Companion Chronicles #22: The Unlikely Hero

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, The Companions of Arthur is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon. It enables creators to sell their own original content for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition. This can be original scenarios, background material, alternate Arthurian settings, and more, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Pendragon Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Pendragon campaigns.

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What is the Nature of the Quest?

The Unlikely Hero is a short encounter for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition.

It is a full colour, eight page, 5.68 MB PDF.

The layout is tidy, though it does need an edit.

Where is the Quest Set?

The Unlikely Hero is a scenario for Pendragon, Sixth Edition. It can be set in any year and is easily added to any root with a relatively isolated bridge over a river near a forest.

Who should go on this Quest?

Any type Player-knight can go on this quest. It could be run with just a single Player-knight. The encounter will test each Player-knight’s Trusting and Suspicious Traits. Any dog-living Player-knight will also be tested and potentially rewarded. The Chirurgery skill will be useful, or if not, a seasoned squire will do.

What does the Quest require?

The Unlikely Hero requires the Pendragon, Sixth Edition Core Rulebook and the Pendragon: Gamemaster’s Handbook.

Where will the Quest take the Knights?

In The Unlikely Hero, the Player-knights come across a strange situation. A damsel blocks their way across a bridge. Her clothes are ragged and dirty, she holds her hands to her face, and she is weeping. Yet there is no sign of where she came from, nor any horse or carriage, and no indications as to how she ended up in this situation.

The encounter hinges how trusting the Player-knights are, although the arrival of a large mastiff dog may further arouse their suspicions or it set them on an entirely new direction, depending on how their players roll. The encounter will quickly come to head either way and the truth of the situation revealed. The situation is very simple, and really what the Game Master has to do is to play up the distress of the damsel until either the suspicions of the Player-knights have been allayed or proven. At which point, the Player-knights will have the opportunity to gain a little glory and extend some chivalrous courtesy.

Some players may find it annoying and even frustrating that the damsel is less than forthcoming in her answers, but this perfectly in keeping with the situation. It might also have been useful if there had been a romance and marriage option explored for after the scenario. 

Should the Knights ride out on this Quest?

The Unlikely Hero is a serviceable encounter that pushes the Trusting and Suspicious Traits of the Player-knights just a little too hard. That said, it is short and easily added as an encounter along the road in any campaign. It can played through in a single session, very likely much less.

Companion Chronicles #21: An Arthurian Gaggle of NPCs

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, The Companions of Arthur is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon. It enables creators to sell their own original content for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition. This can be original scenarios, background material, alternate Arthurian settings, and more, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Pendragon Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Pendragon campaigns.

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What is the Nature of the Quest?

An Arthurian Gaggle of NPCs is a supplement for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition.

It is a full colour, eighteen page, 1.23 MB PDF.

The layout is tidy.

Where is the Quest Set?

An Arthurian Gaggle of NPCs is a supplement for Pendragon, Sixth Edition. It is a collection of NPCs complete with between three and six adventure hooks that the Game Master can develop into full blown encounters and longer term content for for her campaign.

Who should go on this Quest?

Any type of Player-knight can go on this quest.

What does the Quest require?

An Arthurian Gaggle of NPCs requires the Pendragon, Sixth Edition Core Rulebook and the Pendragon: Gamemaster’s Handbook.

Where will the Quest take the Knights?

An Arthurian Gaggle of NPCs presents fourteen NPCs for Pendragon, Sixth Edition, each of whom can be used in a variety of ways and developed from a single encounter into a longer storyline. Each is simply presented on a single page with their background, anywhere between three and six story hooks, and a stat block. Some are name, others are presented as generic figures that the Game Master can easily adapt to her campaign. For example, ‘The Vengeful Squire’ is unnamed and can be former or current squire who could be spreading rumours about the Player-knight, accuses him of crimes—whether true or not, sowing discontent amongst his fellow squires, or even attempting to seduce the Player-knight’s spouse! Whereas ‘Sir Malcolm de Deux Visages’ is a knight well known and popular because he supports good causes, the church, and sponsors the knighthood of worthy squires. In private though, he is an entirely different character, cruel, greedy, and ambitious. He might persuade the Player-knights to do his bidding based on his reputation, plot to discredit a Player-knight to take possession of his land, and so on. As the entry notes, Sir Malcom’s reputation makes him a good recurring villain.

Many of the entries are magical in nature. For example, ‘Glutoniére, the Knight Giant’ details a French giant who after facing and defeating so many knights sent to kill him has developed a fascination with chivalry and comes to England to investigate and attempt to become a knight! The hooks suggest that he might develop an ardour for a young lady—much to the family’s dismay, actually ask to serve a Play-knight as his lord or squire, and more. The gender-flexible ‘The Knight of the White Hare’ might taunt and trick the Player-knights and ‘Pegleg, the Wooden Horse’ really is a wooden horse, but one who will serve the worthiest of the Player-knights until he returns to the fairy land of Gwneuthurwr Ceffylau!

Should the Knights ride out on this Quest?

