THE COMING OF THE KING
Being the Tale of the Road Leading to Pendragon
BY THE TIME I started playing their games in 1982, Chaosium already had something of a reputation. Though no one was using the term back then, Chaosium appeared determined to be the first real publisher of what we now call "Indie" games. While most publishers were either trying to "fix" D&D, rip off D&D, or adapt D&D to other genres, Chaosium was cornering the market on deeply literary, art house products, seemingly disinterested in the pop culture trends informing the developing RPG hobby. At a time when Tolkien and Star Wars increasingly determined the conventions of tabletop role-play, Chaosium was drinking from a very different well. Just look at the history.
Chaosium's first RPG was RuneQuest--a game inspired by ancient epics and the academic theories of thinkers like Mircea Eliade and Joseph Campbell. RuneQuest had no orcs, no knights in shining armor, no recognizable Dark Lord. There were no jovial halflings, singing elves, or dour dwarves. Instead, RuneQuest featured a bewildering array of invented gods and exhaustive ruminations on mythology. The most polite word for this game was "niche."
Soon after, as the entire point of contemporary RPGs seemed to be accumulating levels and treasure, taking down bigger and badder adversaries, and climbing to greater heights of power, Chaosium followed RuneQuest with a game that turned all the burgeoning conventions of RPGs on their head. Call of Cthulhu, a game based on the writings of pulp writer H. P. Lovecraft had its characters spiraling into despair, madness, and death. These weren't heroes, they were investigators, and horrifically out of their depth. Add to this the fact that in 1981, outside of French academia and those lucky enough to own hand-me-down Arkham House collections, Lovecraft's "Cthulhu Mythos" was practically unknown, and Call of Cthulhu becomes a very art house choice for a company's second RPG.
Fantasist Michael Moorcock was certainly better known than Lovecraft, but the publication of Stormbringer that same year was yet another example of Chaosium refusing to "just do" Tolkieneque high fantasy like everyone else. Moorcock--who years later would be nick-named the "Anti-Tolkien"--famously rejected the creator of Middle-earth in his classic 1978 essay, "Epic Pooh." By making Stormbringer their third RPG, Chaosium doubled down on its own rejection of expected fantasy RPG tropes.
Three years later, at the very height of Star Wars fever, Chaosium yet again zigged while the rest of the industry was zagging with the hard science Ringworld. Based on the works of acclaimed writer Larry Niven, Ringworld was another example of the emerging Chaosium pattern; go with the literary rather than the cinematic, the niche rather than the popular.
That Chaosium not only succeeded with these games, but in fact became an established brand through them, says something about the times. Before video games, binge-watching, or the Internet, nerds were bookish. The first generation of gamers in the 70s and early 80s didn't just read Tolkien, they read Howard and Poul Andersen, Fritz Leiber, Roger Zelazny, etc. Gygax's Dungeon Master's Guide came with an impressive bibliography. Thus, when eleven-year-old me first encountered Stormbringer and Call of Cthulhu back in 1982, the first thing I did was go back into the literature, reading every piece of Moorcock and Lovecraft I could get my hands on. RuneQuest had had a similar effect on me. I read everything from the Iliad to Eliade. Literature was the primary fuel for roleplaying.
Timing is everything, however, and the moment when Chaosium forever defined itself as a gateway drug into classic literature came in 1985, just as the rest of the hobby seemed to be turning away from literature towards television, cinema, and eventually—in a predictable display of inbreeding—itself for inspiration. With Dragons of Autumn Twilight sitting on bookstore shelves, marking the dawn of an age when games now produced their own insular literature, Chaosium did exactly what they always did and went in the opposite direction. Greg Stafford, who had already given us Glorantha, wrote his love letter to Sir Thomas Malory and 15th century Arthurian Romance. If Call of Cthulhu was Chaosium's greatest commercial success, this game was their greatest artistic one.
It's name was King Arthur Pendragon.
A winner of Origins awards for Best Roleplaying Game Rules and Adventures, the Diana Jones Award for Gaming Excellence, and an inductee into the GAMA Hall of Fame, Pendragon is ranked 5th in RPG.net's highest rated games, and consistently mentioned by both gamers and game designers as a groundbreaking and seminal work. Stafford himself viewed the game as his "masterpiece." If you like your games literary, thoughtful, and thrilling, Pendragon needs to be on your shelf.
