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The fourth (really third as second was never published) edition of Pendragon is a massive tome, the softback well bound and coming in some 352 pages plus a fold-out map of England and Wales with some detail. The cover art of Stephen King, of Merlin handing Excalibur to Arthur with a Stonehenge background is evocatively low-medieval in style and competent in technique. The internal black and white line drawings are typically of very good quality as well, especially those by Lisa Free, dating back to the first edition of the game. The text is largely two column justified with a serif font, with various section boxes with a grey background, including sections from Malory. Actual content takes up a good proportion of each page with chapter headings available on each page. Somewhat surprising for a book this large the table of contents takes up but a page and the index only two. It must also be said that the writing style is somewhat rambling, inefficient and often repetitive. The organisation of the text could certainly have done with some further consideration as well with much of the book being a simple merger between the previous edition and the essential supplement Knights Adventurous.
Setting
The first chapter provides an introduction to the setting is broadly Arthurian, meaning that it draws from a number of sources (English, French, Welsh, modern, radical). As a legendary description it is often anachronistic in social institutions, physical technologies and cultural norms, including a very strong feudal system and individual heralds, a surprising degree of internal democracy, courtly romance, advanced technologies like plate armour and etc., co-existing with expected norms (e.g., kinship and oath ties, power of the Church etc). Still, Arthur was a path-cutting modernist and egalitarian, or at least that why the legends imply. The epicentre of descriptive material is based on Logres, and specifically the county of Salisbury and the court of Camelot as encapsulated in the second "What Your Character Knows" chapter. This is further elaborated in the twelfth chapter "Your Home", which gives great coverage for The County of Salisbury, concluding with brief discussions on castle types and travel. The thirteenth chapter on "Wealth" describes the currency of the lands, standard equipment for knights, and a price list of expected purchases for those within that profession. The chapter concludes with some well known methods of getting money (land, ransom, weddings, tallage, impost), plus investments. Behavioural norms are covered in the fourteenth chapter "Chivalric Duties", covering courtesy, the hunt, tournament, romance, religion, adventuring and battle. The latter is significantly different and more elaborate set of rules to what is provided on the chapter on Game Mechanics.
The fifth and sixth chapters ("The Lands", "The Peoples") elaborate from the various regions and peoples of the British Isles (Logres, Cambria, Cumbria, The North, Cornwall, The Western Isles) and select parts of the continent (Britanny, France, Gaul). This includes random generation of homeland and therefore, people and religion, father's class, the ruling lord, army size, and various local features. The peoples (Cymi, French, Occitanians, Irish, Picts, Romans, Saxons) are described in terms of stereotypes, attitudes, political organisation, sample names, and modifications to Traits and Passions, default skill levels and starting equipment, all used in character generation. The eleventh chapter discusses the various religions of the world, in terms of history, beliefs, orders and places of importance. A substantial section is given to Christianity and Paganism (as expected), but very surprisingly only the most minimal notes to Wotanism. Even Judaism receives more coverage that the followers of the Saxon faith!
Character Generation
As mentioned, two types of character generation (basic and advanced) are described in the third chapter. For basic character generation certain assumptions are made for speed and illustration. Personal data includes name, homeland, culture, religion, father's class, son number, liege lord, current class, current home, age and year born. Default characters (from a selection of four, there's even one named "De Falt"!) are all from Salisbury, Cymric, and are Christians, and are the first son of a vassal knight. Perhaps not surprisingly, it is expected that all PCs will start as knights as well. Personality Traits and Passions are used to generate character dispositions. The former consist of paired values (e.g., Chaste-Lustful, Energetic-Lazy, Forgiving-Vengeful) whose value totals 20, as tests are made against a d20. Default characters all have their religious virtues (Chaste, Forgiving, Merciful, Modest, Temperate) at 13, Valorous at 15 (they are knights), and an optional "famous" (read: crazy) Trait at 16. Passions are unpaired and somewhat strong (indeed passionate) emotions. Default characters begin with Loyalty to Lord, Love of Family, Hospitality, Honor (all at 15) and Hate Saxons (3d6).
