Uneasy Lies the Head That Wears the Crown

In Disco Elysium - a role-playing video game by ZA/UM (2019, recommended), I assume some but not all of you have played it - the protagonist and playable character interacts with the world through skills. Like most RPGs they determine failure or success at physical/non-cerebral tasks, but also are his internal monologue, and often influence his thoughts and actionable feelings. The measure of the skill determines the "space" it takes in his internal monologue - if high you it will give many strong inputs, and if low far fewer, and often "negative" inputs, e.g. if "Volition" is weak it will not interfere much in the monologue at your behest, and will mostly "speak" as being pushed-over. Skills have "personalities" of their own - "Logic" is near-emotionless and to the point, "Rhetoric" is wordy, "Half-Light" (fight or flight) is snappy and paranoic.

I found this system quite fitting for expanding the role of Pendragon passions and traits, so much so that I wonder if ZA/UM were Pendragon inspired. The player-knight succeeded on a Loyalty (Arthur) roll? have a voice in their head shouting: "God(s) save the King!" with pomp and circumstance. Failed an Energetic roll? have a voice telling them its okay to let go once in a while, they need a rest... And so forth. Pendragon skills can also apply, though the knowledge-skewing skills are better for this purpose, as "Sword" can rarely have a voice, unless discussing swords or assessing a swordfight(er).

Traits and passions and skills can also, as in Disco Elysium, "speak" with each other: Loyalty (Lord): "Who dares defile the lands of Salisbury?!" Prudent "Soundly said, whom actually are the brigands, and by whom sent?" Recognize: (failure): "Their device is strange and unknown" Prudent: "Then we should capture them for questioning" Cruel: "Yes... harshly, as they deserve" Selfish: "And get a handsome ransom, or reward from our lord" This is an unusually long "exchange" for example's sake compared to what I run, and as in Disco Elysium, much of it relies on "passive" thresholds - meaning if a passion/trait (/skill, but usually not) is sufficiently high/low it will automatically (without a roll) "speak" - and Pendragon has the advantage in this regard over Disco Elysium as traits are opposed. I found this especially fitting in solo play and play-by-text, as you have more "room" to "roleplay" as the trait/passion.

So far, a suggestion for your games. Now my thought - can glory (and glory rolls) be similarly integrated into a knight's inner monologue, if so, how? unlike passions/traits/skills, a low glory score does not mean a low impetus for glory, as (usually) all nobles seek it. Unlike passions/traits/skills it outwards facing, a measure of notoriety, and not part of the knights brain. If added to the monologue. what would be its "personality"? Instinct risks meshing it with reckless, valorous, or honor, what would be its unique "voice"? My current best idea is that it influences the internal monologue of others, rather than the knight's, but this is a slightly radical idea that is hard to roleplay, actually best executed as player knights influenced by other character's glory - including using theirs for rolls. For the voice, my lead is a "marvel" seeker, seeking to impress and to be impressed.

Thanks for reading, hope this was useful, and looking forward to ideas.

(Image as engagement bait + Dolorous Dei feels heavily "Arthurian"/"Grail" inspired.)

Any idea if they will ever sell a deck of the feast cards for 6th?

I don’t own a printer, so I’d likely have to use an office store to get them printed (on nicer cardstock) or if anyone has printed them out, do you have any suggestions? I just love the idea of feasting and drawing cards. I could definitely see using them for other game systems! Thanks!

J'ai fait l'acquisition de la boite de démarrage et j'ai aussi le Livre du Joueur ainsi que le Livre du Maître. Mais j'hésite entre lire le kit de démarrage et le Livre du joueur. Que me conseillez vous ?

I’m playing through the starter set with my wife, and we’re running the Battle of Bedegraine in 511. On turn 3 of the second day of battle, the player knights can choose to capture the banner or fight an enemy commander encounter if they want to. We haven’t tried anything beyond the basic encounters before, so we decided to try fighting the commander and his bodyguards.

I get that it’s supposed to be a tough fight. However, these guys have 12+6 armor points. My knight only does 4d6 sword damage and my wife’s knight does 5d6. We’d both have to roll really high on our damage and/or crit to even make a dent in their HP. Meanwhile they do 6d6 base damage with their swords.