THE ONCE AND FUTURE GAME
Being the Story of Core Pendragon, and What Remains in this Edition
Pendragon is, obviously, a game set in Arthurian Britain. Given 1500 years of telling and retelling these stories, however, that covers a lot of ground. Specifically then Pendragon is the unofficial Le Morte d'Arthur RPG. Despite Stafford's discussions of the English, French, Welsh, and contemporary versions of the cycle (and how to include elements of them in your campaign), what is clear is that Thomas Malory lies close to the heart of the game and defines its parameters. This means Pendragon is a game about knights; there are no rogues, no barbarians, no clerics, and no magicians...at least not as player characters. There are no dwarves or elves (again, not as player characters). Your character is an armored warrior in a feudal system of vassalage, and expected to follow a code of chivalry. It also means that your character's traits and passions are going to be front and center in the game. Malory distinguished his bewildering array of knights by focusing on their personalities; Galahad was chaste, Gawaine lecherous, Argravaine a bit cruel. Lancelot was defined, for good of for ill, by his passion for Guinevere. Because these things were important to Malory, they are important in Pendragon. Finally, it means this game is going to be a bit anachronistic. Malory's work was published in 1485, roughly a thousand years after the period it was set in, and the world he portrays looks a great deal more like his than post-Roman Britain. Pendragon deals with this in a very clever way, which we will get to in a moment, but players need to be prepared for shining armor, jousts, and courtly love.
I keep calling it "Pendragon." It should be noted that up until this new edition, the title was fully King Arthur Pendragon, and the 6th shortens it to what we all basically have been calling it anyway.
Pendragon campaigns tend to cover the same period of time as Le Morte d’Arthur as well; namely from the reign of Arthur’s father, Uther, up through Arthur’s “death” and being spirited away to the isle of Avalon. This is about eight decades of game play, and to accommodate this Stafford builds in the conceit that player character knights have one adventure per year. Aside from the adventure itself, there is a year-end winter phase, when the GM and players manage the knight’s estate, arrange a suitable marriage, and go about the business of producing heirs who will then become the new player characters when the original ones are too old for adventure. A player then might end up roleplaying three of four generations of characters. It’s not merely a clever way to get through the whole of Arthur’s reign, but also goes to the root of another very authentic Malory concern…lineage. Arthur’s story is, after all, just as much Uther and Mordred’s as it is his own.
Pendragon uses this pacing to do something else rather extraordinary. When the game begins under the reign of Uther, it is very 5th century Britain (or does it? see below). The armor is a bit anachronistic (Norman), but the character’s estate is likely to be a ruined Roman villa or a wooden motte-and-bailey castle. Life is Hobbesian; chivalry is not yet a thing and there is nothing resembling courtly love. Magic and the supernatural are also quite rare. Yet as the game passes through phases of Arthur’s reign, the arrival of the King unleashes a sort of magic over Britain. Time accelerates, so that you race technologically through a thousand years of medieval history. By the end, heavy plate armor, magnificent soaring castles and towers, high chivalry and courtly love all exist. At the same time, magic increases. Supernatural creatures and Fae knights make their appearances, as Britain becomes idealized and enchanted. Of course Arthur’s death will end all of this, and the Dark Ages will rush back in, but for one brief, shining moment, there was Camelot. Stafford brilliantly made Malory’s anachronisms a feature rather than a bug in a way that also allows groups to experiment with “different” Arthurs…one phase can be the historical Arthur, the next the old Welsh Arthur, later the English Arthur or the French Arthurian romances.
The system itself is something of an evolution of the classic Chaosium “basic roleplaying” rules. It uses a d20, rather than the BRP percentile, with the player attempting to role less than or equal to his rating in a skill or trait. A critical success is achieved by rolling exactly your target number; if your skill is 16, rolling a 16 is a critical. A 20 is always a fumble…unless your rating is higher than 20, in which it becomes a critical. It’s a clever way of making sure that higher skill matters, rather than a critical being just a roll of a 1. This universal mechanic handles all die resolutions in the game.
Since the player characters are all knights, they are distinguished from each other though what is probably the real centerpiece of the game, the system of Traits and Passions. Lancelot was no doubt a great warrior, but we remember him for his love for Guinevere. Likewise, Arthur is revered for his sense of justice more than his jousting score. To be true to the genre, the same has to apply to the characters in the game.
Characters are defined then by 13 pairs of opposed Traits, the sum total of each pair being twenty. Pairs include Chaste/Lustful, Merciful/Cruel, Valorous/Cowardly, etc. If your Chaste is 13, your Lustful must 7. If Chaste increases, Lustful goes down. These act as general guidelines how to play the character, unless the Traits rise close enough to 20 that you start earning “Glory” (a form of experience) from them. Thus, if you are renowned for being a Chaste Knight, and earn Glory for your chastity, acting Lustful will probably require a roll. If you fail your Chaste roll, you can act however you like. If you succeed you must be Chaste, or else suffer a penalty (such as the Trait being reduced).
