Enter the Age of Chivalry: Getting Started with Pendragon

— T.H. White, The Once and Future King

We’ve told this story countless times in books, fireside tales, half-remembered legends. There is a quiet thrill of standing before a ruined stone wall and imagining the knights who once rode past it. The story of King Arthur lingers: wistful, noble, and haunting. It doesn’t survive because it promises victory. It survives because it believes in the attempt.

In The Once and Future King, T.H. White painted Arthur as more than a ruler. He made him an ideal, worn thin by time and war, yet still reaching. There’s humor and grief there, but also grace. Pendragon picks up that thread.

This isn’t a power fantasy. It’s a game about legacy, choice, and the long shadow of a well or poorly lived life.

This isn't your usual swords-and-sorcery fare. Pendragon focuses on character, not spectacle. You follow a single knight across decades, watching them grow from a hopeful squire to a figure etched in song—or forgotten by time.

Years pass one by one. Each brings its own joys and losses: marriages, rivalries, deaths. The system revolves around Glory (your reputation) and your Traits and Passions—core aspects of your knight’s personality that drive the story forward. These are not background details. They are the heart of how your character lives and is remembered.

At its core, Pendragon asks a simple but difficult question: What will you leave behind?

You begin in a dark time. Rome is gone. Britain is fractured. Danger is everywhere. And yet, your knight rides out—fighting, feasting, failing, trying. They won’t live to see Camelot. But maybe their children will. Pendragon is about meaning and legacy above survival.

Start with the Pendragon Starter Set. It offers:

• Streamlined rules to get you going
• A solo adventure to learn as you play
• Ready-made characters
• A three-part introductory campaign:
• The Sword Tournament, The Forest of the Silver Deer, and The Broken Sword

You’ll ease into the world gradually, learning how time shapes the story. When you’re ready, the Core Rulebook and Game Master’s Handbook unlock the full sweep of Arthurian epic—lineages, holdings, dynasties, and the entire arc of the legend.

• The Courtly Year: Each year brings adventurous and domestic events that alter your knight’s path.
• Traits & Passions: Your virtues and flaws guide your decisions. They are the game.
• Generational Play: Your knight will age, fall, and be remembered. Their heirs carry the story forward.
• Glory: Your choices echo. Every deed shapes the tale.
• Britain, Enchanted and Real: This is a land of Saxon warbands, haunted woods, saints, and faerie queens.

In White’s telling, Camelot is as much a promise as a place. Pendragon invites you to add to that promise, even if your knight never sees it fulfilled. Every act of mercy, every bold risk, helps pave the road.

Your knight might win battles. Or they might write poetry, charm nobles, or simply show kindness when it's hard. Every choice matters.

Pendragon uses a simple d20 mechanic. Roll under a skill, Trait, or Passion to succeed. Opposed rolls handle everything from duels to debates. Criticals make legends. Fumbles create cautionary tales.

Combat is quick and lethal. So is court life. A sharp tongue can cut as deep as a blade. And a single kind act can shape a legacy.

Pendragon 6th Edition is the final version shaped by creator Greg Stafford. It’s his tribute to a tale that’s never finished. A story about hope, even when it hurts. About doing good, even if no one sees.

When you play Pendragon, you add your voice to a song that’s echoed for centuries. Maybe that’s why it endures: not because it happened, but because it should have.

• Download the Starter Set on Quest Portal
• Join our Discord to talk Pendragon in #chaosium
• Make your player-knight in our no-code editor
• Let time carry your tale

Pendragon is a legend shaped by those at the table. Yours will be different. But if it’s honest, it will be remembered. Draw your sword. Choose your cause. Ride.