Question:
What is the secret of the Grail? Whom does it serve?
Answer: Greg Stafford's Pendragon.
My
experience with role-playing games is not the same as that of your
average gaming joe: 95% of my total hours in the hobby does not consist of
playing D&D in all its various incarnations.
I spend an avarage number of hours per week when running at stores 25% is D&D Maybe 30%; When by myslef and doing solo play which is about 60% of my toatal hours per week with a smattering of King Arthur Pendrgaon, (I still have lots of book work with this game). Recently 13th Age, Basic Role Play System, Runequest, Call of
Cthulhu, Sowrds and Sorcery and Swords and Wizardry, along with a few one-shots here and there.
Now, I'm not
complaining about these rpgs have served me well over the
years as my go-to game of choice, and will likely continue to remain in
that role going forward. Wll always be King Arthur Pendragon. But that doesn't mean that, from time to time, I
don't ponder the alternatives. There is no one-size fits all RPG.
Specifically, the one game that I have on my shelf but continues to give me more hours of solo adaventing is the incomparable Pendragon, written by Greg Stafford. I have played this game from the very 1st edition in 1980 all the way through to present day KAP 5e. With all due respect to other great past and present RPG manuals, Pendragon
is arguably the greatest read of them all, at least in my experience.
To behold this game in all its glory is to see the art of role-playing
at its pinnacle of development. It is, in my humble opinion, the Holy
Grail of gaming.
Someday I hope to do more than read and solo play Pendragon
and actually get to play it or run a game for a group of new player knights. Those I have played with over the years are either passed away or moved away and I am no longer in contact with them. But for now it remains as
elusive as the Questing Beast, and my prospects for playing are as bleak
as the Waste Land.
But I have often
thought that, in the hereafter of our lives, when I owe no more to the
future and can be just a man, that Pendragon and I may meet. It is a
dream I have...But enough Arthurian references. Beyond my
hopes of one day playing this great game, below I've laid out reasons
why I think Pendragon has remained both an obscure, yet simultaneously
long-lasting (currently in its 5th edition) and remarkable RPG.
Reasons Pendragon is not popularNote that I don't necessarily consider any of the following list to be drawbacks, merely speculation as to why
Pendragon never truly took off as a popular RPG:
It's not D&D.
This is the big one. The RPG "industry" serves a niche hobby, and
D&D/Wizards of the Coast is the 800-pound gorilla in the room.
There's not a lot of room for other games--trying to find D&D
players can be challenging enough, but locating groups willing to try
out other, obscure RPGs like
Pendragon? It's the modern-day equivalent of finding the Holy Grail.
You're "stuck" playing knights. In my opinion this is actually a feature, not a bug.
Pendragon's
rules are built around knights--their training and upbringing, their
chivalric traits and characteristics, their pasttimes (hunting,
falconing, attending tournaments, etc.), running their manor, and more.
In fact, in the latest edition of
Pendragon, unlike
past editions, you are limited to playing a knight only. This
knight-only focus may preclude a breadth of options, but the depth of
experience is remarkable. Unfortunately, players who want to play
wizards, clerics, or Conan-like barbarians are out of luck.
It's a very deadly and very realistic of mid-evil history. The combat mechanics of
Pendragon
are not conducive to "rinse and repeat combats" like those found in
D&D. Hit points are a fixed characteristic, and if you suffer a
major wound you're in trouble: You can only fight on with great
difficult, and likely it will be end of the combat and perhaps the
adventure. You may even experience permanent negative effects from the
wound, including statistical loss. I can understand why this isn't
everyone's cup of tea.
It's not "high fantasy."
While the Arthurian myths share a lot in common with high fantasy, they
also diverge sharply from its most traditional "Tolkienian" conventions.
So does
Pendragon. You won't find magic swords and scrolls lying about in
Pendragon games,
unless they are rare and wondrous artifacts. Monsters are very rare
(and suitably monstrous--you don't want to tangle with a giant). Magic
is mysterious and extremely unpredictable--so unpredictable, in fact,
that the GM basically "makes up" what happens. It's also the exclusive
province of NPCs.
