Quick-Start Saturday: Pendragon

Quick-starts are a means of trying out a roleplaying game before you buy. Each should provide a Game Master with sufficient background to introduce and explain the setting to her players, the rules to run the scenario included, and a set of ready-to-play, pre-generated characters that the players can pick up and understand almost as soon as they have sat down to play. The scenario itself should provide an introduction to the setting for the players as well as to the type of adventures that their characters will have and just an idea of some of the things their characters will be doing on said adventures. All of which should be packaged up in an easy-to-understand booklet whose contents, with a minimum of preparation upon the part of the Game Master, can be brought to the table and run for her gaming group in a single evening’s session—or perhaps two. And at the end of it, Game Master and players alike should ideally know whether they want to play the game again, perhaps purchasing another adventure or even the full rules for the roleplaying game.

Alternatively, if the Game Master already has the full rules for the roleplaying game the quick-start is for, then what it provides is a sample scenario that she still run as an introduction or even as part of her campaign for the roleplaying game. The ideal quick-start should entice and intrigue a playing group, but above all effectively introduce and teach the roleplaying game, as well as showcase both rules and setting.

—oOo—

What is it?
The Adventure of the Sword Tournament is the quick-start for Pendragon, Sixth Edition, designer Greg Stafford’s ultimate vision of his classic roleplaying game of Arthurian legend and adventure.

It includes a basic explanation of the setting, rules for actions and combat, the adventure, ‘The Adventure of the Sword Tournament’, and five ready-to-play, Player Characters.

It is a twenty-eight-page, full colour, booklet.

The quick-start is laid out to look like an illuminated manuscript and done in full colour. The artwork is fully painted and the map of Londinium clear.

How long will it take to play?
The Adventure of the Sword Tournament can be played through in a single session. It should take no longer than three hours to play through.

Who do you play?
The five Player Characters are all landless knights. They include a wise-cracking Roman Cymric Christian knight, a chivalrous Cymric Christian knight, a female Saxon Wodinic knight wielding an axe, a romantic Cymric Pagan knight, and a female Pagan knight from Brittany favouring bow and the mystical.

How is a Player Character defined?
A Knight is defined by Homeland, Culture, and Father’s Name, then Father’s Class, Son Number, Liege Lord, Current Class, Current Home, Age, and Year Born. He has five Attributes—Size, Dexterity, Strength, Constitution, and Appearance—which are rated between three and twenty-one. Skills are roughly divided into combat skills and ordinary skills. They range between one and twenty, but can go higher. Every Knight has Glory, a measure of his renown and his actions, the higher it is, the greater the chance of his being recognised.

A Knight is also defined by his Traits and Passions. Traits represent a Knight’s personality, consisting of thirteen opposite pairs. So Chaste and Lustful, Honest and Deceitful, Valorous and Cowardly, and so on. Each Trait in a pair is assigned a value, the two values together adding up to no more than twenty. So, a Trusting of ten and Suspicious of ten, an Energetic of fourteen and Lazy of six, and so on. During a game, a player can look to the values of his Knight’s Traits to determine how he might act, but if unsure or wanting guidance, the player can roll against one of them, and the Game Master can also direct a player to roll against one to see how his Knight will act in a particular situation.

A Knight’s Passions, like Loyalty (Lord), Love (Family), and Hate (Saxons) are strong emotional and psychological tendencies. When a player rolls against one of his Knight’s Passions, it can grant inspiration and a bonus for a task, but should it fail, it can leave the Knight disheartened and suffering a penalty to a task.

How do the mechanics work?
To have his player undertake an action, a player rolls a twenty-sided die. The aim is roll equal to or lower than the value of the attribute, skill, Trait, or Passion. A roll under is a success, a roll equal to the value is a critical, a roll over a fail, and a roll of twenty can be a critical failure. For opposed rolls, used for contests and combat, a roll must not only be equal to or under the value for the knight to succeed, but it must also be higher than the role made by the opponent.

A Trait is rolled against to determine whether a Knight will act in accordance with that Trait or act in accordance with its opposing Trait. A Passion is rolled against to gain a bonus on a skill roll, but failure can trigger a Passion Crisis, which can result in the Passion being partly lost, melancholia, or even madness.

How does combat work?
Combat is handled through opposed rolls. If a player rolls under his Knight’s skill and higher than his opponent, he succeeds in striking him with his weapon. If a player rolls under his Knight’s skill and lower than his opponent, it is a partial success and he does not succeed in striking him with his weapon. However, he gains the benefit of his shield, which together with the armour worn will reduce the damage taken. The rules in the quick-start cover charges, knockdown, broken or dropped weapons, the possibility of suffering major wounds and so on.

How does magic work?
Magic is not the purview of mortal men. Faeries, supernatural creatures, druids, and meddling Wizards such as Merlin know magic and to know this is enough for any man.

What do you play?
The eponymous adventure in The Adventure of the Sword Tournament is set in the Year 510, in Londinium, the greatest city in all of Britain. It has been decreed that a grand New Year’s Tournament, the first of its kind will be held to determine who will be the High King of Britain following the fifteen year interregnum without one. The Knights are in the city to participate, perform well in the tournament, and be a witness to the proclamation of the new High King.

There is not actual starting point for the scenario for the Game Master to read out, but it begins with the Knights exploring a city they have never been to before and eventually coming upon a sword, stuck into an anvil, atop a rock. This is an important moment in the history of Britain and the Knights have the opportunity to be witnesses. The scenario is linear, but presents early opportunities for the players to test out the rules, have their Knight engage in a mass combat, and go in search of a little Glory.

Is there anything missing?
There are some element of the pre-generated Knights that the players cannot follow up or explore fully in the ‘The Adventure of the Sword Tournament’. This is primarily because there will be opportunities for this in the adventures in the Pendragon, Sixth Edition Starter Set, of which ‘The Adventure of the Sword Tournament’ is the first part. There is not really very much for the Knights to do, the only opportunity for them to act outside of the events boiling down to a simple die roll.

Is it easy to prepare?
The content of The Adventure of the Sword Tournament is easy to prepare. The rules are clearly presented and the adventure is straightforward and uncomplicated.

Is it worth it?
Yes. The Adventure of the Sword Tournament presents a clear explanation of the rules in a few pages and provides points in the scenario where the players can put them to work and roleplay too. The scenario is written so as to engage in the first part of a longer scenario and is primarily designed to showcase the mechanics of Pendragon, Sixth Edition and get the Knights involved in a major event in Arthurian legend, and it does both handily enough. However, it does not provide players with enough agency and activities when there is scope for both in the scenario. Although that is not an issue as the first part of a longer scenario, in a quick-start it is a missed opportunity for the players to roleplay and their Knights to do more than be present at the legend.

The Adventure of the Sword Tournament is an enjoyably solid introduction to the rules and setting of Pendragon, Sixth Edition, but just comes up a little short in terms of length and content for a quick-start.

Where can you get it?
The Adventure of the Sword Tournament is available to download here.

