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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8712207" data-attributes="member: 42582">I just GMed a session of Prince Valiant. Death was never on the line, because as the rules say (p ) "Normally death is not an important part of Prince Valiant."The PCs did suffer several losses: they led their warband to reinforce an army under attack, and while their initial assault on the flank succeeded, their attempt to join up with their allies failed, and one of their number was knocked unconscious in the fray. A second PC, who had ridden ahead of the assault to engage the enemy leader in one-on-one combat, found himself isolated from his allies as a result and was in danger of being captured. Only good luck allowed his companions to rally their forces and allow him to be extricated safely from his predicament.When the PCs and their warband fell back with their allies to the latter's castle, they worked out some sort of nefariousness was afoot. The third PC, who is the marshall of their military order, was surveying the castle's defences in anticipation of a possible night-time attack when he was shot by an arrow, and then narrowly succeeded in stopping a spy, who had infiltrated via the postern, from opening the main gate.Then the word spread that the infant son of the NPC lord of the castle was missing; so was the suspected traitor. The PCs failed to persuade the lord not to ride forth in search of his son; so two of them rode out with him. Their tracker was unsuccessful, and so it took them several hours of falling false trails through the hills before they saw their quarry on the plain. They were able to catch most of them with hard riding, and the vainglorious PC took a leader NPC prisoner: but the attempt by the marshall to catch the traitor with the son failed, and the latter made it to a friendly castle.In the meantime, the night-time assault n the friendly castle took place, with the third PC - who is the weakest at generalship - leading the defence. He failed in that endeavour, and so the castle fell - although he was able to escape through a secret tunnel with only his wife, his hunter companion, and the teenage daughter of the castle's lord (the sister of the kidnapped brother). His scout was successful in leading them to join up with the others on the plain between the two castles.The PCs then decided to retreat to a third castle, which is garrisoned by their soldiers, to interrogate their prisoner and perhaps then negotiate an exchange of hostages. The roll of their hunter (guiding them through the hills to the north) vs the NPC army's hunter (trying to track them down) was tied, and so they were spotted as the PC helped his wife scramble up one of the last of the ridges. So then it was a sheer contest of speed: and the PCs lost.We ended the session there; the next session will begin with finding out what happens to them as their pursuers close on them just outside the walls of the castle where their own soldiers are the garrison.Although the session I've described was resolved using a different system from D&D, I don't think there's any reason in principle why D&D can't similarly put things at stake other than PC death.</blockquote>

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