The Pinnacle of Pendragon II

The Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook is the second of the three core books for Pendragon, Sixth Edition, the latest edition of a roleplaying game considered by many to be a classic, and by its designer, Greg 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 play of Pendragon is generational, and ultimately, intended to play out over the course of the decades that comprise The Great Pendragon Campaign.

It is not unfair to say to that the Pendragon Core Rulebook does not cover absolutely everything necessary to play Pendragon, Sixth Edition. However, it would be unfair to say that you could not play Pendragon, Sixth Edition using its content and still get a very good feel for how the roleplaying game plays and still have an enjoyable and exciting roleplaying experience. The Pendragon Core Rulebook is very much as its title suggests, the key title that presents the principles of play and the cornerstones of characters. Further, it is actually possible to run and play Pendragon, Sixth Edition using only the Pendragon Core Rulebook and the Pendragon Starter Set as the latter does include the rules for battles—although in a limited form. Indeed, many of the titles on The Companions of Arthur, the community content programme for Pendragon, Sixth Edition, can be run and played using the Pendragon Core Rulebook and/or the Pendragon Starter Set. Which begs the question, is the Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook really necessary to run and play Pendragon, Sixth Edition? To which the answer is a simple yes, not just because it contains the complete rules for battles, but also because it expands on the rules and setting at the core of the Pendragon Starter Set, as well as the wider stage too. Not far, but far enough and more than ready for the next book.

The Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook begins by establishing and exploring where and when Pendragon, Sixth Edition is primarily set. There is an overview of Logres, the part of Britain where much of the Arthurian canon takes place; a good introduction to the primary source material for the roleplaying game—Le Morte D’Arthur, of course, T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant, the film Excalibur, are all listed as worthy sources, but many others and their merits are discussed too; and there is a framing too of when the roleplaying game is set. A quick guide to the who’s who of the chronicle across its four periods—Boy King, Conquest, Romance, and Grail Quest—previews their full stats presented for many of the leading figures later in the book. Another element which previews later content is the campaign set-up example of the Holding of Underditch Hundred, the primary holding of the—as will be revealed later in the book—surprisingly young Count of Salisbury.

Advice on running the Game Master is solid, focusing in the main on how to use the different aspects of the rules, including characteristics and handling time in the game. The advice on encouraging player contribution and adding courtly play is good, but elsewhere the advice on campaign set-up is a little light, again, feeling as if it is a preview of something to come. Not though of a section later in the book, but rather of a supplement to come. The Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook really comes into its own with the discussion of Arthurian activities, in particular, the first rules addition that is feasting. A Player-knight gains a new stat, ‘Geniality’, representing his nobility in the eyes of his peers and a combination of his Appearance and his Courtly skills, which comes into play when Feasting. A Player-knight’s Glory will influence where he will be sat at the feast, the closer to the high table, the better the bonus to his Geniality, whilst his Appearance will determine how many Feast Event Cards his player will draw. Feast Event Cards work as mini-encounters much like Opportunities in Battles and the solo adventures that a Player-knight might have at the end of the year that will give him the chance to test a Personality Trait. Ultimately, as with other activities in Pendragon, Sixth Edition, the aim is to earn Glory. This is done by keeping a Player-knight’s Geniality as high as possible, but it gives him a chance to shine in a more civilised setting and use his Courtly skills. Of course, it is also a good opportunity for the players to roleplay. Other activities covered include ‘Fine Amour’ or romance, hunting, intoxication, seduction(!) at court and its consequences, tournaments, and visiting foreign courts. Of these, hunting and tournaments are more mechanically involving, but they are no less welcome for it.

If the section on ‘Feasting’ is entertaining, the chapter on religion in Arthur’s Britain is fascinating reading—and should be required reading for player and Game Master alike, since the Player-knights are classified according to both their cultural background and their faith. In turn, the chapter discusses the beliefs, the ethics and how they relate to a Player-knight’s Personality Traits, the worship, history, holy places, festivals, and notable places and figures in turn of Christianity, Paganism, Heathenism, and Wodinism. To these are added the requirements for religious knights of all of these faiths, details such as the differences between the churches of Britain and Rome, a list of Pagan deities, and more. There is a lot of useful information here that the Game Master can bring into play, especially for her players who have religious knights, but also for her NPCs. Plus, the inclusion of Heathenism opens up the possibility of bringing Pictish knights into play!

Previous versions of Pendragon have allowed for Player Characters who are not knights, but this is not the focus of Pendragon, Sixth Edition, and magic very much remains the province of the Game Master and her NPCs. However, magic plays a strong role in the Arthurian chronicle. Like religion, it is divided according to type. So, for Paganism, there is the four talents—Divination, Enchantment, Glamour, and Healing; for Wodinism there are sacrifices, talismans, controlling the weather, and carving runes; Heathensim employs the four Talents of Paganism, but through a shaman rather than a magician; and for Christianity, there are miracles and saints. They are able to perform Miracles like Divine Manifestation, Divine Intervention, and Divine Retribution. In addition to shaman, other magicians include witches, specialising in folk magic, and enchanters and enchantresses which can encompass druids as well as Pagan and Wodinic practitioners. They also include the Ladies of the Lake. More recently, they have been joined by magicians who have learned their magic from books—sorcerers and sorceresses. Covered here too is fairy magic and also protection from such magics. Religious, chivalrous, and romantic knights can all withstand the effects of magic, but this requires adherence to high ideals. Otherwise, a Player-knight has little innate protection against magic, so avoiding it is likely the best defence.

