I'm hoping to start up a new Pendragon campaign soon, using the GPC as my basis. However, neither I nor my players have ever run or played in Pendragon. I own the 5.1 rulebook and the GPC. Are there any other must have books? I see a number of books on Drivethrurpg, but I'm not sure which ones are the new ones, or would be useful. Book of Battle? Armies? I would really love to have my charts and details for the downtime--should I pick up Book of Manor or Estates? What about the various "other" books?

Secondly, I want to give my players a "player kit" that contains their characters, manor sheets, maps of the area, local and recent history and the like. Is there anything in particular players should have?

Finally, I was hoping to use a trick I heard about for another epic game (Call of Cthulhu's Beyond the Mountains of Madness), and print out note cares with the pictures, name, rank, and coat of arms of the NPC in question. Has anyone tried something like this before? Would this be worthwhile? I'm trying to come up with an easy way for the players to remember all the Princes and Lords and Knights they meet along the way.

Hi there and welcome.

Another starting GM was asking about what books to buy, and that discussion was in this thread:
http://nocturnal-media.com/forum/index.php?topic=2079.0

The Player Kit... Sounds like you have most of the stuff there. If you wish, you could give them also the Winter Phase summary and maybe some kind of 'This is how the game works' -cheat sheet (how to roll skills in and out of combat, Traits and Passions), with combat modifiers and maneuvers and such that they can look at. Not a huge thing, but might help with a starting players. Other than that, sounds like you have things under control. A family tree would be nice, too.

I think someone else was doing those 'NPC cards', too... Ah, here we go. You might wish to PM Gilmere to see if he is willing to share what he has already done:
http://nocturnal-media.com/forum/index.php?topic=2272.0

Any other questions we could help you with?

To the maps and history, you could also add a short text for the most important NPCs, like Earl Roderick and countess Ellen. Thiss can also be an introduction about other knights they know.

Thanks, I PM'ed Gilmere--his cards look pretty fancy based on what he posted.



To the maps and history, you could also add a short text for the most important NPCs, like Earl Roderick and countess Ellen. Thiss can also be an introduction about other knights they know.

Is there a list or resource somewhere of other knights in the area? Perhaps the ones that the PC's were once Squires to?

Also, is there a FAQ or anything? There's a couple of rules (like healing) I'm a tad fuzzy on. I'm sure it'll become clear once we use it in game, but I wanted to check my assumptions first.

Is there a list or resource somewhere of other knights in the area? Perhaps the ones that the PC's were once Squires to?


As far as I know, what you see in the rulebook is what you get.

As for the knights the PKs were squires to, we had a discussion about that a while back:
http://nocturnal-media.com/forum/index.php?topic=2293.0
Greg feels that it would be best to keep things simple and he didn't introduce any of them because they would constrain the new PK knights too much.

I am sure, if you ask, people are more than happy to share their NPCs. The problem is, at least mine are pretty much tailored to the specific issues in my campaign, and would make less sense in the other people's games. But you could start a new thread, maybe in the Play Aid section: Share your (N/PC) knights!



Also, is there a FAQ or anything? There's a couple of rules (like healing) I'm a tad fuzzy on. I'm sure it'll become clear once we use it in game, but I wanted to check my assumptions first.


I don't think there is a FAQ... The rules are pretty easy once you read through them a couple of time and use them in play. However, if you have questions, feel free to ask for clarification. You can do it in a new thread in the Rule Questions section, which I think is the preferred way, to help people find specific threads and questions. Although if I were a starting GM, I would certainly be reading a thread titled 'New GM', too. :P

In the GPC there are also some names of knights in Salisbury (they are in a sidebar). You wil need to flesh them out more if you wish to use them.
The corebook also has some infornation.

In the GPC there are also some names of knights in Salisbury (they are in a sidebar). You wil need to flesh them out more if you wish to use them.
The corebook also has some infornation.


Oh yes, forgot about those guys (GPC p. 36). They are more like archetypes, really, just to offer different points of view.

The People of Salisbury, KAP 5.0 p. 55-56. Also, note that Greg has rewritten the heiresses from p. 56 as they were way too 'rich' for the game:
http://nocturnal-media.com/forum/index.php?topic=2364.0

I guess the same goes for the random marriage table: you shouldn't be picking up a manor a pop. I think I saw a revised table somewhere... Might have been Book of the Estate? (EDIT: Book of the Entourage, apparently.)

Also, I recommend reading through Greg's webpage: http://www.gspendragon.com/

Not only does it have some errata, but it also has revised childbirth tables that take the age of the wife into account, too.

