Hello! I just joined the forum here and finished reading the posting rules. I wanted to say thanks for having me and I look forward to chatting with you all!

I just bought King Arthur Pendragon, the 5.2 Edition from DTRPG. I am impressed. I haven't flipped through the rules since the 3rd edition I believe. Sadly, I never had many people who were as excited for the game as I was! Anyway, I actually have a group now a days that are very interested in trying new and different games that "break the mold" so to speak. And they all enjoy books and films on knights, so that is a big plus!

I have a question, not exactly rules related, but it is to a degree that I hope you can answer or point me to a thread that can assist me. Regardless of if my game turns out to be something they really enjoy or if it turns out to not be their cup of tea, I plan on getting some supplements because I love collecting and now have the ability to do so!

For the 5.2 edition...what supplements are for that edition? I know the game rules have changed, but are extremely backwards compatible, I'm looking for the supplements that are more "in tune" with the recent edition. Are those "Books Of..." series for 5th? Because those look like they would be an excellent addition for I love supplements that deal with castle building and land management. Or were they for 4th or earlier? Some of the samples didn't let me get a look at the publication dates.

Whew, that turned out to be quite the long winded hello, introduction, and question! So thank you for having patience and helping me.

All the 5th edition supplements are "mostly compatible" To start off, there is functionally no difference between 5.0, 5.1, and 5.2 core rules except for a few errata changes and some reorganization.

The Books of... are largely for 5th (I think there are a couple of older books that use the naming scheme, before it was standardized though) Main thing to keep in mind is that some of them are essentially revisions of subsystems of earlier books.

So for instance the Core rules have rules for battles, which was later revised in Book of Battle, which in turn was revised in Book of Battle 2. (With Book of Armies serving as a supplement to give battles more variety in their enemies.)

Similarly, Book of the Manor was the first book that really started with the land management minigame, but that's mostly been ditched in favor of the economic systems outlined in Book of the Estate (with a few supplementary details added in Book of Warlords, and the follower details returning in Book of the Entourage)

Beyond that I'd highly recommend the Great Pendragon Campaign (which serves as the general framework for a Pendragon campaign with an overview of the events and adventure hooks for each and every era of Arthurian history.) as well as the more specific Book of Uther. (which gives a more in-depth look at the early years of the Pendragon Campaign, focusing on Uther's Court and even allowing the option to extend the Pendragon campaign backwards and begin at the start of Uther's reign.

Finally there's the Book of Knights and Ladies, which is meant to expand on Character options from the basic Cymric Knights and ladies in the Core rules. Rules for making Saxons, Romans, Picts, and beyond are all potential options.

Hope that all helps. (As you can see I'm pretty new here myself.)

A very good answer from Ravian, and I have little to add to it, save to mention that the GPC Extension from Book of Uther is also available as a standalone. There is also the Marriage of Count Roderick - adventure, which gives some rules to run embassies to other nobles, as well as setting up the Count's marriage to Lady Ellen in early 480s and the Levcomagus Feud. Best of all, it is free! You can't beat that price!

https://www.nocturnal-media.com/store/the-marriage-of-count-roderick-free

There have also been other threads discussing the utility of one supplement over some of the others. I personally think that Book of the Entourage is perhaps the best first pick after GPC (+ Expansion), followed by Book of the Estate. Warlord is very good, too, but for campaigns focusing on what the knights are doing, Estate is better, IMHO, since it is more easily applicable to manorial development. That being said, Warlord has some very good appendices, as well as rules for the baronial officers to abuse their position (or be falsely accused of abusing it). There is a lot of overlap between Uther and Warlord, which is why I would be tempted to go Warlord first.

I am sure that there was some earlier thread where I went more into detail about these things...

Thank you Ravian and Morien. That actually helped quite a bit. You both have helped me narrow down which supplements I'd like to collect and explained thoroughly how useful each one is. Thanks for clearing up the supplement edition confusion. I was wondering which book replaced which and I am comfortable with that now. I think I am going to go with the Estate, Battle 2, Warlord, and Uther, with the Great Pendragon Campaign. I'll probably toss on Entourage and Knights and Ladies for good measure. After checking them out more in detail per your advice, those seem to be the most useful and interesting to me. Heck, I think I could even enjoy plotting out a manor on my own for fun! :) Thanks again.

Well, I got the said books on your advice and have been flipping through them. I am so happy!! So, in total I bought the Great Pendragon Campaign and The Book of Uther since they go together. Then I bought the Book of Battle 2nd Edition, Book of Knights & Ladies, Book of the Entourage, Book of the Warlord, and Book of the Estate. I also got the Book of Records: Knights as part of the deal, which is great to have form fillable character sheets!

