Ride for Camelot and Be a Virtuous Knight in ‘Pendragon’ 6E
Chaosium’s classic RPG of knights, chivalry, and Arthurian romance, Pendragon gets its 6th Edition as of today.
Pendragon 6E releases today, friends. Chaosium’s rpg set among the mythological glory of King Arthur’s Britain, where you play as capital-K Knights trying to live up to the noblest ideals while also dealing with the brutal realities of the world, is out today.
The release marks an exciting return to another of the originating source materials for roleplaying games. Legends of King Arthur are clearly an influence on the long history of RPGs. And indeed, next year, Pendragon itself turns 40, since it originally released in 1985.
But what is it? What makes Pendragon so enduring? Why do people call it an enduring RPG or declare that it’s “one of the best systemised role-playing games around”? For starters it’s the emphasis on character tension and mechanized roleplaying.
Most notable are the personality traits and passions that are levers the game uses to conflict your character. The game bakes in internal conflict right into character creation. You have thirteen opposing vices and virtues that can represent your personality, and you’ll have to decide where you fall. Are you lustful or chaste? Both will get you into trouble, both may save you when you really need it. Ultimately you get to decide the answer to the game’s big question: what kind of knight will you be?
Pendragon 6E Releases Today!
Pendragon is set amidst the glory and grandeur of King Arthur’s Britain. Its innovative mechanics drive the emotional impact of play as your characters pursue Glory, overcome life-and-death struggles, cross blades with ruthless enemies, and fight for love and justice in a world of brutal medieval realism.
The Pendragon: Core Rulebook contains everything you need to begin an epic adventure in King Arthur’s Britain. It covers the complete core rules of the Pendragon game system, including Traits and Passions, Skills, combat, injury and recovery, Glory, Favors, and Honor.
And as the name suggests, Pendragon is steeped in the world of King Arthur. It is a great sourcebook for Arthurian fantasy and will help ease you into the world if it’s been a while since you watched Disney’s The Sword & the Stone or BBC One’s Merlin.
But there’s more than just the world of King Arthur to appeal here. This RPG does one of my favorite things, which is to allow for the passage of loads of time in the campaign itself. In Pendragon 6E, campaigns take place over generations. Your characters age and marry and have children, and when they die, you continue playing as your very own heir. It’s such a fantastic way to get into the world of a game, I wish more RPGs had that baked in.
It’s a refreshing difference from the D&D campaigns, where you go from weirdos in a tavern to killing gods in the span of about two in-game months. Anyway. Pendragon 6E is out now, and I’m excited about it. If you’re excited about it, too, you can check it out below.
