Tabletop role-playing game A tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG or TRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a kind of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech and sometimes movements. Participants d ...

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

chivalric Chivalry, or the chivalric language, is an informal and varying code of conduct that developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It is associated with the medieval Christian institution of knighthood, with knights being members of various chival ...

Arthurian legend The Matter of Britain (; ; ; ) is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. The 12th-century writer Geoffr ...

Chaosium Chaosium Inc. ( ) is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games established by Greg Stafford (game designer), Greg Stafford in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include ''Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game), Call of Cthulhu'', based on the horror fic ...

Green Knight Publishing Green Knight Publishing was founded by Peter Corless in 1998. He had acquired the rights to Chaosium's award-winning '' Pendragon'' role-playing game after they defaulted on a loan from Corless with Pendragon as collateral. From 1999 to 2001, Gree ...

White Wolf Publishing White Wolf Entertainment AB, formerly White Wolf Publishing, was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant (game publisher), Lion RampantStewart Wieck in 2009. Wieck formed Nocturnal Media, who updated and reissued the 5th edition originally published by White Wolf. In 2018, it returned to

Chaosium Chaosium Inc. ( ) is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games established by Greg Stafford (game designer), Greg Stafford in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include ''Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game), Call of Cthulhu'', based on the horror fic ...

. After it was published in 1985, ''Pendragon'' won several industry awards, and reviewers highly recommended it; in following years, it was included in several "Best of" industry lists.

Setting

Like several other RPGs from Chaosium (most notably '' Call of Cthulhu''), ''Pendragon'' has a literary basis, in this case the fifteenth-century Arthurian romance, ''

Le Morte d'Arthur ' (originally written as '; Anglo-Norman French for "The Death of Arthur") is a 15th-century Middle English prose reworking by Sir Thomas Malory of tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin and the Knights of the ...

''. It studiously avoids fantasy RPG cliches in favor of its source material. This has caused it to become something of a

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

game, even within the narrow confines of the RPG market. Adventures are often political, military, or spiritual in nature, rather than

dungeon crawl A dungeon crawl is a type of scenario in fantasy role-playing games (RPGs) in which heroes navigate a labyrinth environment (a "dungeon"), battling various monsters, avoiding traps, solving puzzles, and looting any treasure they may find. Video g ...

s, and are often presented as taking place congruently with events from

Arthurian According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a leader of the post-Ro ...

legend. An important part of the game is the time between adventures, during which player characters manage their estates, get married, age, and have children. Typically, the characters will have one adventure per year, and campaigns often carry over across generations, with players retiring their character and taking the role of that character's

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

. This is quite different from most role-playing games, where one set of characters is played fairly intensively, and there is typically little consideration made of what happens to their family or descendants. The influence of this idea can be seen in the ''

Ars Magica ''Ars Magica'' is a role-playing game set in 'Mythic Europe' – a historically grounded version of Europe and the Levant around AD 1200, with the added conceit that conceptions of the world prevalent in folklore and institutions of the High Mid ...

'' RPG, which also encourages stories taking years or decades to unfold (and which is also set in

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Europe). The default ''Pendragon'' setting is a

pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...

of actual fifth- and sixth-century British history, high medieval history (10th to 15th centuries), and Arthurian legend. The political forces are roughly those actually present in

sub-Roman Britain Sub-Roman Britain, also called post-Roman Britain or Dark Age Britain, is the period of late antiquity in Great Britain between the end of Roman rule and the founding of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The term was originally used to describe archae ...

: Celts fighting Germanic, Irish, and Pictish invaders in the wake of the collapse of Roman authority. However, Technology and many aspects of culture progress in an accelerated fashion, such that

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

's Britain is depicted as thoroughly

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

. Knights bear unique coats of arms,

joust Jousting is a medieval and renaissance martial game or hastilude between two combatants either on horse or on foot. The joust became an iconic characteristic of the knight in Romantic medievalism. The term is derived from Old French , ultim ...

in tournaments, follow chivalric customs, and pursue

courtly love Courtly love ( ; ) was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing various deeds or services for ladies b ...

