Greg Stafford considered Pendragon his masterpiece. He founded Chaosium, the publisher of RuneQuest and Call of Cthulhu, but the Arthurian RPG he first published in 1985 was the one he spent a decade perfecting before his death in 2018. This April, Chaosium is releasing Pendragon 6th Edition, the first full new edition in nearly 20 years, built from Stafford's completed "Ultimate Edition" manuscript.
The Player's Handbook arrives alongside The Grey Knight, an updated edition of the classic adventure originally written by Larry DiTillio. Where most RPGs track hit points and spell slots, Pendragon tracks honour, love, and glory across generations of knights. Players don't just fight monsters; they marry, have children, grow old, and pass the quest to the next generation.
"The hobby is only just catching up to what Greg did nearly 40 years ago," says line editor David Larkins. Pendragon pioneered traits and passions that mechanically reward roleplaying, an idea that felt radical in 1985 and is now everywhere in modern RPG design.
The 6th Edition stays faithful to Stafford's vision, with the team focusing on consolidation rather than reinvention. The Gamemaster's Handbook and Noble's Handbook follow later this year, along with a new edition of the Great Pendragon Campaign, an 80-year multi-generational saga widely regarded as one of the finest RPG campaigns ever written.
A free Quickstart is available from Chaosium's website for anyone curious about Arthurian adventure.