Pendragon 6th Edition Core Rulebook Reviewed

Extremely happy and grateful to see this pillar of the RPG hobby covered by you Jeff. I hope Chaosium respects your multiple decades of experience of their properties, so I can think of no one better to cover this new edition of Pendragon.

I didn't know we had a king. I thought we were an autonomous collective.

I'm a big Pendragon fan and a player in a 5.2e camping. Hopefully, the GM Handbook and the Noble's Handbook won't take forever to come out. With just the 6e Corebook the game feels incomplete.

My first exposure to Pendragon was when I picked up the 6th ed starter set last year and I absolutely fell in love with it. Unable to wait for the release of 6th ed I ordered 5.2 off DriveThru along with the Great Pendragon Campaign and some of the other supplements that have been done. Not sure how much value they really brought. At this point I'm just not sure if I'll bother picking up the 6th ed books as I don't think there's enough difference between it and 5.2 to warrant it. I'm very happy with 5.2.

There is going to be a Gamemaster's Handbook, based on an old interview by David Larkins, the Line Editor. Discord chatter suggests that it might be out (early?) next year. Which to me is strongly implying that the 'Core Rulebook' is 'Core Rulebook for Players', as also implied by the earlier name of Player's Handbook. No idea why the name change, which just invites the criticism like here that it lacks the GM stuff, when Player's Handbook would have made the distinction clear...

You'd have "knights" in mail. And after antiquity, there's no historical evidence of leather armor. And, you'd have stone fortifications. Most of the castles in the UK were built by Normans, not to mention Hadrian Wall. For anyone interested in European Medieval armor and arms check out any video or podcast featuring Dr. Tobias "Toby" Capwell who is the curator of the Wallace Collection and an all-around cool dude.

Really good overview. Thank you. And I agree. That nomenclature of "core rulebook " feels misleading. But they likely realised releasing just a "player's handbook" in isolation would not sell so well. So they went with core rulebook. The whole launch of this has been disappointing. Back in 2021 (2020?), I was super excited with the interviews saying that it was largely done, but they wanted to complete the range so as to not trickle out the books over an extended period. Then it took until 2023 for the Starter Set. Then 2024 for the player's handbook; then 2025 for the GM book? Don't get me wrong - it takes as long as it takes - but more open and honest communication would be appreciated. Just as honest naming of this book would be appreciated. This range is good enough that it doesn't need obfuscation. Anyway, once it is fully out hopefully it will be a big success.

Imagine it's 1991 and The Dark Eye, Midgard, D&d, star trek, Runequest and Pendragon. And all of them just got or are getting a new edition/a major overhaul. Well, same situation in 2024...

We do know that there will be both a GM book and a Noble's Handbook coming!

Yes! Been waiting for this one, thanks!

Excited to check this one out. I finally grabbed the starter box, but haven't read it yet. Now...finding players to bring it to the table...

Good to see another great Chaosium book. Thanks Jeff.

Banger after Banger... I started this hobby a few years ago and the amount of quality products and pure creativity/artistry is just breathtaking. It's definitely not appreciated enough. Also 50 bucks for a book like this is insane. I work in publishing and let me tell you, books like this are really REALLY expensive to make...

Minor nitpick: I assume when you said "2nd edition Pendragon" you actually meant the 2nd version that was published, which was the 3rd edition. 2nd edition was a placeholder in a catalog and was never published. Just to clarify that for people who might look for 2e KAP. :)

I have imported Traits and Passions into all my games for my roleplaying. Though I do use a 3d6 roll for each "positive" trait instead of a flat 10s, 13s, and 16s.

Just by wtching at the character sheet we can say they did real work there, unlike certain company with a huge IP, with no dungeons or dragons at heart at all

Thanks Jeff!

Does the rulebook include a complete setting description? Or does it assume you have read all that stuff by Thomas Malory? I had issues with the Starter Kit, which just name drops important npc's and stuff without explanations and descriptions.

Geez - you get in there early! I’m still waiting on the official release! Good review - whets the appetite. Big question as to whether to upgrade to a limited edition leather cover?

I’m gonna push back about the historical validity of a guy named Arthur (it’s a popular name in 6th century Britain) and Camulodonum is a Roman caste in Colchester that Caratacus fought Rome from - but yea it’s an amalgam and if there was a historical Arthur he likely wasn’t a king