. In effect, many trappings of the milieu in which the Arthurian romances were composed are projected backwards. Many of the campaign events and personalities come from the great mass of Arthurian literature composed from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. That being said, it is also possible to run a ''Pendragon'' campaign set firmly in the Dark Ages or in a more fantastic vision of Arthurian Britain.

System

The rules system of ''Pendragon'' is most notable for its system of personality traits and passions that both control and represent the character's behavior. Otherwise, it uses fairly traditional game mechanics for normal play, based to some degree on the ''

Basic Role-Playing ''Basic Role-Playing'' (''BRP'') is a tabletop role-playing game which originated in the ''RuneQuest'' fantasy role-playing game. Chaosium released the ''BRP'' standalone booklet in 1980 in the boxed set release of the second edition of ''RuneQ ...

'' (''BRP'') system,. It also has a set of charts and tables for determining what happens to a character's family in between adventures. The characters' ability scores are based on the ''BRP'' standard, but skills are resolved using d20, rather than d100.

Personal Traits

These are thirteen opposing values that represent a character's personality. The Traits are: Chaste / Lustful, Energetic / Lazy, Forgiving / Vengeful, Generous / Selfish, Honest / Deceitful, Just / Arbitrary, Merciful / Cruel, Modest / Proud, Pious / Worldly, Prudent / Reckless, Temperate / Indulgent, Trusting / Suspicious, and Valorous / Cowardly. The values on the left side are Virtues and the values on the right are Vices. The Traits are 1-20 points split between the opposing values (e.g., 10/10, 14/6, 5/15). For every point above 10 on a Virtue, a point must be placed below 10 on another Virtue. Characters start during character creation with a base of 15/5 in Valorous/Cowardly (because they are heroes), a base of 13/7 in their Religious Virtues (because they are the good guys) and a base score of 10/10 in the remaining values. A d20 roll is made to use a Virtue (e.g., Merciful to show mercy towards a captive mortal enemy) or resist a Vice (e.g., Deceitful to deceive a friend). If the roll is at or below the value, it Succeeds and the desired result occurs. If the roll exceeds the value, it is a Failure and the opposite result occurs. If a Virtue or Vice is rated at 20, the opposite is rated at 0; any roll on this trait is automatically successful (e.g., an Energetic character's attempt to persist in a difficult or arduous task) or automatically unsuccessful (e.g., an Indulgent character who must use Temperate to resist gluttony or intoxication). This is congruent with Arthurian legend, in which a hero's weaknesses are his downfall (like Lancelot's lust for Guenevere) or a villain has a moment of nobility (like King Uriens of Gore showing mercy to Prince Arthur rather than striking him down). The Chivalric Virtues are: Energetic, Generous, Forgiving, Just, Modest, Temperate, and Valorous. Characters possessing point values in these seven Virtues totaling above 80 are granted a bonus to Chivalry rolls. The Chivalric Vices are: Lazy, Selfish, Vengeful, Arbitrary, Cruel, Proud, and Cowardly. Characters possessing point values in these seven Vices totaling above 80 suffer a penalty to Chivalry rolls. The Christian Religious Virtues are: Chaste, Forgiving, Merciful, Modest, and Temperate. Christian Characters possessing one or more of these traits at a value of 16+ gain a Religious bonus. The Romantic Virtues are: Forgiving, Generous, Honest, Just, Merciful, and Trusting. Characters possessing point values in these six Virtues totaling above 65 are granted a bonus to Romance rolls. Later on, other cultures were added for players who wanted to play a non-Christian character. * The Pagan Religious Virtues are Lustful, Energetic, Generous, Honest, and Proud. This covers British and Welsh pagans. * The Heathen Religious Virtues are Vengeful, Honest, Arbitrary, Proud, and Worldly. This covers Saracens and Picts. * The Wotanic Religious Virtues are Generous, Honest, Proud, Worldly, Reckless and Indulgent. This covers Germanic and Scandinavian pagans.

