Pendragon: The Grey Knight by Greg Stafford

Book Review

Seth Stauffer

A mysterious woman arrives at a tournament and both publicly challenges and then shames King Arthur. Her champion, the intimidating Grey Knight, will face a challenger in combat. The stakes are high, and the mood is grim. These are the very circumstances that players will take upon their chivalrous shoulders in Chaosium’s Pendragon: The Grey Knight. Can the players aid the kingdom?

Not only has Pendragon gotten a new edition, but so has this celebrated adventure, The Grey Knight.  This quest is a long-standing module that has been a part of the Pendragon game for decades. There are even liner notes from over 30 years ago from the original author to help people understand the approach to designing the module. 

What’s more, this whole product is beautiful, full colour. The illustrated map of Britain is particularly lovely. The visual component is also complemented by good writing, and the story reads smoothly from start to finish. Even though it’s less than 100 pages from start to finish, including the appendices, the prose doesn’t feel cramped or rushed. This also says something because it is an adventure with various challenges to pit the players against.

One area that could have been improved upon was the early sections of the text. The prologue modules could have been in the core book as a first step for new players, creating an immediate segue into The Grey Knight. Including warm-up modules to initiate players into the world of King Arthur would have provided a well-conceived challenge. In the end, the Grey Knight feels a bit bloated with the two mini-modules at the beginning that maybe don’t need to be there.

As far as tabletop role-playing games are concerned, The Grey Knight is a well-known and enduring module for a beloved game. This new iteration is a visually impressive update to a classic adventure. While parts of it may have been better served as free downloads or as a chapter in the core book, gamers have a quality adventure before them.