Terms from the Book
Character: An individual person or being encountered during the game. Player characters have their actions determined by players, while Gamemaster characters are controlled by the Gamemaster.
Combat Skill: A skill used in war or tournament.
CON: Constitution. One of the attributes.
d.: Denarius (plural denarii). The Roman equivalent of a pence, or penny. 240 d. = 1 £.
Dame: Title for a woman that is equivalent to “lord,” used when the woman is the head of her own household.
DEX: Dexterity. One of the attributes.
Glory: A measure of a character’s success, notoriety, and power. Does not measure reputation directly. Value is measured in Glory points, which are received for most significant events or actions during play.
Knight: A warrior who has undergone the ceremony of knighthood and sworn allegiance to a lord. A nobleman of the lowest rank.
Lady: The wife of a nobleman of any rank.
Liege Lord: The lord to whom a knight owes primary loyalty. Through marriage and inheritance a knight may have many lords, but he must choose one to be pre-eminent, who is called the liege lord.
Lord: A knight, and a nobleman, holding other knights as vassals. A banneret knight is the lowest lord. The High King is the highest lord.
Manor: A land holding which is capable of providing enough income to support a knight.
Noble: A person of the highest social class, including all lords and knights, and some squires.
Passion: A statistic. A powerful specifi c emotion that can inspire or prematurely age a knight. Also measures reputation.
Penny: See “d.” (Denarius).
s.: Shilling. A monetary unit equal to 12 d., or 1/20 £.
Squire: The servant of a knight. Squires may be nobles if they are the sons of nobles, or commoners if they are the sons of commoners or of squires.
Types of Land Rights
Gift: A gift is land rights to an individual for the duration of their life, and returned to the liege upon death, so long as they meet the obligations to their liege
Grant: A grant is land rights to an individual and their heirs, so long as obligations to the liege are met by the current occupant/holder of said land rights.
Types of Knights:
Knight Errant, or Mercenary Knight: Promoted to knight, could have been a commoner, but no official sponsorship. No household income to support. The dregs of the knightly world.
Knight Bachelor, Household Knight: A knight with no home of his/her own that lives with their liege lord.
Vassal Knight: A knight sworn to a liege lord but with a home of their own. No vassals beneath them in turn, but may have some household knights.
Knight Lord: A knight who has taken on other knights as followers. The lowest is a banner (banneret) knight.
Ranks and Forms of Address for nobles.
Knight | Sir (male or female) |
Noble (baron), non-knight | Lord or Lady |
Knight Lord, Banneret | Lord Knight or Lady Knight |
Female head of house in absence of patriarch | Dame |
Duke or Earl | Your Grace |
King or High King | Your Excellence |
Note, Count is interposed with Earl, but the wife of an earl or count is usually a countess. And such dame of a county will always be a countess or a duchess.