For Cultured Friends XIII: The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 13

For devotees of TSR Inc.’s Empire of the Petal Throne: The World of Tékumel, the various issues of The Excellent Travelling Volume, James Maliszewski’s fanzine dedicated to Professor M.A.R. Barker’s baroque creation continue to provide dedicated support and further exploration. Published in June, 2021, The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 13—available in print via lulu.com—is the most recent issue. As with previous issues, his exploration of one of oldest of roleplaying settings is heavily influenced by the campaigns he has been running, the primary being his House of Worms campaign, originally based in, around, and under Sokátis, the City of Roofs before travelling across the southern ocean to ‘Linyaró, Outpost of the Petal Throne’, a small city located on the Achgé Peninsula, as detailed in The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 8. However, although he continues to be the primary contributor to the fanzine, this latest issue contains multiple submissions from other authors, which is not only encouraging, but hopefully, a sign of things to come.

As per usual, The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 13 opens an editorial from James Maliszewski. As you would expect, this does highlight the challenging nature of the last year, but its main focus is the difficulty of its production and in particular, the postal and printing troubles. Fortunately, these have been solved with the move to lulu.com. The editorial also welcomes the multiple submissions from other authors that feature in the issue. The first of the additions in The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 13 is drawn from the author’s House of Worms campaign, specifically from its current exploration of ‘Linyaró, Outpost of the Petal Throne’, a small city located on the Achgé Peninsula. ‘Naqsái Sorcery’ presents a new form of sorcery which differs from that known amongst the temples of the Five Empires. Naqsái sorcery involves the study of one hundred and eight ideograms. These appear to be two-dimensional, but closer and continued study reveals that they actually have three or more dimensions and can be used to access the same energies of the Planes Beyond as sorcerers of the Five Empires do. The article suggests a way in which a Player Character sorcerer might come to learn such ideograms—at a new Level switching to the new ideograms and their associated spells rather than the traditional spells he might learn from a temple. At subsequently newly acquired Levels, he might switch back. Several sample ideograms are listed, organised into Groups as per Empire of the Petal Throne: The World of Tékumel. These include Chúr, which completely copies (but does not translate) the contents of a non-magical scroll, book, or codex for the caster, and Ósuni, which fills the lungs of a designated target with saltwater, which can cause drowning if not immediately treated. The ten sample ideograms each come with their own actual ideograms and represent a mix of the familiar and unfamiliar in terms of spell design. For ease of use, it would have been better perhaps if the spells had been listed by Group rather than alphabetically, and potentially, the ideogram Hrún, which transmutes non-living objects into steel may have a game changing effect given how rare that metal is on Tékumel. Otherwise an interesting and different approach to magic that has room expansion and further mysteries.

The subject of magic continues with ‘The Magic-User’. This proposal suggests changes to the Magic-User Class from Empire of the Petal Throne: The World of Tékumel. This is to make the Class more flexible and less Change-oriented, offering a more balanced take so that a player could roleplay a Stability-worshipping sorcerer. It follows on from a similar treatment of the Warrior Class in The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 12 and gives a new list of initial professional skills, as well as an explanation of skills such as Aspects and Mythology and Inner Doctrines. Unfortunately, this is untested and it would need some playtesting, although the possibility of this seems unlikely in the short term.

‘Shiringgáyi: Queen of the Heavens and of Tékumel’ explores the religious history of  Tsolyánu’s eastern neighbour, Salarvyá, and its differences with the other faiths of the Five Empires derived from the priest Pavár’s theological revolution. Whilst scholars of the other Five Empires take an interest in that history, the Salarvyáni simply give Shiringgáyi pride of place among all the gods. Her influence and those of her priestesses is such that they sit on the country’s Council of Nobles which decides its next king, who is then ‘reborn’ as the ‘son of Shiringgáyi’ and rules until such times as he is deemed physically and mentally unfit to rule and as the goddess ‘withdraws her blessings’ from him, only accepting back into her bosom following his ritual impalement. This adds both background and detail to the world of Tékumel, and would not only be useful should the Player Characters visit Salarvyá, but also should a player want to roleplay a priestess of Shiringgáyi.

One of the best ongoing features in The Excellent Travelling Volume is the Patrons section. Each entry includes six ready-to-play NPCs, including stats, skills, and spells, as well as a thumbnail portrait, some background and a reason for their wanting to employ the Player Characters. Not only a reason, but also several different explanations as to what is actually going on. Thus, Di’iqén hiTurshína, a priest of Grugánu who believes that someone is trying to kill him. The explanations include the fact that he is mistaken, a rival attempting to discredit him by making him paranoid, his temple testing his suitability for advancement, and another rival competing for the affection of a pretty ritual priestess of Ksárul. Modelled after the entries in the supplement, 76 Patrons for the Science Fiction roleplaying game, Traveller—of which the author is an avowed fan—these patrons are excellent, each providing an individual NPC and an adventure that the Game Master can develop.

The second addition in the issue is ‘Poisons, Antidotes & Narcotics’, useful for campaigns which involve murder or assassination, or social situations, the latter given the fact that the societies of the Five Empires hold no stigma when it comes to the social use of ‘The Powders’ as they are known.

The first of the submissions to The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 13 is ‘Puppetmaster Clans’ by Rob Smith. There are two of these in the Five Empires, the Society of the Hands Which Are Not Seen and the Clan of the Striding Incantation, and both are highly secretive about the arts they practice, the performance of sagas, plays, poems, and even gladiatorial duels using puppets of wood, metal, bone, and other materials, which then animated using spells. It adds the new skill, ‘Performer: Puppeteer’ and covers roles such as Puppet Artist, Set Designer/Craftsman, Musician, and more, as well as Puppetmaster Magic. This adds new spells such as Animate Puppets I, Animate Peerless Puppet, and even  Transfiguration, which turn the victim of the spell into a living puppet! The Puppetmaster clans perform regularly at the homes of the nobility and the roleplaying possibilities that they suggest are numerous, including single clan campaigns travelling the Five Empires getting involved in intrigues and seeing the world, murder mysteries, and more. Perhaps only lacking the lineage names for the respective clans, this is a fine addition to Tékumel campaign.

David A. Lemire provides more fiction in the form of ‘The Epic of Hrúgga. This brings to life one of the heroic figures from the past of the Five Empires, and in addition to being an enjoyable read, might serve as inspiration for a performance by the previously explored  ‘Puppetmaster Clans’.

Lastly, ‘Hanging on the Ropes’ by Mikael Tuominen is a lengthy encounter in the wilderness at  long, rope bridge crossing a ravine, river, or swamp. On its other side waits a lavishly but tastelessly dressed warrior with a gem-encrusted sword ready to strike at the ropes of the bridge. This is Kúrkuru hiSáchi, a soldier of fortune with a grudge to settle against the Temple of Hrü’ü for the death of his sister. The question is, does his vendetta have any basis in fact, is he acting nobly or ignobly? This is a really nicely developed encounter, relatively easy to drop into a campaign, which also forces the Player Characters to question their preconceptions. It also pleasingly addresses the issue for the point of view of both Stability and Change worshippers, and so feels nicely rounded. There should be more like this in the pages of the fanzine.

Physically, The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 13 is nicely produced, a sturdy little booklet in a thick card cover, pleasingly illustrated and tidily presented throughout. 

The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 13 continues the author’s excellent support for Empire of the Petal Throne: The World of Tékumel. It is a solid issue, packed with content and background, made all the better for the submissions,  that the Referee can readily bring to her campaign.