An Arthurian Gaggle of NPCs is both a useful and an enjoyable supplement, providing the Game Master with a range of interesting NPCs that will add colour and flavour to her campaign. Many of their accompanying hooks are simple enough that the Game Master can easily prepare a quick encounter, whether to foreshadow later events or simply run something in the here and now when there are fewer players available or between longer scenarios.

Companion Chronicles #20: Sicut Corvus Volat

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, The Companions of Arthur is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon. It enables creators to sell their own original content for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition. This can be original scenarios, background material, alternate Arthurian settings, and more, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Pendragon Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Pendragon campaigns.

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What is the Nature of the Quest?

Sicut Corvus Volat: Being a Wayfarer’s Companion for Sarisberie is a supplement for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition. It describes itself as ‘A Resource Supplement for Pendragon’.

It is a full colour, eighty-six page, 18.60 MB PDF.

The layout is tidy.

Where is the Quest Set?

Sicut Corvus Volat: Being a Wayfarer’s Companion for Sarisberie is a supplement for Pendragon, Sixth Edition. Its title is Latin for ‘as the crow flies’ and it fulfils this by providing a gazetteer of the immediate twenty miles around the city of Sarum, the Castle of the Rock, seat of power for Earl Robert of Salisbury, and thus the default set-up in both the Pendragon Starter Set and the Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook.

The supplement very much falls under ‘Your Pendragon Will Vary’ as it suggests that in that it is placed in an alternate timeline in which the connection between the world of men and the Land, caused by an imbalance in reality or ‘The Enchantment of Britain’ by the Great Betrayal of Vortigern on the Night of the Long Knives. The Player-knights are to play a role in Merlin’s plan to heal this imbalance. To reflect this, the supplement uses a fictional narrator of the time, ‘Gregory the Watcher’, who that also serves to strengthen the period worldview. However, this is an overview particular to this supplement and the Game Master is free to use it or not.

Who should go on this Quest?

Any type of Player-knight can go on this quest.

What does the Quest require?

Sicut Corvus Volat: Being a Wayfarer’s Companion for Sarisberie requires the Pendragon, Sixth Edition Core Rulebook and the Pendragon: Gamemaster’s Handbook.

Where will the Quest take the Knights?

The majority of Sicut Corvus Volat: Being a Wayfarer’s Companion for Sarisberie consists of a gazetteer of the immediate twenty miles around the city of Sarum , encompassing much of the County of Salisbury and as far as a knight can ride in a single day. The circular area ranges from the tiny village of Huish in the north to Bisterne in the County of Dorsette in the south, said to be a large hall built from a single tree by the Queen of the Fair Folk for one of her knights and from hamlet of Littleton in Hantonne County in the east to the dwelling of Kingston Deverill in the west in the County of Summerland. The map and gazetteer, inspired by King Arthur’s Round Table in The Great Hall in Winchester, is organised into sixteen arcs and within each arc, towns, villages, hamlets, and places of interest are described in turn. All of the places are taken from the Domesday Book of 1068. (That said, not every location in the region given in the Domesday Book is included. For example, Blaneford, now Blandford Forum, is absent.)

Primarily what this provides is a sense of the geography surrounding Sarum. Many of the details are mundane, but there are locations with interesting hooks that Game Master can develop, such as the aforementioned Bisterne in the County of Dorsette. The Player-knights might be given manors in these locations to manage and live in as well as raise a family, and of course, they might find themselves fighting against invading armies across this land too.

The second half of Sicut Corvus Volat: Being a Wayfarer’s Companion for Sarisberie is dedicated to ‘The Book of Days’, a great calendar that that explores different ways of looking at time and the year throughout this period. Specifically, this includes the years leading up to ‘The Arthurian Break’ when its history breaks from ours, followed by overviews of the Pagan Year, both solar and lunar, including dates of the full moon throughout the Pendragon Era, as well as the Christian Calendar. This includes important dates of celebration and religious observance, which can be effectively used in conjunction with the chapter on religion in the Pendragon: Gamemaster’s Handbook.

Should the Knights ride out on this Quest?

Sicut Corvus Volat: Being a Wayfarer’s Companion for Sarisberie is a useful supplement for the Game Master whose campaign focuses on Sarum and the County of Salisbury and wants to add verisimilitude and bring the region, its geography, and its year to life.

Companion Chronicles #19: The Strange Oak

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, The Companions of Arthur is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon. It enables creators to sell their own original content for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition. This can be original scenarios, background material, alternate Arthurian settings, and more, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Pendragon Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Pendragon campaigns.

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What is the Nature of the Quest?

The Strange Oak is a short encounter for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition.

It is a full colour, six page, 4.28 MB PDF.

The layout is tidy, though it does need a slight edit.

Where is the Quest Set?

The Strange Oak is a scenario for Pendragon, Sixth Edition. It can be set in any year and is easily added to any rural or forest location.

Who should go on this Quest?

Any type Player-knight can go on this quest. The encounter is not recommended for a solo Player-knight as the situation could kill him.

