''The Grey Knight'' is a Arthurian tabletop role-playing adventure, written by Larry DiTillio with art by

Susan Seddon Boulet Susan is a feminine given name, from Persian "Susan" (lily flower), from Egyptian '' sšn'' and Coptic ''shoshen'' meaning "lotus flower", from Hebrew ''Shoshana'' meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose" and a flower in general), ...

, and published by Chaosium in 1986. This was the first adventure published for the award winning game '' Pendragon''.

Plot summary

The Lady in Black arrives at Camelot's Easter jousting tournament and challenges anyone to fight to the death for

King Arthur 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 ...

against her champion, the Grey Knight, over the matter of a shameful incident in Arthur's past.

Sir Gawaine Gawain (), also known in many other forms and spellings, is a character in Arthurian legend, in which he is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain is mentioned under the name Gwalchmei in the earliest W ...

accepts the challenge, and the combat is set for six weeks hence. The adventurers, who are all

Knights of the Round Table The Knights of the Round Table ( cy, Marchogion y Ford Gron, kw, Marghekyon an Moos Krenn, br, Marc'hegien an Daol Grenn) are the knights of the fellowship of King Arthur in the literary cycle of the Matter of Britain. First appearing in lit ...

, are sent on a quest to find a special whetstone, one of the Thirteen Treasures of Britain, which will be the key to Gawaine's victory.

Publication history

''The Grey Knight'', the first adventure published for ''Pendragon'', was written by Larry DiTillio with art by

, direction by Greg Stafford, and editing and production by Charlie Krank, and was published by Chaosium in 1987 as a 56-page book.

Reception

In the April 1987 edition of '' White Dwarf'' (Issue #88), Paul Cockburn thought ''The Grey Knight'' was "an excellent role-playing adventure. The balance between cameo role-playing, action encounters and player 'detective' work is just right... The few props are useful, and the artwork captures the romantic atmosphere." He also complimented the layout, in which relevant notes were printed in the margin, saying, "The generous notes in the margin make running the adventure fairly easy." Cockburn did note that "a clearer summary of the adventure for the GM would have been of more use." He concluded with a strong recommendation, saying, "''The Grey Knight'' is the most useful addition to ''Pendragon'' so far, and helps set the tone for the game." In the September 1987 edition of ''

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

'' (Issue #125),

Ken Rolston Ken Rolston is an American computer game and role-playing game (pen and paper), 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 th ...

gave this adventure high marks, calling it "A solid winner, best-in-show. This has first-class visuals, superb narrative values, an innovative layout that permits ease of reference with minimum interference with the narrative, and creditable showings in the staging and nice-bits categories." Although Rolston admired the artwork and layout, he thought "The adventure itself is the real prize. The author, Larry DiTillio, is a master narrative technician, and he’s working with the rich resources of the Arthurian legend and the unique ''Pendragon'' game system, designed by Greg Stafford to support moral dilemmas and tests of character as well as hack-and-slash combat and fireball barbecues." Rolston also complimented the usefulness of the margin notes, but did note that the statistics of the monsters were not given in the adventure — the gamemaster has to refer to the main ''Pendragon'' rules for those -- and no staging tips for combats were provided. However, he concluded with a strong recommendation, calling the adventure, "Fine writing and illustration with exceptional tone and richness. Modest player characters enter into an epic landscape and narrative. Innovative design and presntation. Bravo. Bravissimo."

Other reviews

*'' White Wolf'' (Issue 7 - Apr 1987)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grey Knight Fantasy role-playing game adventures Pendragon (role-playing game) Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1986