The Pinnacle of Pendragon

Pendragon is a great roleplaying game, considered by many to be a classic, and by its designer, Gregg Stafford, nothing short of a masterpiece. It is a roleplaying of high adventure, high romance, and high fantasy set deep in the legends and stories of Britain’s golden age, the mythical period when the country had one true king. That king was Arthur Pendragon, his reign the mythical period of honour and chivalry, courtly love and romance, that arose from the unrest following the withdrawal of the Romans, withstood invasions from the Saxons, before falling to evil and the country to the Dark Ages. In the process it inspired great tales of medieval literature and great tales of literature, including the Welsh The Mabinogion, Sir Thomas Malory’s fifteenth century Le Morte D’Arthur, and T.H. White’s The Once and Future King. Pendragon is a roleplaying game in which the Player Characters are knights in service to their liege lord and then to King Arthur himself, managing their manor and serving in his army, but also going on quests and adventures and so dealing with threats and problems that beset the men and women of the land, including their fellow knights, attending court and tourneys and involving themselves in intrigues and romances, and finding a wife and raising a family. Raising a family is important because a knight may adventure for only so long before age catches up with him. Then his eldest son will take up his mantle and inherit his father’s good name and reputation, and not only uphold it, but follow his ideals and make a name for himself, perhaps even more glorious than that of his father. Like his father, he will aspire to take a seat alongside King Arthur and become one of the Knights of the Round Table, to serve alongside the greatest knights in the country. In turn, his son will follow in grandfather’s footsteps and aspire to the ideals of the age, to be a bastion of duty and honour until the kingdom falls.

The Pendragon Core Rulebook introduces all of this for Pendragon, Sixth Edition. Published by Chaosium, Inc. once again, it remains much the same game as it was when originally published in 1985 in terms of game play and design, but with a few changes to streamline play and a very fetching new presentation. The changes primarily consist of adjustments to how derived characteristics are determined and amalgamating and broadening many of the skills. For example, Folklore replaces Faerie Lore and Folklore, Recognise combines Recognise with Heraldry, Lance is replaced by Charge, and so on. None of these are radical changes and are really only important when adapting content from older editions of Pendragon to this new edition. The presentation of Pendragon Core Rulebook runs counter to typical modern rulebooks, being on buff paper, almost like a medieval manuscript, rather than glossy paper, and like a medieval manuscript, decorated with monkish doodles and depictions of strange creatures of the illuminator’s imagination.

What the Pendragon Core Rulebook is not though, is a complete rulebook. There are aspects of the rules that are missing, notably the rules for handling mass battles, hunting, wider choices in terms of what you can play, and background setting details. Some of this will be presented in Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook, and in the meantime, a streamlined versions of the rules for mass battles and setting content can both be found in the Pendragon Starter Set. Wider choices in terms of Player Characters will have to wait for a future supplement, though it is fair to say that any player coming to the Pendragon Core Rulebook expecting a similar range of character options after playing through the Pendragon Starter Set will be disappointed. Similarly, the lack of detailed, specific background to the Britain of before and during King Arthur’s will disappoint the Game Master wanting to create her own content. Again, all of this will be addressed in future supplements, and in the meantime, Pendragon, Sixth Edition is supported by the Pendragon Starter Set and Pendragon: The Grey Knight campaign, both of which are precursors to the epic The Great Pendragon Campaign. That said—and to be clear—everything in Pendragon Core Rulebook is playable and needed to play.

Pendragon Core Rulebook begins by explaining what the roleplaying game is and what its assumptions are. This is that it is set during King Arthur’s reign; that the Player Characters are members of the nobility and by default will be knights—thus Player-knights; and that not all knights and thus Player-knights are the same, for their deeds will be guided by their varying personalities. It is also a roleplaying game and setting in which acquiring Glory and a place on the Round Table is the ultimate goal, but doing so will mean being tested and facing hard choices, the possibility of being killed—the roleplaying game makes clear that world of Pendragon is a brutal one and combat is deadly and that no one has ‘script immunity’. It also notes that it is a modern roleplaying game set in an ancient, mythical past. What this means is that although Pendragon Sixth Edition and The Great Pendragon Campaign might be set in the fifth and sixth centuries of the Christian Era, this is a Britain, and a wider Europe where there are female knights and on-Christian knights, where Pagan belief is accepted, and where justice and equality may be found. What this means is that female Player-knights are acceptable within the setting, the book actually highlighting some examples from the literature, though to what degree is up to the Game Master and her players to decide. That said, the world of Pendragon, Sixth Edition is a feudal one and the Player-knights will owe fealty to their lord and their king, and there are women who will undertake more traditional roles. Lastly, the play of Pendragon, Sixth Edition, as in previous editions, is generational. A player will roleplay his knight as adventures, raises a family, and retires, and then roleplay his eldest child who will also go on adventures, raise a family, and retire. In the course of a campaign, a player will roleplay a knight and multiple members of his family.