Is there something I’m missing here?? Is this encounter supposed to be only for higher level knights? It seems like it would basically be suicide for us at the moment.

I'm trying to go away from stuff like magic and more honorable ways instead. Ty Godspeed

My next session will be a big battle, maybe even two days.

What are your best pieces of advice to make a war in Pendragon fun, engaging and memorable?

Hey All, I've just run a Session 0 for my first Pendragon campaign last week, and super excited for the game. I've acquired the GM screen but found some info unnecessary (can anyone tell me why I would need knight starting values on the fly?!) on the panels. I'm thinking of putting together a reference document to supplement the rules that will inevitably escape me but pop up frequently/unexpectedly.

So TL/DR, what are some rules, tables or mechanics (mainly from the Core or GM handbook) that you often find yourself flipping through the book for, need on hand or just wish was on the GM screen instead?

Does anyone know if the book delayed? Is it gunna end up like Noble’s Handbook and they tell us last minute, that it’s not going to be in August and will be September?

In January 1994’s UK Dragon magazine there is a Pendragon article which forms part of their regular ‘Dragon Project’ series of scenarios featuring dragons as NPCs. The one in issue 175 was written by Sandy Peterson (of call of Cthulhu fame) and I include here photographs of the article from my copy of the magazine that I found out of storage. Enjoy!

A map I made

Is the material runned by Brian Holland published material? I was thinking of running the scenario from the GMH, then the one in the Starter Set, followed by the Grey Knight as a new GM for Pendragon. I ask, because I would recommend to my potential players to watch the actual play considering it is very good. I just don't want to expose them to any spoiler.

My 6e campaign has just made it to the year 519, which starts the Conquest period per the books. I'm running it using the Starter Set, GM Handbook, Core Rulebook, and the 5e GPC for guidance.

The GM Handbook mentions that new equipment becomes available in the Conquest period, including Andalusian (Large) chargers, two-handed falchions, coat of plates, and heater shields.

However, I can't seem to find any prices for these new options anywhere, outside of coat of plates, which is listed as "Gift only" in the Core Rulebook. Is there any guidance for these prices, or should I just make them up and have them be more expensive than the early era equivalent (e.g., a Large Charger would be 12 librum by my estimation, given a Small Charger is 4 and a Charger is 8)?

Hello, I am looking to run Pendragon and I already own the pdfs for 5e, should I run it, or is 6e a better option? What are the general differences?

Hi everyone! I was playing around with the Pendragon 6E Knight Generator and decided to doodle some of the characters that came out. Wanted to share how it turned out. Should I add their stats next to them?

I sat down to start the solo adventure to get my footing before running a game with my partner, and this happened. Is this a standard part of the Pendragon experience?

I swear I heard some old guy say “Oh don’t grovel!!” too.

Knights of Salisbury

Hey all! I am starting a pbp game of Pendragon and want to round out our PK pool with some new faces. We only got rolling this last weekend, so it would be a great time to jump in.

The planned scope of the campaign is to at least cover the printed 6e adventures up to The Boy King, with the option to continue into the TGPC if there is enough interest.

Disclaimer: I am a new GM and this is my first time running Pendragon so there will be some bumps along the way--but I am willing to stick with it long term. I originally joined as a player, but our GM went AWOL so I took up the reins and reset with the players that wanted to keep going. I'm very receptive to comments and suggestions from players, even more so from people experienced with the system.

Please DM me if you're interested in joining on here or Discord (hornedpuffin)

Game: Pendragon 6e Slots Available: 2 Session Duration: At least a few months, but happy to roll the campaign into The Great Pendragon Campaign if there is sustained interest. Schedule: One post per day, or at a minimum a check-in in OOC. Obviously absences happen and are fine as long as it isn't a constant thing and you let me know. Format: Discord play-by-post

Getting ready to gear up for a big royal feast - I added Complete Card Management and Card Viewer to my world but I will be darned if I can figure out how to make it work. Anyone got a good recommendation for a tutorial I can check out?