Passions

Passions are higher values that influence a character's behavior. They are generated by rolling 2d6+6 or 3d6 (creating a base range between 3 and 18) and adding or subtracting various modifiers. Passions roll on a d20, just like Traits. If a character fails a Passions roll, he goes into a state of Melancholy (hopeless depression) for violating his core belief. A critical failure or failed attempt to recover from Melancholy can lead to Madness, which forces the character to go into retirement until such time as he can redeem his actions or be forgiven by those he wronged. *''Loyalty'' is a sense of duty to obey a liege, ally, or friend. *''Love'' is a feeling of affection for another person (a parent, sibling, friend, or lover) or people (allies / followers, friends, or family members) that the character has strong emotional ties to. *''Love (Family)'', an affection for family members, is common for daughters and firstborn sons. *''Hospitality'' is the courtesy of providing shelter, lodging, and protection towards a guest. *''Honor'' is a sense of duty towards following the rules of proper and noble behavior. Later editions added new Passions. *''Amor'' is Romantic love for a person, replacing ''Love'' for a lover. *''Hate'' is the obsessive dislike for a person, nation, or race. A character's Passion is often used to create dissonance and conflict. An example would be a Loyal knight faithfully obeying a cruel order from his unjust liege (or an Honorable knight refusing to do so, no matter the reason or excuse). Another would be an Hospitable host giving protection to a rude and discourteous guest (or an enemy who abuses the custom for insidious ends).

Magic and Magic-Users

Only the fourth edition of ''Pendragon'' included mechanics for magic and magician characters. All other versions of the game, including the later fifth edition, assumed that the character was a knight or lady and restricted magic to game master-controlled characters.

Character Generation

The first through fourth editions allowed random character generation of characters from a wide variety of cultures of Great Britain and western Europe, which was expanded by later supplements. The fifth edition supports only point-based creation of young landholding knights from the default homeland of

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

, which was a preferred option in the third and fourth editions as well. The supplement ''Book of Knights and Ladies'', self-published by Greg Stafford in 2008, allows creation of more diverse characters for fifth edition. The regions of Logres, Cumbria, and Cambria profiled in the following three supplements were internal to Arthur's realm, and thus used standard character generation. * ''Savage Mountains'' (1991) -

Cambria Cambria is a name for Wales, being the Latinised form of the Welsh name for the country, . The term was not in use during the Roman period (when Wales had not come into existence as a distinct entity) or the early medieval period. After the ...

(Wales); Welsh characters. * ''Perilous Forest'' (1992) - Cumbria (Northern Britain); describes the lands of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

(Northwest Britain) and

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

(Northeast Britain). * ''Blood and Lust'' (1995) -

Logres Logres (among various other forms and spellings) is King Arthur's realm in the Matter of Britain. The geographical area referred to by the name is south and eastern England. However, Arthurian writers such as Chrétien de Troyes and Wolfram von ...

(Southern Britain); loosely describes the lands of

Lindsey Lindsey may refer to : Places Canada * Lindsey Lake, Nova Scotia England * Parts of Lindsey, one of the historic Parts of Lincolnshire and an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 ** East Lindsey, an administrative district in Lincolnshire, ...

,

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

,

Middle Anglia The Middle Angles were an important ethnic or cultural group within the larger kingdom of Mercia in England in the Anglo-Saxon period. Origins and territory It is likely that Angles broke into the Midlands from East Anglia and the Wash early ...

,

Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...

, and

Wessex The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 886. The Anglo-Sa ...

and the

Saxon Shore The Saxon Shore () was a military command of the Late Roman Empire, consisting of a series of fortifications on both sides of the English Channel. It was established in the late 3rd century and was led by the " Count of the Saxon Shore". In the ...

of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

,

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

and

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. Over its history the game spawned a number of supplements dealing with areas within or beyond Arthurian Britain and creating characters outside the culture of the

Celtic Britons The Britons ( *''Pritanī'', , ), also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were the Celtic people who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age until the High Middle Ages, at which point they diverged into the Welsh, ...