For Cultured Friends XII: The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 12

For devotees of TSR Inc.’s Empire of the Petal Throne: The World of Tékumel, 2020 is notable for the release of not one, but two issues of The Excellent Travelling Volume, James Maliszewski’s fanzine dedicated to Professor M.A.R. Barker’s baroque creation. The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 11 was published in April, 2020—available direct from the author or the Melsonian Arts Council—and continues his exploration of one of oldest of roleplaying settings heavily influenced by the campaigns he has been running, the primary being his House of Worms campaign, originally based in, around, and under Sokátis, the City of Roofs before travelling across the southern ocean to ‘Linyaró, Outpost of the Petal Throne’, a small city located on the Achgé Peninsula, as detailed in The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 8.

As per usual, The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 12 opens an editorial from James Maliszewski. This highlights the gap between this issue and The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 11–or rather the lack of a gap, one facilitated by the periods of enforced isolation that beset many of us in 2020, as well as the continuing influence of the author’s ongoing House of Worms campaign. That can be seen in the first entry in the issue, part of the ‘Additions and Changes’ series which examines the various non-human races on Tékumel and makes them playable. ‘Hláka Characters’ adds the three-eyed, bewinged, and sharp-tailed species capable of actual flight. Like many non-human races, they do not acknowledge the Gods of Stability and Change, but when living amongst human civilisations, may adopt one or more faiths to fit in! However, they make for poor worshippers at any temple. Notably, they have a reputation for being skittish and cowardly, but this does not stop the militaries of the Five Empires recruiting them as scouts and even into legions, many of which are listed, solely comprised of Hláka and occasionally as aerial artillery. In terms of Profession, there is no limit in terms of their options, but they make better Warriors than they do Magic-Users or Priests. Alongside notes on Hláka names and homelands, the article includes discussion of Hláka clans—there are none. That is, except for the Blue Clouds of Joy Clan in Béy Sü, an extremely notable exception. Rounding out the article are rules for Hláka flight. This is another fine addition to the series, which with the inclusion of names, makes them both reasonably playable.

The second entry in the ‘Additions and Changes’ series is ‘Psychic Ability and Spells (Additions and Changes) which presents an adjusted table for rolling the Psychic Ability, and discusses the dangers of wearing metal—almost any metal, when casting spells and gives a table of results should a Magic-User attempt to cast a spell whilst wearing metal. Having discussed and presented the dangers of combining metal and magic, the article is rounded off with a discussion of what a sorcerer might actually wear instead of metal, pleasingly adding some colour.

‘The Warrior (Proposal)’ is the author’s suggestion to develop and add context to the Warrior Profession in Empire of the Petal Throne: The World of Tékumel. It does this by dividing the skills in General and Soldier skills, so Spearman and Bowman are General skills and Drills and Logistics are Soldier skills. The aim here is to have General skills that any Warrior can learn, whilst the Soldier skills can only be learned by serving in the legions. Accompanied by the definitions of various skills, it nicely serves to individualise the Warrior Profession and a Player Character’s previous history.

The centre piece in The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 12 is ‘Sa’á Allaqiyár, the Many-Towered City’, a detailed description of the capital of the northern empire of Sa’á Allaqi. It is accompanied by an excellent map, and covers the history of the city, an examination of its major clans—several of which have been adopted from the other four members of the Five Empires, and its notable features. These range from a sizeable Foreigners’ Quarter and an extensive number of brothels to the Pyramid of Néngetl, the long looted tomb of the first Engsvanyáli governor and the Ancient Sealed Gate, the former entry to the city on its eastern wall which was bricked up upon the advice of the priests of the One of Light, who stated that it would bring their god’s blessing and ensure that ‘Sa’á Allaqiyár would never fall. Of course, this is not canon, but this is another excellent article, one which is more than serviceable until such times as there is an official version of the city.

‘The Roads of Avanthár (Part 2)’ completes the short story by David A. Lemire begun in The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 11. The story describes the discovery of a great book and the efforts by members of the military faction to get it to the emperor in Avanthár, and their own rivalries. Ultimately, the concluding part leaves questions unanswered and adds mysteries of its own, but is enjoyable nonetheless.

‘The Hollows of Gyánu’ is the adventure location given in The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 12, the hideout for a group of Kilalammuyáni bandits in the mountains of Tsolyánu’s Chaigári Protectorate, who have been raiding local caravans. The local governor has posted a reward for their capture or their demise, but unfortunately, something already has happened to them by the time the Player Characters arrive to investigate their cave hideout. There are riches to be found in the caves and the sinkhole they are clustered around, but also terrible secrets of the Five Empires’ religious past. It is a nicely done encounter, a mixture of horror and exploration, which is easily transferred to a location of Referee’s choice.

The third entry in the ‘Additions’ series is ‘Bestiary (Addition)’ and presents two creatures as an accompaniment to ‘The Hollows of Gyánu’. The two creatures are the Achayá, ‘The Blood of Gyánu’ and the Chagrúo, ‘The Frozen Dead’, two nasty monsters emanating from the Expanse of the Cold Dark, also detailed here. Rounding out The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 12 is ‘Initial Encounters (Additions and Changes)’, the third entry in the issue’s ‘Additions and Changes’, which presents a replacement table of visitors who might be encountered in the city of Jakálla and the nature of their task in hand. Again, both tables are easy to adapt to other civilised settings and so have a wider use.

Physically, The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 12 is nicely produced, a sturdy little booklet in a thick card cover, pleasingly illustrated and tidily presented throughout. Both the illustrations and the maps are good too.

The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 12 continues the author’s excellent support for Empire of the Petal Throne: The World of Tékumel. It is a solid issue, packed with content and background that the Referee can readily bring to her campaign.

For Cultured Friends XI: The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 11

For devotees of TSR Inc.’s Empire of the Petal Throne: The World of Tékumel, 2020 is notable for the release of not one, two issues of The Excellent Travelling Volume, James Maliszewski’s fanzine dedicated to Professor M.A.R. Barker’s baroque creation. The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 11 was published in April, 2020—available direct from the author or the Melsonian Arts Council—and continues his exploration of one of oldest of roleplaying settings heavily influenced by the campaigns he has been running, the primary being his House of Worms campaign, originally based in, around, and under Sokátis, the City of Roofs before travelling across the southern ocean to ‘Linyaró, Outpost of the Petal Throne’, a small city located on the Achgé Peninsula, as detailed in The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 8.

As per usual, The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 11 opens an editorial from James Maliszewski. This highlights the gap between this issue and The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 10 and the reasons for it, before going onto focus on the importance of fiction when it comes to Tékumel. He notes, that like many a Petalhead, his initial exposure to the setting was to Man of Gold, M.A.R. Barker’s first novel, which really is an effective introduction to Tékumel. This is because the issue includes the first part of a short story by David A. Lemire, the first piece of fiction in the fanzine and a rare inclusion by someone other than James Maliszewski. The latter also explains why he puts out a call for submissions.

