Let's have a Pendragon/Paladin thread.
I haven't found a group to play with, and I'm considering biting the bullet and just running the GPC myself. Peeps who've played Pendragon previously - what do you all wish you'd known before starting, what are your tips, mistakes to avoid, etc?
>lady knights
Hot
troony
Yes, and?
Honestly, Pendragon, as a system, has not aged particularly well. If I was to run it again, I would use the ASOI&F system, which also has a decent system for creating and maintaining/expanding noble houses.
That said, the campaign is very, very long. If you don't think your players can be in it for the long haul, start the campaign with Arthur pulling the sword in the stone and skip the first 20-25 years.
When I ran it years ago, I changed it heavily. I stuck more closely to the early sources (Welsh and Geoffrey of Monmouth) and less on the French influences. Used the old Celtic names instead of French (Bedwyr instead of Bedivere, Gwalchmai instead of Gawaine, etc) and shifted the timeline so it fits with historical sources better.
I enjoyed my time with it, but I agree with about the system showing it's age. Honestly, the non-combat feasting, finding a wife, and those hijinx ended up being my favourite part, combat really bored me. My group stopped after Merlin abducted one of our kids. I hope we one day get back to it.
Our game fell apart due to ooc interpersonal tensions.
>Honestly, Pendragon, as a system, has not aged particularly well. If I was to run it again, I would use the ASOI&F system, which also has a decent system for creating and maintaining/expanding noble houses.
Please elaborate. Personally I feel that Pendragon is one of the purest and most perfect systems for what it wants to do.
Hard disagree, it's really well tailored to its source material, and with some rules that are expected in 6e, it's been playing swift as a charger and has been a ton of fun.
My tip would be to vet players thoroughly. You don't want flakes. You want people that understand Pendragon isn't D&D, and that are willing to, and want to, play a knightly romance for some good length of time. This is one instance in my life where I'd recommend theater kids.
Agree. Ideally, you'd find people who have read some of the original stories. Or, even better, if they have not, would want to put in the effort read the stories before playing.
Also agree on the theater-people in this case--they and literature-people were the majority of the best group I ever played with. I think having some Shakespeare under our belts was a part of it--having a handle on dynasty-based interests, intense loyalties and hatreds, sacrifices and betrayals, and the comedy too.
Tagging this, I don't have any stories because it's just me and my girlfriend, but I always enjoy reading the tales of others.
>chainmail only invented past 900 AD
how moronic are you? It was a thing the romans had, and they stole it from barbarians too.
yeah they even found bronze chainmail in assyria
Uh really? Do you have pics of that? First time i hear about it, I love the bronze age.
no. I saw it in a book agea ago and google is now completely useless, unless you want stats for runescape armour
That isn't what the pdf is saying. Pendragon has a wonky compressed magic timeline during Arthur's reign. What it's saying is the armor is like the helms and hauberks that are found in 900 AD rather than the historical armor of Post Roman Britain.
Ranges from about 900 AD to 1500ish minus (proper) guns
there's a new edition coming out if people don't already know, release date is up in the air but a preview is suppose to come out at gen con, there's also been these design journals that have been coming out: https://www.chaosium.com/blogpendragon-design-journal-10-arthurian-acts/
Will it ban ladyknights and put women back in the bower and bedchambers where they belong, or will it cave to the woke crowd who insist that equality is a good thing?
Female knights have never been a thing, but an explicit statement that "Yeah, shit's not canon" would be nice.
There were historical chivalric orders for women even supported by the Catholic Church. Just none during the Arthurian era nor England. So seconding this.
Seethe, lady knights are hot
Plus Pendragon is anything but historically accurate
The lead on the team looks pretty onions, so probably not.
The Order of the Hatchet isn't exactly the Order of the Star though, is it?
I disapprove of all lady knights, unless they are super cute when they blush. However I still wouldn't allow her to ride amongst the press of knights. She might get hurt.
Problem, if you see it that way, with Pendragon is that it's by design a game with limited scope. Not everyone wants to be a knight.
I've been running the GPC for a while now. Each era i introduce new little rules. Some to spice up combat, others are more social.
What's the best and worst? The GPC sounds amazing for being a player too.
Best and worse of the GPC?
The worst is the errors. Lancelot is never placed on the round table in the copy I have. It can also be a bit railroady if you take it as a bible.
For best... the scope. Certain characters remember Badon, or the beauty of Ygraine, others only have the stories.
Sweet.
Aww.
If you have a group that isn't really in for the long haul, probably start in the years 508-510 or somewhere in that range, so the campaign gets kicking off with the sword in the stone pretty soon and moves into a place where you can make quests that feel more like proper Arthuriana than what the GM has to come up with in the Anarchy. I had a blast with my group doing those early 30ish years, but it's a lot of "when is Arthur gonna show?" especially at the emotional low points.