: * '' Pagan Shore'' (1994) - Ireland; Irish character generation, including Feudal Irish and two types of tribal peoples: the '' Cruithni'' (Irish Picts) and ''

Lochlann In the modern Gaelic languages, () signifies Scandinavia or, more specifically, Norway. As such it is cognate with the Welsh name for Scandinavia, (). In both old Gaelic and old Welsh, such names literally mean 'land of lakes' or 'land of sw ...

ach'' (somewhat ahistorical Norse raiders). * ''Beyond the Wall: Pictland & The North'' (1995) - Pictland (

Caledonia Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the forested region in the central and western Scottish Highlands, particularly stretching through parts of what are now Lochaber, Badenoch, Strathspey, and possibly as ...

, roughly modern Scotland);

Pictish Pictish is an extinct Brittonic Celtic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from late antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geog ...

character generation. * ''Land of Giants'' (1996) -

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

and the Nordic areas of Britain during the era of ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

''; Northmen character generation. * ''Saxons!'' (1999) - The origins of

Anglo-Saxon England Anglo-Saxon England or early medieval England covers the period from the end of Roman Empire, Roman imperial rule in Roman Britain, Britain in the 5th century until the Norman Conquest in 1066. Compared to modern England, the territory of the ...

(Southeast Britain);

Jute Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...

(

Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

),

Angle In Euclidean geometry, an angle can refer to a number of concepts relating to the intersection of two straight Line (geometry), lines at a Point (geometry), point. Formally, an angle is a figure lying in a Euclidean plane, plane formed by two R ...

(

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

), Frisian (

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

),

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

(Germany) &

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

(France) character generation.

Publication history

The first edition was a boxed set published by Chaosium in 1985, and was designed and written by Greg Stafford. Chaosium planned a second edition, with minor changes to the rules, but this was never actually released. They released a third edition, with rules revised by Stafford, as a single softbound book in 1990. The fourth edition, published by Chaosium in 1993 and reprinted by

Green Knight Publishing Green Knight Publishing was founded by Peter Corless in 1998. He had acquired the rights to Chaosium's award-winning '' Pendragon'' role-playing game after they defaulted on a loan from Corless with Pendragon as collateral. From 1999 to 2001, Gree ...

in 1999, was also released as a softbound manual: the core rules remained consistent with the third edition, but the book was expanded to include rules for player-character magicians and for advanced character-generation (the latter had originally appeared separately in the third-edition supplement ''Knights Adventurous''). Green Knight Publishing also released a cut-down version of the fourth edition aimed at beginning players, ''The Book of Knights.'' Original designer Greg Stafford produced a much-streamlined fifth edition, which was published as a hardcover book by White Wolf in December 2005. The most notable supplement for this edition is ''The Great Pendragon Campaign'', a massive (432-page) hardcover scenario book which details events, adventures and characters from

Uther Pendragon Uther Pendragon ( ; the Brittonic languages, Brittonic name; , or ), also known as King Uther (or Uter), was a List of legendary kings of Britain, legendary King of the Britons and father of King Arthur. A few minor references to Uther appe ...

's reign in 485 through to the end of the Arthurian era. In Ownership passed from White Wolf to Nocturnal Media. In 2017 Nocturnal Media Kickstarted Paladin: Warriors of Charlemagne!. Using the Pendragon rules system, it is set in medieval Europe with players playing young Frankish squires or knights in the service of Charlemagne. The Pendragon line returned to Chaosium in 2018. In 2020, a Quickstart preview for a sixth edition was published by Chaosium. In June 2023, Chaosium released a sixth edition boxed starter set.