What does the Quest require?

The Strange Oak requires the Pendragon, Sixth Edition Core Rulebook and the Pendragon: Gamemaster’s Handbook.

Where will the Quest take the Knights?

In The Strange Oak, the Player-knights come across an odd situation. A great tree standing in the woods around which exudes an area of calm suggesting that it is a suitable place to camp. Yet there are no sounds of wildlife around and what look at first to be a profusion of stones upon the ground turn out to be bones, some of them animals and some of them clearly men, and by then, it is possibly too late. The tree has the Player-knight (or Player-knights) in its influence.

The Strange Oak presents a simple situation. Can the Player-knights deal with a benign threat before they fall prey to its influence? What is happening here is that the Player-knights have encountered a fae tree and if they stray too close, there is the chance they will fall asleep and not awaken, starving to death in their slumber, and their flesh feeding the tree. A young boy will warn the Player-knights as to the danger as he has already lost his family (what happens to the now orphan is left to the Player-knights to decide.)

The situation as written is an endurance test for the Player-knights until either they chop or burn the tree down. Encountering and destroying the tree will earn the Player-knights Glory.

However, The Strange Tree offers a number of encounters to flavour the whole affair. This includes a ghost for a supernatural element, a starving wolf-pack for a combat sequence, and even a magical encounter with a pupil of Nimue, the Lady of the Lake, who will issue further warnings. Ideally, the Game Master should one or two of these to add a little more detail to the encounter.

Should the Knights ride out on this Quest?

The Strange Oak is a serviceable encounter easily added to any campaign. It can played through in a single session, very likely much less.

Companion Chronicles #18: The Love and Labours of Sir Cauline

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, The Companions of Arthur is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon. It enables creators to sell their own original content for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition. This can be original scenarios, background material, alternate Arthurian settings, and more, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Pendragon Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Pendragon campaigns.

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What is the Nature of the Quest?

The Love and Labours of Sir Cauline is a scenario for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition. It is primarily designed to be played using its four pre-generated Player Characters.

It is inspired by the traditional folksong, Sir Cawline.

It is a full colour, forty-eight page, 74.89 MB PDF.

The layout is tidy, though it does need a slight edit.

Where is the Quest Set?

The Love and Labours of Sir Cauline is a scenario for Pendragon, Sixth Edition. It can be set in any year, ideally after 515 CE, at Pentecost (or Whitsun), in late May. Due to the traditional activities its events celebrate, it should also ideally take place near Cooper’s Hill, at Brockworth near Gloucester, England.

Who should go on this Quest?

As written, the four pre-generated Player Characters should be used to play The Love and Labours of Sir Cauline, one of whom is Sir Cauline of the title. He can be roleplayed if there is only one player, but others include a squire, a household knight, and an ex-knight, now friar.

If the scenario is played in more traditional fashion, there is no limit upon the type of Player-knight that can be played. Knights with a strong Spiritual Trait, the skills of Religion (Christian), Religion (Pagan), and Folklore will have an advantage in certain situations. Skills associated with courtship will also be very useful for any Player-knight involved in the romance at the heart of the scenario.

What does the Quest require?

The Love and Labours of Sir Cauline requires the Pendragon, Sixth Edition Core Rulebook and the Pendragon: Gamemaster’s Handbook.

Where will the Quest take the Knights?

In The Love and Labours of Sir Cauline, the Player-knights travel to Aldric castle, home to King Aleric and Queen Gwendoline, as well as their daughter, the Lady Christabelle, in order to celebrate Pentecost. There are opportunities to worship, feast, and enjoy the peasant activities. Any Player Character who is not a knight may even join in, including even a cheese-rolling contest! However, Sir Cauline is soon not be seen, taken to his bed in deep melancholy as the Lady Christabelle is the subject of his deep adoration. This requires some directed roleplaying upon the part of Sir Cauline’s player, but he should soon perk up when the Lady Christabelle suggests some deeds of arms to prove himself worthy. This is to face the Eldrige Knight on Eldrige Hill and return with the thorn atop the hill. If he is successful, the romance between the Lady Christabelle and Sir Cawline begins to blossom, but faces several hurdles in the coming days. This includes revenge, treachery, and promises tested, plus there is scope to extend the scenario and add labours of love as well.

The scenario is very nicely detailed and shows how to play out a romance and its difficulties. The primary problem is that this means that it focuses upon Sir Cawline and his relationship with the Lady Christabelle, so that the other Player Characters are not as intrinsic to the plot and despite using pre-generated Player Characters, it does not make The Love and Labours of Sir Cauline a good demonstration scenario and it is certainly too long to be run as a convention scenario. This is also means that as strictly written, the scenario is not particularly suitable to be run as a campaign.

However, the scenario could be run as part of campaign without any of the pre-generated Player Characters if a Player-knight has developed an Adoration for an NPC whom he is not quite of sufficient station to marry, thus having to prove himself worthy of the NPC’s affection. In this way, The Love and Labours of Sir Cauline could be run to place a particular Player-knight in the spotlight or as an adventure separate to the main campaign with even just the one Player-knight involved.