One issue with both religion and magic is that the examination is preview for the mechanical treatment later in the book, so that the description and the rules for both are not given in their relevant chapter. Rather they are included in the stats and guidelines for their NPC types in the ‘Game Master Characters’ chapter. Mechanically, magic uses the four talents—Divination, Enchantment, Glamour, and Healing—as skills, adding the non-Knightly skill of ‘Clerk’ to represent book learning and accounting, and treats them as skills. Thus, under the ‘Pagan Religious Folk and Magicians’, an ‘Itinerant Bard’ can have ‘Enchantment 12’ for his Magical Talent, enabling him to immobilise a target with a song by making him fall asleep, weep, or laugh, whilst a ‘Druid’ has values in all four Magical Talents and thus be more capable and more flexible in terms of what he can perform. For the ‘Christian Religious Folk and Saints’, they will have values in the three Miracles—Divine Manifestation, Divine Intervention, and Divine Retribution—and again their mechanics are explained here. The rules are the loosest of those presented in the Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook, allowing for more narrative input, whilst avoiding simple, if constant, Game Master fiat.

Perhaps one of the more complex aspects of Pendragon, Sixth Edition is handling battles. Previously presented in a cut-down version in the Pendragon Starter Set, here they are presented in full detail and explanation. The rules cover how to set up a battle and determine the numbers involved, establishing the Player-knights’ conroi (effectively, their cavalry squadron as they will be on horseback), how to fight the battle and face each encounter, through to what might happen after the battle. Oddly only the means of determining victory or defeat during the Boy King Period is given, which limits the utility of the Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook. That said, numerous battlefield foes are detailed as well as a six opportunities, such as ‘Capture the Banner’ and ‘Clash of Champions’. This does feel like too few opportunities, essentially extra encounters in the battle where the Player-knights have an opportunity to shine, but in play they do not actually occur that often.

The earlier ‘Who’s Who’ of Arthurian legend is fully supported with stats and details of several figures, including King Arthur and Lady Guenever, and Merlin, alongside those from Pendragon itself, like Sir Robert, Count of Salisbury. Numerous NPC types are given stats—various types of knights, Saxon warriors, nobles, common folk, and practitioners of magic and miracles. The bestiary is nicely detailed, beginning with ordinary animals, amongst which it includes elephants and lions, but also covering a variety of supernatural creatures. This includes the cockatrice, dragons, unicorns (with details of how to employ the Virgin Ploy to put them at ease), giants, and more. Sidebars list the Dwarfs of Arthurian literature, Arthurian fairy knights and ladies, Arthurian fiends, and Arthurian giants, so that the Game Master can take more direct inspiration when using the accompany game stats. Many of the entries in the bestiary will be familiar from folklore or even other roleplaying games, but what makes the bestiary all the more useful is that every is put in an Arthurian context.

Lastly, the Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook presents two scenarios. These take place in the years 508 and 509, before the events depicted in the Pendragon Starter Set and ‘The Sword Campaign’. They are both set at Sarum Castle and are designed to help set up the campaign and establish Salisbury as the starting point for the campaign and essentially a home for the Player-knights. Except that the Player-knights are not knights at the beginning of the first of these two scenarios, but squires. To that end, Sarum Castle is fully detailed and mapped and the players have the opportunity to roleplay their squires proving themselves worthy of being knights and beginning their life in service to the young Sir Robert. These are both good scenarios, both easily run in a session or two each. Although designed to be played prior to the Pendragon Starter Set, the problem with this set-up is that some groups may already past the point where these scenarios are of use to them, playing through the Pendragon Starter Set and even the campaign scenario, The Grey Knight. That said, if a playing group has not started playing Pendragon Starter Set, then both scenarios are solid additions as prequels.

The Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook comes to a close with appendices which give a detailed guide to Glory awards and a list of suggested reading. The latter is useful for the Game Master wanting further inspiration, especially in the context of the bestiary.

Physically, the Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook is very well presented. The book is also a good read and profusely illustrated. Some of the artwork has a manically cartoonish feel to it in addition to the weirdness of the some of the illuminations.

To be clear, the Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook is a very useful book and one that the Pendragon Game Master is definitely going to want and need. The new rules additions of feasting and tournaments are great, the guide to religion is very good, and the bestiary and the guide to magic are good. And yet… the Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook, as comprehensive as it is, is not and does not feel complete. Rather, it feels incremental, as if building the next part of Pendragon, Sixth Edition in readiness for the next book in the line. This shows in both the omissions and the focus of the Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook. One omission is the absence of the Feast Event Cards for the Feasting rules when the section on Battles has all of its foes and Opportunities given. The Feast Event Cards can be downloaded—and of course, since there are eighty of them, their inclusion would have greatly increased the book’s page count—but their absence is notable.

Also missing is detail about Logres and beyond in terms of setting and background, so that ultimately, the only location that is presented in any detail are the lands of Sir Robert, Count of Salisbury. Similarly, there are no details about running an estate and holding land. Together, this supports the focus of the Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook, which whilst supporting long term play with the rules for feasting, tournaments, battles, magic, and the bestiary and guide to religion, concentrates the role of the Player-knights as household knights—ideally in the service of Sir Robert. This, combined with the emphasis on Salisbury as a starting point and the underwhelming advice on campaigns, means that the Game Master wanting to set up her own campaign and not wanting to run the content leading up to The Great Pendragon Campaign is not supported as well as she could have been and that she will have to wait for subsequent books which will support her. And to be clear, if this makes the Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook as if it is a disappointing book, then it is very much not. Rather that it provides the Game Master with a lot that will support her campaign whilst leaving a few things for latter supplements.

The Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook is a mandatory purchase for the Game Master, expanding the world of Pendragon both mechanically and culturally in interesting, informative, and entertaining fashion, whilst also proving a new introduction to the roleplaying game and setting that can lead into the Pendragon Starter Set. Whilst in the long term, it will require expansion with further supplements, there is nothing in the Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook that is not useful and that the Game Master should avoid bringing into her campaign.