The opening gaming content in the issue is another entry in the ‘Additions and Changes’ series which examines the various non-human races on Tékumel and makes them playable. ‘Ahoggyá & Shén’ adds the four-sided and four-legged, barrel-shaped with a pair of eyes on each side Ahoggyá and the more humanoid, if slightly reptilian Shén with their mace-like tail. The former are the subject of some derision for their eight underminable sexes and stubborn refusal to acknowledge the Gods of Stability and Change—or even the concept of religion, let alone Stability and Change, but are renowned as fearless warriors. The latter only have three genders and do understand Stability and Change as ‘the one of Eggs’ and ‘the one who Rends’, and when in human society make actually adopt one of the gods of Stability and Change. In terms of Profession, both make poor magic-users and priests, but excellent warriors, such that outside of their homelands, all of the militaries of the Five Empires recruit Ahoggyá and Shén into legions of their own, but not together and their renowned antipathy means that they never serve alongside each other. This is another fine addition to the series, which with the inclusion of names, makes them both reasonably playable.

The influence of the author’s Achgé Peninsula-set campaign makes its presence known with the inclusion of ‘The Hokún: The Glass Monsters’, a centaur-like sentient species with a translucent exoskeleton and a hive mind thought to be found on the other side of the planet from the Five Empires. Their attitude to mankind varies—some may hunt and eat them, some may enslave them, and some may treat them as equals. This further highlights the weirdness of Tékumel and that there are wide swathes of the planet which remain unknown. The influence continues with a number of creatures in the ‘Bestiary (Addition)’. These include the Léksa or ‘The Glass Beast’—the riding beasts for the Hokún and actually a specially-bred mutation of the Hokún; the Nékka or ‘The Graceful Runner’, a herd beast left to run wild by the Hokún; the Qu’úni or ‘The Crustacean’, a semi-intelligent species found along the Achgé Peninsula, which is highly protective of its coastal lairs and regarded as a pest by sailors for their habit of swarming ships; and the Vriyágga or ‘The Wheeled Horror’, a terrifying combination of a central braincase suspended between two muscular wheels, the face on the braincase surrounded by four tentacles and with a maw of venomous feelers. Thankfully such creatures are rare, but they are horrifyingly weird. There is a nice inclusion of some commentary on the Vriyágga, just as there is on the Hokún, which adds a little context. With any luck, future issues will expand upon the lands of the Hokún, making them somewhere that group other than the author’s can visit them.

There are more monsters in ‘Demons of Sárku & Durritámish (Addition)’ which takes the reader to the Wastelands of the Dead, the plane ruled over by Lord Sárku to describe a trio of nasty demons. Thus sorcerers might entreaty the Blind Ones of Hreshkaggétl, minor six-limbed squid-like demons who reek of rotting flesh and revere Durritámish, cohort of Lord Sárku, for the mysteries and secrets they know of Durritámish, whilst none but the mightiest of warriors, sorcerers, or priests would want to face Srükáum, the Lord of the Legions of the Despairing Dead, the Castellan of the Citadel of Sighs, and the Warder of the Gates of Skulls, a skull-faced warrior in armour of copper and gold, who serves both Sárku and Durritámish as an ardent foe of Stability—especially if it involves combat! Lastly, Ssüssǘ, the Eater of the Dead, is a snake-like demon who oversees Lord Sárku’s hells and who is known to be able to grant great courage in others and great antipathy between two individuals.

Up until this point, The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 11 feels like it is all about the demons, monsters, and creatures, so ‘Amulets (Addition)’ is a welcome change of focus. Amulets are devices of the ancients and provide all manner of ‘magical’ effects. Thus the tiny hand-shaped Amulet of Uttermost Alarm shocks the wearer when it is within thirty feet of a temple, demon, high priest, or artefact of one of the Pariah Deities, whilst the Amulet of the Blessing of the Emerald Lady, a fine necklace of malachite beads, makes the wearer feel and look ten years younger, though wear it for too long and the effects become permanent. The fourteen or so devices are pleasingly inventive, a good mix of powers and abilities that provide flashy, as well as subtle effects.

The location—or dungeon—to be explored in The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 11 is The Tower of Jayúritlal, the ruined structure said to have been built by an Engsvanyáli (or possibly Bednálljan) sorcerer renowned as a traveller of the Planes Beyond. Consequently, Jayúritlal’s tower not only exists partly on Tékumel, but its location varies. Thus, it is easy to place as necessary in a Referee’s campaign, who is also free to develop the legend of Jayúritlal to suit her campaign. The tower itself is a tall narrow structure, amassing some thirty or so locations, and for the most is linear in its play. There is a pleasing feel of both age and the weird to it—whole missing walls for example with just a rope between levels, and it is very nicely mapped out by Dyson Logos. However, it does feel as if one too many rooms are blocked off by doors which require magical means to open, which may impede and even frustrate the players and their characters’ progress. Perhaps also, a discussion of possible suggestions and motivations for the Player Characters to visit the tower might have been a useful addition.

Rounding out the issue is ‘The Roads of Avanthár’, the first part of a short story by David A. Lemire. This describes the discovery of a great book and the efforts by members of the military faction to get it to the emperor in Avanthár, and their own rivalries. There is quite a lot going on in this first half and it will be interesting to find out how the events play on the second part in The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 12.

Physically, The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 11 adheres to the same standards as the previous issues. It sees the return of the card cover which The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 10 seemed to lack, and if the cover is not in full colour, that is not as much as a loss as it might seem. Otherwise, as expected, the writing is engaging, the illustrations excellent, the cartography is good, and it feels professional.

The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 11 feels like a very monster focused issue, with Ahoggyá & Shén as Player Character options, the write-ups of ‘The Hokún: The Glass Monsters’, and both Bestiary and Demons articles—much of it influenced by the author’s Achgé Peninsula-set campaign. The issue thus continues the author’s exploration away from the Five Empires, expanding what we know of Tékumel, but still adding elements a Referee can include in her more traditionally located campaign.

Review 1000: King Arthur Pendragon

Much like the return of Glorantha to Chaosium, Inc. with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, the return of King Arthur Pendragon felt like a long lost roleplaying game finally coming home. Originally published by Chaosium, Inc. in 1985, it was never really a case of King Arthur Pendragon of actually being lost, for other publishers, most recently Nocturnal Media, had published highly regarded editions of the classic, most recently King Arthur Pendragon 5.2, but the award-winning roleplaying game—including the 1991 Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Rules for King Arthur Pendragon, Third Edition, and the 1987 Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Adventure and the 2007 Diana Jones Award for Gaming Excellence for The Great Pendragon Campaign—was first published by Chaosium, and so feels at home with the publisher.

King Arthur Pendragon 5.2 would suggest that it is a relatively minor update to King Arthur Pendragon, Fifth Edith, but those changes are significant. Most obviously, in the new layout and full colour upgrade, which results in a stunningly clean looking book, but also in minor tweaks to the mechanics. Less obviously, but in hindsight, more importantly, in the addition of a set designer’s notes from the late Greg Stafford. These place King Arthur Pendragon in context and explain Stafford’s reasons for his design decisions, his love of Arthurian legend, and more. That they are his final words on what he clearly states he considers to be his masterpiece, is sad but fitting. So the question is, is King Arthur Pendragon Greg Stafford’s masterpiece? Instead of making you wait until the end of the review to answer that question, that question will be answered here and the review will instead be used to explain why.

Yes.