Should the Knights ride out on this Quest?

The Love and Labours of Sir Cauline is an engagingly detailed scenario that gives time for ardor to be proven and a romance to develop as told in the folksong that inspired it. However, as written its set-up is quite restraining given its primary focus upon the one Player-knight, limiting its usefulness. With some adjustments upon the part of the Game Master this need not be the case and it could prove to be a worthy addition to a campaign.

Companion Chronicles #17: The Adventure of the Phantom Bell

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, The Companions of Arthur is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon. It enables creators to sell their own original content for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition. This can be original scenarios, background material, alternate Arthurian settings, and more, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Pendragon Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Pendragon campaigns.

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What is the Nature of the Quest?

The Adventure of the Phantom Bell is a scenario for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition.

It is a full colour, eighteen page, 3.0 MB PDF.

The layout is tidy, though it does need a slight edit.

Where is the Quest Set?

The Adventure of the Phantom Bell is a scenario for Pendragon, Sixth Edition. It can be set in any year, though ideally in early spring or late autumn.

Who should go on this Quest?

Knights of any type are suitable for The Adventure of the Phantom Bell, though they should at least be household or mercenary knights in service to a liege lord. Awareness,

First Aid, Folklore, Hunting, Play Instrument, Sing, Bow, and Horsemanship skills will be useful as will combat skills.

What does the Quest require?

The Adventure of the Phantom Bell requires the Pendragon, Sixth Edition Core Rulebook and the Pendragon: Gamemaster’s Handbook.

Where will the Quest take the Knights?

The Player-knights are tasked by their liege lord to attend to Greenway, a remote village where several people have gone missing. He suspects that Picts or Saxons might be responsible, but wants the disappearances investigated and put a stop to. The disappearances have been happening at regular intervals, so the Player-knights only have a few days before another one occurs. The scenario is linear is nature, the players have a choice of routes, a short one and a long one, with the former being more challenging. Taking the short gives the Player-knights more time in Greenway before the next person goes missing. Either way, the scenario tightens up a little as the impending disappearance grows near, and moves towards a confrontation with those responsible. This is nicely handled with the various possible situations being covered in a nasty combat with a surprisingly tough opponent.

The presents one or two interesting dilemmas to the Player-knights that test their Personality Traits in different ways. Some of these do stray into ‘Your Pendragon May Vary’ territory, so the Game Master is free to use them or not, as is her wont.

Throughout the scenario, the Player-knights will encounter a fair and mysterious hunter, ‘Eanswith, the Swan Maiden’, who will aid them on their journey to Greenway, in giving clues as to who—or what—might be responsible for the abductions, and if necessary, aiding them in killing it. Unfortunately, she is not only an intriguing figure for the knights and their players, but also for the Game Master. Simply put, she is not portrayed strongly enough and her motivations and interactions with the Player-knights are underwritten. The Game Master will at least want to develop a little more dialogue so that her portrayal can be easier.

Should the Knights ride out on this Quest?

The Adventure of the Phantom Bell is a relatively easy and straightforward adventure to run and play, and ultimately, insert into a campaign. It needs a bit more development, but that should not be beyond the skills of any good Game Master.

Companion Chronicles #16: Sir Balin: A Most Virtuous Knight

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, The Companions of Arthur is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon. It enables creators to sell their own original content for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition. This can be original scenarios, background material, alternate Arthurian settings, and more, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Pendragon Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Pendragon campaigns.

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What is the Nature of the Quest?

Sir Balin: A Most Virtuous Knight is a scenario for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition.

It is a full colour, twenty-nine page, 26.94 MB PDF.

The layout is tidy and it is starkly illustrated.

Where is the Quest Set?

Sir Balin: A Most Virtuous Knight is a scenario for Pendragon, Sixth Edition. It takes place in Forest Sauvage during the Boy King Period in 512.

Who should go on this Quest?

Knights of any type are suitable for Sir Balin: A Most Virtuous Knight. The Player-knights are expected to have sworn fealty to King Arthur or one of his supporters, the scenario suggesting the rival and occasionally feuding vassal lords, Duke Ulfius or Earl Robert of Salisbury.

What does the Quest require?

Sir Balin: A Most Virtuous Knight requires the Pendragon, Sixth Edition Core Rulebook and the Pendragon: Gamemaster’s Handbook.

Where will the Quest take the Knights?

The Player-knights are tasked by Sir Kay, Arthur’s adopted brother and trusted seneschal, to travel north to the Forest Sauvage and locate the manor of two great knights, Sir Balin and Sir Balan. With the constant threat of war from the northern kings who refuse to give fealty to Arthur, who they see as a pretender and an upstart, the young king is in need of allies. Both Sir Balin and Sir Balan are renowned for martial prowess and would greatly bolster King Arthur’s forces. The task is a simple matter of diplomacy, but the two-week journey is not expected to be easy. The first part of the campaign involves a road trip, similar to ones undertaken by the Player-knights if they have through the events of the Pendragon Starter Set following Arthur pulling the sword from the stone and being crowned.