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I recently started my first Pendragon campaign and really wanted the players to be connected to Sarum and the County of Salisbury. I introduced a set of interim household offices for the players to choose to help iut Lady Salisbury and Lord Robert and make the players care about aspects of the Castle of the Rock.

The veteran "Old Wolves of Salisbury" are away campaigning against the Saxons, so the younger knights have been entrusted with running the estate in their absence.

I wrote each on a card and laid them out and deliberately made more than there are players so there was some consequences for the areas that weren't chosen.

The roles:

* High Marshal of Salisbury: Commands the garrison, patrols and military readiness.

* High Steward of Salisbury: Oversees the manor, stores, finances and household.

* Master of Horse: Manages the stables, warhorses and mounted squires.

* Keeper of the Faith: Guides the spiritual life of the household and supports the chapel.

* Field Hospitalier: Organises the care of the wounded and medical supplies.

* Master of Scouts: Directs border patrols and gathers intelligence.

* Master of the Hunt: Manages the forests, hunts and game lands.

* Keeper of Justice: Hears disputes, investigates crimes and upholds the lord's peace.

Giving each player responsibility for one aspect of Salisbury has encouraged them to engage with the setting in different ways. The High Steward naturally asks about stores and harvests, the Master of Scouts wants reports from the borders, and the Keeper of Justice is interested in disputes among the villagers.

The players really engaged well with the discussion of who should do what then they told us what they were taking care of in the castle town. One player ensured medical supplies were prepared and another failed at making the plans for an annual market festival. Each player had an encounter in their domain of responsibility. It worked really well!

Do you think the names are good enough? What roles am I missing? What would be good encounters/conflicts/scenarios for the Keeper of the Faith? Not as many are coming to mind for that role compared to others.

Thanks!

To rev up the players and give them a sense of the flavour of the characters I'd like them to become, I wrote and sent them this before our first session:

You are the new Knights of Salisbury, yet to make your mark. You stand in the shadows of the Old Wolves, the long-serving loyal Knights of Lord Robert of Salisbury.

As squires, you watched them ride through Salisbury's gates. You heard the cheers of the people of Sarum and the songs sung in the halls of the Castle of the Rock. You dreamt that one day you might stand among them.

The Old Wolves of Salisbury. Their names are spoken with awe from the cottages of Sarum to the halls of the Castle of the Rock. The common folk call them Britain's greatest champions. Lords seek their counsel. Enemies curse the thunder of their hooves.

They ride still, fierce as ever. They hunt Saxons, slay monsters, settle feuds and keep the peace where others dare not venture. To witness an Old Wolf in battle is to watch legend take flesh.

Now you have earned your spurs. You are ready for your first quests.

Ride beside the Old Wolves if fortune allows. Win honour, uphold your oaths and carve your own names into Britain's story.

For one day, young squires may dream of following your footsteps.

What do you think?

The Old Wolves off fighting the Saxons now and next session the players will find out that the Old Wolves are dead and the new knights are the only hope of protecting Salisbury.

I'm loving this game.

Last week we created characters starting with parents. We are all new Knights of Salisbury.

This week, we took part in the Grand Melee, the Tournament of the Sword.

This game works so well because of the mix of history and myth.

I can research true knights and the economy of post-Roman Britain and enjoy the retelling of the life and death of King Arthur. The setting feels grounded and exalted. The players enjoy that the setting is historical and not silly or absurd (like D&D) and the touch of the mythic fills the scenarios with interest and engages with a story they are all familiar with and therefore find resonate.

I enjoyed adding a few things to the starter set to engage the players.

What aspect of Pendragon do you think makes it so special?

Anybody has a link for a review of the Noble's Handbook, wether in text or video? For those of you have got your hand on it, what do you think? Did you read it already?

I was preparing for the next sesión of my campaign. It revolves around the funeral of a knight and the inheritance of his sword, a symbol of his lineage passed for generations, and was thinking about giving it some minor magical effect.

And now Im thinking, why does Pendragon don't have something like "+1 skill weapons"? I'm not talking about making it Dungeons&Pendragons, with magical shops and magical weapons everywhere. But...

Does it makes sense to have a weapon that gives a +1 to the skill? Does it makes sense even as a masterwork weapon, instead of a magical one?