Funny I am coming across this now Dan. I played in a Pendragon campaign around the time of Uther.I am thinking of using the Pendragon system to run a Thundercats game. Hear me out. The Thundercats are essentially paladins Knights of the Round Table. Jaga is Merlin. Lion-O is Arthur and Claudus is Uther. The exploding Thundera the death of the old ways and the Cats Lair is Camelot on Third Earth. And well the Sword of Omens is Excalibur. Morgana le Fey is ostensibly Mumm-rah and the armies of evil that follow his command are thr Mutants. I am working out a precursor series to what was seen in the 80s several generations back before the cataclysm the destroyed Thundera where might made right before the code was introduced and the ancient sword that governed that power of rule before it became a symbol of justice was new. Can it be done ? We will see..
It would be interesting to see Pendragon used in a context other than Arthurian legend. I have vague thoughts of using it for Tamara Pierce’s Tortall books.
I’m considering it as an inspiration for a post apocalyptic rpg, where consequences of player actions can affect the development of a region, a bit like the end screens in the Fallout franchise. At the very least it’s helping me develop the historical lore for it, and the world building is almost playing out like a hearts of iron 4 solo quest.
We only got through to the I think before final year of the Uther period, my players disliked being kind of railroaded and only being extra's on the set as they called it. I stressed that the anarchy period was coming up and that they would have more choices of their own to make, but they were not interested anymore and we stopped playing. I loved to GM this game, seeing all the story development and seeing my players houses grow and them making a name for themselves, but not everyone was happy at the table. One player had his knight die quite young and he had a very young son that was now the squire of another player, but he felt he had even less of an influence on the game in general now. Finally we stopped and I am still sad about it, I just ordered all the new Book of... things I saw were released and I can enjoy myself for hours just lookin through the tables and rules for all levels of play, it is just so extremely detailed.
It can definitely be tricky to play the early stuff without feeling like a railroad. The Anarchy period, as you suggest, wipes all of that away, but if they don't want to stick around long enough that doesn't solve their problem. My strategy as a GM was always to let the players choose whatever course of action they wanted. Roderick gives them orders, but they can choose whatever means they want to fulfill those orders. I also found that the supplement "The Marriage of Count Roderick" adds a ton of roleplaying to those early years, as does focusing a ton of time on the yearly courts and feasts. If you can get the players to focus on their households and courting potential wives, the railroad-y aspects of the campaign fade into the background. As for character death: always let them play a new knight when an old one dies, if it that means playing as a brother instead of son.
@@danwells9305 That supplement, is it from an earlier edition? I dont think I have seen in available for the current stuff, or is it part of The Book of Uther maybe?
@@Infyra Are you talking about the Marriage of Count Roderick supplement? Because I don't remember which edition that was made for, even where I got it. Online somewhere. If you found it, hooray!
Thanks that was a great review. How would you integrate any of the older supplements into this pendragon campaign? Thinking of all the 4th ed books in particular. Could you make a vid on that. Thanks again.
Super easy, barely an inconvenience. Most of the 3rd edition and 4th edition adventures are totally compatible with the 5th edition system. They are mainly set in Romance and Tournament Periods, although arguably some of the 3rd edition stuff might fit better even in Conquest Period. Some of them can be played at earlier periods as well, with some tweaking. In any case, I heartily recommend the adventure books, since they help out to fill in the activities in Romance and Tournament Periods, which are rather 'boring' as far as the main story goes, since it is mainly Lancelot and Tristram doing stuff, and they are mainly doing it solo. No big wars for the PKs to participate in. But perfect for adventuring and gaining glory by questing!
Thank you for your excellent review!!! Where did you score that in hardcopy form? I can only locate it via pdf on Chaosium's website. I would recommend to anyone thinking about running this campaign to check out Michael Woods excellent BBC series In Search of the Dark Ages. It is a little dated but still very interesting. Thank you again for this fantastic review!!! I just have to find someone to run me through it!!!
1) I got that hardcopy a few years ago, and I think it's since been replaced by a newer edition. 2) I am a professional GM who runs online campaigns for people, just saying ... :)
@@danwells9305 Im watching Excalibur right now whilst working from home!!! it's fate!!! Your statement about the story ultimately being a tragedy in the middle of your video was great- I always get caught up in the chivalry and shiny armor and forget that underlying point.
Funny I am coming across this now Dan. I played in a Pendragon campaign around the time of Uther.I am thinking of using the Pendragon system to run a Thundercats game. Hear me out. The Thundercats are essentially paladins Knights of the Round Table. Jaga is Merlin. Lion-O is Arthur and Claudus is Uther. The exploding Thundera the death of the old ways and the Cats Lair is Camelot on Third Earth. And well the Sword of Omens is Excalibur. Morgana le Fey is ostensibly Mumm-rah and the armies of evil that follow his command are thr Mutants. I am working out a precursor series to what was seen in the 80s several generations back before the cataclysm the destroyed Thundera where might made right before the code was introduced and the ancient sword that governed that power of rule before it became a symbol of justice was new. Can it be done ? We will see..