Further, Pendragon Core Rulebook makes clear that ‘Your Pendragon Will Vary’, so that for example, whilst in medieval Europe, red hair, freckles, green eyes, and being left-handed were all associated with evil, witches, vampires, and werewolves, this need not be the case in a Game Master’s own campaign.

The entire sweep of the Pendragon setting runs from 415 CE when Constantin is elected as the High King of Britain, establishing the tradition of knighthood and bringing peace and stability to the country, and ending in 566 CE when the Round Table splits and crumbles, Sir Mordred prevails, and King Arthur is carried away to Avalon. In between, the Saxons come to Britain, High Kings rise and fall, and following a period of anarchy, Arthur, the Boy King, pulls the Sword from the Stone, ushers in a new age of conquest and romance, and more. The default beginning and setting, again as in previous editions of the roleplaying game, is the year 508 and the county of Salisbury, with the Player-knights all Cymric knights, either of the Christian or Pagan faith.

A Player-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 divided into Combat skills, Courtly skills, Knightly skills, and Woodcraft skills. They range between one and twenty, but unlike in previous editions of Pendragon, do not go above twenty. Instead, when a successful Experience Check suggests a skill should, the skill gains a bonus which is added to any roll for that skill. 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 opposed 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, or worse. 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.

To create a Player-knight, a player can either choose one of the pre-generated knights in the back of the core rulebook, assign points to create his knight, or roll randomly. The first step is determine the father’s life as knight, which provides for some background and possible hooks for the Game Master to develop, and then either roll or assign stats, skills, personality traits, passions, and more. Depending on his appearance, most Player-knights will have one or more distinctive features, for example, a big moustache, scars, dulcet tones, and so on, and also a Family Characteristic, like ‘Musical’ or ‘Equestrian’, which grants a bonus to the Play Instrument and Horsemanship respectively. At this point, a Player-knight is just fifteen years of age and still a squire. For each subsequent year, the player can increase his knight’s skills or add one to either a characteristic, a Trait, or a Passion. However, the Player-knight needs to have a minimum value of ten in Brawling, Charge, Sword, and two non-weapon knightly skills, such as First Aid or Recognise, and be a minimum of twenty-one years old, so the player will need to increase skills rather than anything else. A beginning Player-knight is given a ‘luck benefit’ too, like a broad belt etched with running stags that grants a bonus to the Hunting skill or a Roman spatha sword and scabbard with gold and silver decorations in the Imperial style which grants a bonus to the Courtesy skill when at a Roman court or can be given as a gift to a Roman lord in return for a favour. The Pendragon Core Rulebook also includes details of the knighting ceremony should the Game Master and her players want to roleplay this out for their knights.

As a young knight, Bellangere’s father, Melion fought at the Battle of Mount Damen in 484 and Count Roderick and later fought against King Octa twice. First in 490 when he helped capture King Octa at the Battle of Lindsey, and then at the Battle of St. Albans in 495 when among those who killed King Octa. He stove off more than one invasion by the Saxons, defeating a Saxon chieftain and taking his rune-scribed Saxon sword in 498, much the chagrin of the chieftain’s son, and then later slaying a Saxon berserker and gaining a knob of polished amber in a leather thong. In 500 at the Battle of Dorchester he became a hero to the men of Dorset, but to this day Cornishmen remember him with hate, whilst at the Battle of Royston in 504, was present at the killing of King Aescwine of Essex. Throughout his years, he also went on various quests for Merlin through the years and thus is known to the Arch-Druid. This included killing Djerl the Goblin, who cursed him with his dying his breath, and serving as an emissary to King Nanteleod of Escavalon, convincing him to come to Salisbury’s aid.