Game supplements and adventures

*'' The Pendragon Campaign'' (1985) *'' The King Arthur Companion'' (1986) *'' Noble's Book'' (1986) *'' The Grey Knight'' (1987) *'' Tournament of Dreams'' (1987) *'' Knights Adventurous'' (1990) *'' Blood & Lust'' (1991) *'' The Boy King'' (1991) *'' Savage Mountains'' (1991) *''Perilous Forest'' (1992) *'' The Spectre King'' (1992) *'' Pagan Shore'' (1994) *'' Beyond the Wall: Pictland & The North'' (1995) *''Land of Giants'' (1996) *'' Lordly Domains'' (1999) *''Tales of Chivalry and Romance'' (1999) *''Tales of Magic and Miracles'' (1999) *''Book of Knights'' (2000) *''Saxons'' (2000) *''Tales of Mystic Tournaments'' (2000) *''Tales of the Spectre Kings'' (2001) *''Great Pendragon Campaign'' (2006) *''Book of Knights & Ladies'' (2007) *''Book of the Manor'' (2007) *''Book of Armies'' (2009) *''Book of Battle'' (2009) *''Book of the Entourage'' (2012) *''Book of Records: Knights'' (2013) *''Book of the Estate'' (2013) *''Book of the Warlord'' (2014) *''Great Pendragon Campaign Uther Period Expansion'' (2015) *''Book of Records: Battles'' (2016) *''Book of Feats'' (2018) *''Book of Sires'' (2018) *''Book of Uther'' (2018) *''The Grey Knight'' (2024)

Reception

In the December 1985 issue of ''

White Dwarf A white dwarf is a Compact star, stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very density, dense: in an Earth sized volume, it packs a mass that is comparable to the Sun. No nuclear fusion takes place i ...

'', Graham Staplehurst gave an effusive review, saying despite the very high price (£25.95) ''Pendragon'' "looks to be one of the best systemised role-playing games around." Staplehurst liked the fact that the Arthurian background was generally known by players already, and lauded the research done in order to produce a timeline, and British folk beasts. He called the character generation system "adept." Staplehurst gave an overall rating of 9 out of 10, saying, "I would not hesitate to recommend the game to any rolegaming aficionado... were it not for the dreadful price." In the March 1986 edition of ''

Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

'' (Issue 107),

Ken Rolston Ken Rolston is an American computer game and role-playing game designer best known for his work with West End Games and on the computer game series ''The Elder Scrolls''. Tabletop role-playing games Ken Rolston began working as a professional g ...

was effusive in his praise, calling it "in subject, mechanics, and presentation... the best designed, most attractive, and most effective traditional role-playing game I have ever seen. The process of playing the game, from the reading of the Player’s Book through the creation of a character to the playing of a simple introductory scenario, was one of the most satisfactory role-playing experiences of my life." Rolston noted the simplified combat system, saying "''Pendragon'' has attractively simple and streamlined versions of conventional RPG combat mechanics while offering innovative mechanics supporting role-playing and character development. (If you are interested in the wargaming aspect of fantasy role-playing, you may prefer another system with greater detail in combat mechanics and with player-character magic.)" He concluded by recommending it: "In presentation, ''Pendragon'' is attractive and pleasurable reading. 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 reviewed ''King Arthur Pendragon'' for ''

Different Worlds ''Different Worlds'' was an American role-playing games magazine published from 1979 to 1987. Scope ''Different Worlds'' published support articles, scenarios, and variants for various role-playing games including ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Rune ...

'' magazine and stated that "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 dreamt of being a knight in shining armor or pulling the sword from the stone." In the February–March 1987 edition of ''

Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer ''The Space Gamer'' was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the la ...

'' (Issue No. 77), Steven List recommended it, saying, "It presents ample opportunity for both desperate combat and imaginative interactive play, with an orientation different from the typical fantasy campaign." Stewart Wieck reviewed ''Pendragon'' in '' White Wolf'' #7 (1987), rating it a 10 out of 10 and stated that "Pendragon is as perfect a game as I have ever played. It is obviously a labor of love. Designer Greg Stafford is obviously well versed in the Arthurian legends." ''

The Games Machine ''The Games Machine'' was a video game magazine that was published from 1987 until 1990 in the United Kingdom by Newsfield, which also published '' CRASH'', ''Zzap!64'', '' Amtix!'' and other magazines. History ''The Games Machine'' ran head ...