However, before the Player-knights have a chance to properly seek Sir Balin’s allegiance to King Arthur, their host asks a favour of them. A fellow knight, one Sir Guy du Lak, has befouled the code of chivalry by kidnapping the mother of both Sir Balin and Sir Balan, an act that Sir Balin swears involved some kind of fairie enforcement. He asks the Player-knights to accompany him in rescuing her mother.

The majority of the events of Sir Balin: A Most Virtuous Knight are told in flashback, so ultimately, the Player-knights cannot alter the outcome, but this does not mean that the scenario lacks opportunities to roleplay or react to events, prove themselves worthy to be knights, and eventually, earn Glory. However, the scenario draws on a number of sources earlier than Le Morte d’Arthur and the exact details of Sir Balin and Nineve—the sister of Sir Guy du Lak—differ to that presented in Great Pendragon Campaign, so that may not fit what the Game Master intends for her campaign in the long term.

Should the Knights ride out on this Quest?

Sir Balin: A Most Virtuous Knight has tighter requirements in terms of timeframe than other scenarios for the Pendragon, Sixth Edition, but it still offers the chance for the Player-knights to involve themselves in the events of the wider events of the Arthurian saga.

Companion Chronicles #15: Feast of the Forest

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, The Companions of Arthur is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon. It enables creators to sell their own original content for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition. This can be original scenarios, background material, alternate Arthurian settings, and more, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Pendragon Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Pendragon campaigns.

—oOo—

What is the Nature of the Quest?

Feast of the Forest is a scenario for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition.

It is a full colour, thirty-one page, 16.28MB PDF.

The layout is tidy and it is reasonably illustrated.

Where is the Quest Set?

Feast of the Forest is a one-shot (or potential campaign starter) scenario for Pendragon, Sixth Edition. It takes place in East Anglia during the Anarchy Period.

Who should go on this Quest?

Feast of the Forest includes six pre-generated Player-knights.

What does the Quest require?

Feast of the Forest requires the Pendragon, Sixth Edition rules or the Pendragon Starter Set. The Hunting, Folklore, and Horsemanship skills will prove useful during the play of the scenario.

Where will the Quest take the Knights?

Feast of the Forest opens with the Player-knights ambushing a Saxon convoy containing a silver-laden wagon. Barely do the Player-knights have time to celebrate their success before they are presented with a moral dilemma—do they let the survivors go or do they put them to the sword? In other words, are they Merciful or are they Cruel? There are benefits to either course of action, but there are also penalties too. This is the first of many such tests in the scenario as the Player-knights first discover that the wagon was not carrying taxes, but tithes for the church and that has its own repercussions… They are forced to flee from the scene of the crime and deeper into the fens as first they are pursued by angry Saxons, and then by a creature out of Myth that literally hounds them and drives them into fear and hauntings.

The middle part of the scenario involves a radical shift in the point of view as the players roleplay villagers under attack by bandits. The realisation should come at the end of these scenes that the bandits are no mere NPCs, but the Player-knights of the previous scenes, and that the Player-knights are neither heroes nor embody chivalric ideals. Although jarring, this shift is a good way of showing how villainous the Player-knights actually are, rather than forcing their players to roleplay them committing immoral acts. Nor are they anti-heroes. They are the villains of the piece, morally compromised and very far from the oaths they took as knights. Already, the Player-knights’ decisions and actions will have had serious personal consequences. Mechanically, their acts of cruelty, sacrilege, cowardice, and so on, have earned each Player-knight ‘Curse Points’, representing his spiritual corruption and penalising skills, Traits, and ultimately his Honour. It is possible to find a path of Redemption by committing merciful acts, making confession, and the like. This is what the last part of the scenario is about. The Player-knights are given the opportunity to undertake a number of tests that will lead to a great battle, all of which will put them on the path to atonement, though the exact details of that path lie outside of the scenario. That path—and even getting to that path—is not certain and no Player-knight is under any obligation to follow it.

Feast of the Forest does require some set-up. The scenario works best when the players begin unaware exactly as to the true nature of the knights they are going to play. This requires some adjustment to the character sheets to keep that information hidden until after the scenes in the village where the players take the roles of the villagers being attacked by the knights. That way, the players and their knights can come to the conclusion that they are not heroes rather than being informed of it right from the start. The scenario is also quite complex and there is a lot to keep track of by the Game Master with the various tests, the accumulated Curse Points, and the big battle at the end to keep track of.

Should the Knights ride out on this Quest?

Feast of the Forest is a short, but far straightforward adventure that does something that Pendragon typically asks the players never to do. That is, play the villains. It neatly sidesteps the issue of having to roleplay villainous acts, instead focusing in the immediate consequences of said acts. Primarily, it is a one-shot, though one that is slightly too long for a single session or convention scenario given its complexity, but has potential as a campaign starter where the Player-knights are on the path to redemption. It would be interesting to see such a path explored in a sequel. Fear of the Forest is the antithesis of a classic Pendragon scenario, presenting a rare and intriguing exploration of the anti-Chivalric knight whilst suggesting that there might be a path of out of The Anarchy and the darkness.

