Hey! I've been painting! Finished a pack of Norman cavalry for my own personal Phase 1 campaign. (Okay. It's a start...)

Nothing new in the "product" category here, but I am encouraging people to go into their closets and pull out their favorite medieval and Dark Ages miniatures, and run Pendragon "Tournaments" at their local conventions and hobby stores. (More on incentives to do so below.)

A Sample "Pendragon Tournament" List of Things to Do

• "Helm Show" -- show off your best-painted miniatures.
  Start with showing off, as they did in the days of old. Award a prize to the best painted figure. Give a special prize to the best kid's entry. Buy 'em a Coke, or hit up the retailer for store credit, or the publisher for a gift certificate. (Doesn't hurt to ask!)

• Personal Challenges -- test your metal/mettle against each other.
  Fight over lady's favors, previous or new insults and injuries, or for the love of hearing the clash of steel! Gets the dice rolling early.

• Jousting in the Lists -- Get on horseback. Get knocked off.
  (Lather. Rinse. Repeat.) Do elimination rounds to see who the best horseman is at the tourney. Best of three passes proceeds to next round. Last knight standing gets a prize! (More Cokes!)

• Skirmish in the Grand Melee -- Swords, and Axes, and Maces, Oh My!
  Fight on horse, or scurry around on foot. Combine the two for massive mayhem. Team up on friends, enemies, and switch sides from the home team to the visitors as the situation and your loyalties deem appropriate. The person who captures the most foes, or helps the most friends, wins an award.

• Award Prizes -- Let the Ladies Decide.
  Beyond prized for each of the "rounds", there is also a winner of the overall prize, known as the "Gree". This is usually the "grand prize" of the tourney. So, who decides who won each round, and who won the "Gree?" A woman, usually, was Queen of the Tournament, and had the choice. Or it was given to the ladies as a group to decide. (Any guys nervous now?)

  Let your wife, your girlfriend, your kid sister, or daughter choose the winner. It would be best if they were playing, but they could also be a neutral observer. Of course, it is important to choose the best knight. Not just the person who rolled the best dice or has the best stats, but the person who "feels" like the winner to them. "He was being mean!" is a perfect excuse to not give the prize to an otherwise outstanding performer on the field. Who was most glorious? Who was most chivalrous and honorable? Maybe a young knight did exceedingly well for his age, or a mysterious stranger impressed the local populace. And, or course, if chosen as the "winner", it is honorable for a knight to pass on the title, and award it instead to someone else they feel is more deserving.

Right now, this is just an "adventure hook" for how to run a tournament. Some day, I'd like to formalize this into a "kit" program, to take it from place to place. I encourage the community to find some way to write this up, and to formalize it with rules and guidelines (and plotlines!) as you see fit.

If people like this idea, it would be good to take this to public venues, and run these kinds of miniatures-mixed-with-roleplaying events at local hobby shops, or game cons, or other public events. Eventually, I can even provide incentives or prizes for more formal efforts. Which leads to a short essay to address "what's in it for you..."