THE 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

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. When 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.