Companion Chronicles #14: The Adventure of the Thunder Knight

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, The Companions of Arthur is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon. It enables creators to sell their own original content for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition. This can be original scenarios, background material, alternate Arthurian settings, and more, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Pendragon Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Pendragon campaigns.

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What is the Nature of the Quest?

The Adventure of the Thunder Knight is scenario for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition.

It is a full colour, nine page, 1.32 MB PDF.

The layout is a little untidy and it is not illustrated.

Where is the Quest Set?

The Adventure of the Thunder Knight is suitable to run with any campaign for Pendragon, Sixth Edition. It begins with the Player-knights urgently on their way back to court, the default being Salisbury, but it can be set anywhere to suit the Game Master’s campaign.

Who should go on this Quest?

The Adventure of the Thunder Knight is suitable for knights of all types.

What does the Quest require?

The Adventure of the Thunder Knight requires the Pendragon, Sixth Edition rules or the Pendragon Starter Set. If the expanded content is used, then the Pendragon Gamemaster’s Handbook will also be useful, but not essential.

Where will the Quest take the Knights?

The Adventure of the Thunder Knight begins in classic fashion, with the Player-knights being challenged by a knight to joust before he can let any one of them cross a bridge which lies on their route back to court. He explains that he is bound to challenge everyone crossing this bridge until he has atoned for his sins, although he will not explain why he is bound to this task, what his sins were, and what exactly he has to do to achieve atonement.

The second half of the scenario involves discovering the curse that the Thunder Knight is under and how it came to befall him. Unfortunately, the scenario provides the background, an explanation of the cause and the solution to the curse, as well as what might happen if the Player-knights attempt to lift the curse in a nicely atmospheric scene, but what it does not do is provide the means for the Player-knights to get to the point in the scenario where they can discern that background, determine the cause, and discover the solution. Such means are suggested, but the Game Master is expected to create this aspect of the scenario herself.

One of the default suggestions as to why the Player-knights are rushing back to court is that they have come to alert their liege lord that a Saxon raid is imminent and reinforcements are needed. The scenario includes details of this battle, should the Game Master want to run it.

Should the Knights ride out on this Quest?

The Adventure of the Thunder Knight is a short, straightforward adventure, or would be, were it actually complete. The Game Master can detail the scenes that the author omits, but should she really have to? The Adventure of the Thunder Knight is a solid, one-session scenario that is easy to add to a campaign, but essentially, the scenario is rushed and the author skips over the middle and less interesting bits of the scenario, leaving the Game Master with more work to do do than the scenario really should.

Companion Chronicles #13: The Adventure of the Bearded Ladies

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, The Companions of Arthur is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon. It enables creators to sell their own original content for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition. This can be original scenarios, background material, alternate Arthurian settings, and more, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Pendragon Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Pendragon campaigns.

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What is the Nature of the Quest?

The Adventure of the Bearded Ladies is an adventure supplement for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition.

It is a full colour, seven page, 743.81 KB PDF.

The layout is a little untidy and it is not illustrated.

Where is the Quest Set?

The Adventure of the Bearded Ladies is suitable to run with any campaign for Pendragon, Sixth Edition. It begins at court, whether that is Camelot or Salisbury, and its three mini-quests can be set anywhere to suit the Game Master’s campaign.

Who should go on this Quest?

The Adventure of the Bearded Ladies is suitable for knights of all types. It may not appeal to Player-knights who possess a mercenary streak.

What does the Quest require?

The Adventure of the Bearded Ladies requires the Pendragon, Sixth Edition rules or the Pendragon Starter Set.

Where will the Quest take the Knights?

The Adventure of the Bearded Ladies begins when three bearded ladies attend the court seeking aid in lifting the curse that caused their affliction. Calling upon valorous knights, they explain that they have fallen afoul of the sorcery of an evil wizard called Abramelin. To lift this curse, they must wash their beards in the sweat of the holiest stone in Britain, write magic tattoos on the palms of their hands with the magic needle of the sleeping giant Mambrinus, and make the ink for the tattoos with the burnt remains of the Sorrowful Knight’s beard. Each of these involves a mini-quest.

All three mini-quests are nicely detailed and involve a good mix of skills and traits. The first involves riding out into a swamp to talk to a hermit who refuses to leave his treehouse, the second wading into a river to wake up a giant, and the third locating a crotchety old knight and persuading him to shave his beard. Depending upon the actions of the Player-knights, all three of the mini-quests can be completed without any combat, although the old knight will want to prove his Jousting skill. Once done, the Player-knights can return to court and the three ladies will be able to lift the effects of the curse they are under.