Passions have an even more profound effect on the game. These can be things like Love, Loyalty, or Hate, usually targeted towards a specific person or group. Passions can be rolled against to become inspired by the passion, gaining a bonus for a success and a larger bonus for a critical. On the other hand, failing them, or fumbling them, can drive the character into depression or even madness. We turn again to Lancelot as the perfect example of this. His Love for Guinevere (or Amor, before they became actually lovers), could inspire him to fight furiously for her if she is endangered or abducted, but a failed roll could send him years of madness as a hermit in the woods (all of which has happened in the cycle). This may not seem terribly realistic my modern standards, but it suits the reality of Malory perfectly.
THE LATEST EDITION
In which Arthur and His Knights Learn of what has Changed...
When Stafford and Sandy Petersen returned to the House That Greg Built in 2015, they brought with them a new team and an ambitious agenda. First came the Call of Cthulhu 7th edition, an edition that instituted more mechanical changes in the game than any previous edition. This was followed by RuneQuest Roleplaying in Glorantha, an edition that...instituted more mechanical changes than any edition before. Now we have Pendragon 6th edition which, you guessed it, institutes more changes than any edition before. Don't take my word for it. Take Greg's. He wrote:
This is the sixth edition of the game. Only the transition from first edition to second has had as much updating as this one has. Yet despite the intervening time, even material made for the first edition game is compatible with this one. Sure, it needs a bit of Gamemaster tweaking, but this consistency spanning forty years of writing is a rare distinction in an industry where new editions tend to wipe out previous ones in an effort to force consumers to purchase a whole new set of books. Such mercenary considerations have never ruled my designs.
Pendragon, p. 237
I have seen in a few other early reviews the complaint that the 6th edition has "less" in it than some previous editions. The Core Rulebook covers only the creation of characters from the region of Salisbury, which was also the case in the 5th edition (the sprawling 4th edition covered characters across the Arthurian world). It seems to have removed the--ahem--"woman's character sheet," a conceit in previous editions to allow players to portray female characters in a more authentic medieval way. Instead, it keeps the focus squarely on "knights," and this includes female knights or "dames." There is no bestiary, "no scenarios" (there are, in fact, solo scenarios, generic adventures intended to catch up naughty players who miss game sessions), etc. While it is clear to me that many of these things will likely appear in the upcoming Gamemaster book (and others are the result of design choices meant to speak to 21st century players), Greg's point above still stands. If you have any previous editions of the game, you can still use them with this one. This Core Rulebook, instead, is aimed at new players, who will hardly miss any of the material mentioned above. With the simultaneous release of The Grey Knight, and the prior release of the Starter Set, much of this has already been covered anyway.
But there is a lot that is new in this edition, and it is with some sadness that I read Stafford write:
This is “Greg Stafford’s Ultimate Edition” because it will be my last version, simply because my age requires me to work on new material, not to revise the old.
He goes on to explain what this edition focuses on is detail. In that, it delivers. It takes much of what players of previous editions were simply supposed to know and lays it all out. There is more on knighthood, on what knights do, on the setting, on weapons and equipment, even on generating a coat of arms. And Pendragon 6 takes older elements of the game and expands them. "Honor" is the prime example. It existed in previous editions but here it is highlighted, hugely detailed and expanded, and made as central an element of a knight's progress as Glory is (Glory in all editions served as a knight's general "experience points" measure, their notoriety and fame, etc). It moves from being a detail of the game to a primary concern.
Skills have been considerably reworked and re-detailed. Converting from previous editions, skills will be where the most juggling is. Yet they are clearer then they have ever been, once again better enabling players to understand what they are for, why they are there, and how they explain the setting and what knights do. To illustrate the differences I am driving at here, let us simply compare the skill "Dancing" from the 5th and 6th editions:
5th Edition
This Skill measures the character’s ability to move gracefully to music, as well as his knowledge of the many styles of formal dancing done at court. This elegant style of dancing depends primarily on experience and knowledge of forms rather than on agility. A success indicates accurate adherence to the accepted form of the dance being performed, while a critical success indicates superb grace, verve, and perhaps spontaneity. A fumble means that the character went the wrong way, probably bumping into other dancers. The Gamemaster may even rule that the fumbler tripped and fell over his own feet. A fumbled Dance roll is invariably a humiliating experience. Glory can be gained from successful Dance rolls if the dancer(s) are the center of attention.
