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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Squires Rampant is a supplement for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition which details twenty squires who might each accompany a Player-knight and so be a help or a hindrance.
It is a full colour, nine page, 8.9 MB PDF.
The layout is tidy and it is nicely illustrated.
Where is the Quest Set?
Where is the Quest Set?
Squires Rampant does not require any specific setting and will be of use wherever the Player-knights are.
Who should go on this Quest?
Squires Rampant requires Player-knights with at least one positive Trait, such as Valorous, Suspicious, Honest, and so on.
What does the Quest require?
Squires Rampant requires the Pendragon, Sixth Edition rules or the Pendragon Starter Set.
Where will the Quest take the Knights?
Squires Rampant is subtitled ‘Twenty squires for Player-knights’, but is better described as ‘Twenty ANNOYING squires for Player-knights’ and that should be enough for any Pendragon Game Master to add this to her campaign. The idea behind the supplement is that as much as squires are a help to the Player-knights, looking after their horses, setting up camp, pulling them from the tourney field if they are unhorsed or injured, and so on, they should also be irritating and exasperating. In other words, they should have personality and wants of their own, and if in irking their individual knights and players, the interactions between them encourage good roleplaying and comedy, then so much the better.
Each squire in Squires Rampant is simply defined by a description, a quote, a special Skill that the squire is good at, and a requirement for the Player-knight. The squire also has two names, one male, one female, depending upon gender. Thus, for example, the randomly rolled example is ‘The Drunken Squire’. Anna is described as a “[H]appy, red-nosed lass, who is always of good humour.” She is loyal and does a serviceable enough job, but obviously drinks too much, has a loose tongue when she does, readily letting slip her knight’s foibles and desires—such as a secret love or subject of a feud, and then in morning has completely forgotten what she has said and to whom. She also has a sore head! Her special Skill is Intrigue, but is unable to use it wisely. Her knight should have a high score in the Temperate Trait to be sober enough to deal with the consequences of Anna’s partying the night before! If this squire is male, his name is Alec.
Each squire in Squires Rampant is simply defined by a description, a quote, a special Skill that the squire is good at, and a requirement for the Player-knight. The squire also has two names, one male, one female, depending upon gender. Thus, for example, the randomly rolled example is ‘The Drunken Squire’. Anna is described as a “[H]appy, red-nosed lass, who is always of good humour.” She is loyal and does a serviceable enough job, but obviously drinks too much, has a loose tongue when she does, readily letting slip her knight’s foibles and desires—such as a secret love or subject of a feud, and then in morning has completely forgotten what she has said and to whom. She also has a sore head! Her special Skill is Intrigue, but is unable to use it wisely. Her knight should have a high score in the Temperate Trait to be sober enough to deal with the consequences of Anna’s partying the night before! If this squire is male, his name is Alec.
The twenty entries, or squires, in Squires Rampant, are all like this. There is the Outspoken Squire, the Awkward Squire, the Dim Squire, the Cowardly Squire, and more. Essentially, there are more than enough squires to attach to the Player-knights and keep the Game Master amused as well as the other players whose squires have not quite yet got their knights into difficulty. Plus, of course, the Game Master will fun roleplaying each and every one of the entries in the supplement. If that is not enough, then the supplement also includes ‘Squires Redux’, a table of another twenty squires ready for the Game Master to develop.
Lastly, it should be noted that Squires Rampant is a development of an article that originally appeared in the Pendragon fanzine, Beamains, in the 1990s. Thus, the Companions of Arthur follows in the footsteps of the Jonstown Compendium in developing and updating content for a community content programme that previously appeared in fanzines and other fan-based content in the last century.
Should the Knights ride out on this Quest?
Knights have to quest and squires have to squire, so they need all the personality they can get. Squires Rampant provides personality aplenty as well comedic opportunities for annoying, dangerous, or even odd situations, as well as good roleplaying.
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