Arthurian Resources

[adembroski3]

I've been developing an Arthurian campaign sort of based on Steven Lawhead's vision of Camalot. I'm looking for resources to help me detail the campaign a bit... both celtic and Arthurian.

Any suggestions? Books, websites, PDFs, whatever you got.

 

[Ron]

Get Pendragon RPG, probably the best game ever done in the subject. Even if you ditch the rules, there is a lot you can take for your D&D game.

 

[Silveras]

There are a couple of new Arthurian resources just published recently. Relics & Rituals: Excalibur is one.

 

[Wombat]

To start off, here are some decent websites on or related to the topic:

http://www.geocities.com/branwaedd/ (this one is for Celtic texts, with some very accurate translations -- the Welsh Triads are particularly interesting)

http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/cphome.stm (THE site for Arthurian texts available on the web, as well as links on all sorts of articles on specific Arthurian topics)

http://www.arthuriana.co.uk/

http://smu.edu/arthuriana/

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jjd23/arthur/Arthur_Old/general.html

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook2.html

(These four are my "great backup Arthur sites")

Now all of these sites (and anything else I recommend) will send you down a different line than Lawhead. He has a very, errr...idiosyncratic... view of the legends, to put it politely.

As for books, if you can get ahold of either The New Arthurian Encyclopedia by Norris Lacy or Phyllis Ann Karr's The King Arthur Companion you will not go far wrong. There are several great novels as well (and some questionable "histories") available out there, but not know what in particular you are aiming to do with your game, I'll confine myself to these.

Oh, I would warn you against anything by John and Caitlin Matthews and R.J. Stewart who, though I believe quite sincere, are also just far too determinedly "New Age-y" to be taken at all seriously.

 

[Greybar]

I think that many consider Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur definitive as far a written work.

I would whole-heartedly second the recommendation to pick up the Pendragon game from Chaosium. Great stuff. I never expect to run the game, but have toyed with carrying some mechanical ideas and a buncho thematic elements over to D&D.

john

 

[tetsujin28]

Having worked on it, thanks for all the kind words about Pendragon A long time ago (when 3e first came out), I did a conversion for Pendragon...but then went back to running it 'as is'. But it is a fantastic resource, much better than the d20 guides I've seen.

Just as a note, Chaosium no longer publishes PD. It's published by Green Knight, 'though they're yet another company that got screwed over by the Wizard's Attic fiasco. Pendragon, its supplements, and Phyllis Carr's excellent Arthurian Companion (can't recommend that enough) can all be found here.

 

[tetsujin28]

Oh, I would warn you against anything by John and Caitlin Matthews and R.J. Stewart who, though I believe quite sincere, are also just far too determinedly "New Age-y" to be taken at all seriously.

'Bad', is how I would put it

 

[Vigilance]

You can check out Legends of Excalibur, a recently produced d20 Arthurian game (written by yours truly) here:

http://www.rpgobjects.com/index.php?page=ex

It's available both as a PDF and as a hardcover.

Chuck

 

[C. Baize]

For D20 Arthurian goodness, go to RPGNow or your FLGS and take a look at Legends of Excalibur by RPGObjects.
Caveat: Yes, I worked on the book.
That having been said, when my copy of the hardcover edition arrived in my hot little hands, I pulled it out of the package and this cynical old bastard was astounded. First things first... Beautiful cover (I know... who cares? Right? But BOY is that a beautiful cover). Secondly, full color maps on the inside covers (both pages when you open the book, you have two maps immediately staring you in the face, and the back cover, and inside page... again, beautifully done cartography by Clayton Bunce, though there was another name Chuck gave me for the maps, and I can't remember it, at the moment). Next, you get into the book, and it's fairly obvious that Mr. Rice is at the very least a great fan of the Arthurian mythos, and has done his homework. The classes in the book are well researched, and well balanced, and represent courtiers, nobles (the noble class in here is probably the best handling of nobles in a D20 RPG I've seen.. yeah... I think it is), Skalds, and KNIGHTS... there's the bit, ain't it? Knights. You want knights? Well... Here... let me back up, just a moment and just give you a list of the classes in the book. I hope Chuck and Chris will forgive me for presuming, but, here we go.
New Core Classes:
Fool
Hedge Mage
Hermit
Knight
Minstrel
Noble
Priest
Robber Baron
Skald
Yeoman
New Prestige Classes
Alchemist
Berserker
Changeling
Court Mage
Crusader
Enchantress
Lady of the Lake
Quest Knight
Saint
Spectral Knights
Black Knight
Blue Knight
Green Knight
Purple Knight
Red Knight
White Knight

Add to all that, some new feats, new skills, a new magic system (to represent the ley lines so prevalent in Arthurian mythos) .... Well.... Suffice it to say, it's worth getting, in my not so humble and possibly biased opinion.
Now... I don't make a thing off of the sales of this book. My part of it is done and over with. I can't imagine anyone being disappointed by purchasing this book looking for a good Arthurian campaign.

 

[Wombat]

'Bad', is how I would put it

I was trying to be circumspect

My reputation on this board is hazy enough already!