More to the point, the Arthurian myths don't
always draw clear high fantasy divisions between good and evil. There
are no cruel fantasy races (i.e., orcs) that can be slaughtered without
compunction (although wicked mantichores, dragons, and giants do make
the occasional appearance). And "evil" is hard to pin down: Is Launcelot
and Guinevere's betrayal "evil," or simply an understandable failing of
their human nature? Even Mordred can be seen in a sympathetic light.
Death is inevitable. If your character doesn't die on the battlefield, old age will ultimately claim him. A cool feature of
Pendragon
is that each "adventure" is assumed to take a year, as PCs have to
return to their castle to tend to lands and business and enter a period
of rest, recouperation, and character growth called the Winter Phase.
Aging is a part of the game, so if you're not prepared for character
death, you had best look elsewhere than
Pendragon.
Reasons Pendragon has lasted, and should be more popularThe above "drawbacks" aside,
Pendragon's brilliance is undeniable, and below I've listed a few of the reasons why:
It's brilliantly researched. Greg Stafford is steeped in Arthurian myth and it shines through in
Pendragon.
He built the game to simulate the acts and deeds and tales described by
Malory and T.H. White and Geoffrey of Monmouth and Chretien de Troyes,
and in my opinion succeeded.
It has a singular, sharply-defined focus. Related to point #1 above,
Pendragon
is not an amalgamation of Tolkien and Howard and Lieber and Moorcock.
It is about Arthuriana. You know exactly what you're getting and the
mechanics and rules are built to serve that purpose. Generic fantasy
games, with their kitchen sink approach, may have more breadth and
options than
Pendragon, but that approach has its
drawbacks, too. For example, in D&D each player brings with him or
her a different expectation of the campaign world and style of play.
Also, it isn't the best game for accurately depicting actual heroes from
fantasy (what is Gandalf, exactly: A fighter? A wizard? A paladin,
perhaps)? You don't have this problem with
Pendragon: It allows you to create heroic, passionate knights, and is damned good at it.
It possesses a great game engine.
Pendragon
is built with the nuts and bolts of basic role playing (BRP), a "D100"
percentile system designed by Stafford and fellow game designer Lynn
Willis. BRP was originally used for popular and well-designed game
systems Runequest and Call of Cthulhu. Pendragon adds to the BRP engine
traits and passions, which inspire and support role-playing through
mechanics.
It has potential for epic, generation-spanning campaigns. There are some great scenarios published for
Pendragon
which can be played rather like a D&D module for an evening or two
of entertainment. But the game is truly meant to be enjoyed as a decades
and even centuries-spanning mega campaign. Characters are born, become
squires and knights, fight and die or die of old age, and give birth to
the next generation.
The Great Pendragon campaign (a
Pendragon mega-supplement whose cover I've pictured here) spans 81
years, including the rise and fall of Camelot/King Arthur, great wars
and invasions, and mighty quests. Weapons and armor evolve over time
from simple chain mail and spears and swords to halberds, morning stars,
and gothic plate. Although it's an overused term,
Pendragon campaigns are truly
epic in scope.
Its inspired by amazing source material. Others
around the Web have
recently noted
that the older editions of D&D succeeded in large part because of
the flavor and character they picked up from the fantasy fiction roots
upon which they are based. I can't argue with that, but I also note that
no game can rival the rich tradition of literature that serves as the
foundation for
Pendragon.
Although
the number of fantasy fans who have read Tolkien or Howard, or Leiber
or Dragonlance, likely far outnumber those who have read Malory or T.H.
White, everyone knows at least the basics of the Arthurian myth. The
legends are timeless. Pendragon is drawn from the tales
of Camelot, the shining kingdom illuminating dark ages Britain and the
wild Forest Sauvage; the sword Excalibur, drawn from the stone;
Stonehenge and druidism; evil knights and bandits that need to be
quelled; tournaments and fair maiden's hearts and favors to be won;
mythical quests for rare artifacts to undertake; invading armies to be
fought; kingdoms to carve out and win, and, eventually, to fall into
ruin. This is the stirring stuff of Pendragon.
In summary, take up the quest that is Pendragon. I'll be waiting for a new group of player knights to GM again someday.
Yours Earl C. Hedges Jr aka my alter ego King Farion of the Au" Circle D'or.