Name: Bellangere
Homeland: Culture: Cymric Christian
Father’s Name: Melion Father’s Class: Vassal knight Father’s Glory: 13,000
Son Number: 1
Liege Lord: Robert of Salisbury
Current Class: Household Knight Current Home: The Castle of the Rock in Sarum
Age: 21 Year Born: 487
Glory: 2400

Looks: Fair Distinctive Features: Golden blonde, dazzlingly white smile
Family Characteristic: Melodic (Singing)
Knight’s Luck: A lance blessed by Saint Dewi

CHARACTERISTICS
Size 13 Dexterity 08 Strength 11 Constitution 15 Appearance 14
Knockdown: 13 Major Wound: 15 Unconscious: 7
Total Hit Points: 28
Weapon Damage: 4d6 Brawling Damage: 4
Healing Rate: 3 Movement Rate: 14

PERSONALITY TRAITS
Chaste 14/Lustful 06
Energetic 06/Lazy 14
Forgiving 12/Vengeful 08
Generous 07/Selfish 13
Honest 12/Deceitful 08
Just 05/Arbitrary 15

Merciful 12/Cruel 08
Modest 12/Proud 08
Prudent 11/Reckless 09
Spiritual 14/Worldly 06
Temperate 13/Indulgent 07
Trusting 07/Suspicious 13
Valorous 17/Cowardly 03

PASSIONS
Honour 17
Homage (Lord) 17
Love (Family) 17
Hospitality 14
Station 12
Devotion (Deity) 05
Hate (Saxons) 15

SKILLS
Awareness 10, Compose 5, Courtesy 12, Dancing 4, Falconry 5, Fashion 9, First Aid 4, Flirting 9, Folklore 9, Gaming 5, Hunting 5, Intrigue 9, Literacy 0, Orate 9, Play Instrument 4, Recognize 5, Religion 5, Singing 10, Stewardship 5

COMBAT SKILLS
Battle 5, Horsemanship 10

WEAPON SKILLS
Brawling 10, Charge 10, Hafted 4, Sword 10, Spear 4, Two-Handed Hafted 4, Bow 4, Crossbow 4, Thrown Weapon 4

To have his knight 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 failure, and a roll of twenty can be a critical failure. For opposed rolls, used for contests and combat, the roll still needs to be equal to or under the value for the knight to succeed, but the quality of the success will vary also according to what the opposing knight or NPC rolls. A roll equal to the skill is still critical, whilst a success is under the skill value, but higher than the value rolled by the opponent, and a partial success is under both the value of the skill and the value rolled by the opponent. In combat, the quality of the rolls are compared to determine if the combatant’s armour and/or shield provides him with any protection, if he inflicts extra damage, or even if he drops or breaks the weapon he is wielding. In play, it also avoids the back and forth of combat rolls as first one combatant rolls, followed by the other, then back again, and so on. It gives an immediacy to the clash of arms, with both parties being involved from the off. In addition to covering dropped weapons, there are rules for knockdowns; combat actions such as Reckless Attack, Defend, Mounted Charge, and more; and also, both mounted combat and missile combat. There is an emphasis in the combat rules on the importance of wearing helmets and wielding shields, and on wielding weapons that are regarded as honourable. Although the use of missile weapons is acceptable against a besieging force, one knight using them against another is regarded as cowardly and dishonourable. To accompany the rules on mounted combat, horses get their own chapter, as do weapons and armour. The chapter on horses covers everything from horses trained for combat and the tack needed to equip a horse to training them and horse personalities.

Arguably at the heart of Pendragon and what sets it apart from other roleplaying games are the thirteen pairs of Personality Traits. They ensure that every Player-knight is different, defining both how he feels and how he typically acts. In play, they are used to determine how a Player-knight will act and make decisions, to test his character, to learn something about the world, even to help influence another Player-knight, and more. In most cases, a Player-knight will act in accordance with a Personality Trait, especially if it is high. Should a player want to have his knight act against a Personality Trait, literally act out of character, he will need to test it. If the roll is a failure, then the player must test the opposing Personality Trait. If the roll succeeds, the Player-knight will act in accordance with it, but if the roll is a failure, the player has the choice as to how his knight acts.

For example, Sir Bellangere has captured some Saxon raiders. His player declares that he will execute them, an unknightly act. The Game Master states that the player must make test Sir Bellangere’s Arbitrary Personality Trait, which is fifteen. If it was sixteen or above, the Personality Trait would be categorised as famous and Sir Bellangere would be automatically compelled in accordance with it. However, Sir Bellangere’s player has to roll and gets a result of seventeen on the roll of a twenty-sided die. It means that Sir Bellangere will not be immediately Arbitrary, but his player must still test the opposing Personality Trait, which is Just. Sir Bellangere has a Just of five and rolls three. This means that in this instance, Sir Bellangere will stay his hand and not kill the Saxon. It also means that there is a chance of Sir Bellangere increasing his Just Personality Trait and consequently, decreasing his Arbitrary Personality Trait, literally changing his personality!

