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Creating Knightly Cirlces

In Fifth Age, a two-thousand year-old Solamnic Knighthood has spread throughout western Ansalon. The most important of its circlesare described in the Appendix to the Night and Day sourcebook. But players and Narrators can invent their own Solamnic circles - and Legion of Steel circles and cells - anywhere in the continent, using the tips and charts here.

In the course of an adventure, a Knight of Solamnia hero may wish to draw funds or obtain equipment from his Order. The charts below can determine the level of resources available from the Knighthood in the area (or from the Legion). They also show the reputation of the circles (or cell's) commander, for use when Knight heroes seek sponsors for advancement.

To generate a circle in a given community for either Order, the Narrator should first find the size of the community in the table below and note its rating. For example, Palanthas is a large city (9).

Community Size    Community Rating    Community Size    Community Rating
Small village    1    Large town    6
Medium village    2    Small city    7
Large village    3    Medium city    8
Small town    4    Large city    9
Medium town    5      

After finding the initial community rating, the player adds all appropriate modifiers from the next table, below. The first modifier applies to Solamnic circles, the second to Legion circles and cells. For instance, Palanthas is fortified (+1) but held by a dragon (-10 or -5). These qualities give Palanthas a modified community rating of 0 for Solamnics and 5 for the Legion.

Condition    Modifier    Condition    Modifier
Regional capital    +1/+1    Fortified city    +1/+1
National capital    +2/+2    Solamnic/allied realm    +4/-10
Small keep    +1/+1    Dragon realm*    -10/-5
Large keep/small castle    +2/+2    Nonhuman realm    No circle (usually)/0
Large castle    +3/+3    Dark Knight present    No circle (usually)/-10

* Dragon-held territories contain only clandestine circles or cells.

After modifying the community rating, the player makes a random draw and adds the value of the card to the rating. Finding the result in the third table, below, offers some facts about the circle or cell: its maximum wealth rating and its senior officer's reputation.

Cards from the Suits of Swords are considered trump for this random draw when determining Solamnic Circles; Hearts are trump for Legion circles and cells. If the hero wants to locate a circle in dragon-held territory, drawing a Dragon card means that the local authorities notice something odd about him and question him - at the very least.

Final Rating*    Maximum Wealth    Senior Officer's Reputation
4 or less    No circle    None
5-7    3    Adventurer
8-10    4    Champion
11-13    5    Champion
14-16    6    Master
17-20    7    Master
21 or more    8    Hero

* Modified community rating plus the face value of the card(s) drawn.

To get a rough estimate of the number of Knights or Legionnaries in a given area, players can multiply the final rating from the first columna of the above table by 2.5 (rounding all fractions up). A final rating of 4 or less means the region has no resident Knights or Legionnaries.

Areas with more than 24 members actually hold two or more circles. In such a case, the most senior officer of all the local circles has the reputation shown in the table above, and the other circle commanders have the next lower one. For example, if the final rating is a 21, about 52 Knights or Legionnaries reside in the area - enough for at least two circles. The enior officer has a Hero reputation, and the head of the other circle has a Master reputation. No matter how many local circles or cells an area contains, their collective wealth rating is limited to the figure shown on the table. The two cirlces from the example together have a wealth rating of 8.

Once players have generated a new circle or cell, the Narrator should record its details for future use.

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