Product Review

"Now it is your turn," said Sir Ector to Arthur.

"I will," said Arthur. And he drew the sword out easily.

Then Sir Ector and Sir Kay kneeled down on the earth before him.

And Arthur cried, "What is this? My own dear father and my brother, why do you kneel to me?"

Sir Ector said, "My lord Arthur, I am not your father nor of your blood. I believe that you are of nobler blood than I."

Then Sir Ector told Arthur how he had taken him to rear and by Uther's order. And he told him how it was Merlin's doing.

When he heard that Sir Ector was not his father, Arthur was sad and even more sad when Sir Ector said, "Sir, will you be my good and gracious lord when you are king?"

"Why should I not be?" Arthur cried. "I owe you more than anyone in the world, you and your wife, my good lady mother who nursed me and kept me as though I were her own. And if, as you say, it is God's will that I must be king - ask anything of me! I will not fail you."

"My lord," said Sir Ector, "I shall ask only one thing of you, that you will make my son Sir Kay, your foster brother, seneschal and keeper of your lands."

"That shall be done and more," Arthur said. "On my honor, no other man but Sir Kay shall have that office while I live."

—John Steinbeck, Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights

Arthurian myths have captured the fantasies and dreams of millions throughout history and throughout time. Who hasn’t heard of or read about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table? Who hasn’t dreamed of putting on some armour, taking up a sword to punish the wicked, riding through the countryside and winning the heart of a radiant lady of unearthly beauty? You can do all of this, thanks to the Pendragon RPG. This game is not extremely popular or even known by most role-players, despite the fact that it’s been out since 1990. Originally a Chaosium game, Green Knight Publishing has bought the rights for this one, and have recently started to create new sourcebooks.

Pendragon has many advantages that make it a lovable game. The setting is dreamlike (as I said before, who hasn’t dreamed of becoming a knight?), the system is very easy and covers many emotional aspects of the character, usually left out by most RPGs, like passions and respectable behaviour. One thing I also love about the system is the combat and healing bits. Combat is very deadly, sometimes not immediately, but from you can die from infections and other problems related to the bad tending of the wounds.

Let’s start with the setting. The game is set in 531, a time when, according to the game, the Arthurian kingdom was at its apogee. It is not historical, however. Clothing is more in the style of the Renaissance and of the late Middle Ages, and you can say the game condenses the whole Middle Ages and Renaissance into a seventy year period. Fairies are also real, and so are wizards like Merlin. Since Arthur’s rise to the throne, Britain has been enchanted again and we can see dragons stalking the countryside, just waiting for a brave knight to take care of them. Giants and basilisks are also real, as are many other strange beings.

You play (usually) a recently knighted 21-year-old man, who starts living adventures and gaining glory in a peaceful time. It’s also possible to play women (as knights or otherwise) and magicians. As you seek adventure and save damsels in distress, kill dragons and meet fairies, the kingdom changes. Slowly, decay sets in, and more and more struggling nobles arise, while the evil Sir Mordred plots Arthur’s fall. One interesting feature of this game is that once your character dies (sometimes of old age) your character’s son takes over (and you play him) with similar starting attributes but with some glory inherited from your older character.

As the setting grows darker, technology, the clothing styles and all of those features move more into the XIV and XV Century. Another interesting aspect from this game is heraldry. You’ve got to design your character’s coat of arms, and the place of the character sheet usually employed to display his face, in this case boasts his blazon. I also like the fact that you (at least as a knight) have your own supporting character, your squire, who can assist you in a lot of ways. I’ve run games where the squire NPC’s helped the PC Knights to pull through when they screwed up. Never underestimate your assistants.

Now, a little more about the system. It’s designed to use D20’s and D6’s. You can spot its Chaosium origins here. The system is akin to the percentile dice of Call of Cthulhu but, to put it this way, divided by five. Your attributes range from 1 to 20, and you roll a D20. If you score below the number of points you have in the attribute, you succeed. Rolling 1 or the exact value of your attribute marks a critical success, and rolling 20 (except when you have 20 or more) means a fumble.

As a reward for Glory, you can score over 20 in some traits, which gives you more chance for a critical. The combat system is deadly, though it’s uncommon for you fall from a single blow. Yet, recovering is very difficult, and the “medicine” of Pendragon is deadly in itself. Your character’s passions and emotional traits are dealt with mechanically, which is a great help for the Game Master. You cannot usually act against your character’s nature, plus, you can draw strength from your passions.

Pendragon is a very interesting game, with a pretty solid system, and I think it’s a shame that most people haven’t even heard about it. Anyways, I have to leave you now, for I have a joust to participate in. Therein lies the fate of one young girl, who is to be burnt alive if no champion is to fight for her on the Judgement of God. Thus, my friends, I must leave you, but mark my words: we’ll meet again…

Reviewed by Matías Timm