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Pendragon
Live the glory of King Arthur's court. Smite bloodthirsty giants, crush treacherous invaders, brave the mysterious lands of faerie, and dabble in Celtic magic. Pendragon is a roleplaying game based on the legends of King Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere, and the Knights of the Round Table. To become a knight of the Round Table you must uphold the chivalric ideals of courage, honesty, fair play, and justice. Armed and armoured, you are the law of the land, in a life-or-death struggle to join the fellowship of the Round Table. This book contains everything you need to explore the mysteries and dangers of Arthur's Britain.
Review
(As described on Amazon.com)
King Arthur's Pendragon is what more role-playing games should be about. That is story. The game mechanics are all directed to telling the epic story of a group of knights as they advance through the years. Through the years is an important point. Unlike some games where players seem to go from one battle to the next for no more reason than "killing is fun" and "we get more gold that way", Pendragon is about how people grow and change. They start out as young knights who rapidly rise in prowess until age finally starts to nibble away at them leaving them old and infirm. Not to worry, each character aims to have heirs that will take up the cause and follow in their father's legendary foot steps. The scope of the game covers usually 60+ years in the life of Arthur ( starting at his age of 3 if you use the expanded time of Anarchy ).
The game mechanics are simple and straight forward with events resolved usually by a skill test on d20 and damage rolled with d6. One element that adds much to the colour of the game are the Personality traits and passions. Personality traits are 13 matched pairs of qualities that define how the character often behaves ( example is Wordly and Generous ) with each pair adding to 20. Knights who posses high levels in certain passions gain fame for their chivalrously or religious behaviour. Passions represent oaths and duties to others. Strong passions can aid a character to do impossible feats but can also blind a character to other situations.
This game is a classic that has withstood the test of time for a reason and that is it one of the best games around. I especially like running this game with more mature players who want more than another slasher flick or want a more heroic tale to tell.
Editions
- Pendragon 5th Edition: White Wolf: 2005, 240 pages, WW17800, ISBN 1-58846-947-6
- Pendragon 4th Edition: Chaosium: 1993, 351 pages, CHAO 2716, ISBN 1568820062
Resources
- Return to the Front Page.