Greg Stafford, Mythmaker

[Allen Varney]

Greg Stafford, Mythmaker

Greg Stafford - creator of Pendragon, practicing tattooed shaman, shares his views on myths, Glorantha and the virtues of roleplaying.

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[Woem]

Do note that you can still buy the Pendragon rulebooks as pdf from RPGNow.com, from the original 5th edition [http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=3125&it=1&filters=0_0_0_0_0].

 

[BlueInkAlchemist]

I'm glad to see some of the unsung gems of the pen-and-paper gaming world coming to light here on the Escapist. Well done indeed!

 

[Fasckira]

Pendragon was an awesome game but it became even more interesting when you turned it into a comedy based adventure, causing most players to try their best to create huge families to act as "lifes" for the more dangerous slapstick-esque moments.

 

[Woem]

Pendragon is one of the finest examples of simplicity breeding complexity in gaming.

What exactly do you mean with simplicity? I'm looking for a simple system and I'm currently into True20 using Unearthed Arcana's Injury [http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/injury.htm] variant. But Pendragon 5E is only $17.50 so I might just get it anyway.

 

[Woem]

Pendragon is one of the finest examples of simplicity breeding complexity in gaming.

What exactly do you mean with simplicity? I'm looking for a simple system and I'm currently into True20 using Unearthed Arcana's Injury [http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/injury.htm] variant. But Pendragon 5E is only $17.50 so I might just get it anyway.

D&D/d20 is artificially stupid. Armour values dont easily correlate, shields are non functional items (Which is wrong I can tell you) and hit points escalation to the levels where people can withstand orbital re-entry (Spell Jammer anyone ) it just dont fly.

Pendragon looks similar but simple things like shields blocking swords breaking (Weapons breaking happens alot btw when your actually hitting steel together) long term wound care & the historically focused background means its consistent. Theres no sub rules that deform the natural flow of the game.

If your a D&D fanboi you wont like it if you are a pen and paper gamer youll love it. THe only system I like more is Ars Magica & Over The Edge (Both get progressively simpler to the level you barely roll dice in OTE).

Edit:- Ars Magica is simpler if you strip out the magic, but character creation can take a while. Pendragon pretty much rail roads PC initially, but rewards them for changing there character.

Thanks for the info. I'm definitely not a fanboy, although I did get my introduction to pen and paper games through ADND2E. I've also dabbled into Shadowrun and Das Schwarze Auge. I'll definitely be checking out Pendragon, Ars Magica and Over The Edge. I'm all for simplicity.

And I agree on your hit points comment, that's why I use the Injury variant which does away with hit points in DND.

 

[styopa]

One of the most genuinely nice guys I've ever met.

 

[Christopher B]

I discovered Pendragon (in its 3rd edition) during my 1989-1990 RPG renaissance. Personally, I loved the game. Its epic and mythical proportions really won me over. Unfortunately, it became one of my hardest-learned lessons of group gaming: for any game, no matter how much you love it, you still need player buy-in. (Suffice to say, such was lacking for Pendragon among my fellow gamers...)

Ive always liked Cyberpunk 2014 Friday Night Firefight... instead of the rather bizarre computer game like behaviour of full speed running whilst riddled with holes & bleeding to death LOL

Amen! FNFF will always be my favorite RPG combat system for its simplicity and the level of mayhem it creates. (It's amazing how much difference there is between 1hp and a fractured leg...)