items, or potions to gain an advantage during the tournament.

Pomp and ceremony are normal throughout each portion of the games, and roleplaying this behavior is encouraged but not absolutely necessary.

Below are the mechanics necessary for running a tournament. As always, you can omit or add portions to best suit your game or campaign.

The Grand Banquet

1. Let all of the knights involved in the tournament make a Chivalry skill check to impress an individual of interest and compare their results to the Favor table. Their result determines how many rerolls they will have available for use during the tournament.

The Morning Melee

1. For fairness, divide the competing knights into groups by level. No more than four levels should exist between the knights in any grouping. Pair the knights in each group by drawing their names or sigils from a bag or cup. 

The melee competition pits knight against knight using the combat rules presented in the Simplicity Core Rulebook. The winners progress to the next round of battle until a single melee champion for each group remains standing.

Afternoon Archery

1. Archery is the least loved tournament event, and as such, the shortest. Since few knights train with the bow, no level grouping exists for this event.

When ready, all participating knights line up before targets that are 75 feet away. On command, they draw and release, hoping to hit as close to the center mark as possible. Players make an attack roll (adding any applicable bonuses from their normal character abilities) for each of the three arrows fired and total their results. The knight with the highest score wins the archery competition. If a tie occurs, all those involved fire one additional arrow, and the highest attack roll determines the winner.

The Joust

1. On the morning of the joust, each knight makes a Chivalry check to represent how well he has impressed the Person of Honor. If desired, the GM can apply modifiers to the result for roleplaying. The knight with the highest result (reroll for a tie) gains the Person of Honor’s blessing, which grants him a +1 bonus to all Horsemanship, Lancework, and Shieldwork skill checks during the joust.

2. As with the Morning Melee, knights of greater experience will not soil their honor or endanger their brothers by tilting with those of lesser skill. Divide the participating knights by level. To keep the competition fair, jousting knights should be no more than four levels apart. Pair the knights in each group by drawing their names or sigils from a bag or cup. The knights then compete in rounds until one winner remains for each group.

3. To joust, the knights mount their horses and proceed to opposite ends of the field. A long fence separates the tilting field, keeping the knights’ horses from engaging one another during the event.

Knights have several tactics they can use during the joust. Just before the knights charge each other, each player writes their knight’s chosen tactic on a scrap of paper and presents it to his or her opponent. Once complete, the joust begins.

4. Before charging, both knights compare Renown ranks. The knight with the greatest Renown gains a +1 bonus to all Horsemanship, Lancework, and Shieldwork skill checks during the jousting round. This represents the knight’s confidence as well as his opponent’s fear of facing him. If both knights’ Renown ranks are equal, neither knight gains a bonus.

5. To begin the joust, each knight makes a Horsemanship check, rerolling if a tie occurs. This check represents a knight’s ability to guide his steed down the field toward his opponent. The knight with the better horsemanship check gets to attack first.

6. To attack, a knight makes a Lancework check opposed by a Shieldwork check from his opponent. If the opponent’s Shieldwork check is less than the attacking knight’s Lancework check, the attacking knight hits with his lance, and his opponent must immediately make a Horsemanship check. If the result of his opponent’s Horsemanship check is less than the difference between the original Lancework and Shieldwork results, he is unhorsed and loses the event. If the check is successful, the defending knight remains horsed and the blunted lance shatters upon his shield, earning the attacking knight a scored hit.

7. Providing no one is unhorsed, knights joust three times. The knight with the most scored hits (broken lances) at the end of the third tilt wins the round. If neither knight manages to score a hit in the first three passes, or if both knights are tied in hits, they continue jousting until one knight hits and thus wins the round.

Each round can have only one winner, and the winner of each round continues to compete until one knight emerges victorious, claiming the title of Champion.

Ending the Tournament

A tournament ends when the jousting is complete. To close the tournament, the champions of each event are called to the jousting field and awarded prizes.

Pins of gold and silver are common prizes for the melee and archery events, but the prize awarded to the champion of the joust is often a finely crafted weapon, sometimes lands, and infrequently an item of magical power. Coin is almost never given as a prize.

In addition, the champion of the joust receives standing among his peers. To represent this repute, the knight’s Renown increases by 1 point.