Statistics in Pendragon are Size, Dexterity, Strength, Constitution, Appearance. You may notice the lack of an Intelligence statistic or equivalent. Sixty points may be distributed between these statistics (so an average of 12) which are used also to derive secondary values such as Damage, Healing Rate, Total Hit Points, and Unconscious value. Statistics also come with cultural modifiers; the default Cymric characters, for example, have a +3 bonus to Constitution. With regards to skills, these are largely based around the character expectations of knightly specialisation, but are derived from culture, social class, family characteristics and individual choice. For beginning characters any two non-combat skills can be raised to 10, one skill can be raised to 15 (the sword is popular), and an additional 10 points can be distributed. As with the rest of the game system, the scale is around the 0-20 range. Finally there is an option for previous experience, knighthood, and the ever nebulous "other information". This includes Glory, a combination of reputation and experience, equipment and the benefits of luck.
Advanced character generation follows the same options, but with greater variation. Regional background, rules-as-written, is determined randomly. Religion can vary between Christian, Pagan, and Wotanic (and even, very rarely, Judaism). Father class varies with differing skill points, traits and passions, glory, starting equipment and son number varies. Because traits vary the possibility of gaining a 'religious bonus' for adhering to particular virtues becomes a possibility (e.g., extra hit points for Christians, extra damage for the Wotanic). Passions gain a greater degree of randomness, and the same option is allowed for statistics. Statistics also now include a full range of modifiers, most of which add to a +3 bonus overall; but pity the Pict who receives a net -3 (-3 SIZ, -3 APP, +3 DEX)
A short Family chapter (fourth chapter) and a chapter on Women (eighth chapter) round out the character generation issues, with the exception of magic. A strong emphasis is put on family of course, but in addition to this tables allow for the generation of a past family history especially on the male side, and especially in reference to their military history which may contribute to Hate Saxons (but wait.. what if you rolled up a Saxon as per the previous chapter?). After all this the chapter on women is quite overdue. It describes the traditional roles (wife, mother, widow, lover, heiress and nun), variations from character generation (higher Appearance and Dexterity, lower Strength and Size), special "women's gifts" (including another 1d10 Appearance!), and the possibility of "warrior women".
System and Story Development
The seventh chapter begins to answer the question of what the game is about and states it quite beautifully in the sub-heading: "A knight's primary goal is to gain Glory through the pursuit of adventure, love and power." Glory is valued from 0 to 8,000 or more for an "Extraordinary Knight", and can be achieved by defeating enemies, honors and ceremonies, holding land and for having strong traits. Defeating an unruly peasant, or saving a maiden from a wolf, is worth 1 Glory, whereas a huge giant is worth 500. Joining the Round Table is worth 1,000, whereas holding many manors, such as the status of an Earl, is worth 100/year. Under certain circumstances Glory can add to skills due to prestige, at a rate of +1 per 1,000. Glory can also contribute to other ambitions, such as a greater wealth and status, and as such descriptions are given of the responsibility and rewards for the status levels of Vassal Knight, Banneret, Baron, Earl (Count), Duke and King, as well as a number of positions of office. An alternative strategy are Ideals, of which the Chivalrous Knight, Romantic Known, Companion to Arthur, Christian Knight and Round Table Knight are described.
The core game system is roll-under, roll high, with a d20 range. Resolution can be unopposed or opposed, with victors determined in the latter by rolling higher than their opponent (a failure is considered 0), although a "successful loss" can give partial benefits, such as parrying. A critical success is achieved when a score equal to ability and provides unusually favourable results (e.g., double damage in combat). This is regardless of the existing skill level; so characters with lower abilities critically succeed proportionally more often! A fumble occurs on a roll of 20, unless the ability is greater than 20 in which case a fumble cannot happen. If an ability is greater than 20 then that additional value is added to the roll for the purpose of comparison; so a character with a skill of 23 will add +3 to all skill checks. Abilities may increase by +1 if the Gamemaster deems the event significant enough for a check and the player rolls above their current ability or 20 during "The Winter Phase", a seasonal point in the annual cycle when various book-keeping activities take place (potential solo, experience checks, aging, economic circumstances, stables, family, training and practise, annual glory).
Combat is resolved using the core mechanic in a contested sense with simultaneous resolution. Damage is based on Strength and Size and modified by weapon type. Armour and shield both absorb damage. An average character will do 4d6 damage, a Dexterity check is required if damage is greater than Size (usually 12), reinforced chain armour provides 12 points of protection, and average hit points is 24. So expect plenty of characters to be knocked over, but take several, if not more, sword blows before they are facing unconsciousness. Hit points are recovered at a rate of roughly 2 per week. There are, of course, rules for drowning and falling, poison and fire. As should be expected there are particular advantages for knights fighting from horseback, especially when armed with the lance and with some hefty description given to the 'Battle' skill, determining the outcome of knights involved in mass conflicts. Wounds are notably harsh taking weeks for recovery and immediate first aid can often be a lifesaver.
