Pendragon RPG: The Sauvage King by Greg Stafford

Seth Stauffer

It’s difficult to imagine Arthurian lore without the Questing Beast gallivanting around a dense wood, or perhaps sites like the Green Chapel that Sir Gawain visited.  Of course, no fantasy adventure game would be complete without an enchanted forest.  Chaosium’s The Sauvage King for Pendragon ensures players will have just such a place to lose themselves in again and again. Faeries have moved into a forest that is now encroaching incrementally on the communities in and around it. To put a stop to this, players will need to take on the challenges before them and rid the area of this fey ruler.

People who are already familiar with The Great Pendragon Campaign might know the forest Sauvage. The site that this book takes its name from appeared in that larger story arc, albeit in a modified form. Lore begets lore, and this supplement is designed to fit into all kinds of adventures and scenarios, since there are no dates attached to any of the prompts and excursions gamers will embark upon.

On its surface, this is a campaign. The primary goal, get rid of the faerie king at the center of the forest, is a clear objective. There are conditions that must be met, and they become increasingly difficult. There are potentially complicated distractions and obstacles the PCs will need to overcome. For example, taking on a seemingly indestructible hag is no walk in the park.

While reading this book, I didn’t feel I would get the most out of this product by running it as a single campaign. I put it down with the sense that it was a fantastic collection of segues, interludes, side quests, and so on. There are so many great, fun little diversions players can get into.

Unfortunately, there was some more pointed information I wanted to see, which wasn’t available. There were so many sites to explore, but not much was elaborated on. Even though some areas are real places, there were no maps of the towns, nor were there any details to specify what players might encounter. How large are these communities? What kind of amenities might be available, and so on. Since the book is less than a hundred pages, there could have been a bit more space allocated for these kinds of details.

Overall, this is a lovely, vibrant book. It pops with colour on just about every page. Content is abundant, and because of its open design, it could accommodate almost any other adventure or campaign. It’s hard to see how it isn’t worth the money, given its low price point and short length, which make it very user-friendly. Even though it felt a bit lacking in useful details, Chaosium offers a quality product and is a perfect fit for players short on ideas to keep them occupied, especially between larger campaigns.