Pendragon, but in a different setting

RPGs
#1

I’ve loved Pendragon since I first found it in the early 90s. Haven’t played it much over the years as most don’t seem to like the romance side of the game.

I’d love to port this to another setting, but I lack the skill/time to accomplish it. Additionally I’d hate to do it and then never find any players. I looked briefly at Runequest (the newest edition) which seems ok, but I don’t want to buy another game that sits on the shelf un-played or under-played.

Any suggestions? A good setting without too much high fantasy stuff?

#2

If you’re looking for a system to use, I’ll plug Savage Worlds again as one that will work just fine without magic and definitely without relying on characters having magic items as they advance. You can use pretty much any campaign setting you like as a backdrop. I’ve used it for fantasy, science-fiction and super-heroic games.

#3

I do like Savage Worlds. Another system that is hard to find players for (at least for me). I’ve looked before to see if anyone Savaged Pendragon. I’d really like to use the Passions and Traits. I’ll have to look again.

#4

There is Paladin, an official variant of Pendragon that takes place in medieval France. Not sure if that’s far enough afield from Pendragon for you, but it might be worth a look.

#5

I’ve never had the opportunity to play through a whole Pendragon campaign, but it always struck me as one of those games where the system is pretty tightly woven to the setting.

What are the characteristics of the system that you like and are trying to retain in a different setting? You mentioned Traits and Passions, but divorced of the Arthurian setting, I feel like those become easily replaceable by other games’ systems of motivations, flaws, duty, obligations, etc.

If your main obstacle is that you can’t find players because of some element of the game, you might have an easier time tweaking the storyline and de-emphasizing some aspects of the setting rather than wholesale porting the system to something else. Again, I’ve never GM’d this, so this proposal might be easier said than done.