The Great Pendragon Campaign

Premise

The Complete Epic of The Greatest Hero of Western Legend

Winner of the 2007 Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming

For 1500 years King Arthur’s story has been told around campfires, in noble courts, in taverns, books, movies and now, with the prize-winning King Arthur Pendragon roleplaying game, at your game table.

The Great Pendragon Campaign begins during the reign of Arthur’s father King Uther, when player knights can participate in the events of Arthur’s conception. The long and brutal Interregnum of Saxon wars is forever altered when Arthur draws the Sword from the Stone to start his great and glorious reign. The Boy King leads his knights through periods of consolidation and expansion until the entire Western world is brought under his sway. Then, to High Adventure! Knights gain Glory and lands in the periods of Romance and Tournaments, and at last engage in the greatest adventure of all, The Quest for the Holy Grail. Then, amidst tragedy and broken dreams, the Twilight Period draws the epic to a close.

Eighty years of campaign detailed year-by-year provide the background, on-going events and adventures that define structure of King Arthur’s glorious reign.

The Magic is in The Details, and The Details are in This Book.

Included in this book are:
* Year-by-year details from 485 to 566.
* Maps and descriptions of Logres, Cambria. Cornwall, Brittany, Cumbria, the North, Ireland and France
* Maps of the important cities of Britain, including Early and Late Camelot and London
* Over 100 Adventures
* Statistics for over 50 Faerie Creatures and Nonplayer Characters
* Expansions for the Pendragon rules

“I’ve been working on this book for over 20 years, since the first publication of King Arthur Pendragon. This is the culmination of forty years of research, pleasure and gaming. It’s a tremendous joy to bring my love of the legend all together here.” –Greg Stafford, designer of King Arthur Pendragon

About this GPC:

1. Core Book overview: I’d skim the book the first time, picking and choosing what I read. The next time around I’d attempt to read it from cover to cover, leaving out the Keeper stuff like
2. Death is final in this game most of the time. You should expect to go through multiple characters because the real main character that you are playing is your noble house. However, this is not a “slog fest” of combat most years so there is lots of “downtime” in which there are no battles. We also like to move away from your main knights and sometimes focus upon the squires/pages of your house or the ladies or the distant kin in faraway Ireland where knights of Briton try to gain the favor of petty Irish kings.
3. Again, your noble house is your main character. Some previous players struggled with this idea and eventually had to leave the campaign because they were stuck in the solo player that goes to 20th level and never dies. Write up in more detail in another post.
4. This campaign is different from most. It’s what you put into it. You can just show up for the games and forget about it in between sessions but you’ll be missing out big if you never build your family tree or Winter Phase or take a bit of time to experience Arthurian Mythology. The books are free online and mostly in the public domain. You can also listen to some of the legends on free podcasts. I’d steer away from most of the movies, especially the new ones that don’t follow the legends too much. A handful are worth a look but most are not to grasp the setting. The core book has a section in the very back on Suggested Reading with comments.
5. The reason this campaign is so long is because it’s richly detailed. It is ambitious in that it steps away from the typical campaign focus on one or two PCs and instead details your dynastic family. This amidst the Arthurian Mythology which encompasses enchantments, mythical creatures, political strife and moral dilemmas in which the best choice still hurts.
6. Rules of KAP are important but not deal breakers if you do not know them. It’s a crunchy game and takes time to digest. Best to ask if you are confused. We had one or two long-term players who never seemed to understand the rules which told me they never read the core book fully yet they were able to play. Some previous players have spent most of their core book rule knowing the combat rules but their time arguably would have been spent better reading the asides of Mallory in the core book and focusing on traits, passions, skills and Stafford’s Designer’s Notes in the very back.
7. Typical Arthurian themes: loyalty, the ideals of knighthood, conflicting obligations/passions, producing a viable heir, political prominence and trust (perhaps blind trust). I am sure there are several other themes in Mallory’s literature but these are the ones that stand out for me.
8. The campaign is an organic process. Players should feel free to give opinions as to what they would like to see less and more of though try to make sure this doesn’t conflict with the focuses of the GPC and Arthurian Lore. For instance, one player made a long argument about changing combat mechanics but it was really a cover up to the truth being he simply hated to have his PCs die.
9. Side sessions are possible with one player or a few. Play by email sometimes works best but you need to keep up on it and not let it become lost. Some sessions do better by voice but bear in mind you have to plan this out weeks in advance typically. I have noticed that some players have no knack for following up on email side session dialogues so it may be voice is the only option. Note that side sessions are not a requirement but if you have an idea that you wish to cover shoot me an email.
10. Unless we agreed otherwise you’re a full-time player. Try to make 75% of the session. We won’t worry about your attendance slacking until you go below the 50% mark and even then life has its up and downs so things do happen (best to let me now rather than presume I read minds). However, the bigger issue is when a player begins to burn out and isn’t ready to leave and holds their seat hostage. Another is when the player misses a lot of sessions and doesn’t see things improving in the near future. It’s better to realize you cannot commit anymore and give me enough advance notice to find a replacement player (than just leave one day suddenly).
11. The campaign started officially in mid-April of 2015. As of 04/08/2018 we are almost three years through the Platinum Extended Edition of the GPC. I estimate at least another three years of real time playing (8 hours minimum per month). Note that the GPC starts in 484 A.D. and ends in 566 A.D. As of this writing on 04/08/2018 the campaign is in 528 A.D.
12. This game is more about embracing the setting than trying to “outsmart” the Keeper (or acting like this campaign is the players versus the Keeper). People of the latter values system will become very frustrated in this campaign.
13. After reading all of this the campaign should sound fun, engaging, intriguing and maybe more. I hope you feel the same way as I am about to begin my sixth year of the Great Pendragon Campaign. This will be the longest and most serious campaign I have ever run. Thank you for reading.

A bunch of our old podcasts are up. I tried to pick some of the more interesting ones. Be sure to listen to them in order (or not). Just look over the GPC years. Thanks and enjoy!
14. We currently have 5 full-time players and 2 former players who make cameo appearances.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13zPdl6NZq6iDdLaF6VIQKew3J41pEWax?usp=sharing