King Arthur Pendragon is Greg Stafford’s masterpiece and he was right to make such a claim.

King Arthur Pendragon is as the title suggests an Arthurian roleplaying game. Drawing from sources as diverse as the Welsh The Mabinogion, Sir Thomas Malory’s fifteenth century Le Morte D’Arthur, and T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, it presents a melange of the legends that compacts a thousand years of history and French and British culture into just eight decades. It begins in the ‘Dark Ages’ of the Fifth Century with native Britons holding off the Saxon invaders, sees the discovery and rise of King Arthur, inaugurating a golden age of chivalry, Christianity, and feudalism, and of honour, romance, and great quests, before the death of Arthur ushers a return of the Dark Ages with greater Saxon successes…

Players will explore this not through one character, but several, as their characters first try to protect Britain’s surviving kingdoms against the encroaching invaders, and then their characters’ sons will see the rise of Arthur, and their sons will aspire to become members of King Arthur’s Roundtable. This generational play is just the first of King Arthur Pendragon’s innovations. They will do this as one character type—the Knight. And even then only as one type of Knight—the British Cymric Knight. They may be British Christian Knights, Roman Christian Knights, or Pagan Knights, but they are British Knights. Each begins the game as a squire, before being knighted and serving Sir Roderick, Earl of Salisbury in the south of England. Now previous versions of the roleplaying game have allowed other character types, such as Pictish and Saxon Knights, even characters capable of casting magic, but King Arthur Pendragon 5.2 saves Knights from other lands for future supplements and magic for use by NPCs and as narrative devices and effects for the Game Master. This focus on a single character type is indicative of King Arthur Pendragon 5.2’s tight focus.

One issue with this character type is it is primarily a male one. As both historical and ahistorical as King Arthur Pendragon is with its feudal society, it should be no surprise that Knights are male, and that to be faithful to the history and the sources, the roles of women are limited in the roleplaying game. This does not mean that there are not important and influential women in the setting—notably Queen Guenever and Queen Morgan le Fay—but they do not necessarily ride into battle or go on quests. King Arthur Pendragon though, does not limit player choice and not only provides a list of historical examples who did, it also gives guidelines for creating female knights.

As a Knight each character is defined by Homeland, Culture, and Father’s Name, then Father’s Class, Son Number, Liege Lord, Current Class, Current Home, Age, and Year Born. All this before we even get to the numbers, which start with Traits and Passions—which define a Knight’s personality, then continue with Attributes—Size, Dexterity, Strength, Constitution, and Appearance—which are rated between three and twenty-one. Notably, there is no Intelligence attribute, that being left up to the player rather than the character. Skills are roughly divided into combat skills and ordinary skills. They range between one and twenty, but can go higher. Every Knight has Glory, a measure of his renown and his actions, the higher it is, the greater the chance of his being recognised.

Character generation is dedicated to creating such a Knight. Much of the background information is designed to support the set-up in Salisbury and is thus set in stone. The player has a choice in how he assigns points to his Knight’s attributes and skills, although the base skills are the same for all Knights. A Knight also has a coat of arms that a player is free to design and he also receives a Family Characteristic which all members of his family share. The last step in Knight generation is to develop his family history in and around Salisbury. This is a step-by-step process which charts the events in the lives of the Knight’s grandfather and father in the forty or so years before the player character Knight enters play. One thing thing a Knight inherits from his father is Glory, reflecting the renown his father achieved. Of course, the Knight will go on to greater Glory...

Our sample Knight is Sir Miles the Modest, a Christian Knight, whose outstanding Trait is his self-effacement and his ability to compose songs and poems. His grandfather fought with great distinction defending King Constans and he hopes to be as valorous.

Sir Miles the Modest
Homeland: Salisbury Culture: Cymric
Father’s Name: Melion Father’s Class: Vassal Knight Son Number: One
Liege Lord: Sir Roderick, Earl of Salisbury Current Class: Vassal Knight 
Current Home: Cholderton
Age: 21 Year Born: 464 AD

Glory: 1,196

ATTRIBUTES
Size 12
Dexterity 12
Strength 12
Constitution 15
Appearance 12

DERIVED ATTRIBUTES
Damage: 4d6
Healing Rate: 2
Movement Rate: 2
Total Hit Points: 27
Unconscious: 6

Distinctive Features: Green Eyes

FAMILY CHARACTERISTIC
Good with Words (+15 Compose)

PERSONALITY TRAITS
Chaste 10 | 10 Lustful
Energetic 10 | 10 Lazy
Forgiving 09 | 11 Vengeful
Generous 10 | 10 Selfish
Honest 10 | 10 Deceitful
Just 10 | 10 Arbitrary
Merciful 10 | 10 Cruel
Modest 16 | 04 Proud
Prudent 10 | 10 Reckless
Spiritual 10 | 10 Worldly
Temperate 10 | 10 Indulgent
Trusting 10 | 10 Suspicious
Valorous 16 | 04 Cowardly

PASSIONS
Loyalty (Lord) 15
Love (Family) 15
Hospitality 15
Honour 15
Hate (Saxons) 11
Hate (Picts) 11

SKILLS
Combat Skills: Battle 15, Horsemanship 10, Sword 15, Lance 10, Spear 6, Dagger 5
Awareness 10, Boating 1, Compose 25, Courtesy 10, Dancing 5, Faerie Lore 1, Falconry 5, First Aid 10, Flirting 3, Folk Lore 2, Gaming 3, Heraldry 3, Hunting 2, Intrigue 3, Orate 10, Play (Harp) 3, Read (Latin) 0, Recognise 5, Religion (Christianity) 2, Romance 7, Singing 5, Stewardship 2, Swimming 2, Tourney 2

EQUIPMENT
Chainmail and shield, two spears, sword, dagger, fine clothing (worth £1), gear (personal, travel, war), four horses (charger, two rouncys, sumpter), engraved silver ring (heirloom, worth £2)

HISTORY
Miles’ grandfather fought at the Battle of Carlion in 439 AD and served as a garrison knight for several years before dying trying to protect King Constans in 444 AD. Miles’ father, Melion, fought at the Siege of Carlion in 466 AD and then as a garrison knight for many years, withstanding many Saxon raids. He fought in the Battle of Salisbury in 480 AD and was present at the funeral of High King Aurelius Ambrosius and the election of Uther as the new Pendragon. He was killed at the Battle of Eburacum in 484 AD.

Mechanically, King Arthur Pendragon 5.2 is simple. A player rolls a twenty-sided die, the aim being to roll equal to under the skill, Trait, or Passion. Rolls of twenty are always a fumble, whilst rolls equal to the value of the skill are always critical rolls. Critical rolls grant an experience check. For example, when attempting a Recognise check for Sir Miles to see if he recognises a fellow knight by his coat of arms, results of one to four would be a success, but a result of a five would be a critical success. In opposed rolls, the participant who makes a successful roll, but rolls highest succeeds better than his opponent. For example, in a Gaming contest, Sir Miles’ player succeeds, but only rolls a two. His opponent, with a higher skill of 6, rolls a five and wins. If a Knight has a skill over twenty, then the value over twenty acts as a bonus to his player’s roll, with results over twenty counting as a critical success. For example, Sir Miles has a Compose skill of 25. This grants his player a +5 bonus to the roll, with any roll of 20 or more counting as a critical success. When it comes to making Experience Checks, a player simply has to roll over the value of the skill, Trait, or Passion to increase it, but for skills over twenty, a straight roll of twenty is required to improve it.

