Pendragon is Greg Stafford’s role-playing game of knights in the age of King Arthur. It blends actual history, medieval romances, and modern fiction relating to Arthur and the knights of the Round Table and places the player-character among these storied figures. Everyone plays a knight, but not all knights are the same—far from it!
Thanks to Pendragon’s ground-breaking system of Traits and Passions, one knight might aspire to the ideals of chivalry and faith while his companion nurses an overwhelming vengeful grudge against those who wronged her. Passions like Homage, Adoration, and Hate drive knights to nearly superhuman feats of prowess and bravery, but also saddle them with spells of melancholy and even madness. Characters in Pendragon are truly larger than life, and the system is engineered to drive memorable moments of heroism and tragedy, just like the Arthurian tales that inspired the game.
What’s more, characters age over the course of a campaign, eventually meeting their ends either in combat or thanks to old age, leaving their legacies to their offspring to carry on. A full Pendragon campaign can span decades of time in which you might play three generations of knights who collectively witness Arthur draw the sword from the stone, found the Round Table, and inaugurate an era of adventure culminating in the quest for the Holy Grail, only to see it all crumble as the Round Table fractures thanks to the schemes of Arthur’s perfidious son, Mordred.
As these greater events play out around your characters, you will inherit and manage your own manor (and perhaps gain enough land to build a castle!), grow your family and household, lead armies, and—most importantly—gain Glory as you navigate both the halls of power and mist-shrouded enchanted forests of Britain.
As knights, your duty is to put yourselves in harm’s way to protect those weaker than you, and death is always hair’s breadth away thanks to the game’s fast yet brutal combat system. This is a game of deep passions and meaningful consequences, both on and off the battlefield.
So what are you waiting for? Swear homage to your lord, take up your sword, and discover why Pendragon is routinely counted among the greatest role-playing games of all time.
