AlHazred Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 (edited) I've been working on a spreadsheet with a list of Pendragon articles from various periodicals. A few of the articles I've come across are frequently listed on similar lists of Pendragon scenarios, but are actually for a different game system. Since at this point, a person would find it difficult to track down a physical copy of these old periodicals, I thought I'd review what I have found so far. Feel free to add your own reviews of Pendragon-adjacent material, as it may be of help to someone dredging auction sites for old books. . . . . SPOILER SPACE . . . . . . Edited February 2, 2022 by AlHazred 1 Quote ROLAND VOLZ Running: nothing | Playing: Battletech Hero, CoC 7th Edition, Blades in the Dark | Planning: D&D 5E Home Game, Operation: Sprechenhaltestelle, HeroQuest 1E Sartarite Campaign D&D is an elf from Tolkien, a barbarian from Howard, and a mage from Vance fighting monsters from Lovecraft in a room that looks like it might have been designed by Wells and Giger. - TiaNadiezja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlHazred Posted February 2, 2022 Author Share Posted February 2, 2022 The Black Knight (from White Dwarf #83), by Bryan Sturdy This is the scenario that inspired this thread. It's a scenario statted out for WFRP 1st edition, AD&D 1st edition, and Pendragon 1st-3rd edition. I own the issue and was alerted to it by a post on Graeme Davis' blog, where he talked about the drive to get Warhammer Fantasy materials out to support the game when it first came out. Villagers request your characters' aid in defeating a Black Knight who guards the only ford from the village from any who can't win a joust with him; while he prevents passage, they can't do any trade! How did the PCs get to the village if the only way in is guarded by a Black Knight? Not answered. The PCs can find out the Black Knight is actually several knights who travel in a band. They helped the villagers by killing a group of trolls that preyed upon them. The villagers refused to pay them, so this is the revenge they're taking. They had their swords stolen in the night after they dealt with the trolls, and they blame the villagers. This scenario is all over the place. There's a group of outlaws, secret tunnels that conveniently go from one part of the railroad to another, a dead wizard, hibernating trolls, and undead fish. To put it mildly, this scenario involves a lot of work on the part of the Pendragon GM to adapt, and I'm not sure it's worth the effort. This gets 2 or 3 out of 10 from me. The logic holes are bad enough, I didn't even run this for AD&D when I got it back in the day. 1 Quote ROLAND VOLZ Running: nothing | Playing: Battletech Hero, CoC 7th Edition, Blades in the Dark | Planning: D&D 5E Home Game, Operation: Sprechenhaltestelle, HeroQuest 1E Sartarite Campaign D&D is an elf from Tolkien, a barbarian from Howard, and a mage from Vance fighting monsters from Lovecraft in a room that looks like it might have been designed by Wells and Giger. - TiaNadiezja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlHazred Posted February 2, 2022 Author Share Posted February 2, 2022 (edited) Le Collège des Cendres ("The Ashen College")Le Goût des Cendres ("The Taste of Ashes") This is a scenario (Le goût des Cendres) and a setting (Le collège des Cendres) from Casus Belli #103 (March 1993). Let's get a pun out of the way; I have been informed that the location of the setting, the "plateau des Cendres", is a euphemism for "ash tray." I would call it the Cinder Plateau in game, were I to use it. This is an AD&D 2nd edition scenario that also frequently gets mentioned in these lists. It is dual-statted for AD&D 2nd edition and WFRP 1st edition. The setup is the player characters are in a young lord's castle and learn of the depredations of a dragon who has been decimating the sheep herds of the nearby villages. The captain of the guards, an old paladin, swears that he has always meant to kill the dragon but the old lord forbade it; now he plans to head an expedition to kill the beast. The players can do some investigating and then accompany the paladin. Things are not as they seem. On the face of it, this seems like an ideal scenario to convert to Pendragon -- there's knights, and a young lord in a manor on an enchanted plateau, and a quest to slay a dragon. There are several caveats that make this scenario difficult (at best) to convert. I'll put them under spoilers below, just to make sure only those who intend to run this see them. Spoiler The location the quest will take the players, the college, is a ruined school of magic, inhabited by a dragon who is actually a good guy. The old lord swore fealty to the dragon, and that is why he forbade his captain of the guards from killing it. The dragon guards a portal to Hell that the college of magicians tried to defend before they were all killed. There is no possibility to kill the dragon -- in the scenario he's not given stats, and we are told he can cast any spell necessary to bring any fighting to a close, since he's been studying magical texts for years. While some elements are easy to convert -- the manor, the knights, even the old hermit of the scenario (a former student whose folly was responsible for the deaths of the other students) -- others are trickier. In many Pendragon games, creatures aren't Real World creatures, they're metaphorical or symbolic. Dragons are creatures of Wrath, or Greed, or whatever. In this kind of game, you can't have a dragon who decides to be a Good Guy. Other games might be able to make it work. The school of magicians is a little much, but could be the kind of place Merlin the Enchanter might have studied. Perhaps the dragon is actually the last student of the school, whose monstrous deed caused him to turn into a dragon, and he guards the gate to Hell as penance? It could work. I would still give the dragon stats, from the book, to allow for the Bad Ending to the scenario. There's also a band of goblins mounted on wolves. The fact that they ride wolves features into a mystery in the scenario, and replacing them with brigands or Saxons is tricky. There are a lot of things to like in the scenario. The presence of the portal has infused many villagers with minor magical quirks. The last part of the scenario involves a trek into Hell, which could be a great scene for the player knights. Edited February 2, 2022 by AlHazred Quote ROLAND VOLZ Running: nothing | Playing: Battletech Hero, CoC 7th Edition, Blades in the Dark | Planning: D&D 5E Home Game, Operation: Sprechenhaltestelle, HeroQuest 1E Sartarite Campaign D&D is an elf from Tolkien, a barbarian from Howard, and a mage from Vance fighting monsters from Lovecraft in a room that looks like it might have been designed by Wells and Giger. - TiaNadiezja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morien Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 1 hour ago, AlHazred said: There's also a band of... See Djerf, BotW, p. 100. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlHazred Posted February 2, 2022 Author Share Posted February 2, 2022 1 hour ago, Morien said: See Djerf, BotW, p. 100. Interesting! I have all the 4th edition stuff, but hadn't picked up 5.X stuff yet, and then I heard 6th edition is on its way so I held off. Quote ROLAND VOLZ Running: nothing | Playing: Battletech Hero, CoC 7th Edition, Blades in the Dark | Planning: D&D 5E Home Game, Operation: Sprechenhaltestelle, HeroQuest 1E Sartarite Campaign D&D is an elf from Tolkien, a barbarian from Howard, and a mage from Vance fighting monsters from Lovecraft in a room that looks like it might have been designed by Wells and Giger. - TiaNadiezja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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