I put the Book of Feats on my wish list. That looks like a really interesting one...I like the whole cards concept and making a feast like a mini-game. :)

I also purchased the Prince Valiant RPG too! Stumbled on to that in my browsing and that looks super fun...also pulled on my nostalgia strings too. :)

So I was going to use my money, which I had been saving, for a few "One Ring" supplements I hadn't had a chance to get yet, but obviously, Pendragon was the shiny object in the log that distracted this raccoon! Ha! But certainly no regrets because what a wonderful shiny object indeed! :D

Glad to hear you are enjoying them, and that you had enough of a budget to get all of the mentioned books! :) If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

While they are not, strictly speaking, 5th ed. material, I can also recommend the region-specific books such as Saxons! and the like. The really great thing about Pendragon supplements is that mechanically the game has changed very little throughout its editions, making them very compatible. The main thing you'll have to pay attention to is in Glory awards, which changed significantly from 4e to 5e, and the "standard" knight's income, which went from 6L to 10L even between the Great Pendragon Campaign and the Book-of series.

Am I missing anything, Morien?

--Khanwulf

The bigger shift was between 1st and 4th editions, then Glory inflated to Saxons! and BoK&L, before coming down again. The Glory table from 5.2 is almost identical to 4th edition one. Actually, more than Glory it was the squire years with the character getting several yearly training picks, if I recall correctly. I don't have to books before me right now.

As for knightly income, the difference is more in the book-keeping: the knight still only gets 6 libra for his family even though the manor is valued at 10. The only thing that is actual change is that he gets an extra 1 librum to spend as discretionary funds and that his land holding Glory is 10 instead of 6.

Saxons! is great (with the above caution about character progression as some special abilities that berserker have) if you are intending to play a Saxon campaign. However it is not nearly as useful for a GPC knightly campaign. For occasional (half-)Saxon PK, BoK&L is enough, IMHO. I would rather go for Perilous Forest, Savage Mountains and even Beyond the Wall which offer more knightly adventures.

Thanks Morien, and SirArn I forgot to extend greetings and hospitality! Welcome!

I actually really enjoy Land of Giants and Pagan Shore in the same vein as Saxons! --I think it is because knights are knightly in contrast and comparison to their neighbors. It's the context, or something.

Essentially these source books flesh out the setting further and if you can get them as a bundle are an excellent investment. Otherwise, you might pick and choose one or several based on the game you intend to run. If you keep to a Salisbury base and reign in your player's wanderlust you may need little more than the core books.

--Khanwulf

Thank you Khanwulf and Morien. Yes indeed! I had a budget from what I was saving for my Tolkien collection, but hey, save up again right?

I am actually glad you two mentioned the books like Land of Giants and Saxons. I knew from what I recalled (spotty memories at best, I think it was around '92 - '93 since looking at the 3rd edition) that many of the mechanics looked very similar. That is what I love about this family of games...I have 2nd and 3rd edition CoC books that I still use! So I'm very excited those books work with little effort on the game master's part.

And yes Khanwulf, I saw that there were two bundles of the older Pendragon books...great deals. Save, save, save. :)

I plan to run my first game, and again so excited to have folks willing to play this with me for it has felt like an eternity of trying to play, straight from the rules. That way it'll be easiest on me and the players to test the waters. In the future if all goes well, I could easily see using these rules to play games in later periods like that of Charlemagne (though I see his Paladins are getting their own game! :) ) or of the Crusades/Age of Eleanor and Robin Hood.

I wonder...have any of you tried that before? Or do you mostly stick to the game's period? I would think the Age of Eleanor would fit wonderfully considering many romances sprang from that time.

I have not played the game in other time periods, but did have played it other settings.
A fantasy setting. Warriors were the norm, but still with a code of chivalry. Also some of use were magic users.
An Amber setting (of the Zelazny books)

I think the system works well if there is a sort of code of conduct. A world that is more ruled by passions and traits, then skill alone. So I would think a Crusades or Robin Hood setting wouldwork as well. the fun part is that you do not need to change any of the mechanics.

Given that KAP's Chivalric culture is (partly) based on the Chivalric flowering in the court of Aquitaine, Queen Eleanor makes for a perfect historical 'Guenever' and Henry II was one of the most successful and energetic Kings of England. Ironically, both he and Arthur lost their lives in rebellions raised by their sons, too. (Granted, Henry II died of illness but still.) In short, the system works admirably in historical setting of Queen Eleanor, since that is what it was designed to do: playing Chivalric knights.

It also works quite well in other analogues. I am currently GMing a Middle-Earth campaign with the PCs being Gondorian/Numenorean nobility during the last century of the Second Age.

Cornelius, that Amber one sounds quite interesting. Should we start a new thread on that or should I contact you via enail?