Pendragon

SHARK · Mar 26, 2002

Greetings!

Hello everyone!

Have many of you played the Pendragon system? What did you think of it?

I have many Pendragon supplements, like Pagan Shore, Beyond The Wall, Blood & Lust, The Spectre King, and many others. I have found them to be very useful in designing scenarios, and integrating a medieval/dark ages feel to campaign elements. The scenarios are usually well researched, and the characters are well done, in very evocative ways. The atmosphere is also interesting, and inspiring.

What do you think?

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

S'mon · Mar 26, 2002

SHARK said:
Greetings!

Hello everyone! Have many of you played the Pendragon system? What did you think of it?

I have many Pendragon supplements, like Pagan Shore, Beyond The Wall, Blood & Lust, The Spectre King, and many others. I have found them to be very useful in designing scenarios, and integrating a medieval/dark ages feel to campaign elements. The scenarios are usually well researched, and the characters are well done, in very evocative ways. The atmosphere is also interesting, and inspiring.

What do you think?

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

I bought it a while ago but haven't had the chance to play it, although it looks like a nice source of ideas. The art is a bit mediocre for such an expensive (softbound product). It's a little less atmospheric than I expected, possibly because I live here in England while Greg's presumably in the USA, but the descriptions of the various Arthurian belief systems are very nice. I'd like to try a D&D game with Pendragon elements - less magic, grimmer, and a campaign timespan of decades.

Skywalker · Mar 26, 2002

From my limited experience Pendragon has a wonderful system that really gets the feel of the game across. As you say the real boon of the game is its supplements. The Boy King is a marvellous long term campaign structure.

V-2 · Mar 26, 2002

As usual, SHARKy, while your politics may be dubious, your RPG tastes are rather excellent. I played Pendragon for several years in the early 90s and loved it.

I stopped buying supplements very early in the day though, because the modules felt too faerie for my taste. I was actually looking for a more playable version of Chivalry & Sorcery--I wanted the "historical" Arthur, without gods, myths, or monsters, and all I seemed to need for that was the Noble's Handbook. Still fondly remember the red-haired Irish Knight with a lute in his coat-of-arms whom I played as a major NPC.

SHARK · Mar 26, 2002

Greetings!

Hmmm...V-2, you're *V* from Nutkinland, right?

My *dubious politics*? Hmmph!

I rather like them, personally. I think that my positions are patriotic, logical, and realistic.

I'm glad that you like my tastes, though! Pendragon is a really excellent atmospheric game. The names, the equipment, the adventure plots, are all very cool. The bibliographies that Greg uses are also interesting.

V, do you go to all the cool archeological sites and libraries over there in England? I'd love to go to Hadrian's Wall, for example. I love ancient history, too!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Maerdwyn · Mar 26, 2002

I really enjoy Pendragon - though its combat system needs quite a bit of tweaking, IMHO. The traits and passions system for tracking character development is fantastic (I use it in place of alignment and quite a few CHA effects in my D&D game.)

P.S.: I've been searching for the Pagan Shore supplement for years - anyone willing to part with their copy?

mmadsen · Mar 27, 2002

There's so much I love about the Pendragon game. I love that it's grounded in Arthurian legend, and playing a noble knight is expected. I love that magic's never mundane, and it often plays a dramatic role; it's not artillery. I love the Personality Traits, Ideals, and Passions. I love the Winter Phase, when characters aren't adventuring but are getting married and caring for their lands.

Some of the ideas can fit into a D&D campaign just fine. Certainly the notion of down time (Winter Phase) works well. As Maerdwyn suggested, you can replace Alignments with Traits, Passions, and Ideals. If you're willing to restrict magic and dungeon-crawling a bit, you can have a campaign of adventuring knights -- no Wizards, no Elves, just Human Fighters.

Thorvald Kviksverd · Mar 27, 2002

I've got every edition of this game. For myself, it captures the feeling of medieval-type combat better than any other system I've ever played--and in a quick and simple manner to boot!

I've been meaning to sit down for years and come up with a magic system for it that is suited to high fantasy (maybe something along the lines of Ars Magica). If I ever do, it will probably become my system of choice for fantasy play.

For a while there was a rumor that the new Runequest would be based on Pendragon's system--instead we were treated to the travesty that is Hero Wars

Incidentally, one of the most enjoyable campaigns I ever ran used Pendragon's combat mechanics (with a few tweaks) grafted, in a rough and ready manner, on to the rules from the D&D Rules Cyclopedia(I was on deployment--and space was at a premium--so I only took along the Cyclopedia and a bag of dice

).

V-2 · Mar 27, 2002

SHARKy, while I used to live in England a while ago, I'm now based in the US of A. Corrupting America's finest with my very own blend of logic and realism.

But, while I never saw Hadrian's Wall, I do like Roman ruins.