''Pendragon'', or ''King Arthur Pendragon'', is a
Tabletop role-playing game
A tabletop role-playing game (typically abbreviated as TRPG or TTRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a form of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech. Participa ...
(RPG) in which players take the role of
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of 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. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
s performing
chivalric
Chivalry, or the chivalric code, is an informal and varying code of conduct developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It was associated with the medieval Christian institution of knighthood; knights' and gentlemen's behaviours were governed b ...
deeds in the tradition of
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. It was one of the three great Wester ...
. It was originally written by
Greg Stafford
Francis Gregory Stafford (February 9, 1948 – October 10, 2018), usually known as Greg Stafford, was an American game designer, publisher, and practitioner of shamanism.
Stafford is most famous as the creator of the fantasy world of Gloranth ...
and published by
Chaosium
Chaosium Inc. is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games established by Greg Stafford in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include '' Call of Cthulhu'', based on the horror fiction stories of H. P. Lovecraft'', RuneQuest Glorantha'', ''Pendragon ...
, then was acquired by
Green Knight Publishing, who in turn passed on the rights to
White Wolf Publishing
White Wolf Publishing was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant in 2004. White Wolf sold the game to
Stewart 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 in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include '' Call of Cthulhu'', based on the horror fiction stories of H. P. Lovecraft'', RuneQuest Glorantha'', ''Pendragon ...
.
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''. It studiously avoids fantasy RPG cliches in favor of its source material. This has caused it to become something of a
cult game, even within the narrow confines of the RPG market.
Adventures are often political, military, or spiritual in nature, rather than
dungeon crawls, and are often presented as taking place congruently with events from
Arthurian
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
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. 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'' 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 late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
Europe).
The default ''Pendragon'' setting is a
pastiche 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: Celts fighting Germanic, Irish, and Pictish invaders in the wake of the collapse of Roman authority. Technology and many aspects of culture, however, progress in an accelerated fashion, such that
King Arthur's Britain is depicted as thoroughly
feudal. Knights bear
unique coats of arms,
joust
Jousting is a martial game or hastilude between two horse riders wielding lances with blunted tips, often as part of a tournament. The primary aim was to replicate a clash of heavy cavalry, with each participant trying to strike the opponen ...
in tournaments, follow chivalric customs, and pursue
courtly love. 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 ''RuneQu ...
'' (''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 ''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 Heathen Religious Virtues are Vengeful, Honest, Arbitrary, Proud, and Worldly. This covers Saracens and Picts.
The Pagan Religious Virtues are Lustful, Energetic, Generous, Honest, and Proud. This covers British and Welsh pagans.
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 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 cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of ...
, 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). It emerged later, in the medieval period, ...
(Wales);
Welsh characters.
* ''Perilous Forest'' (1992) - Cumbria (Northern Britain); describes the lands of
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...
(Northwest Britain) and
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land ...
(Northeast Britain).
* ''Blood and Lust'' (1995) -
Logres
Logres (among various other forms and spellings) is King Arthur's realm in the Matter of Britain. It derives from the medieval Welsh word '' Lloegyr'', a name of uncertain origin referring to South and Eastern England (''Lloegr'' in modern Welsh ...
(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,
Middle Anglia,
Mercia
la, Merciorum regnum
, conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia
, common_name=Mercia
, status=Kingdom
, status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879) Client state of Wessex ()
, life_span=527–918
, era= Heptarchy
, event_start=
, date_start=
, ...
, and
Wessex
la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons
, common_name = Wessex
, image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg
, map_caption = S ...
and the
Saxon Shore of
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
,
Sussex and
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
.
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:
* ''Pagan Shore'' (1994) -
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
; 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 ...
ach'' (somewhat ahistorical Norse raiders).
* ''Beyond the Wall: Pictland & The North'' (1995) - Pictland (
Caledonia, roughly modern Scotland);
Pictish
Pictish is the extinct Brittonic 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 geographica ...
character generation.
* ''Land of Giants'' (1996) -
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
and the
Nordic areas of Britain during the era of ''
Beowulf'';
Northmen
The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the pre ...
character generation.
* ''Saxons!'' (1999) - The origins of
Anglo-Saxon England (Southeast Britain);
Jute (
Jutland
Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
),
Angle
In Euclidean geometry, an angle is the figure formed by two rays, called the '' sides'' of the angle, sharing a common endpoint, called the '' vertex'' of the angle.
Angles formed by two rays lie in the plane that contains the rays. Angles a ...
(
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...
),
Frisian (
Friesland
Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...
),
Saxon (
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
) &
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
(
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
) character generation.
Publication history
The first edition was a boxed set published by Chaosium in 1985, and was designed and written by
Greg Stafford
Francis Gregory Stafford (February 9, 1948 – October 10, 2018), usually known as Greg Stafford, was an American game designer, publisher, and practitioner of shamanism.
Stafford is most famous as the creator of the fantasy world of Gloranth ...
. 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 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
A white wolf or Arctic wolf is a mammal of the ''Canidae'' family and a subspecies of the gray wolf.
