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Monday, 9 December 2024

Companion Chronicles #6: The Serpent of Mildenhall

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 Serpent of Mildenhall is a scenario for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition.

It is a full colour, seventeen page, 36.22 MB PDF.

The layout is tidy and it is nicely illustrated.

Where is the Quest Set?
The Serpent of Mildenhall is set in the County of Gentian, just north of Salisbury. The location and extensive travel notes make it easy to add to a campaign.

Who should go on this Quest?
The Serpent of Mildenhall does not have any particular requirements in terms of its Player-knights as written. The skills of Folklore, Hunting, Play, Sing, and Swim are likely to be useful in resolving the scenario.

What does the Quest require?
The Serpent of Mildenhall requires the Pendragon, Sixth Edition rules or the Pendragon Starter Set.

Where will the Quest take the Knights?
The Serpent of Mildenhall begins with the Player-knights travelling on the roads north of the County of Salisbury when they hear the cries of a woman. Her son has been snatched and carried away into a nearby pool by a fearsome serpent. The boy’s grandfather suggests going to the local lord and his liege for help and advice in searching for the boy. This sets up the core tensions within the scenario. The local lord, the Baron of Gentian, is barely eighteen and not yet knighted, but likely too reckless to not get himself into trouble, whilst his mother, Dowager Baroness, Joene, resents the presence of Player-knights as they likely to be based in Salisbury and there has long been a dispute between the Barony of Gentian and the County of Salisbury as to the ownership of some land between them.

The aim of the scenario is to rescue the boy before he is eaten. The scenario details several methods of achieving them, and whilst it is possible to resolve the situation peacefully, the players and their knights need to be lucky to do so. Depending upon the outcome of the scenario, the Player-knights may have helped ease tensions between Barony of Gentian and the County of Salisbury or exacerbated them. If one or more players roll very well, their knights may even end up with a very strange friend!

The Serpent of Mildenhall can be played through in a single session, two at the very most. It is easy to slip into a campaign as it begins as the Player-knights travelling on the road.

Should the Knights ride out on this Quest?
The Serpent of Mildenhall is a serviceable mini- or sidequest that can be dropped into any campaign. It is easy to prepare and can also be run when a player or two is been unable to attend the next session.

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