Good forum folk, I fear I've been neglecting you! Taliesin (the forum member, not, you know, the quasi-historical figure) encouraged me to start posting direct links here to the actual-play recordings of my group, The Esoteric Order of Roleplayers, as we go through the GPC, so I'm setting up this thread to facilitate that. We just completed Year 520; here's the whole thing so far:

http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/search/label/gpc

Also, in response to a lot of folks asking what sort of resources I'm using, I set up a little hub of info at this link:

http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/p/pendragon-resources.html

(In addition to following here, you can also subscribe to the feed directly through iTunes or other RSS feed services, of course.)

This is my second time running the GPC (and first time for a weekly group) and I'm still making lots of mistakes and finding room for improvement in my GMing style. It's a constant learning experience. Something I'm trying for the first time ever in a campaign is bringing in an "Adversary" player (in the form of my wife, who was my player in the first run-through of the GPC) to take control of certain antagonist/foil-type NPCs. That's had mixed results (the Steward of Levcomagus probably being the most stand-out success so far--he was one of those villains players loved to hate), but now that Morgan and Agravaine are on the scene (with Mordred coming up in the relative near-future), she's really getting into it. In fact, in her capacity as Morgan, she's orchestrated things so that one of the PKs is going to be playing the part of Sir Accolon in the upcoming kidnapping/assassination plot against Arthur (unbeknownst to the player, of course). Oh dear...

Comments or questions are always welcome, either on this thread or via the blog.

Thanks for listening!

I really can not emphasize what a great and inspiring resource the Esoteric Order's recording are. Not to mention the amazingly cool GPC Solo campaign write ups. They're what turned Pendragon from a "I'd like to play this someday" to a "I need to run this game NOW."

SirLarkins' Solo GPC (http://shirosrpg.blogspot.com/p/the-solo-gpc.html) was a big part of my decision to play the GPC. His Esoteric Roleplayers podcasts helped me become more confident in the rules. It's good stuff.

Thanks for putting this together David. The Pendragon community is much stronger because of your work!

Sir Larkins inspired me to start playing PENDRAGON as well — I was looking for a solo RPG campaign I could play with my wife. Found his great chronicle of his own campaign with Des and the rest is history.

David was instrumental in the helping us polish up and complete the Book of the Warlord. It's so great to have such esteemed members of the community helping these books be the best they can be!


T.

As I do not have a group and therefore no Pendragon gaming... I'm living vicariously through the EOR. You could say that when it comes to listening to the episodes I have become... "religiousy". ;)

sirlarkins, thanks for posting. My life won't allow actual play podcasts, but I din enjoy your obsidian portal page.

Question: the manor maps? How did you make them? I would like some of those in my games!

Question: the manor maps? How did you make them? I would like some of those in my games!


I snagged the manor maps off an academic website. Someone obviously was a big fan of Harn and medieval archaeology, and mapped a variety of manors using the Harn system, which I've always quite liked from a graphic-design perspective. Here's the full list:

http://www.aedificium.org/Maps/LocalMaps.html

And here's the latest episode, Year 521!

http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2014/12/pendragon-great-pendragon-campaign-year.html

This turned out to be a great example of how one can integrate PCs into the scripted events of the GPC, although the way it went down in this session may not be to every player's taste. Fortunately, we had a player who was game, and an Adversary who was cagey enough to set the trap and spring it.

Harn

Harn. Of course. If there is someone who does the whole "culture gaming" thing even more hardcore than a KAP GM, it must be a Harn GM.

Thanks for the link.

Looks like I forgot to post last year's installment here, so you get two for the price of one this week!

522: http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2014/12/pendragon-great-pendragon-campaign-year_14.html

523: http://esoteric-rp.blogspot.com/2014/12/pendragon-great-pendragon-campaign-year_21.html

I have to say, we're getting into what is probably my favorite run of the GPC: mid-Conquest through early Tournament. It's the height of the classic Arthurian period, a time when the king is still healthy, vigorous, and accessible, a time before the Round Table has become moribund and ossified. I do appreciate the decadent decay of the latter periods, as well as the rough-and-tumble nature of the earlier ones, but this is really the Pendragon sweet spot for me.

I am pretty sure that this guy is an academic who studies villages, AND apparently a game too.
Great stuff!



Question: the manor maps? How did you make them? I would like some of those in my games!


I snagged the manor maps off an academic website. Someone obviously was a big fan of Harn and medieval archaeology, and mapped a variety of manors using the Harn system, which I've always quite liked from a graphic-design perspective. Here's the full list:

http://www.aedificium.org/Maps/LocalMaps.html