The scenario is short and should take no more than a session to play through. Mechanically, The Adventure of the Bearded Ladies is more sophisticated than the author’s previous scenario, The Adventure of the Secret Admirer, though it is not as charming. What it does not do is explore how and why Abramelin cursed the three ladies and nor does it name the three of them.

Should the Knights ride out on this Quest?

The Adventure of the Bearded Ladies is a short, straightforward adventure. It is easy to prepare and run, but it does leave a few questions from its background unanswered.

Companion Chronicles #12: The Adventure of the Secret Admirer

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, The Companions of Arthur is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon. It enables creators to sell their own original content for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition. This can be original scenarios, background material, alternate Arthurian settings, and more, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Pendragon Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Pendragon campaigns.

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What is the Nature of the Quest?

The Adventure of the Secret Admirer is an adventure for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition.

It is a full colour, six page, 3.68 MB PDF.

The layout is a little untidy and it is lightly illustrated.

Where is the Quest Set?

The Adventure of the Secret Admirer is suitable to run with any campaign for Pendragon, Sixth Edition. It is nominally set in the county of Sussex, but can be easily be shifted elsewhere to suit the Game Master’s campaign.

Who should go on this Quest?

The Adventure of the Secret Admirer is suitable for knights of all types. It will appeal to Player-knights who uphold the ideals of courtly romance in particular. It is suitable for play with smaller groups of Player-knights or even a single Player-knight.

Player-knights with a good Recognise skill and a high Jousting (Charge) skill will be at an advantage.

What does the Quest require?

The Adventure of the Secret Admirer requires the Pendragon, Sixth Edition rules or the Pendragon Starter Set.

Where will the Quest take the Knights?

The Adventure of the Secret Admirer begins with the Lady Colette approaching the Player-knights for a favour. Her parents are unhappily married, Sir Uren, her father a gruff and elderly knight famed for his bravery during the Saxon Wars, her mother, the Lady Elise, a French heiress. During the last two months whilst her father has been away, her mother has been visited by a succession of knights, each bearing flowers and declaring her to be the most beautiful lady in Sussex. Each knight claims to have been defeated in a joust by the Knight of the Flowers, the terms of the defeat requiring that they each deliver the flowers and make the declaration. None though, saw the face of Knight of the Flowers. Lady Colette is worried how her father will react to this flood of romantic intention and asks the Player-knights to find the Knight of the Flowers and persuade him to stop.

The scenario is short, in two parts—though with options to expand it a little—and should take no more than a session to play through. In the first part, the Player-knights will ride back and forth across the county in search of the various defeated knights and question them in turn. Some may want to joust, others require a little help, but the Player-knights will quickly learn where the Knight of the Flowers might be found. In the second part, the Player-knights confront the Knight of the Flowers and may well discover exactly who he is… This final encounter is quite challenging as the Knight of the Flowers is a highly skilled jouster. Any Player-knight will need the combination of a good skill, the benefit of a successfully invoked and suitable Passion, and a good die roll if he is to beat the Knight of the Flowers. This also means that there is a not unreasonable chance of the Player-knights failing to defeat him and finding themselves having to deliver flowers to the Lady Elise.

The Adventure of the Secret Admirer is a short, straightforward adventure. One element it does not employ as written are any Player-knight’s Traits or Passions. This is a major omission and the Game Master will need to work with her players to develop opportunities for this.

Should the Knights ride out on this Quest?

The Adventure of the Secret Admirer is a charming affair that is easy to prepare and run, but just let down the lack of sophistication when it comes to the full use of Pendragon, Sixth Edition’s signature character mechanics.

Companion Chronicles #11: Heirs & Spares

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, The Companions of Arthur is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon. It enables creators to sell their own original content for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition. This can be original scenarios, background material, alternate Arthurian settings, and more, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Pendragon Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Pendragon campaigns.

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What is the Nature of the Quest?

Heirs & Spares is a supplement for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition.

It is a full colour, Seventy-six page, 97.90 MB PDF.

The layout is tidy and it is nicely illustrated.

Where is the Quest Set?

Heirs & Spares is suitable to run with any campaign for Pendragon, Sixth Edition, but has content specific to the Pendragon Starter Set.

Who should go on this Quest?

Heirs & Spares is suitable for knights of all types, but works exceedingly well with the Knights provided as pre-generated Player-knights in the Pendragon Starter Set.

What does the Quest require?

Heirs & Spares requires the Pendragon, Sixth Edition rules or use it at its fullest the Pendragon Starter Set. In addition, Squires Rampant may also be useful.

Where will the Quest take the Knights?

One of the key aspects of Pendragon is the lethality of its combat combined with dynastic play. Players are expected to not just roleplay their characters, but the sons and daughters of those characters, and in turn, the grandsons and granddaughters of those characters, and so on, over the course of several decades. As knights and thus members of the nobility, it is important that the Player-knights not only have designated heirs, but also spares. The heir is the one who will inherit a Player-knight’s mantle and position as well as his wealth and his duties, should something catastrophic happen to the Player-knight. The spare—a slightly dismissive term suggesting a certain uselessness—is there should something terrible happen to the heir. Thus, it is both vitally important that a Player-knight should have an heir and a spare to continue the family line and honour and full of potential in terms of storytelling.