It may also refer to:
Organizations
* White Wolf (band), a Canadian heavy metal band
* White Wolf (band), white power oi band from the USA
* Whi ...
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 (Brittonic) (; cy, Ythyr Ben Dragwn, Uthyr Pendragon, Uthyr Bendragon), also known as King Uther, was a legendary King of the Britons in sub-Roman Britain (c. 6th century). Uther was also the father of King Arthur.
A few ...
'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.
Reception
In the December 1985 issue of ''
White Dwarf
A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes ...
'', 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 aficianado... were it not for the dreadful price."
In the March 1986 edition of ''
Dragon'' (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''. In February 2007, he elected to join the staff of computer games company B ...
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.
In the February–March 1987 edition of ''
Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer'' (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."
''
The Games Machine
''The Games Machine'' is 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 magazine ran head to head wi ...
'' 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."
Andrew Rilstone reviewed ''Pendragon'' 4th Edition for ''Arcane'' magazine, rating it a 9 out of 10 overall.
Rilstone comments that "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. 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. And, contrary to popular belief, you won't have to push the pram a lot."
In 1996, ten years after its publication, in a reader poll of the top 50 role-playing games of all time in ''Arcane'' magazine, ''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 (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...
'' magazine named ''Pendragon'' as one of ''The Millennium's Most Underrated Games''. Editor
Scott Haring
Scott D. Haring is a 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 company five d ...
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.
In 2007, over twenty years after its publication, ''Pendragon'' was given a place in the 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."
Other reviews
*''
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 ...
'' #42
*''
White Wolf
A white wolf or Arctic wolf is a mammal of the ''Canidae'' family and a subspecies of the gray wolf.
It may also refer to:
Organizations
* White Wolf (band), a Canadian heavy metal band
* White Wolf (band), white power oi band from the USA
* Whi ...
'' #7 (1987)
*''
White Wolf
A white wolf or Arctic wolf is a mammal of the ''Canidae'' family and a subspecies of the gray wolf.
It may also refer to:
Organizations
* White Wolf (band), a Canadian heavy metal band
* White Wolf (band), white power oi band from the USA
* Whi ...
'' #24 (Dec./Jan., 1990)
*''
White Wolf
A white wolf or Arctic wolf is a mammal of the ''Canidae'' family and a subspecies of the gray wolf.
It may also refer to:
Organizations
* White Wolf (band), a Canadian heavy metal band
* White Wolf (band), white power oi band from the USA
* Whi ...
'' #41 (March, 1994)
* ''
Casus Belli'' #27 (Aug 1985)
* ''
Casus Belli'' #36 (Feb 1987)
* ''
Casus Belli'' (v4, Issue 13 - Jan/Feb 2015)
*''
Pyramid
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...
'' - Arthaus
Awards
*At the 1986
Origins Awards
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so (for example) the 1979 a ...
, 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 t ...
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 in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include '' Call of Cthulhu'', based on the horror fiction stories of H. P. Lovecraft'', RuneQuest Glorantha'', ''Pendragon ...
, the line was taken over by
Green Knight Publishing 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 and editor, working regularly within the fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror genres, and on tabletop role-playing games and critical works exploring popula ...
to direct the line as executive editor in 1999.
* Expanded and corrected edition of Pendragon series 6200.
*
*
*
* ''To the Chapel Perilous'', by
Naomi Mitchison. (6203,
Green Knight Publishing, 1999); reprint of the 1955
Allen & Unwin edition.
* ''Kinsmen of the Grail'', by Dorothy James Roberts. (6204,
Green Knight Publishing, 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 Emily ...
edition.
* ''The Life of Sir Aglovale'', by
Clemence Housman. (6205,
Green Knight Publishing, 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 and editor, working regularly within the fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror genres, and on tabletop role-playing games and critical works exploring popula ...
. (6206,
Green Knight Publishing, 2000); original anthology.
* ''Exiled From Camelot'', by
Cherith Baldry
Cherith Baldry (born 21 January 1947) is a British writer of children's fiction and fantasy fiction. Beside publication under her own name, she is the author of some works published under the pseudonyms Adam Blade, Jenny Dale, Jack Dillon, and ...
. (6207,
Green Knight Publishing, 2001); original novel.
* ''The Pagan King'', by
Edison Marshall. (6208,
Green Knight Publishing, 2001); reprint of the 1959
Doubleday & Co. edition.
* ''The Merriest Knight: The Collected Arthurian Tales of
Theodore Goodridge Roberts
George Edwards Theodore Goodridge Roberts (July 7, 1877 – February 24, 1953) was a Canadian novelist and poet. He was the author of thirty-four novels and over one hundred published stories and poems.
He was the brother of poet Charles G. D. R ...
'', edited by
Mike Ashley. (6210,
Green Knight Publishing, 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 and editor, working regularly within the fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror genres, and on tabletop role-playing games and critical works exploring popula ...
. (6211,
Green Knight Publishing, 2002); original anthology.
* ''The Follies of Sir Harald'', by Phyllis Ann Karr. (6212,
Green Knight Publishing, 2001); original novel.
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 pageChaosium 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