I'm new to Pendragon and I'm currently reading through the Grey Knight adventure hoping to run it once I start playing. Going through the scenario it made me realize how little I know about Arthurian legend and its actors. I've started reading a bit of fiction, I went through The Winter King from Bernard Cornwell (which gives a nice "historical" view of the legend) and I've just started The Crystal Cave from Mary Stewart. I know Greg recommends The Once and Future King in the rulebook so I could add it to the reading list also. But apart from that what should I do/document myself on? Read the GPC? Or maybe the original Pendragon Campaign? Anything else in order to become a good KAP GM?

Thanks.

Sir Dom

Hmm. I am not sure how good advice I can give. I don't think you -have- to do something specifically to become a good Pendragon GM. Most of the issues I'd see in common with being a good GM in general.

Of course it doesn't hurt to be generally familiar with the saga in question. The GPC is very much based on Le Morte d'Arthur (although expanded with other Arthurian tales), which you can find online in all its glory. The Wikipedia has a quick summary too, to get a general overview quickly:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Morte_d%27Arthur

I'd also watch Excalibur, if you have it. Granted, it takes some liberties (oh so so much) with the legend, but it is still a pretty good representation of Arthur in my opinion, and gives an overview of the legend.

I am not sure I would try to start with the Grey Knight, as it is a pretty 'high-level' adventure, with King Arthur and Gawaine directly involved. I don't think it is a good adventure for the starting characters, even though I do like it otherwise.

Some tips I would give (not that I always manage to follow these myself):

1) Know your players: What kind of a campaign do they wish to play? Are they looking to be heroes comparable to the big names of the Round Table straight off the bat, or are they more about the journey to become a great hero? Are they looking to play a 'historical' campaign, or go for the full glitz of Camelot That Never Was? Are they interested in the family, long-term aspects of the game, or are they more about hack and slash? Do they want to be challenged or do they want to feel like badasses, cutting through lesser opponents? Hopefully, your players and you will agree in the campaign/play style, and it will be fun for all of you.

2) Don't be afraid to alter the GPC: One of my least favorite parts of GPC has to do with Arthur's Battles 510 - 518, since they are 'fated' for Arthur to win. Were I go back to GM that part, I would make darn sure that the PCs would have some noticeable role to play within the context of the story. Will they be able to save nobleman X from Saxon axes? Will they be able to blunt the outflanking attack of Lot's knights? Make their rolls matter, even if in a little way. One of my favorite moments was during the Roman War, when it was one PC, instead of Sir Boso (or Sir Gawaine, who in our campaign was leading the charge, as otherwise I would have been subjected to sniggers by my players), who managed to turn the tide of battle by killing the famous Roman General, Petreius Cocta. Granted, things become much harder if you change the outcome of battles and especially whole campaigns, so I am not sure I would do that. For the same reason, Anarchy is one of my favorite periods, as it gives the PKs a lot of freedom to influence the fate of Salisbury, and the Builth War is one of my favorite multi-year scenarios, although again, I probably would GM it slightly differently were I to go back to it.

3) What is the role of the famous characters in your storyline? This goes back to the players' preferences. Do they like to hang out with the famous characters? Again, I personally like to intertwine the players' stories with the 'canon', within reason. For instance, there -could- be some doubt to Mordred's parentage, given that Queen Morgause bedded one of the PKs who had been sent to escort her back to Lot... They also accompanied Tristram to fetch Dame Isolde from Ireland, and witnessed the two falling in love due to the love potion. They spoiled the attempts of the Orkney Clan to defeat Sir Lamorak in a Grand Tourney of Logres, and earned the enmity, briefly, of Orkneys while doing so. This Orkney - De Galis feud has continued to involve the players, too. On the other hand, I do like the PKs to have their own stories as well, so I generally avoid making them adventure with famous RTKs.

The GPC is quite well set up to help you in to the game.

You have a decade or so of 'training wheel' adventures which set the character knights up as the sort of men who occasionally feature in national-level events; this positions them well for the anarchy which is a sandbox period when they can pursue their own agenda in local (ie county/duchy level) affairs.

Assuming they do well during this freeform period then you have a change of pace back to a more 'programmed' sequence where the survivors of the first generation are going to be on call as trusted advisors for their Lord and active in the new royal court, while their heirs will be up near the head of the line for the flood of glory that is unleashed by Arthur's unification wars.

I agree that with Morien that you need to do a bit of stake-setting for the Boy King phase - I keep the big picture pretty much on rails, but there's plenty of room to make things count further down the scale. The GPC is a narrative of events with some discussion of 'public' motivations but you have a lot of scope to shake things up and tell the 'insiders' story with a bit of thought and some low cunning.

Regards
Luke

I am not sure I would try to start with the Grey Knight, as it is a pretty 'high-level' adventure, with King Arthur and Gawaine directly involved. I don't think it is a good adventure for the starting characters, even though I do like it otherwise.

I was interested in running it because on page Larry DiTillio says in its designer's notes that "Its best played by beginning Knights".
That said, my plan was to start with the Hunting scenario in the 5.1 rulebook, followed by maybe The Adventure of the Dancing Tree and then The Grey Knight.

My original question was mainly about how to learn about knights like Sir Gawaine, Bedivere, etc... and events like the May Babies, how Arthur came to father Mordred, etc...
Also movies like Excalibur (which I really) often mix Margawse and Morgan together, some I'm getting my facts confused. :)

If the definitive answer is Malory, I'll track down a copy and go through it.

The Arthurian Companion (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1505934.The_Arthurian_Companion) by Phyllis Ann Karr might be something to consider.