For example, Sir Miles wants to write a song dedicated to the widow of his liege lord, extolling the virtue of her loyalty to her late husband and duty to see to the care of his children. He believes that having lost his own wife, he should marry the lady and the song he believes is appropriate means of wooing her. His player rolls 17, scoring a critical success. Later on, when it comes to rolling the Experience Check for Sir Miles’ Compose skill, his player rolls only a 12 and so does not improve the skill.

Combat essentially uses the opposed roll mechanic. In a Melee Round, rolls are made for each combatant’s combat skill. If both combat skill rolls are successful, but the higher roll means that participant wins the exchange and inflict damage, whilst the defender can use his shield to defend himself. If the roll is failed for a combatant and his opponent’s roll is a success, then the defender cannot use his shield. Damage in general, is not done by weapon type—though some weapons, like a dagger, will reduce the number of dice rolled for damage—but by the damage rating of the Knight or NPC.

Typically, a player will be rolling four six-sided dice for damage for his Knight. If ready for a fight, a Knight will be wearing Chainmail which provides ten points of protection, and if his player rolls well enough, wielding a shield that provides another six. If not, even an average damage roll for a Knight will inflict damage and if a player makes a critical roll in combat, then the damage is doubled. What this means is that combat in King Arthur Pendragon has the potential to be incredibly deadly, the rules also allowing for knockdown, being knocked unconscious,  inflicting wounds, and breaking weapons.

After a Knight has suffered from damage or wounds, first aid can be applied in order to keep him from death’s door, but in the long term, a Knight will need the application of Chirurgery—an ‘non-knightly’ skill that no honourable Knight will know. Otherwise, there is rest and recuperation, but what there is not, magical healing, and what there is, is the chance of a wound deteriorating and should a Knight not rest, of aggravating it. What this highlights is that the life of the Knight might be glorious, it might be honourable, but it can also be nasty, brutal, and short. The time needed for healing should a wound be suffered is also one reason why adventuring opportunities are so limited in King Arthur Pendragon.

As simple as the mechanics are in King Arthur Pendragon, they are not what the roleplaying game is known for. That honour goes to its system of Traits and Passions. Traits represent a Knight’s personality, consisting of thirteen opposite pairs. So Chaste and Lustful, Honest and Deceitful, Valorous and Cowardly, and so on. Each Trait in a pair is assigned a value, the two values together adding up to no more than twenty. So, a Trusting of ten and Suspicious of ten, an Energetic of fourteen and Lazy of six, and so on. During a game, a player can look to the values of his Knight’s Traits to determine how he might act, but if unsure or wanting guidance, the player can roll against one of them, and the Game Master can also direct a player to roll against one to see how his Knight will act in a particular situation.

For example, Sir Miles is attending a feast at which his lord has an entourage of Saxon warriors as guests. During the evening, a Saxon knight, Cuthred, boasts of his prowess at the battle of Ebacurum against the less than worthy Christian knights. Good manners forbids the hosts rising to the bait, but Sir Miles’ father was killed in the battle and so he has a hatred of Saxons. Looking at Sir Miles’ personality Traits, he has a Vengeance of eleven and a Forgiving of nine. Sir Miles’ player could just say that the knight leaps to his feet and demands satisfaction or that Cuthred apologises, but instead decides that he will roll for it to determine what Sir Miles will do.

If Sir Miles’ player rolls against the Knight’s Vengeance of eleven, then Sir Miles will be angered to act against Cuthred, leading to an exchange of words, possibly a fight with Cuthred, and a rebuke from his lord. If though, that roll is failed, his player will roll against Sir Miles’ Forgiving of nine. Again, if Sir Miles’ player rolls under that, Sir Miles will not act vengefully, but demur, being prepared to forgive Cuthred for his boasts. No fight ensues and his lord might give Sir Miles an approving nod for his keeping his temper. Of course, if both rolls are failed, Sir Miles is free to act as his player decides. 

If the player successfully rolls against a Trait, then like skills, the Trait can be improved, even if that Trait is seen as a negative one. What this means is that the values of Traits can change over time, reflecting how a Knight’s personality can change when he is pushed to act one way or another. At the same time, a Knight should also be working to find opportunities to raise certain Traits. These are seen as virtuous Traits—for example, Chaste, Energetic, Generous, Modest, and Temperate for Sir Miles as a British Christian Knight—and if their combined is high enough, he will be renowned for his virtue and gain Glory for it. In this way, King Arthur Pendragon encourages a player to roleplay his Knight aspiring to be the best knight that he can.

The personality Traits in King Arthur Pendragon are an incredible piece of design, subtle and elegant, and doing so much more than you think. Obviously, they guide and direct a Knight’s behaviour and decisions, at dramatic moments deciding how a Knight will act and they push a player toward roleplaying an ideal, that is, an Energetic, Generous, Just, Merciful, Modest, and Valorous knight, the very model of Christian chivalry which lies at the heart of the genre that King Arthur Pendragon is all about emulating. Yet, they also serve as the equivalent of the game’s mental advantages and disadvantages, either hindering or benefiting a knight depending upon the situation. In the given example, Sir Miles’ Vengeance of eleven works as a slightly stronger disadvantage, whilst his Forgiving of nine is a weaker advantage. Given another situation, his Vengeance might be the advantage and his Forgiving the disadvantage. In other roleplaying games, such advantages and disadvantages are cut and dried absolutes, known quantities. In King Arthur Pendragon 5.2, they are not. They are flexible, they have the capacity to change over time, and so they reflect a character’s growth and change more readily and easily, with there being no possibility of a character simply and absolutely buying off a disadvantage, for personality Traits can just as easily swing back the other way.

In addition, a Knight’s Passions, like Loyalty (Lord), Love (Family), and Hate (Saxons) which represent strong emotional and psychological tendencies. When a player rolls against one of his Knight’s Passion, it can grant inspiration and a bonus for a task, but should it fail, it can leave the Knight disheartened and suffering a penalty to a task.

For example, at the feast where a Saxon knight, Cuthred, boasted of his prowess at the Battle of Ebacurum against the less than worthy Christian knights, Sir Miles’ player made a successful roll against Sir Miles’ Vengeance of eleven. Instead of striking at the uncouth Saxon, Sir Miles’ player decides that the Knight will rebuke Cuthred and speak vehemently of the British knights at that battle. This will be an Orate check, but Sir Miles’ player decides that he will invoke Sir Miles’ Passion of Hate (Saxons) of eleven. He is fortunate and rolls ten—a success. Sir Miles is inspired, gains +10 to his Orate skill for the one roll. Sir Miles’ player rolls twenty, which would normally be a fumble, but is here a critical result, and Sir Miles gives an impassioned speech about the prowess of his father and his fellow knights at the Battle of Ebacurum, which has the Christian knights around the table cheering.