6th Edition
Skill Groups: Courtly, Ladies
Skill Use (what function might the skill use in play, to show off, to gain information, to sway others, etc): Deed, Inquiry
(Can) Glory (be gained): Yes
This Skill measures the character’s ability to know the difference between types of dances and the proper steps for each. Courtly dances are usually performed in groups, with dancers clasping hands and arms, swinging their partners about, and trying to avoid collisions with others. The dance music varies in tempo and duration. A failed roll means the dancer turns in a mediocre and forgettable effort, while a fumble indicates a collision on the dance floor or a similar faux pas.
Courtly Dances
Court dances are always group affairs meant to entertain both participants and observers. These are performed in a courtly setting, with musicians making pleasing sounds and keeping the beat. Dances are not every-night affairs but are sponsored at gatherings and celebrations.
- A Carole or Ronde is performed by a group of dancers arranged in a circle, or sometimes in a chain or procession. A leader sings a song, and the other dancers answer with the refrain.
- A Quadrille is a dance for four couples who stand in a square.
- A Basse Dance is for couples and is slow and sedate.
- The Black Nag, Black Alman, Estampie, and Rufty Tufty are lively yet dignified, with jumping and much bowing andcurtseying. Dancers are divided into couples who face each other.
- A Saltarello is another active dance, with much jumping about and lively steps.
- Commoners have their own dances, but these are obscure to knights and ladies.
This is where the focus of the new Pendragon lies. It brings a level of detail and "life" to the game that was previously missing or exiled to source books rather than the core game.
This continues into what knights can aspire to become. In a game with a single character "class," differentiation comes from personality and what the characters aspire to. We have seen in previous editions, for example, the "religious knight" who puts faith first. But here too we have the "chivalrous knight" for whom the code knights live by is a chief concern, and the "romantic knight," a critical ideal for a genre so often referred to as "Arthurian Romance."
SIGNS & PORTENTS
In which the Author Speculates Wildly
The sixth edition Core Rulebook is, without question, the definitive guide to playing knights in the world of King Arthur Pendragon. Its sole focus is to take the reader into the setting and show them what it means to dwell there, to be part of that milieu. There is less for Gamemasters, but frequent mentions are made of the upcoming "gamemaster's book" which I am completely on board for.
More tantalizing, I think, is page 7.
Inseparable in my mind from the game is The Great Pendragon Campaign. Stafford spoke of Pendragon as his masterpiece, but if this were true, The Great Pendragon Campaign was the masterpiece of his masterpiece. This was a campaign book that exemplified and defined everything Pendragon is, taking players from 485 AD to 566, the entirety of Arthur's reign. Later expansions allowed play to start earlier, in the reign of Arthur's father, Uther. This is the book that shows the accelerated march of time, from the post-Roman dark ages to the era of high romance, and ensured at least 100 extraordinary play sessions.
But page 7...page 7...
If you are an Arthurian nerd you know the story goes back much further than Uther. On page 7 "The Pendragon Chronology" begins with Constantin in 415 AD, then goes through the Vortigern, Tyrant, Uprising, and Aurelius periods before we reach Uther. And the page says, and I quote...
The volumes of The Great Pendragon Campaign...expand on these details...
"Volumes," Chaosium? Plural? Are you bringing us the earlier periods as well?
THE LAST ENCHANTMENT
Because the Author had to Work In at least One Mary Stewart Reference...
Obviously, it is a very pretty book.
I say this because most editions of Pendragon have, in various ways, been beautiful, but also because every post-2015 Chaosium production has had jaw-dropping art. There is a wide range of art here, which I have noticed recent RuneQuest tomes have shied away from in favor of a single artist or unifying vision. I think the range fits here, because there is not, nor can there be, "one Arthur."
I think despite Greg Stafford's name being the only one on the book, credit must go to line editor David Larkins, developer Veli-Matti Pelkonen and David Zeeman, and creative director Jeff Richard for the book. My suspicion is that all bowed out gracefully from credit because this was the Great Man's final work. But the team of artists deserves praise, and the rest who had a hand in the book's lay-out and production.
Ultimately, Chaosium is dealing in 40+-year-old properties that are uncontested classics. Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, and Pendragon are "hall of fame" games, undisputed masterpieces of design and execution. This makes it tricky to roll out new editions. What I think we have seen in Cthulhu and RuneQuest, and now especially in Pendragon, is a recognition of what made these games legendary, and a sort of "let's go with that" attitude. They are updated for modern play, to be certain, but anyone sitting down at Pendragon 6 having started with the first edition will immediately recognize the game. At the same time, there has simply never been a better introduction to Pendragon than the Starter Set and this Core Rulebook. You are immediately transported into Camelot's cosmos, and the support the system and content gives you makes you feel you belong there.
