Lady`s Favour
On
the day before the joust, the competitors parade before the assembled
crowds where it is custom for the Knights, especially Knights Errant,
to ride up to the stands of spectators and ask the ladies for their
favours. The favour is regarded as a lucky token and no doubt this belief
has come about because some Bretonnian ladies really are secret enchantresses
able to bring good fortune to their favoured Knight. Not that these
favours are deemed in any way magical or sorcerous, which would be frowned
upon of course. They are merely considered to be lucky in a perfectly
ordinary and just way. The Knight chooses the lady whom he regards as
the most beautiful to beg a favour from. If she is flattered by the
request, or secretly hopes that the Knight will win the contest (perhaps
because her hand in marriage is the prize) she will attach an item of
her apparel to the Knight's lance. The more intimate the garment the
luckier it is believed to be and the higher the Knight can consider
himself in her estimation. Of course, this custom always delights the
multitudes of uncouth Bretonnian peasants and townsfolk whose lewd remarks
and whistles often cause the noble ladies to blush. It also requires
a lot of bravery on the part of the most beautiful ladies who are invariably
asked to give their favour to an embarrassing number of Knights Errant
and risk catching a chill by the end of the day. Modest Bretonnian maidens
usually attend well prepared in advance with several veils.
ROLL FOR LADY'S FAVOURS
LADY'S
FAVOURS |
2D6 score |
Token |
Re-Rolls |
Double 1
|
Veil
|
1
|
Double 2
|
Wimple
|
2
|
Double 3
|
Kirtle
|
3
|
Double 4
|
Girdle
|
4
|
Double 5
|
Garter
|
5
|
Double 6
|
Tress
|
6
|
Whether the favours are really lucky no one knows, especially since
a favour will boost the courage and confidence of the Knight to the
same effect anyway! To represent this, each favour allows the Knight
to re-roll one or more dice during the tourney. A re-roll may be used
at any time in the tourney, but each one can only be made once and is
then used up.
So a Knight with several re-rolls will gradually use them up during
the tourney until he has none left. The second result always stands
and a failed re-roll cannot be re-rolled again. How many re-rolls the
Knight gains depends on the token of the favour. If you are using the
example tourney rolls there are already Lady's favours for some of the
Knights so just use these. If you are making your own tourney roll then
use the table below. The table is based on Bretonnian folklore regarding
how lucky each garment is believed to be. By tradition, a Knight may
only beg a favour from one lady on the first day of the tourney, and
if refused, must go without. To represent this roll two dice for each
Knight taking part. If he scores a double, he has sufficiently impressed
the lady of his choice to be granted a favour. The double score also
indicates the nature of the favour he is given.
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