What is so surprising is that given the flexibility of the Traits and Passions in King Arthur Pendragon, that they have not been used elsewhere—until recently that is. Most obviously in the Paladin: Warriors of Charlemagne, but also in the way that Runes and Passions are used in RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, both published by Chaosium. Imagine how Traits and Passions could be used in a roleplaying set in feudal Japan or even somewhere as alien and baroque as Tékumel?

Another innovation in King Arthur Pendragon is its highly structured, generational play. Knights will generally go on an adventure just once a year, typically in the summer when it is easier to travel. This might be as simple as attending court, but it might also be a raid on the neighbouring Saxons, going on a quest, participating in a campaign, and so on. Once that is over, a Knight will engage in training, family matters, and see to his manor, all during the Winter Phase. In game terms this is when a player rolls for any Experience Checks that his Knight has accrued during the summer adventuring phase, but equally as importantly, it is when a Knight and his family age. When a Knight reaches the age of thirty-five, there is a chance that he will suffer random reduction to one or more attributes. This will carry on until either one of the Knight’s attributes is reduced to zero or he retires from play. When he does so, ideally, his oldest surviving son will step into his shoes and become the player’s new Knight. The son has to be a minimum of twenty-one to do that, and even before that, the player has to be rolling each year to see if his Knight’s wife gives birth, and then each year to see if the child survives. This generational play should ideally see one Knight succeed his father and then be succeeded by his son, but the constant need to check to see if each child survives further enforces the perilous times in which King Arthur Pendragon is set.

King Arthur Pendragon 5.2 includes a great deal of information about its setting. This covers not only Salisbury and notable places and personages, but also a guide to the Britain of the time, the customs of Knighthood and laws of the land, both Paganism and Christianity, before moving forward to explore the chivalrous and romantic future of King Arthur’s reign. As well as a relatively short bestiary, a complete battle system is provided for handling combat between hundreds and thousands of men. Then  of course, there is the scenario, which sees the player characters a squires on their last day before being knighted. There is very much a step-by-step process to the scenario, the squires undergoing some training in order to show their players how the mechanics work, and so on. The scenario will be familiar to anyone who has played previous editions of King Arthur Pendragon, but it does a fine job showing how the roleplaying game works.

Physically, King Arthur Pendragon 5.2 is a fine looking book. The full colour, stained-glass window illustrations which preface every chapter are excellent, capturing the high medieval idealism of the Arthurian setting, whilst the sepia illustrations elsewhere depict the romance, the mystery, and the brutalism of the setting. The book is well written and quite easy to read and digest, although a few game examples, more clearly marked would have nice additions.

It would be easy to simply describe King Arthur Pendragon as the greatest Arthurian roleplaying game ever published. Easy because it would be true. It is a fantastic design and it superbly invokes its sources. Yet as a roleplaying game, King Arthur Pendragon is all but without peer, indeed the second greatest Arthurian roleplaying game ever published, Prince Valiant: The Storytelling Game, is also designed by Greg Stafford. As to the others, the third best, Age of Arthur: Heroism in the Dark Ages eschews the romanticism of the first two, whilst Legends of Excalibur: Arthurian Adventures from RPGObjects is the best d20 System option for Arthurian roleplaying, Once and Future King, published by TSR for the Amazing Engine rules, the best Science Fiction interpretation, Corporia the best dystopian interpretation, and Steve Jackson Games’ GURPS Camelot offered the most comprehensive overview of the genre. Of I, Mordred: The Fall and Rise of Camelot from Avalanche Press, the less said, the better…

Yet, King Arthur Pendragon 5.2 is not quite perfect. The problem is that its focus is too much on set-up for the period in the Dark Ages of its history, prior to the rise and reign of King Arthur. There are notes on this, but they are relegated to an appendix, almost like an afterthought. So anyone coming to the roleplaying game wanting the grandeur and romance of that period may well be disappointed by what they are given in the pages of King Arthur Pendragon 5.2. Similarly, some may be disappointed by the lack of character options, but to be fair, the combination of character Traits and skills allow for more diversity in terms of character personalities than is obvious at first glance. Further, the focus on Salisbury means that there is not a huge amount of scope to take a campaign and its player Knights beyond that and the scenario only gets the player characters to knighthood, with nothing really for them to play as knights, although the Game Master could perhaps adapt one of the solo adventures included. Now there are supplements which will address these issues, most notably The Great Pendragon Campaign, the astonishingly grand campaign which will take a band of Knights and their descendants right through the eighty year time frame of King Arthur Pendragon. As for further character options, there is the Book of Knights and Ladies supplement. Certainly though, an anthology scenarios showcasing just what King Arthur Pendragon 5.2 is capable of would be perfect, but in the meantime there are older supplements available—such as  Tales of Mystic Tournaments and Tales of Chivalry and Romance—which are compatible with King Arthur Pendragon 5.2.

Reviewing the first edition of King Arthur Pendragon—a rather lovely boxed set—in White Dwarf 72 (December, 1985), Graeme Staplehurst said that it “…[L]ooks like being one of the best systemised roleplaying games around.” before concluding that, “Overall, I would not hesitate to recommend the game to any roleplaying aficionado who is looking for inspiration . . . were it not for the dreadful price.” (It was then priced at £25.95—approximately £78 today). Nevertheless, Staplehurst awarded King Arthur Pendragon nine out of ten. In Dragon #107 (March, 1986), Ken Rolston concluded that, “Pendragon’s Arthurian matter and its masterful treatment commends itself highly.” and that, “In presentation, Pendragon is attractive and pleasurable reading. serious fantasy role-playing gamer’s shelf. The Pendragon boxed set is an excellent value, certainly one of the most important RPG releases of 1985, and belongs on every serious fantasy role-playing gamer’s shelf.” Anthony Fiorito, writing in Different Worlds Issue 42 (May/June, 1986), said, “In summation, King Arthur Pendragon is a straightforward, uncomplicated attempt at recreating the atmosphere of Arthur’s Britain. It is easy to understand and extremely playable. The rules flow smoothly and although they do not cover every possible situation, are structured to give a general idea of what to do in any reasonable case.” before highlighting what he saw as weaknesses—the lack of a magic system and the background knowledge required by the Game Master in order to create scenario. (Arguably, the first of these is not really a weakness, but the second may still be an issue.) Fiorito awarded King Arthur Pendragon four stars out of five and finished by saying, “But even with these few drawbacks, Pendragon has turned out to be one of the most enjoyable new role-playing games that I’ve played in a long time. It was definitely worth the money spent. I recommend this game to everyone who has ever dreamed of being a knight in shining armor or pulling the sword from the stone.”

At the top of this review, I stated that Greg Stafford is right to regard King Arthur Pendragon as his masterpiece. Not just a masterpiece, but a design classic, a master class in using mechanics to both model its Arthurian genre and to encourage its players to roleplay its knightly character types. Those mechanics are all but peerless, beautifully elegant, but flexible in how they push a Knight to act and his player to roleplay and explore Arthurian Britain not through the player’s eyes, but through those of his Knight. Then there is that setting, brought to life as a labour of love upon the part of the author, ready to be explored and experienced. Put it in your top ten, your top five, or your top three, King Arthur Pendragon is one of the greatest roleplaying games ever published, the perfect combination of mechanics and theme. 

