I thought it might be worth singing a counterpoint.

the group I play with use the basic Pendragon 5th ed rulebook, the Errata and glory clarifications from http://www.gspendragon.com/ the GPC, and that's about it.

No house rules to speak of, dice rolled in the open, no softening of PK mortality, and the game is working splendidly for us.

We started at 485, we are now at 522. We play once per week for about three hours. Four players, two are on their third Character, one on his fourth, and one still has his first in Play.

RAW Vanilla (Rules as written) can work. It's a lovely rules light system.

So, does anyone else play it by the basic book?

I have a 3rd edition Pendragon game with no house rules, but I use The Boy King supplements for timeline and adventures. We started in 494, are in 510 right now. Have had 7 casualties in that time period. Play once per month so it has been going on for a while

Sorry me and my crew own all of the following books
List of Publications

By Publisher, and chronologically

Chaosium, Inc.

CHA2701-X, King Arthur Pendragon, 1st Edition (1985)
CHA2702, The Pendragon Campaign (1985)
CHA2703, The Noble's Book (1986)
CHA2704, The King Arthur Companion (?1984)
CHA2705, The Grey Knight (1986)
CHA2706, Tournament of Dreams (1987)
CHA2701-X, King Arthur Pendragon, 2nd edition (1989)
CHA2707, Knights Adventurous (1990)
CHA2708, The Boy King (1991)
CHA2709, King Arthur Pendragon 3rd edition (1990?)
CHA2710, Savage Mountains (1991)
CHA2711, Blood & Lust (CHA2711)
CHA2712, Perilous Forest (1992)
CHA2713, Pagan Shores (1994)
CHA2714, The Spectre King (1992)
CHA2715, Castle of Bones (cancelled but found a copy on Greg's website http://www.gspendragon.com/castleofbones.pdf)
CHA2716, King Arthur Pendragon Fourth edition (1993)
CHA2717, Beyond the Wall (1995)
CHA2718, Land of Giants (1996)
CHA2719, Lordly Domains (1997)
Historical Interjection

uh oh...
Green Knight Publications

GK2720, Tales of Chivalry and Romance (1999)
GK2721, Tales of Magic and Miracles (1999)
GK2722, Saxons (1999)
GK2723, Tales of Mystic Tournaments (2000)
GK2724, Book of Knights (2000)

we bought
White Wolf

WW17800, Pendragon 5th Ed. (2005)
and while it was a nice book in all and we do re fur to it for the improved tables and some relay awesome new examples and fluff we went back to playing 4th its are favorite rules set of the game and as I am on a limted income could not afford to buy WW17810, The Great Pendragon Campaign (2006) and really still can't afford to buy it.

and yes Greg before you ask I did cut and paste from your website was easier then typing them out.

I should probably say ours started with Saint George the dragon slayer and his knights (c. 275/281 – 23 April 303) and were now in our 4th to 5th generation of Characters in 513.

I've run an entire campaign with nothing but the 4th edition book. No house ruling except for a bit of GM fiat/fudging.

fg,
Thijs

Although I don't think the game needs a lot of house rules, I do enjoy seeing other people's ideas. If they seem well-reasoned and don't introduce a lot of overhead, I'll adopt them more often that not. I strive for a high degree of verisimilitude in my game, so I like house rules that help me achieve that. I mean, you're talking to the guy that researched 1,000 Cymric names with etymologies, pronunciations and frequency. Freakish, I know, and still probably not terribly accurate. But at least the list is well-reasoned and as good as I can make it given the resources I have — all so I don't have to be stuck with the 100 or so names in the rulebook! Not a house rule, exactly, but the concept and motivation is the same. The medieval world has many, fascinating aspects that are tough to encompass in one ruleset, so I applaud anyone who contributes to the overall tapestry.



T.

Taleisin,
I'm a bit of a medievalist myself, so I share your enthusiasm for a richer tapestry. :)

The Names project sounds like a great addition, but it adds colour and detail, and does not add to or change the mechanics.

spinning off down the names path,
Do you have your names list available online anywhere?
Have you found the Academy of St Gabriel?
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/pceltic.shtml

Do you have your names list available online anywhere?

I do indeed. See the "Play Aids" forum. They're easily found.


Have you found the Academy of St Gabriel?
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/pceltic.shtml


I have now! Looks awesome, thanks!


T.

My first group didnt realise there was more suppliments, just the main book, did us fine for High School and First year uni

I've wound up with a few small house rules... but I learned 4th and 5th both by running them vanilla. (Didn't care for 5's CGen at all.) Most of the stuff Greg deleted in 5th is stuff I'd have house-rule back in.

I do use a house ruled manor system (based upon some research, and hybridizing elements of 1E's Noble's Book and 3/4E's Lordly Domains), and a variant battle system that plays out as a minis game.

Then again, since I use 4E as my core - that's a LOT of "supplement" bound in - Knights Adventurous (sans the feast table, Grr) and the Magic rules.

It is, however, quite easily playable without the few house rules I use.