'' reviewed ''Pendragon'' and stated that "In ''Pendragon'' Greg Stafford and friends have produced a truly outstanding game, treating their theme with all the respect and thoroughness it deserves. Any gaming group with an interest in the Arthurian theme should give this game a try." In his 1990 book ''

The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games ''The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games'' is a book written by Rick Swan and published by St. Martin's Press in 1990 that explains role-playing games and provides reviews of those that were on the market at the time. Contents ''The Complete G ...

'', game critic

Rick Swan Rick Swan is a game designer and author who worked for TSR. His work for TSR, mostly for ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'', appeared from 1989 to 1995. Swan also wrote '' The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games'' (1990), published by St. Martin' ...

called this game "a masterful design ... that perfectly captures the grandeur and romance of the era." Swan noted that the game "places an extraordinary emphasis on actual role-playing as opposed to resolving violent confrontations." Swan concluded by giving ''Pendragon'' his top rating of 4 out of 4, saying, "With brilliant game mechanics, a gorgeous presentation, and remarkable insight, ''Pendragon'' is as close to a work of art as a role-playing game can get." Stewart Wieck reviewed the 2nd edition of ''Pendragon'' in '' White Wolf'' #24 (Dec./Jan., 1990), rating it a 5 out of 5 and stated that "''Pendragon'' had my unreserved approval and appreciation. If you play fantasy RPGs, then you MUST play ''Pendragon''. Even if you are not very interested in the Athurian saga, the quality of roleplaying that this game promotes is something that you should expose yourself to." Chris Hind reviewed the fourth edition of ''King Arthur Pendragon'' in '' White Wolf'' #41 (March, 1994), rating it a 4 out of 5 and stated that "the fourth edition of ''King Arthur Pendragon'' is an excellent value. For he price you get a complete system - playable rules, a detailed and intriguing campaign setting, various character types, an introductory adventure and story ideas." Andrew Rilstone reviewed ''Pendragon'' 4th Edition for the British games magazine ''Arcane'', and commented, "Every rule and every bit of background meshes together to produce a game in which you can't help but think and act and even feel - like one of King Arthur's knights." Rilstone concluded by giving it an excellent rating of 9 out of 10 overall, saying, "Running a full campaign, and seeing the young squires from the first session growing up to be the veterans in the final battle, has been one of the best experiences in my roleplaying career." Rilstone comments that Later that year, in a reader poll conducted by ''Arcane'' to determine the top 50 role-playing games of all time, ''Pendragon'' was ranked 12th. Editor Paul Pettengale commented, "Pendragon is a game with a huge amount of charm. It's extremely character orientated, and so players have the opportunity to spend time developing a separate persona, rather than having to deal with too much action. It has intrigue and complicated plots, but these are geared around the characters instead of merely being an excuse for the characters to do something." In 1999, ''

Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...

'' magazine named ''Pendragon'' as one of ''The Millennium's Most Underrated Games''. Editor

Scott Haring Scott D. Haring is an American game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Scott Haring began working in the adventure gaming industry in 1982. Haring had a long career with Steve Jackson Games, having worked at the compa ...

said, "''Pendragon'' is one of the few RPGs that has a moral point of view ... And it's a great melding of game system with game world." In 2006, ''Gaming Report'' called the 5th edition of ''Pendragon'' one of the "Best Retreads" in 2006. Over twenty years after its publication, ''Pendragon'' was chosen for inclusion in the 2007 book '' Hobby Games: The 100 Best''. Shannon Appelcline stated, "''King Arthur Pendragon'' could be lauded as a top RPG solely based upon the innovation it brought to the industry. Its concentration on epic storytelling and its traits mechanic were both notable and original when the game was released in 1985. However, even today, ''Pendragon'' remains vital. It provides a picture-perfect model of literary knighthood and, through its well-crafted and well-considered design, effortlessly conjures its theme — so successfully, in fact, that few other publishers in the last 20 years have even tried to bring another Arthurian roleplaying game to market. You just can't improve on perfection.'' In a retrospective review of ''Pendragon'' in '' Black Gate'', John ONeill said "''Pendragon'' had lots of interesting ideas. The game mechanics included ways to trigger powerful passions — love, hate, and loyalty — in your player character, which could in turn produce feats of valor, acts of mercy or cowardice, cruelty, and much more." In his 2023 book ''Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground'', RPG historian Stu Horvath warned, "This endeavor, of course, is not for everyone. If a player has no interest in the legends of Arthur or the romance of knighthood, ''Pendragon'' will likely bore them to tears." Horvath concluded, "There is very little daylight between the mechanics of the game and the narratives it encourages, which is why ''Pendragon'' is a perfect game, ''for what it aims to be'' ... I can think of no other roleplaying game that so deftly marries theme, system and source material."