For Cultured Friends X: The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 10

With the release of The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 10, the fanzine reaches a milestone that showcases the dedication of both publisher and readers in their desire to keep it an ongoing publication—it reaches double figures. Subtitled ‘A fanzine of M.A.R. Barker’s World of Tékumel’ and written for use with TSR Inc.’s Empire of the Petal Throne: The World of Tékumel, the issue heralds two changes. The first is that the fanzine is available internationally, being now on sale via Melsonian Arts Council , the publisher best known for its own fanzine, The Undercroft. The second is that the back issues are now available as PDF titles, which ensures that those devotees of Tékumel who on their immediate release did not purchase them upon can do so now. Hopefully, this will ensure the wider availability of future issues as well as the past issues.

Over those past nine issues, the author has expanded the hobby’s first great roleplaying setting, both in and around the familiarity of the Five Empires on the northern continent as well as regions far away. Much of it based around the campaigns that he has run, most notably his House of Worms campaign, based in, around, and under Sokátis, the City of Roofs. In The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 8, he took both campaign and fanzine in a very different direction,  far across the southern ocean to ‘Linyaró, Outpost of the Petal Throne’, a small city located on the Achgé Peninsula. This explored—unofficially—a region not visited within Tékumel canon, as well as showcasing the possibilities of opening up regions well away from the familiarity of the Five Empires on the northern continent. The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 9 returned to the northern continent, but not necessarily the Five Empires, but some elements of the author’s Dust of Gold campaign. The latest issue, The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 10, combines elements of both—the very far away and the relatively near on the northern continent.

Following an editorial reflecting the author’s time spent on The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue, the issue opens with ‘Finding Tékumel’, really an extension of the issue’s editorial and a reflection upon this and the previous two issues and their content. Here the author examines an aspect of his interaction with Professor M.A.R. Barker, which encouraged him to visit places on Tékumel that the professor had not yet been to. What he meant was that the author—and indeed any Game Master running a Tékumel campaign—should be developing these unvisited areas themselves for their own game and that they need not wait for the professor to present something that was canon. Of course, this runs counter to the gamer’s tendency when playing in a setting—especially a setting that is the creation of one man—to want to not break canon, in this instance to play on Tékumel as Professor M.A.R. Barker envisioned it. The Excellent Travelling Volume is very much a rebuttal to that tendency, especially in recent issues, and this first article in The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 10 is both something of a manifesto and memoir of the author’s interactions with Professor Barker.

The first actual gaming content in The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 10 is another ‘Additions and Changes’ examining the various non-human races on Tékumel. This time it is ‘Tinalíya & Urunén’. The former are the short, four-legged humanoids with three sexes, who are notoriously curious and literal-minded, who make good Warriors and Magicians, but consider being a Priest a poor vocation. They are also adept with the devices of the ancients. Found primarily in and around Livyánu, they are allowed their own legions to fight against the Mu’ugalavyáni, whom they consider to be woefully officious. The latter are not as well known, being from the subpolar regions around the South Pole and contact having only been made with the Five Empires. They are tall humanoids covered in light fur with both a tail and a combination of bovine and serpentine features and much like the Tinalíya, disdain being a Priest instead of a Warrior or Magician. 

The article details the Alignment, Choice of Sex—the have three as opposed to the two of the Urunén, Profession—both prefer to be Warriors or Magicians, Hit Dice, their unique racial abilities, and what gods and their cohorts they worship. There are also notes on possible names, their homelands, and what legions they might serve in. Together this draws a great deal of playable information about both races that can be used to help create player characters or NPCs. Of course, the humanocentric outlook of the Five Empire means that there is some social stigma to playing either, but the Urunén would be very much an oddity, if not an object of curiosity.

The Urunén are further detailed in ‘The Urunén – The Cold Dwellers’. This goes into further depth about their culture and society as well as presenting stats for them as monsters or NPCs rather than as player characters. This nicely expands upon the information presented in the previous article and enables this relatively unknown species to be better portrayed by Game Master and player alike.

‘Ureshyésha, the Tiered City’ continues the fanzine’s recent exploration of the Plain of Towers to the west of Mu’ugalavyá, previously seen in ‘The Ni’ikmá Valley’ and its companion articles in The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 9. This details the city which occupies a mountain pass through the Qelqái Range. The city is currently ruled by the Shúr Ésh, a tall humanoid species with pale complexions, flat noses, and grey or blue eyes(!), who are said to be the artificial creations of the city’s founders, the Old Ones. The Shúr Ésh are psychically gifted and adept in the operation of the devices of the ancients, and although they allow foreigners to reside in the outer city beyond the city’s wall, they restrict access to many parts of the city and so getting through Ureshyésha requires some negotiation. The description of Ureshyésha is quite detailed, including locations and several NPCs, but it is not quite obvious how to use it and this is not fully explored in the article. There is political tension in the city, the growing size of the general population versus the limited number of Shúr Ésh in Ureshyésha and the demand for devices of the ancients to be found in the ruins of the City of the Old Ones and the extensive Tsuru’úm below the city despite the custom of Ditlána not being practised, and these present potential hooks as well as the negotiations needed to get through the city. Perhaps, a future issue will return with an adventure or two set here?

Empire of the Petal Throne: The World of Tékumel treats magical armour and shield in a limited fashion, restricting them to simple +1, +2, or +3 bonuses. ‘Magical Shields’ provides the means to create shields with magical powers and abilities beyond those bonuses and gives four unique examples. For example, Dhimitlár’s Bulwark protects against all non-magical ranged weapons when held. All four are nice detailed and come complete with histories as well as their abilities. These are nice additions to Empire of the Petal Throne: The World of Tékumel and should serve as fine examples for the Game Master’s own game.

Lastly, ‘The Treasure Vaults’ expands upon a volume given in Empire of the Petal Throne: The World of Tékumel. This is Chánisayal hiHayá—‘Powerful Maps of Glory’—a book of between one and six treasure maps. Here just the single location is detailed, a treasure vault of a disgraced sorcerer. Consisting of just sixteen locations, this is actually a nicely detailed mini-dungeon which should provide a session or two’s worth of play. The article shows how much the author is still taking inspiration from the pages of Empire of the Petal Throne: The World of Tékumel. Hopefully there will be more of these in future issues, or perhaps, a whole mini-supplement could be published detailing all six locations to be found in the pages of Chánisayal hiHayá? That would be amazing.

Physically, The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 10 adheres to the same standards as the previous issues. It does lack the card cover of the previous issues and so has a slightly less substantial feel to it, so does not quite feel as good or professional in the hand. Otherwise, as expected, the writing is engaging, the illustrations excellent, the cartography is good, and it feels professional. 

One obvious issue with The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 10 is that not all of its content supports campaigns set around the Five Empires where most campaigns are set. What it is means is that some of the content, whilst interesting, will not be of immediate interest or use to a Game Master. This is not a complaint and nor should it be, since the author is writing based on his campaigns and is still writing about Tékumel. The Excellent Travelling Volume Issue No. 10 further expands what we know of Tékumel, and not only is that to be welcomed, it adheres to the author’s remit right from the very first article.

—oOo—

Melsonian Arts Council will be at UK Games Expo which will take place between June 1st and June 3rd, 2018 at Birmingham NEC. This is the world’s fourth largest gaming convention and the biggest in the United Kingdom.