Winterphase

Each year is divided into four seasons, normally autumn and winter is handled in the so called "winterphase" and not during regular playing sessions. Below are the rules to handle these phases.

Step 1: Optional Summer solo

Do this step if you did not play your character this year.

1. Roll one random free Summer Solo.
2. Check all skills, traits or passions you succeed on during the solo.

Step 2: Optional Autumn solo

Do this step if you wrote a journal from your characters perspective last session.

1. Roll one random free Autumn Solo. (At storytellers discretion you may pick a solo fitting the theme of your story)
2. Check all skills, traits or passions you succeed on during the solo.

Step 3: Experience rolls

1. Roll for all traits, passions and skills that you have checked this year. If your dice-roll is more than your trait, passion or skill, increase it with one and erase the check. A natural 20 always increases the trait, passion or skill with one, regardless of value.

Step 4: Aging

From the year you turn 35 you begin losing statistics each year. You will loose statistics over time and may end up bedridden or dead.

1. Roll on the table 1 below to see how many stats you loose.
2. Roll a number of times on table 2 stat loss depending on the result in step 1.

Table 1: Number of Statistics lost 2D6 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ 2 4 4 4 5 3 3 3 3 4 4 2 2 3 3 5 1 1 2 3 6 0 1 1 2 7 0 0 1 1 8 0 1 1 2 9 1 1 2 3 10 2 2 3 3 11 3 3 3 4 12 4 4 4 5

Table 2: Actual Statistics lost 1D6 Statistic Statistics Affected 1 SIZ Evil Eye 2 DEX Palsy 3 STR Elf Stroke 4 CON Consumption 5 APP Pox 6 no loss

Step 5: Economic Circumstances

1. Choose living standard for next year and note it on your character sheet. If you are a Household Knight, you are held at the standard decided by your Lord.
2. Optionally increase your living standard.

Cost	Standard of living	Example of Manor	Equivalent	Effect
£0	Starving	N/A	Thrall	-5 Survival rolls (cumulative), -10 Childbirth, Cannot gain glory and loose 3 Honor
£1‑£3	Impovrished	N/A	Commoner	-3 Survival rolls (cumulative), -5 Childbirth, No annual glory, Vassal: glory counts as 1/4 and loose 2 Honor
£3‑£5	Poor	N/A	Mercenary	-1 Survival rolls, Half annual glory, Vassal: glory counts as 1/2 and loose 1 Honor
£6‑£8	Ordinary	£10	Vassal Knight	N/A
£9‑£12	Rich	£40	Lord Knight	+3 Second survival rolls, +1 Horse survival rolls, +1 Childbirth rolls
£13‑£29	Superlative	£80	Minor Baron	+5 Second survival rolls, +2 Horse survival rolls, +2 Childbirth rolls
£30‑£54	Spectacular	£250	Baron	+5 Second survival rolls, +3 Horse survival rolls, +3 Childbirth rolls
£55‑£119	Extravagant	£500	Rich Baron	+5 Second survival rolls, +4 Horse survival rolls, +4 Childbirth rolls
£110‑£249	Exorbitant	£1000	Count	+5 Second survival rolls, +5 Horse survival rolls, +5 Childbirth rolls
£250+	Royal	£5000	Royalty	+5 Second survival rolls, +6 Horse survival rolls, +6 Childbirth rolls

Step 6: Estate

Do this step if you are a Vassal Knight controlling a Manor or Estate.

1. Check Available Value. How many Lots?
2. Recovery of Temporary Damage:

Gentlewoman:	Stewardship:	Russet Monks:
1 Lot, automatic	1 Lot on a success	1 Lot on a success

3. Collect Income for the year. If it is less than 10 Lots, see Shortage Results.
4. If the holding has Permanent Damage, it may be repaired by:

Gentlewoman:	Rebuild (if invested last year):	Recovery:
1 Lot, automatic	1 Lot on a Stewardship success	1 Stewardship roll (see Table)

5. Invest money for Rebuilding, or for new Improvements, but not both.

Step 10: Survival rolls

Every year there is a risk for your family-members to die. Roll on the table below for each family-member (including newly born children).

Infant (0‑1)	Child (1‑7)		Young (8‑21)		Married female (15‑40) [not player wives]			Adult (21‑45)		Elder (46‑65)	Very Old (65+)
Roll	1st Roll	2nd Roll	1st Roll	2nd Roll	1st Roll	2nd Roll	3rd Roll	1st Roll	2nd Roll	Roll	Roll
1-2: Death	1-2: Make 2nd roll	1-5: Death	1: Make 2nd roll	1-5: Death	1: Make 2nd roll	1-10: Death	1-2: Death in childbirth	1: Make 2nd roll	1-10: Death	1: Death	1-4: Death
3-20: Safe	3-20: Safe	6-20: Safe	2-20: Safe	6-20: Safe	2: Make 3rd roll	11-20: Safe	3-13: Safe	2-20: Safe	11-20: Safe	2-20: Safe	5-20: Safe
					3-13: Safe		14-20: Safe and child is born

Raid, Pillage, Plunder, Ravage

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• If raided and if the character is a defender, death occurs on a roll of:

Raid: 1, Pillage: 1-2, Plunder: 1-4, Ravage: 1-6.

• Non-combatants (women and children) go down one category in severity:

Raid: Safe, no roll, Pillage: 1, Plunder: 1-2, Ravage: 1-4.

• If the attackers are Saxons, non-combatants are kidnapped as slaves rather than killed on a roll of:

Raid: 1, Pillage: 1-2, Plunder: 3-4, Ravage: 5-6.

In a Battle

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• If the character participates in a battle, roll 1d20 and apply the following modifiers:
  • -1 if a long battle
  • -2 if on a losing side which routs (decisive defeat)
  • -1 if fighting against Saxons (who take no prisoners).
  • If the final result is 1 or less, the character has died in battle.

In a Siege

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• Roll defenders Siege vs attackers Siege. Defender gets +5 for every DV after attacker subtracts AV.
• Roll 1d20 and apply the following modifiers:
  • -1 if it is a long siege
  • -2 for a very long siege
  • -1/-3 if there is a failed assault (defender / attacker, non-combatant defenders get no modifier).
  • -9/-3 if there is a successful assault (defender / attacker, -3 for non-combatant defenders).
  • If the result is 1 or less, the character dies in the siege.
• If the siege is successful, all surviving defenders are held for ransom or killed, if the attacker shows no mercy. Non-combatant defenders suffer the duration modifiers, and -3 on a successful assault (accidents do happen). Non-combatants are rarely slain out of hand — even Saxons prefer to enslave them instead.

Plague and Pestilance

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The Gamemaster decides the severity. Note that plagues tend to linger, i.e. go down one category in severity in subsequent years rather than vanish completely the following year.

• Some sickness: Death on 1.
• Serious: Death on 1-2.
• Major epidemic (Black Death): Death on 1-4.

Famine

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During famines, it is usually the poor (serfs, the unattended elderly and orphans) who starve, not the nobility and the well-off. The knight’s extended kin are unlikely to be poor serfs, either, and in a pinch can get help from the family knights. It is the Gamemaster’s call if there is an extended famine situation (decade-long Wasteland, etc). However, keep in mind that extended yearly rolling is murderous: even a chance of 1 in 20 yearly for 5 years gives a death toll of about 23%, and this amongst the well-off, so serfs would die like flies!