Game Locations.

The World of PENDRAGON is represented by a number of LOCATIONS, each of which is decorated in such a way as to suggest a set of places in the Arthurian world. These allow you to play your tale in the appropriate milieu without requiring you to keep track of specifics. Exactly where you are geographically is of minor importance - you tend to meet noblemen in the Court, travelers at a Tavern, and monsters in the woods no matter if you are in Britain, Wales, Ireland, France, or Scotland. The Locations in Tales of Pendragon include:

The Castle. This area holds the Court, a Rose Garden, a Chapel, and a Dungeon. It is the place where Noblemen live. Gentry, both Knights and Ladies, often come here to pay court to the nobility and meet one another, and there are a number of commoners who live and work here as well, such as reeves, stewards, heralds, and fools. Entertainers often come here on special occasions.

The Village. This area contains a Market Square with a Tavern where folk and travelers relax and drink. There is a Well where people gossip. It also has several market Stalls for every imaginable business, e.g. a smithy, stables, mill, apothecary/herbalist, weaver, tanner, jeweler, silversmith, and others.

The Field. This is a large open area in the countryside with stands and woods nearby. Tourneys are held here, as are hunts, falconry, weapons practice games, battles, plays, and large public events such as fairs. A Monastery resides on a nearby hill near an old pagan chalk figure, making the place sacred to both religions. The monks make wine, and run a small hospital.

The Wilderness. This is all the wild and strange places in the world far away from civilization. here is a circle of Standing Stones, a Cave/Lair, a Hermitage, a Faerie Forest, the Black Tower, the Island, the Holy Land, and any other forlorn, distant, or magical place. There is a campfire here where people in the wild congregate.

Except at the Campfire, the Wilderness is IMPENETRABLE, which means that you can find someone only if you are already with them, or if they wish to be found. If you see another player and wish to speak with them, you must ask, "Who is that?" or "Is someone there?" or "Ah, is there no-one in this Godforsaken place?" or the like. If they wish to be found, they will reply, "My lady, is that you?", or "Yes, please join us," or "Sir, I am here", or other such words. If they fail to reply, then perhaps you thought you heard something, but didn't catch sight of anyone. It was the wind, or a wild beast, or perhaps even a malevolent spirit. Denizens of the wilderness, such as animals or monsters, may be able to ignore this rule.

Badges.

When you begin play, you will receive a badge that gives your name and describes something about you. If you play a different character, are disguised, or change appearance somehow, you will receive another badge to use.

In ALL cases, someone looks like what their badge says. If you see a player with a different badge than before, then they are (or appear to be) a completely different person. If someone changes badges, then either they have just transformed before your eyes or else they have gone out of the story and come back in as someone else.

How to Play a Tale.

Reading this direction, you would then describe (in character, if possible) what happened to anyone trying to get through the Gate.Free Lances.

Some tales in Tales of Pendragon involve people who need help defeating something by force. Such requests are answered best by Knights, but your home character is probably not a Knight, and it may be that you are not playing a Knight when the request comes. To allow you to take a Knightly role when you need to, you may become a FREE LANCE. To do so, tell whoever needs your help "I saw a knight nearby who might help; let me fetch him" or the like. Then go to a Bard and say, "I am in need of a Free Lance". The Bard will give you a Knight character, which you can then play for the Tale. What sort of person he is can vary quite a bit, of course.

Game Schedule.

The game is divided into episodes called AGES, each representing a period in the Arthurian Saga.

At the end of each Age, the players will be asked which of the Virtues they thought most important overall for the tales they encountered during that Age. Their collective vote will determine one or more EVENTS that take place in the Arthurian Saga; these will be announced for all.

Conflict.

All conflict is resolved using CHALLENGES. See Virtues and Challenges for details.

Special Abilities.

Most characters have one or more talents, called SPECIAL ABILITIES, that are unique to them. They may involve getting a bonus to a particular kind of challenge or being able to do something entirely outside the challenge rules. Some abilities are permanent, and can be used as many times as desired; others can be used once per age, or merely once - the ability will say. Abilities, unlike boons, may only be used by the character specified on the ability card. Occasionally, you may have a DISABILITY, a circumstance that limits what you can do or gives you a penalty. Unlike abilities, which you may use at your option, you must follow the rules on any disabilities you have.

Special abilities and skills always take precedence over the general challenge rules. Note that an ability or disability, unlike a boon, applies only to the specific character named on the card! If you change characters, abilities/disabilities for any prior character do not apply.

If there is any ambiguity about how a Skill or Ability works in a given situation, try to resolve it among yourselves. If that fails, see a Bard. If you try to take a forfeit from a character who will not or cannot give it because of a special ability, you may choose another forfeit applicable to the virtue you used.

Boons and Rewards.

When you complete a Tale (whether you played a Tale character or Home character) you return to a Bard and tell your story to the Bard and any interested onlookers. The Bard may then reward you for your interesting story. The reward is based upon how involved you were in the tale, not whether you succeeded or failed at any task therein. The reward will consist of a point of virtue, which will be marked upon your purse, or else a BOON.

Boons are objects, knowledge, favors, land, money, or any other thing that might exist in the Arthurian world. Whatever their type, boons give some advantage when making a challenge or grant some special ability. Examples of boons might be Bran's Axe (+2 to your courage in a challenge) or prayers from the Monks of Saint Humbert (allows you to banish one Ghost if you win a Piety challenge).

One Use: Boons are always expended after a single use unless they state otherwise. Sometimes this is because they are logically used up (e.g. a healing salve). Other times, they are useful only for a moment (the location of Castle Carbonek, which changes every season). And sometimes they are just items that pass out of the story after one telling. For example, Bran's Axe, after being used, might be given up into the care of holy women on an island shrine. You may choose to role-play this expenditure or not as you see fit, but in all cases the boon must be returned to a bard after it is used.

Traits: Boons have one more more TRAITS, indicating who may use then. If the character you are playing does not have the traits matching one of your boons, you may not use that boon. Some examples of traits include Knight, Lady, Devout (holy folk), and the like. You may still carry and trade boons that you cannot use. Traits which are obvious to all are noted on character badges; others will be mentioned in character descriptions or special ability cards. Some traits that exist in the game include:

COMMONER, a base-born person of any sort, from beggar to wealthy merchant.

GENTLE, a well-born person who may or may not have land.

NOBLE, a high-born person who owns considerable land. Includes royalty.

KNIGHT, a well-born man whose trade is fighting. Knights are always Gentle at least.

LADY, a well-born woman. Ladies are always Gentle at least.

DEVOUT, a very pious person. Includes most priests, monks, goodly hermits, druids.

PAGAN, a worshipper of the Old Religion.

MAGICAL, a spell-caster or otherworldly entity, e.g. the Fay, wizards, monsters, ghosts.

Everyone is presumed to be CHRISTIAN unless they have the PAGAN trait (or another such as JEWISH or MUSLIM).

Tale Boons.

Some Boons are marked TALE BOON, which means that they exist only for the purpose of the Tale and may not be used once the Tale has completed. Always turn these in to a Bard when the Tale is over.

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