I'm hoping to start up a new Pendragon campaign soon, using the GPC as my basis. However, neither I nor my players have ever run or played in Pendragon. I own the 5.1 rulebook and the GPC. Are there any other must have books?

I too am a new GM running the GPC for the first time. We have finished 4 sessions and are loving King Arthur Pendragon so far! At this (very) early stage of the game, I personally don't think anything besides KAP 5.1 and the GPC are truly essential. Previous editions of KAP had a default starting time period much later than the GPC. This means there are not very many (any?) published adventures for anything earlier than the Boy King era outside of the GPC (and perhaps Saxons!?). Obviously you can adapt any adventure if you put some effort into it, but in my experience so far, the "feel" of these adventures do not match the "Dark Ages" feel of the Uther and Anarachy periods (at least not the way I'm running my campaign). That being said, I can't wait to try some of these. Reading over them, "Tournament of Dreams", "The Grey Knight", and "The Adventure Of The Heart Blade" (in "Blood and Lust") look fantastic. I can't wait until our campaign gets far enough along to play these.

There are a few rules expansions that I like, but I don't think you need to rush out to get them until you get a feel for which areas your players are most interested in. Here are a few quick thoughts:


Book of Battle 2nd Edition: The battle system in KAP 5.1 is pretty basic. The "Book of Battle 2nd Edition" is a great way to expand that system. It's pretty complex though and slowed our sessions down a lot compared to using the default KAP 5.1 rules. Admittedly it's a new system for us (so we are slow) and we only play 2 hour sessions, but it's looking like battles will frequently take large portions of our sessions. My group likes that depth (the battle *is* the adventure), but if your players prefer to focus on narrative adventures and treat battles as a speed bump, I don't think BOB2 would make sense for your group. That being said, you are probably going to be fighting a *lot* of battles in the early game, so if you aren't afraid of the depth, this is probably the closest to a "must have" expansion for the game that I can think of. If you do end up going with BOB2, you might want to pick up the "Book of Armies" as well because that adds some flavor to the battles.
Book of the Manor: I have a player that loves "base building" style strategy games (like X-COM or Sim City) and as a result finds the "Book of the Manor" very satisfying. It makes our winter phases much longer though, so again, if you want to "skip to the action" I'd suggest avoiding BotM.
Book of the Estate: Once players reach the "Banneret" level and are getting multiple manors or estates, the rules in BotM seem like they may become cumbersome. The "Book of the Estate" has a much more abstract (read "faster") method of dealing with the "base building" which should speed the game, but also lacks some of the depth the BotM system provides. Being completely honest, I found BotE a little confusing the first time I read it because I was trying to make it more difficult than I should have. It's REALLY simple, you take the sample estates, say "this is what you get", and then players can add upgrades and customize their estates from there. There is a TON of detail in the book, but that detail is really just (very interesting) chrome. My feeling is that if you want the more simulation style "base building" game, get BotM first and use it for managing a player's primary manor, then layer BotE on for any additional holdings. Alternately, if you want "base building light", skip BotM and just get BotE. I don't think either of these are essential though if your group views the Winter Phase as a chore. Both books make the Winter Phase a bigger part of the game.
Book of the Entourage: Disclaimer, I don't have this book yet. It seems like it would give some insight on some people you can "hire" with the money you make from your estates and adventures. The sample estates in BotE list a lot of these followers as coming for "free" as part of the Estate, so it would be useful to have these rules. I'll probably end up getting this once my PCs get enough income to afford followers of their own.
Book of Knights and Ladies: This gives rules for creating characters from regions outside of Salisbury. If you are playing the GPC "as written" and keep new characters part of the same family as your starting PCs, this will not be necessary. It does have some interesting rules though, and if you are looking to introduce characters from other regions (or play a Squire or Lady), it is essential.


Finally, there are the "Regional Expansions" like "Beyond The Wall" or "Saxons!". These have some very interesting fluff/background material and could add to a campaign (new adventures, more background, more NPCs, etc) but honestly, are completely optional. I have noticed the GPC tends to move players around from region to region in Britain, so when you reach that stage of the campaign, the expansion for that particular region might become useful. I'm building an index of adventures in every book that I have and it will include many of the regional expansions. I'll probably know more about which ones integrate best with the GPC at which time periods once I am done with this. I'll be happy to share when I'm done (probably a few weeks away).

I hope this helps. I'm new too, so please take this with a grain of salt, but I've done a LOT of research on this and thought I could pass along my impressions. I hope they help!

Edit: Formatting

Always nice to hear from other new GMs, luckythirteen! :)

Gives a fresher perspective than what us old-timers have. :)