Pendragon - Preparing My First Game

Initial Thoughts

Running a new game is always a little daunting.  The enthusiasm for the new game usually helps me ride through it, and access to other players online makes finding advice or getting questions answered pretty easy.  It's still more work than playing a familiar game though.

It hasn’t been any different, really, for Pendragon.  I’m really excited for it.  I don’t have so much personal time in my life to devote myself fully to it, but I’ve been examining it in chunks for a little while now.  Luckily, the Pendragon starter set somewhat follows the format of the Cthulhu starter set.  It begins with a Solo adventure that you can play immediately.  Then a rules booklet, and finally a booklet of scenarios.  It differs from Call of Cthulhu in two important ways though: there are no character creation rules, and the scenarios are linked into a specific mini-campaign.

In the first case, this is understandable, but disappointing.  In Cthulhu, character creation is already fairly simple, and easy to simplify further for a starter set.  Rules are also simple, so the rules/character creation booklet is not very long.  I read it in one sitting.  In Pendragon, there are more rules to cover.  I read it in about 5 sittings.  I don’t know how complex making a character would be, but based on the solo scenario I’m not convinced that a simplified character creation process couldn’t have been included.  In the solo, you have to make a squire, and even though a lot of work has been done for you, the basic instructions on how to distribute points amongst traits and skills implies that a really simple character creation could be done in just a few pages.  Luckily the pregens supplied are really neat and inspiring, and cover a broad range of types of knights that we could see in play.  Still, I would have preferred a very simplified character creation process.  It is especially interesting, considering how many extra rules “appendices” are included.  Based on the solo, I feel like a 4-6 page appendix on how to make a knight could have been included.

The second case is interesting.  I like that there is a short campaign to run.  But the difficulty level of “running your first pendragon game” is much higher than for Cthulhu.  The Cthulhu starter set provided a solo scenario, to be followed by a duet scenario, to be followed by a popular, low complexity one shot scenario, followed by a much more complex and likely multi-session scenario.  These stepping stones were incredible and really provided a nice ladder of progress.  And after running the second scenario, I felt confident that I could run almost any scenario for Cthulhu.  For Pendragon, the first scenario has a lot going on, and each subsequent scenario builds on the first.  I’m excited for the mini-campaign, but I wonder what it would look like if there was a duet scenario and then two scenarios that didn’t depend on each other.

Ultimately, though, Pendragon is providing a different game experience than Cthulhu.  One of the major playstyles for Cthulhu is to play unlinked, one-shot (or multi session) scenarios.  One of Pendragon’s biggest draws is the Great Pendragon Campaign, which promises almost 2 actual years of gameplay, where aging and family growth play a major role.  Players will play a knight, and then that knight’s heir, and perhaps play across three generations.  So the “adventure - winter phase” sequence being showcased in a 3 year mini-campaign is understandable.

Perhaps I just can’t take off my teacher goggles though and "tsk tsk" at the pedagogy of the thing.  Cthulhu’s starter set really leans into teaching a new player how to run a game of Cthulhu.  The Pendragon starter set seems more interested in giving you the tools you need to run this specific mini-campaign. This makes the likelihood of me reusing the materials somewhat low - as I don't feel like I'd run one of the scenarios for a different group without feeling like I'd need to do the whole thing with them. And as a final note - I would love to see a duet scenario outlined. The duet scenario in Cthulhu was such a treat. I think one here would have been really fantastic to see.

This is all a digression though, because I am running this mini-campaign for my players.  So how do I prep?

My Prep

With any new game, I read the rules, and then I type out a rules reference in google docs.  This reference is what I keep on hand at the table (I do not look through books during a game).  They typically clock in at around 10 pages, and I use all sorts of formatting tricks like columns, tables, etc.  Two things go on here: firstly, I am reading and then paraphrasing all the rules, which helps them stick in my mind, and secondly, I am editing them down to be as concise as possible.  This editing really forces me to think about the rules, their intention, and their execution.  How can I summarize a paragraph for myself?  How can I organize my document to make it easy to look up quickly?  Do I really need to type the meaning of certain terms or will I remember.  The ultimate effect is that I am studying in a very classical way.

At a game session, I bring my dice, my rules reference, any handouts (maps, spare character sheets, etc.), and my notebook.  My notebook is where I track NPCs, locations, events, etc.  In other words, it is where I prep scenarios.  Whether homebrew or published, I handwrite everything in here.  Again, this accomplishes both of the goals from above.  I paraphrase and I edit and the result is most of it sticks in my head better and makes for a better experience at the table.  I don’t like looking things up while playing!  I try to keep things running smoothly and keep the pace engaging.

Lastly, I try to soak up “appendix N” materials.  For Cthulhu, I mostly just read Lovecraft stories.  For Pendragon, I’ve been taking a look at this list.  I haven’t quite taken the dive into reading Le Morte D’Arthur, but I have been reading a ton of Prince Valiant, which I think is a nice piece of adjacent media.  (and as an aside, I’ve noticed a few similarities between events in Prince Valiant and the solo scenario from the starter set, which is pretty cool!).  I also found an actual play that I actually enjoyed listening to!  It is based on 5e rules, I think, but the essence seemed the same.  I learned quite a bit about traits and passions in play from it and I highly recommend it.

So where am I in my prep?  I’ve finished my rules reference document.  And I’ve read the first scenario in the starter set (The Adventure of the Sword Tournament).  All I need to do now is transcribe my notes and I’ll be ready to go!

The excitement is sustaining me, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes in play.