granvold@tymix.UUCP (Tom Granvold) (05/30/85)
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My review of Pendragon became longer than I expected, so for those
who are not interested enough to read the whole thing I am putting the
summary in a separate article.
Likes:
The combat and skill systems are new, play fast and feel 'realistic'.
This system could easily be used for games in other settings and makes a
good system to introduce newcomers to FRP games.
The setting is a great one, who wouldn't take the opportunity to
be a Knight during the reign of King Arthur? I am surprised that a game
in this setting wasn't done earlier.
In addition to combat, there is an emphasis on the character's
personality. It is rare in a FRP game to pay attention to the conflicts
going on within a person's mind. In this game this is as important as
physical combat. This combined with the setting of knightly ideals,
family feuds and love in all of Arthurian guises, makes different and
enjoyable role playing.
The quality of the production is high, from the box cover illustration
to the organization. This is typical of Chaosium games.
Above all it looks like it will be fun playing.
Dislikes:
Given the lack of additional material for this game it is going to
take a huge amount of work for a GM to set up a campaign. Of course there
are a large number of books on King Arthur, but translating this into game
terms is not easy.
Some of the information is not found where one would expect it. For
example, the way of calculating a new characters chivalry total is not
in with the rest of the character generation process. What makes this
much worse is that there is no index. Come on people there is no
reason that games cannot come with indexes.
Worst of all is that for the cost, $20, some more material should
have been included. As it comes the Gamemaster's Book is only 16 pages long.
There is a Chaosium supplement that consists of material that would have
been perfect for the Gamemaster's Book. As it is now, it will cost me
$30 for which I feel should only cost $20.
Summary:
All in all a good game. For those who are interested in the Arthurian
setting, it is a great system. It is good to see a system that does not
get in the way of the play. Brave Knights go out to battle the evils of
the world, but love can make fools of anybody. Anyone in the Silicon Valley
want to GM a Pendragon game that I can play in?
Tom Granvold
decvax!ucbvax!oliveb!tymix!granvold
Pendragon is a trademark of Chaosium Inc., at least I am fairly sure
it is.ncg@ukc.UUCP (N.C.Gale) (06/10/85)
In article <433@tymix.UUCP> granvold@tymix.UUCP (Tom Granvold) writes: >- > The setting is a great one, who wouldn't take the opportunity to >be a Knight during the reign of King Arthur? I am surprised that a game >in this setting wasn't done earlier. Damn b*gg*r it! It is indeed a good setting, I have been using it for a couple of years now. It was done with AD&D mutilated beyond recognition, and I was seriously thinking of attempting to market a fully-debugged version this summer after I leave University. Now that has been shot down in flames, except: I could get it out before it arrives in th'UK It would be a fraction of the cost Mine's set after the reign of King Arthur, anyway. Snarl. I am not pleased. -Nige Gale 'Pray, then, to your uncaring god, and know-you that all Hope is gone'
db@cstvax.UUCP (06/19/85)
In article <5212@ukc.UUCP> ncg@ukc.UUCP (Nige Gale) writes: >[The legend of King Arthur] is indeed a good setting, I have been using >it for a couple of years now. >It was done with AD&D mutilated beyond recognition, and I was seriously >thinking of attempting to market a fully-debugged version this summer. >Now that has been shot down in flames, except: >I could get it out before it arrives in th'UK >It would be a fraction of the cost Sorry Nige, I had a look at Pendragon in our local games shop this morning. You're right about the price though - it costs #25.95 !!! It does look quite good. I don't like the way player-characters have to roll against personality traits. It's fine for NPCs, and traits like this can be useful as a descriptive aid for PCs, but if PCs have to roll I think it's a step away from role-playing (towards "roll-playing"??). I like PCs to be free to develop their characters' personalities themselves. I suppose the Pendragon system might be useful for beginners. Of course, you can always buy Pendragon & ignore this part of the rules! -- Dave Berry. CS postgrad, Univ. of Edinburgh ...mcvax!ukc!{hwcs,kcl-cs}!cstvax!db