Heirs & Spares is a supplement which explores these roles in Pendragon, Sixth Edition, but goes further than this by examining in greater depth their role and place in the lives of the Player-knights given as pre-generated Player Characters in the Pendragon Starter Set. In addition, it gives advice on how to integrate these heirs and spares to the Player-knights into the campaign—which will lead from the Pendragon Starter Set and into The Grey Knight and beyond—and provides plot hooks and story seeds for all eight pre-generated Player-knights and their heirs and spares. There is a wealth information and detail in this supplement that will add depth to the lives of the Player-knights and the beginnings of the official Great Pendragon Campaign as whole. However, although the content is very much tied to the pre-generated Player-knights, it is important to stress that none of it is official and that it definitely falls under the purview of ‘Your Pendragon Will Vary’.

Heirs & Spares opens with a discussion of the nature of both roles and where they can be drawn from in game terms. From the backgrounds of pre-generated Player-knights and families of Player-knights, with glance at simply replacing the deceased with someone unconnected and wholly new. It also looks at the degree of Player-knight creation, either taking a pre-generated Player-knight—as is presented for the Player-knights from the Pendragon Starter Set in Heirs & Spares, simply cloning an existing Player-knight (even one of the Player-knight who has just died), or full character generation. It notes the limited scope for this using just the Pendragon Starter Set and the Game master will need the Pendragon Core Rulebook.

The largest section in Heirs & Spares is devoted to the eight Player-knights from the Pendragon Starter Set, providing an overview of why each is interesting to play before detailing their heirs and spares. It is followed by a timeline of their family history. All expand their backgrounds in interesting ways. For example, Dame Lynelle and her squire, Booth, share a history, but are not related, and so technically, she has no family heir. Further, it is suggested that Lynelle’s younger brother and actual heir, might still be alive. Were he to be found, then he would become her heir and Booth, her spare. The heir to Asterius, the Byzantine knight, is his cousin, Callinicus, described as “the Slippery Exile”, more courtier than knight who fled Byzantium after his father was arrested by the emperor for corruption. Dame Cwenhild’s family is expanded with the addition of a half-brother, Oswain, but more Cymric than Saxon like Cwenhild, whilst their cousin, Eahild, whom Cwenhild regards as a younger sister, follows in her footsteps in wielding a heavy axe and a vengeful nature. All eight Player-knights are explored and expanded in this fashion.

The Player-knights and their heirs and spares are supported with advice for the Game Master on how to use them, primarily as NPCs, as well as suggesting alternatives to their respective Luck Benefits. Each Player-knight is given two pages of plot hooks and story seeds, the most obvious being to explore whether or not Dame Lynelle reveals her lack of status as a knight and potentially, her attempt to reclaim her family seat. To that end, her estate is detailed. Dame Cwenhild’s story hooks examine the politics and bureaucracy of Londinium, Dame Tamura her connection with the Ladies of the Lake, and so on. Of course, these will need development, but all are worth looking at, if only for their ideas. Lastly, Heirs & Spares details three NPCs that can be added to a campaign. Morcades of the White Tower is the daughter of the Constable of the White Tower in Londinium, renowned as a nunnery-raised, literate tomboy healer with an independent streak a mile wide, who could become firm friends with a female Player-knight, appear as part of Londinium-based adventures, and be the subject of courtship attempts by other Player-knights despite her father’s protestations! Her father is also detailed. The other two consist of Griflet de Carduel, actually a squire in the Pendragon Starter Set, and his sister, Lore de Carduel, both of whom are secondary characters in the Arthurian canon. Their detail enables the Game Master to bring them into play and so further the Player-knights’ involvement in telling the chronicles of King Arthur’s legend.

Should the Knights ride out on this Quest?

The usefulness of Heirs & Spares depends very much upon if the Game Master is running the campaign in the Pendragon Starter Set with the included pre-generated Player-knights or not. If not, Heirs & Spares will be of limited use and application, perhaps best serving as a ready source of NPCs and replacement Player-knights, plus associated story hooks and plots.

However, if the Game Master is running the campaign in the Pendragon Starter Set with the included pre-generated Player-knights, then Heirs & Spares is very, very useful. It expands greatly upon the backgrounds of the eight Player-knights, giving them heirs and spares when it even seemed unlikely that they would have any, and in the process, adding a wealth of story possibilities that can be told alongside the events of the great chronicle that makes up Pendragon. The fact that Heirs & Spares falls under ‘Your Pendragon Will Vary’ is actually disappointing. The content in the pages of Heirs & Spares is not only useful in terms of what it will add to a Game Master’s Pendragon campaign, but also so well developed and thought out that it will enrich the lives of the Player-knights and the campaign as a whole. Heirs & Spares may not be official, but it is very good and it is the companion to the Pendragon Starter Set—and beyond—that Pendragon, Sixth Edition did not know it needed.