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King Arthur Pendragon and its supplements have won several awards in the game industry.
2007: DIANA JONES AWARD FOR GAMING EXCELLENCE
The Great Pendragon Campaign
The Diana Jones Award is given to whatever the Diana Jones Committee believes has best demonstrated ‘excellence in gaming’ in the previous year. The committee states:
In terms of sheer scope alone, Greg Stafford's Great Pendragon Campaign breaks new ground, presenting almost a century’s worth of continuous story with gemlike clarity; in almost fractal fashion, any given year can become its own campaign. Its greatest structural successes are those of Stafford's Pendragon: a superbly compact yet never sketchy adventure format, seamless hard-wiring of characters into setting and continuity, and unprecedented emphasis on epic, generational storytelling. Thematically, it is a triumph of Arthurian art in its own right, the roleplaying form's equivalent of Tennyson's The Idylls of the King or Wagner's Parsifal—a brilliant personal engagement with one of the foundation myths of Western fantasy.
2007: GAMA HALL OF FAME
King Arthur Pendragon
The Hall of Fame is an honor given for games or persons of exceptional merit and quality that have contributed to the hobby. GAMA is the Game Manufacturer's Association, the professional trade organization for the hobby game industry. The presenter stated:
Pendragon has seen publication in the past twenty-three years from Chaosium, Green Knight, and now White Wolf. The RPG draws upon the literary and historical material of the Matter of Britain to create a role-playing experience very much unlike that afforded by any other RPG. Play is anchored by chivalric concepts of nobility, compassion, and piety, as embodied in the Rules of the Round Table. This makes the game a favorite among school and even church groups open to RPG play. Over the years, products produced under the Pendragon banner have deservedly earned a reputation for stellar historical research and high literary quality, garnering praise from literary critics, gamers, and academics.
1991: ORIGINS AWARD for Best Roleplaying Rules of 1990
King Arthur Pendragon, 3rd edition
The Origins Awards, presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design, are presented for outstanding work in the game industry.
1989: ORIGINS AWARD for Best Roleplaying Adventure of 1988
Tournament of Dreams
The Origins Awards, presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design, are presented for outstanding work in the game industry.
1987: ORIGINS AWARD for Best Roleplaying Adventure of 1986
The Pendragon Campaign
The Origins Awards, presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design, are presented for outstanding work in the game industry.
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Pen & Paper roleplaying games are generally considered to date to 1974 when TSR, Inc. published the first edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Of course, this game spawned a host of similar games, but the key elements of D&D (character classes, hit points, etc.) persist not only in paper roleplaying games, but also in online giants like World of Warcraft by Blizzard Entertainment.
About a decade after D&D, pen & paper games took a giant evolutionary leap as Chaosium released first Call of Cthulhu and then King Arthur Pendragon. KAP is now published by Nocturnal Media. One of the lesser-known Chaosium products, Prince Valiant: The Storytelling Game, may have launched the nomenclature, but pen & paper games took another leap, as yet unsurpassed, in 1991 when White Wolf Publishing released Vampire: The Masquerade, the first of a series of games set within the World of Darkness.
To continue to 10-year trend-line, about a decade following Vampire, a new 3rd edition of Dungeons & Dragons was released in 2000. While it was an excellent example of balanced game design, it did nothing to advance the art of pen & paper roleplaying games beyond the ground claimed by White Wolf.
Nocturnal Media intends to enter the conversation where pen & paper roleplaying games are concerned. Though the medium is by no means as popular today as in decades past, the paper rpg format remains a fertile ground for artistic experimentation and innovation, a fact supported by the proliferation of product available for digital download on sites like DriveThruRPG.com. Nocturnal is now the publisher of King Arthur Pendragon, following in the footsteps of both Chaosium and White Wolf. New KAP products, as well as entirely new pen & paper rpgs, are forthcoming.
Games
Pendragon |
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Relentless: Darkling Plain |
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Meet Your Enemy
The minions of the demon-god Aezogoth have engulfed the world and nearly eliminated civilization. Aezogoth’s demons and undead ravage the world as the last survivors prepare a final defense. Within Wailohu, the last bastion of men, the greatest remaining astromancers turn their gaze from the heavens to the hills and rivers and woods of their secluded and bucolic valley. They send a plea to Nature itself to rise up and smite the foul, entropic invaders. Nature responds, forming its constituent elements into guardians and warriors to battle Darkness.
These two mighty and inexhaustible enemies meet in relentless battle on a landscape ravaged by conflict. The beginning of the final fate of the world will be decided upon this Darkling Plain.
Endless Battle Upon a Blasted Landscape
Assume the role of a character of any one of eight character classes to participate in a never-ending battle. As Nature, you may battle as the Archon, Delver, Salamander or Stone Soldier. Or battle for Darkness as the Dreadbeast, Imp, Shadowhound or Succubus.
There are no servers to join. No games you need to wait on to fill before play can begin. You simply create a character and immediately appear on this dangerous battlefield! Only have a few moments at your disposal? Then simply lay waste to as many enemies as possible! If you have more time to devote to your side of the battle, you may help meet strategic and tactical objectives that will further your side’s long term interests, including establishing Lines of Power to trap your enemy and claim territory as your own.
Eventually, you may even push your foe off the Darkling Plain entirely. Your play will determine the future battlefields of the game. Will Darkness be forced to regather its forces in the Pit of Xardes, or will Nature continue its resistance in the Valley of the Sun?
The Only Game of its Kind
Relentless: Darkling Plain is a free-play fantasy-themed third person shooter. In fact, it’s the only game of its kind that’s available in English. In RDP, you may buy new powers and new character types, or earn rewards on the Darkling Plain itself and unlock gameplay advantages not available for purchase. |
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Several apps are in development, including one based on the Arthurian mythos and Pendragon paper roleplaying game. More details will be available soon. |
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 King Arthur Pendragon (KAP) is a paper roleplaying game designed by Greg Stafford and first published in 1985. In 2007 the game was admitted to the GAMA Hall of Fame. GAMA (Game Manufacturers’ Association) is the professional trade organization for the hobby game industry. KAP has been in print continuously for 25 years, most recently in an updated 5th edition by Nocturnal Media in 2010. We call it Edition 5.1. This newest edition, as well as almost all of the KAP supplements ever published, is available instantly by PDF download at DriveThruRPG.com. The links below lead to the listings on that site and also contain information about each of the individual books.
Greg Stafford is an award-winning game designer with numerous critical and fan favorites to his credit, but he considers KAP to be his crowning achievement. The game is intensely story-based and allows players to participate in a complete 85-year saga that begins before the birth of King Arthur and concludes in the years after the fall of Camelot. Players assume the roles of knights in these perilous and magical times. Assuming these knights survive their early adventures, they will marry and sire children who will become the players’ next characters. As time advances and eventually carries the original knights to their graves, players will conclude the sprawling saga telling stories of their original characters’ grandchildren.
KAP is innovative not just for the breadth of story and content, but for its elegant game system as well. The system is highlighted by an innovative traits and passions system that helps a player determine his character’s behavior, even if it’s sometimes against the better judgment of both player and character! Emotions ran strong among many of the figures from these legendary times – witness Lancelot and Guinevere’s betrayal of their beloved liege and husband – and so a player may find his character submitting to passions beyond his control as well.
Nocturnal Media is proud to be the publisher of this classic roleplaying game about the timeless stories that are at the heart of Western Literature. The storytelling, artistic vision and innovative game design that are the hallmarks of King Arthur Pendragon are precisely what Nocturnal is all about.
Awards
Publication History (list)
Publication History (with comments by Greg Stafford)
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