Awards

*At the 1986

Origins Awards The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the gaming industry. They are presented by the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for games released in the preceding year. For example, t ...

, the supplement '' The Pendragon Campaign'' won "Best Roleplaying Supplement of 1985." *At the 1991 Origins Awards, the third edition of ''Pendragon'' won "Best Roleplaying Rules of 1990." *In 2007, the revised and retitled supplement ''The Great Pendragon Campaign'' won the

Diana Jones Award The Diana Jones Award is an annual award for "excellence in gaming". The original award was made from a burned book encased in lucite. The award is unusual in two ways: first, it is not an award for a specific class of thing, but can be awarded ...

for "excellence in gaming."

Pendragon Fiction Line

The Pendragon fiction series was a trade paperback line that offered reprints of "lost" classics of Arthurian fiction, as well as original novels and anthologies. First published by

Chaosium Chaosium Inc. ( ) is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games established by Greg Stafford (game designer), Greg Stafford in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include ''Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game), Call of Cthulhu'', based on the horror fic ...

, the line was taken over by

Green Knight Publishing Green Knight Publishing was founded by Peter Corless in 1998. He had acquired the rights to Chaosium's award-winning '' Pendragon'' role-playing game after they defaulted on a loan from Corless with Pendragon as collateral. From 1999 to 2001, Gree ...

when they acquired rights to the Pendragon role-playing game in 1998. Scholar Raymond H. Thompson served as consulting editor for the entire series. Green Knight hired

James Lowder James Daniel Lowder (born January 2, 1963, in Quincy, Massachusetts) is an American author, anthologist, and editor, working regularly within the fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror genres, and on tabletop role-playing games and critical works ex ...

to direct the line as executive editor in 1999. * * * ''To the Chapel Perilous'', by

Naomi Mitchison Naomi Mary Margaret Mitchison, Baroness Mitchison (; 1 November 1897 – 11 January 1999) was a List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and poet. Often called a doyenne of Scottish literature, she wrote more than 90 books of historical an ...

. (GKP6203,

Green Knight Publishing Green Knight Publishing was founded by Peter Corless in 1998. He had acquired the rights to Chaosium's award-winning '' Pendragon'' role-playing game after they defaulted on a loan from Corless with Pendragon as collateral. From 1999 to 2001, Gree ...

, 1999); reprint of the 1955

Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It became one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and established an Australian ...

edition. * ''Kinsmen of the Grail'', by Dorothy James Roberts. (GKP6204,

Green Knight Publishing Green Knight Publishing was founded by Peter Corless in 1998. He had acquired the rights to Chaosium's award-winning '' Pendragon'' role-playing game after they defaulted on a loan from Corless with Pendragon as collateral. From 1999 to 2001, Gree ...

, 2000); reprint of the 1963

Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries, it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emil ...

edition. * ''The Life of Sir Aglovale'', by

Clemence Housman Clemence Annie Housman (23 November 1861 – 6 December 1955) was an author, illustrator and activist in the women's suffrage movement. She was the sister of A. E. Housman and Laurence Housman. Her novels included ''The Were-Wolf'', ''Unknown Se ...

. (GKP6205,

Green Knight Publishing Green Knight Publishing was founded by Peter Corless in 1998. He had acquired the rights to Chaosium's award-winning '' Pendragon'' role-playing game after they defaulted on a loan from Corless with Pendragon as collateral. From 1999 to 2001, Gree ...