It would be interesting to see Pendragon used in a context other than Arthurian legend. I have vague thoughts of using it for Tamara Pierce’s Tortall books.
I’m considering it as an inspiration for a post apocalyptic rpg, where consequences of player actions can affect the development of a region, a bit like the end screens in the Fallout franchise.
At the very least it’s helping me develop the historical lore for it, and the world building is almost playing out like a hearts of iron 4 solo quest.
Hey Dan, That video was great, I am just starting my very first pendragon campaign and that helped me understand the idea behind the campaign.
Thanks! Good luck with the campaign.
We only got through to the I think before final year of the Uther period, my players disliked being kind of railroaded and only being extra's on the set as they called it. I stressed that the anarchy period was coming up and that they would have more choices of their own to make, but they were not interested anymore and we stopped playing. I loved to GM this game, seeing all the story development and seeing my players houses grow and them making a name for themselves, but not everyone was happy at the table. One player had his knight die quite young and he had a very young son that was now the squire of another player, but he felt he had even less of an influence on the game in general now. Finally we stopped and I am still sad about it, I just ordered all the new Book of... things I saw were released and I can enjoy myself for hours just lookin through the tables and rules for all levels of play, it is just so extremely detailed.
It can definitely be tricky to play the early stuff without feeling like a railroad. The Anarchy period, as you suggest, wipes all of that away, but if they don't want to stick around long enough that doesn't solve their problem.
My strategy as a GM was always to let the players choose whatever course of action they wanted. Roderick gives them orders, but they can choose whatever means they want to fulfill those orders. I also found that the supplement "The Marriage of Count Roderick" adds a ton of roleplaying to those early years, as does focusing a ton of time on the yearly courts and feasts. If you can get the players to focus on their households and courting potential wives, the railroad-y aspects of the campaign fade into the background.
As for character death: always let them play a new knight when an old one dies, if it that means playing as a brother instead of son.
@@danwells9305 That supplement, is it from an earlier edition? I dont think I have seen in available for the current stuff, or is it part of The Book of Uther maybe?
never mind, I found it, I never saw it before while I own all other 5th edition stuff (or at least i thought i did!)
@@Infyra Are you talking about the Marriage of Count Roderick supplement? Because I don't remember which edition that was made for, even where I got it. Online somewhere. If you found it, hooray!
@@danwells9305 Indeed, it is available for free from both Chaosium and DrivethruRPG :)
Stellar review!
Are you ready for Pendragon 6e?
Did Nocturne make an edition if this in full color like 5.2?
Thanks that was a great review. How would you integrate any of the older supplements into this pendragon campaign? Thinking of all the 4th ed books in particular. Could you make a vid on that. Thanks again.
I'm honestly not as familiar with the older books, though I do have almost all of them on pdf. I should take a deeper look at them.
Super easy, barely an inconvenience. Most of the 3rd edition and 4th edition adventures are totally compatible with the 5th edition system. They are mainly set in Romance and Tournament Periods, although arguably some of the 3rd edition stuff might fit better even in Conquest Period. Some of them can be played at earlier periods as well, with some tweaking. In any case, I heartily recommend the adventure books, since they help out to fill in the activities in Romance and Tournament Periods, which are rather 'boring' as far as the main story goes, since it is mainly Lancelot and Tristram doing stuff, and they are mainly doing it solo. No big wars for the PKs to participate in. But perfect for adventuring and gaining glory by questing!
Would like to get your opinion on The Book of Uther and The Book of Sires.
I did Uther, and it's one of my favorites: ruclips.net/video/Kn5c0yAVp8Q/видео.html
I have Sires somewhere...
Thank you for your excellent review!!! Where did you score that in hardcopy form? I can only locate it via pdf on Chaosium's website. I would recommend to anyone thinking about running this campaign to check out Michael Woods excellent BBC series In Search of the Dark Ages. It is a little dated but still very interesting. Thank you again for this fantastic review!!! I just have to find someone to run me through it!!!
1) I got that hardcopy a few years ago, and I think it's since been replaced by a newer edition.
2) I am a professional GM who runs online campaigns for people, just saying ... :)
@@danwells9305 Im watching Excalibur right now whilst working from home!!! it's fate!!! Your statement about the story ultimately being a tragedy in the middle of your video was great- I always get caught up in the chivalry and shiny armor and forget that underlying point.
If anyone is willing to run this online and wants another player - please let me know :)
You gave the spoiler warning after!!!!! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo