Great Pendragon Campaign Errata, Clarifications, and Notes

[SaxBasilisk]

There's material on running the GPC scattered here and there. For ease of reference, I thought I'd consolidate this in one thread. (If I've missed one elsewhere, please let me know.)

First, there's Greg's own errata for the GPC (archived at Internet Archive).

Next, there was a sub-forum on the Nocturnal Media forums for GPC material (archived at Greathall).

Also, if you're using the Uther-era material, the Book of Uther contains not only the years 480-484, but also suggested changes to 485-495 (p. 102).

I'll add other material here if and when I see it.

Edited September 13, 2022 by SaxBasilisk

[SaxBasilisk]

Other items, by year. Some of this is errata, some of it is suggestions for resolving gaps or problems in the material, and some is clarification from literary sources on items not explained in GPC.

(Page numbers may vary slightly between the ArtHaus and Nocturnal Media editions; I, unfortunately, have used both below! There should not be a variation more than a page or so, however.)

Britain 485, p. 26 - Duke Galeholt begins his rise to power in 521, unless you want to assume this is the name of a previous ruler.

480-495 vs. 514 - The "Round Table of Uther" never shows up in any of the material on Uther.

494, p. 62 - "Nimue is present to tend to the king. She keeps the knights from announcing the news about the Saxons to the king." - BoU has Nineve performing this action. Given that the GPC characters file has Nimue born in 483, this is probably a deliberate change.

495, p. 63, "Battle of St. Albans" - Octa and Eosa are not mentioned after this year, so consider whether they should die here.

510, p. 132 - "You might send the characters to ask the Saxon bretwalda...)" The bretwalda would be the high king of the Saxons, of which there is none at this time. This probably means the cyning, or local Saxon king.

513, p. 141 - "First, on the night before the battle, two knights, unrecognized by the guards, approach Arthur's camp and turn over a prisoner." These are Balin and Balan.

513, p. 142 - "Two knights burst from cover and fall upon Lot's flank..." Once again, Balin and Balan. 

514 - GPC doesn't give Gawaine's year of knighting. This is the first time he appears after Margawse visits court. (As a side note, he's knighted at Arthur and Guenever's marriage in the Post-Vulgate.) 

514, p. 146 - "Excellent jousting by Sir Lamorak..." According to the 501 birthdate in the GPC characters file, Sir Lamorak would be thirteen now. 

516, p. 151, "Morning Ambush" - The length of battle is 3 rounds, but the fight lists rounds 1-7. Pick one, I suppose.

517, p. 154, "Saxons Raid Logres" - The book mentions the bretwalda, but doesn't say who is he or when he was appointed. This is King Ælle of Sussex. The Saxons! supplement says he takes on the title this year; not everything in Saxons! corresponds with GPC, of course, but it might be useful to note this occurrence for the players.

518, pp. 155-158 - Badon. The Book of Armies description differs considerably from what is provided in the GPC; do what you will with it. I've been informed that the first day in GPC just isn't counted for BoA, but there are other changes.

The scenario also doesn't raise the question of whether weekly healing kicks in during the battle.

Also, the entry for 519 states that survivors receive income for every critical roll they make during the battle, so don't forget to keep track of this.

518, p. 157 - Badon, Day 3, Round 4: "Aelle fumbles his modified Battle roll, and Arthur criticals his." I don't think this has any significance in the current rules.

519, p. 185 - Pretending not to receive Arthur's order's provides a "Dishonest" check, but one of the checks possible for further plundering is "Deceitful." I suggest dropping the Deceitful check for plundering additional funds.

523, p. 192 - Nimue imprisoning Merlin differs from the material in Appendix 5, which makes Vivianne responsible.

524, p. 194 - "A knight is brought to court on a litter." - The Vulgate gives his name much later as Sir Melian. The story doesn't seem to come up in the rest of the GPC, so I'd send interested readers to that material.

524, p. 194 - "Nimue and the Squire of the Lake," and "the queen glances at Nimue, whose realm is indeed far away." - The Ladies of the Lake writeup at the end of GPC and the GPC stats indicate that it should be Vivianne who brings the Squire to court.

529, p. 211 - Dubricus has retired, so he should be replaced with David.

Island of Fees adventure, p. 224: "Unknown to anyone for many years, the murderers are actually four of the five Orkney brothers, all except Gaheris." Greg points out that this should be Gareth - but also, Mordred is eleven, so you might consider whether he's involved.

559, pp. 356, 358 vs. 562, p. 362 - Greg mentions that Sir Lavaine is named to the Round Table twice, but his timeline is even more complicated because Greg swaps the Lady's Day Tournament and the healing of Sir Urre from the Malory timeline.  Thus, Lavaine, Lancelot's friend is gone from court, then marries Urre's sister, then meets Sir Lancelot for the first time...

Edited August 5 by SaxBasilisk

[SaxBasilisk]

I've made a few changes here, most recently to 494.

[Morien]

On 9/8/2022 at 7:44 PM, SaxBasilisk said:

494, p. 62 - "Nimue is present to tend to the king. She keeps the knights from announcing the news about the Saxons to the king." - BoU has Nineve performing this action. Given that the GPC characters file has Nimue born in 483, this is probably a deliberate change.

I can confirm, it was.

[SaxBasilisk]

Latest update: material on 524 and the Island of Fees.

[Morien]

On 9/8/2022 at 7:44 PM, SaxBasilisk said:

515 - If you run Grey Knight this year, the Lady of the Lake here should probably be Viviane, not Nimue. (It may also alter the dynamic between the Merlin and the Lady of the Lake.)

The Adventure says Nimue, and I don't see any reason why it should be Viviane.

On 9/8/2022 at 7:44 PM, SaxBasilisk said:

523, p. 192 - GPC canon is that Viviane imprisons Merlin, not Nimue.

No, it is Nimue.

The Appendix 5 on the Ladies of the Lake is wrong on this one. The reason being that Nimue and Viviane occupied the same role in two different versions of the story, hence the confusion (and in the movie Excalibur, this role was given to Morgan Le Fay). But in GPC, it is Nimue. Viviane is busy in France raising Lancelot.

On 9/8/2022 at 7:44 PM, SaxBasilisk said:

524, p. 194 - "Nimue and the Squire of the Lake," and "the queen glances at Nimue, whose realm is indeed far away." - The Ladies of the Lake writeup at the end of GPC and the GPC stats indicate that it should be Vivianne who brings the Squire to court.

Agreed; here it should be Viviane, IMHO.

On 9/8/2022 at 7:44 PM, SaxBasilisk said:

Island of Fees adventure, p. 224: "Unknown to anyone for many years, the murderers are actually four of the five Orkney brothers, all except Gaheris." Greg points out that this should be Gareth - but also, Mordred is eleven, so you might consider whether he's involved.

Mordred should not be there, either, simply because he is too young, IMHO

[jmberry1s]

I agree with Morien on the Nimue/Viviane thing. Viviane probably should have a larger role in the GPC, but that's not the point of errata.

Edited July 31 by jmberry1s

[SaxBasilisk]

Thanks for your feedback!

I'm dropping the reference to the 515 appearance of Nimue. I'm shifting the language in 523, because I'm not sure why one part of GPC should be canon over another. I could be persuaded of this.

Since I'm not creating errata or explanation in this particular post, I can editorialize here. The Merlin/Nimue interaction in GPC, Gray Knight, and the literature will probably read differently to a modern audience, making Merlin quite unsympathetic. Thus, I'd suggest that Vivianne be substituted so players don't entirely hate him. If Pellinore's kids turned out all right, Vivianne can certainly leave Lancelot with the servants from time to time.

[Tizun Thane]

6 hours ago, SaxBasilisk said:

Merlin quite unsympathetic

Merlin is unsympathetic in the old texts, even from a medieval perspective.

To be honest, Merlin as the archidruid of Britain sounds fake to me. There is no such thing as an archidruid. I much prefer the son of the devil explanation.

Anyway, in the sources, Nimue and Viviane are the same character. The GPC decided to make them distinct characters (why not, but I always wonder why). So you have to draw a line somewhere.

[Call Me Deacon Blues]

Which Lady of the Lake is killed by Balin? And gave Arthur Excalibur? Is it one of them, or the other Lady, Nineve? Is she even in the GPC? I can't remember 

[Morien]

7 hours ago, Call Me Deacon Blues said:

Which Lady of the Lake is killed by Balin? And gave Arthur Excalibur? Is it one of them, or the other Lady, Nineve? Is she even in the GPC? I can't remember 

Nineve, by KAP canon.

[SaxBasilisk]

On 8/12/2023 at 3:42 AM, Morien said:

Nineve, by KAP canon.

And Viviane, according to the rulebook. 🙂 Hopefully it will be updated in 6.0.