, 2000); reprint of the 1905 Methuen & Co. Ltd. edition. * ''The Doom of Camelot'', edited by

James Lowder James Daniel Lowder (born January 2, 1963, in Quincy, Massachusetts) is an American author, anthologist, and editor, working regularly within the fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror genres, and on tabletop role-playing games and critical works ex ...

. (GKP6206,

Green Knight Publishing Green Knight Publishing was founded by Peter Corless in 1998. He had acquired the rights to Chaosium's award-winning '' Pendragon'' role-playing game after they defaulted on a loan from Corless with Pendragon as collateral. From 1999 to 2001, Gree ...

, 2000); original anthology. * ''Exiled From Camelot'', by Cherith Baldry. (GKP6207,

Green Knight Publishing Green Knight Publishing was founded by Peter Corless in 1998. He had acquired the rights to Chaosium's award-winning '' Pendragon'' role-playing game after they defaulted on a loan from Corless with Pendragon as collateral. From 1999 to 2001, Gree ...

, 2001); original novel. * Expanded and corrected edition of Pendragon fiction series CHA6200 ''The Arthurian Companion'' (1st ed.). * ''The Pagan King'', by

Edison Marshall Edison Tesla Marshall (August 28, 1894 – October 29, 1967) was an American short story writer and novelist. Life Marshall was born on August 28, 1894, in Rensselaer, Indiana. He grew up in Medford, Oregon, and attended the University of Oregon ...

. (GKP6209,

Green Knight Publishing Green Knight Publishing was founded by Peter Corless in 1998. He had acquired the rights to Chaosium's award-winning '' Pendragon'' role-playing game after they defaulted on a loan from Corless with Pendragon as collateral. From 1999 to 2001, Gree ...

, 2001); reprint of the 1959 Doubleday & Co. edition. * '' The Merriest Knight: The Collected Arthurian Tales of Theodore Goodridge Roberts'', edited by Mike Ashley. (GKP6210,

Green Knight Publishing Green Knight Publishing was founded by Peter Corless in 1998. He had acquired the rights to Chaosium's award-winning '' Pendragon'' role-playing game after they defaulted on a loan from Corless with Pendragon as collateral. From 1999 to 2001, Gree ...

, 2001); original collection of Roberts' stories, including previously unpublished material. * ''Legends of the Pendragon'', edited by

James Lowder James Daniel Lowder (born January 2, 1963, in Quincy, Massachusetts) is an American author, anthologist, and editor, working regularly within the fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror genres, and on tabletop role-playing games and critical works ex ...

. (GKP6211,

Green Knight Publishing Green Knight Publishing was founded by Peter Corless in 1998. He had acquired the rights to Chaosium's award-winning '' Pendragon'' role-playing game after they defaulted on a loan from Corless with Pendragon as collateral. From 1999 to 2001, Gree ...

, 2002); original anthology. * ''The Follies of Sir Harald'', by Phyllis Ann Karr. (GKP6212,

Green Knight Publishing Green Knight Publishing was founded by Peter Corless in 1998. He had acquired the rights to Chaosium's award-winning '' Pendragon'' role-playing game after they defaulted on a loan from Corless with Pendragon as collateral. From 1999 to 2001, Gree ...

, 2001); original novel. * Historical novel of Celtic Arthur's resistance to the Saxons and Picts. One additional title in the series — a reprint of William Henry Babcock's 1898 novel ''Cian of the Chariots'' — was announced for 2002, but has not seen print.

References

External links

*
RPG Encyclopedia entry for ''Pendragon''

Greg Stafford's archived Pendragon page

Chaosium resources for Pendragon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pendragon (Role-Playing Game) Basic Role-Playing System Fantasy role-playing games Games based on Arthurian legend Greg Stafford games Historical role-playing games Origins Award winners Role-playing games introduced in 1985 White Wolf Publishing games Chaosium games