Supplementing the combat skills and resolution, normal skills are provided fair description, about 1/4 of a page each, covering such abilities as Chirugery, Flirting, Folk Lore, Heraldry, Industry, Read, Romance and others. Ideals and Passions receive a chapter of their own as well, explaining the interaction of the game system with said characteristics, although it is largely stating the obvious the stated modifiers for Passion checks add substance. I am, however, constantly reminded when reading this chapter of a game where a handsome wounded knight stumbled into a nunnery one eve and, due to a comical turn of unexpected die rolls, turned the place into Castle Anthrax within minutes of his arrival. Examples like this, which are quite unusual, have led some to criticise Pendragon to create characters that are "walking bombs", prone to go off in very unexpected ways at the slightest provocation.
Magic and Supplementary Material
Magic is covered in the fifteenth and sixteenth chapters, beginning with magician character generation. Magic using characters, whether Druids, Bards, Enchantresses, Monks or Nuns, or Friar/Hermits have a special ability called "Sight" and a special objective called "Insight", a rough equivalent to the Knight's Glory. The different magic traditions, just mentioned, have their own duties, benefits and sample practitioners. They also tend towards different effects; pagan magic tends to be flashy and immediate, Christian magic, subtle and miraculous, for example. Magician characters begin with a childhood Talent (magical skill) and Patronage. Other Talents may be achieved through training are a grouped into various abilities: Animal Friend, Banish, Blessing, Control Faerie Creatures, Curse, Demonize, Dispel, Divination, Divine Miracle, Emotion, Glamour, Healing, Necromancy, Protect, Sacred Space, Shapeshift, Summon Faerie Creatures, Travel, Weather Control. Within these Talents are example spells (low, common and high) with different Life Force numbers. This provides a target number which has to be achieved from available Life Force, achieved from a combination of the character's religious traits, time and place (e.g., casting on the midwinter solstice at Stonehenge), and by paying the cost of the spell in preparation time or sleep, measured in weeks, with the spell potentially cast into a talisman for future use. Magicians themselves also have magical defences equal to the sum of their religious traits, which adds to the Life Force required to "punch through" their defences. Brief notes are also provided for group efforts and the like, along with magical skills such as Celestial Lore, Faerie Lore, Geomantric Lore, Religion, and Sight. Setting based information is provided in the descriptions of "Enchanted Britain", including the bonuses for specific locations, and the land of Faerie, which is incredibly magical.
Overall, the magic system is very evocative but somewhat annoying in actual play. The highly random quantity of Life Force available (based on a number of d20s) made spell casting highly uncertain and slowed play significantly. The lack of discount for preparation meant that, except in the case of making items, most spell-caster chose the "Sleep Owed", rather than "Preparation Required" path, contrary to the literature. Some minor modifications along these lines would have improved the system greatly with no loss in the stylistic elements.
Supplementary material includes a short adventure, one "long-form" adventure, several solo scenarios and a number of brief but sufficient adventure seeds. In total these provide for at least a dozen thoroughly worthwhile gaming sessions. This is helped by a chapter on "Characters and Creatures" which provides statistics for knights, fighting men, ordinary folk, magicians, various famous people (Arthur, Guenever, Ywaine, Lamorak, Lancelot, Gwaine, Brus and Turquine), steeds, hunted beasts, and monsters. The book concludes with a one-page bibliography.
Summary
Pendragon is an very attractive book which suffers slightly from a lack of strong editing. Although highly focussed and detailed with a general assumption of the type of charters must likely to be in-play, there is room for alternatives. It perhaps would have been preferable if some of the more repetitive sections were removed in favour of providing additional content in this regard. The game system is simple and extendible and the use of the Passions and Ideals helps enforce genre conventions with individual variation. Overall this is a highly recommended game for those who wish to play in the genre.
In comparison with previous editions I can only talk in terms of first and third; the second edition was never published and I have not had the opportunity to look at the fifth. As mentioned previously this is pretty much a merger of third edition and Knights Adventurous plus magic. In comparison with first edition I think that earlier edition, whilst lacking detail, did provide what it had in a more efficient manner. Overall however the differences are fairly modest.
Style: 1 + .5 (layout) + .7 (art) + .7 (coolness) + .5 (readability) + .7 (product) = 4.1
Substance: 1 + .7 (content) + .3 (text) + .8 (fun) + .7 (workmanship) + .7 (system) = 4.5
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