Tabletop RPG · since 1985 · #55 most discussed

Pendragon

Play knights across generations of Arthurian Britain, tracking personality traits, passions, family, and glory from youth to old age.

Its own systemArthuriand20generational playbeliefs and driveslifepath creationdowntimeCampaignsNeeds a GM

6.0

Geek rating

From 7 firsthand play reports in 3 r/rpg threads. The threads alone average 7.0.

Player rating— / 10

No visitor ratings yet.

Discussion6.2 / 10

179 r/rpg posts named it, October 2023 to October 2026.

Rules weight

Medium. Hype 2.4 for its age.

Have you played it?

Rate Pendragon from 1 to 10. One rating per browser and device; you can change it any time.

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What players say

At the table

Pendragon is a roll-under d20 game of Arthurian knights, driven by personality traits and passions. Players across three threads describe a quick core roll with heavier subsystems layered on top. Reports come from a handful of tables, so treat them as a sample, not a consensus.

What works

Political intrigue: one player who ran it found it good for that. (thread)
The core roll-under d20 is quick to learn, even for players new to BRP-style systems, especially with a GM who knows the procedures. (thread)
Battle, feasts and the Winter Phase give structure without overwhelming the table. (thread)
It travels beyond canon: one table ran a by-the-book Arthurian campaign and a fully homebrew one, and both worked. (thread)
Roleplaying knights through traits and passions is engaging. One poster finished the entire Great Pendragon Campaign and calls it their favourite RPG. (thread)

What tables struggle with

Crunch: one GM called it very crunchy, with rules for everything and supplements adding more. (thread)
The Battle Rules were hard to use correctly, even after about 20 sessions. (thread)
Combat and wounds are the heaviest procedures, and the rules are scattered across chapters and books, so the GM carries most of the load. (thread)
Some players dislike having dice determine their character's behaviour. (thread)
Long campaigns can wear down: one Great Pendragon Campaign group felt it had grown stale by the last third. (thread)
Far from Arthurian assumptions, it needs hacking. An Iron Age conversion was only "good enough." (thread)

Who it suits

GMs willing to learn several subsystems and keep track of rules across books.
Players who like personality traits shaping their characters, dice included.
Groups running knightly, feast-and-feud settings, Arthurian or close to it.

In players' words

"I ran it for like 20 sessions and I'm pretty sure I never used the Battle Rules correctly." (thread)
"Both worked just fine." (thread)
"our players in Grand Pendragon Campaign ended up feeling the game had grown fairly stale by the last third." (thread)

The threads behind it

Each thread is rated for the play it describes, from the firsthand reports in it. Load one here or read it on Reddit.

7.5

Pendragon Crunch?

The thread is a rules-weight question, so most replies are explanations rather than play reports. The few people who actually played Pendragon describe a simple d20 roll-under game that works well. One group found a long campaign stale by the end, and another poster says it is their favourite RPG. 3 firsthand · 18 comments

Open on Reddit

5.5

Are there any RPGs that are basically just "Pendragon but less crunchy"?

The thread is mostly about alternatives to Pendragon, such as Mythic Bastionland, and only two commenters report playing it. One ran about 20 sessions and found it very crunchy, and another found it good for political intrigue. 2 firsthand · 41 comments

Open on Reddit

7.0

Is Pendragon a good RPG for a homebrew setting

Two commenters report actually playing Pendragon: one ran a by-the-book Arthurian campaign and a fully homebrew one, and both worked fine. The other used it for an Iron Age game inspired by the Deverry Cycle and called it 'good enough'. The rest of the thread is speculation about setting fit or recommendations for other games (Reign, Burning Wheel, BRP, Paladin), which I ignored. 2 firsthand · 17 comments

Open on Reddit