What this means is that over time, a Player-knight can grow and change, not just in terms of skills or Passions, when it comes to his feelings, but in terms of his personality. This is not always beneficial to the Player-knight, as his Personality Traits might change such that he no longer matches the ideals of a particular type of knight, such as a chivalrous, religious, romantic, or courtier knight. Attaining—or indeed, re-attaining—one of these ideals is typically a long-term goal for a Player-knight, but aspiring to them is a roleplaying challenge in itself. And of course, they model the stories told of King Arthur and his knights, with great tales revolving around the testing of a knight’s ideals, being found wanting, and then attaining them once more. Mechanically, Personality Traits effectively work like advantages and disadvantages in other roleplaying games, but in Pendragon, Sixth Edition, whether a Personality Trait represents an advantage or a disadvantage depends on the situation and unlike other roleplaying games, in Pendragon, Sixth Edition, a Player-knight’s Personality Traits are often going to be tested. Given how integral they are to the roleplaying game, unsurprisingly, Pendragon Core Rulebook goes into some detail about the Personality Traits as well as the Passions, in particular the consequences of failing a Passion roll.

Although Pendragon is not a roleplaying game about money or loot per se, it has a role to play in the game. A knight has to maintain a certain lifestyle, there is his manor and family to maintain, and there are his dues to his liege lord. There will be a certain income form his manor, but a knight may need to spend more perhaps to make repairs to his equipment, pay a dowry, replace a horse that was lost during the Winter Phase, or worse pay a ransom if captured. A Player-knight may find loot on any adventure, be given it as a gift, or he may actually be paid random for capturing and releasing an enemy knight. Pendragon, Sixth Edition includes guidance on handling such situations, on income from other means such as gambling, on how to use such wealth, and on handling favours in the game. Besides the equipment list, here too is a guide to the types of supporting characters that a player might control, most obviously a squire. It seems oddly placed in the book though.

Although the Pendragon Core Rulebook does not include any scenarios, it does include solo activities which a Player-knight can undertake, especially if a session or two of play has been missed. As a Household Knight, a Player-knight has standard duties, such as garrison and patrol, attending a tournament, or even escorting a lady to a destination. Events can even occur multiple times during a year, requiring more checks, but unusual events can occur too, like visiting the royal court or facing an uprising of commoners. Several of these are expanded upon and there is a list of skills and Personality Traits which a player should be testing for his knight. With some development, the Game Master could actually go further and use these as scenario prompts for short adventures or quests.

One of the features of Pendragon is that it is played out in two phases per year. One is the Adventuring Phase, when the Player-knights go on quests and undertake assignments for their liege lord. The second is the Winter Phase. A Player-knight may benefit from a solo adventure in the Winter Phase, but this is the part of the game where player does upkeep for his knight, deals with any personal issues his knight may have had over the course of the year, handle skill and other improvement, changes to his knight’s Personality Traits, and work what happened to his family. The latter is particularly important, because a knight’s family will at some point provide an inheritance and when the Player-knight is killed or retires, a ready-made heir. Of course, the lives of a Player-knight’s family can be drawn upon for more roleplaying opportunities and storylines for the Game Master to develop.

Rounding out the Pendragon Core Rulebook is a trio of appendices. These highlight the changes from the previous edition of the roleplaying game, and then provide the Game Master with a quartet of pre-generated Player-knights and a coat of arms generator.

Physically, Pendragon Core Rulebook is a lovely looking book with a lot of evocative, full colour artwork. The layout is perhaps odd in places with the wandering third column, which typically contains prompts and quotes, changing from the middle of the page to the outer edge and back again, so there is no consistency. However, you do get used to it. The choice of a matte or buff paper stock gives the book a much more tactile feel than is to be expected.

Pendragon is, and always has been a great game, a masterpiece, even. Its matching and modelling of its game design with the source material to create a world and play experience within Arthurian legend is superlative. It is the reason why the previous edition of Pendragon was the thousandth review for Reviews from R’lyeh back in 2019. That has not changed. Pendragon Sixth Edition is a great game, beautifully presented with its elegant mechanics further explained and made accessible in the ultimate version of the roleplaying game that begins in detail in Pendragon Core Rulebook. Whilst there are elements of the roleplaying game and the setting that are missing from its pages, the Pendragon Core Rulebook does give the player everything that he will need to play, whilst the Game Master will want the Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook and more for that missing content—or rather, that not yet released content. Because to be fair, the gap between the release of the Pendragon Core Rulebook and the Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook is actually not that long and everything in the Pendragon Core Rulebook is playable.

Pendragon Core Rulebook is a great update and explanation of the core rules to Pendragon, Sixth Edition, the perfect book for the players and a good rules reference for the Game Master. And in bringing back Greg Stafford’s masterpiece back to print, the publication of the Pendragon Core Rulebook heralds a new Golden Age of King Arthur and the adventures that Player-knights will undertake in his realm.