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Monday, 14 October 2024

Companion Chronicles #1: The Tree Hazardous

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, The Companions of Arthur is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon. It enables creators to sell their own original content for Pendragon, Sixth Edition. This can original scenarios, background material, alternate Arthurian settings, and more, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Pendragon Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Pendragon campaigns.

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What is the Nature of the Quest?
The Tree Hazardous – Three Mini Adventures for Pendragon 6th Edition is a scenario for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition which details a minor quest deep into the forest that can be used as side quest or adventure and played through in a single session.

It is a full colour, twenty page, 2.54 MB PDF.

The layout is tidy and it is nicely illustrated.

Where is the Quest Set?
The Tree Hazardous is set northeast of Hertford, deep in the Quinqueroi Forest in Logres. It can very easily be shifted to the forest of the Game Master’s choice.

Who should go on this Quest?
The Tree Hazardous does not require any specific type of knight. However, a good range of skills is required, and each the three mini-quests tests not only tests a range of skills including combat skills, Singing, and Play (Instrument), but also features one or more sets of Personality Traits in the course of their encounters.

It is best suited for play by one, two, or three Player-knights, each of whom will undertake an individual quest when encountering the ‘Tree Hazardous’ of the title.

What does the Quest require?
The Tree Hazardous requires the Pendragon, Sixth Edition rules or the Pendragon Starter Set.

Where will the Quest take the Knights?
The Tree Hazardous opens with the Player-knights already having learned of the local legend of the Tree hazardous, which tells of the unusually large yew tree deep within the forest and the supposedly strangeness high up in its branches. With a little time searching, they will be able to locate this tree and as daylight ebbs away and the Tree Hazardous is found, the Player-knights each hear voices from high up in the branches. In climbing the tree and going to investigate the voices will lead the Player-knights to one of the three mini-quests that make up the meat of the scenario.

The three mini-quests are ‘The Ivy Knight’, ‘The Bird Chorus’, and ‘The Devil Squirrel’. In ‘The Ivy Knight’, the Player-knight will have his ‘Valorous/Cowardly’ Traits tested when he is faced by a knight who wishes to escape a curse. Honest/Deceitful’ and Modest/Proud’ are the Traits tested in ‘The Bird Chorus’ as the Player-knight gets to sing or play and engage with some musical birds, whilst Merciful/Cruel, Trusting/Suspicious, and Valorous/Cowardly’ are tested in ‘The Devil Squirrel’ as the Player-knight attempts to save both a young boy from the clutches a squirrelly sinister threat and themselves from a similar fate. Each of the three is quite different in tone. Thus, ‘The Ivy Knight’ is quite mournful; ‘The Bird Chorus’ veers between joyous and ever so slightly menacing, and ‘The Devil Squirrel’ is dark and dangerous. All end not only with their possible Glory awards, but also several loose ends that the Game Master and the Player-knights can follow up.

All three mini-quests are clearly presented, so that the Game Master could run them together with a group of three Player-knights, each tackling a different mini-quest. Alternatively, the Gamemaster can take any one of the three mini-quests and present it on its own in a one-on-one session with the player and his knight. All three also make clear which personality Traits and which skills are involved so that not only is each mini-quest easy to run, but easy to tailor to a Player-knight and his personality Traits and skills if the Game Master chooses to do so.

Should the Knights ride out on this Quest?
Although there is an element of utilitarianism to collection in that its contents can be run in a single session for a handful of Player-knights or extracted so each of its mini-quests can be run for a single player, The Tree Hazardous – Three Mini Adventures for Pendragon 6th Edition presents three nicely written and engaging little quests that will test both the knights and their players. Their format and their length mean that whether as a single mini-quest or all three, The Tree Hazardous – Three Mini Adventures for Pendragon 6th Edition is quick and easy to prepare and slot into a campaign.

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