Forty Years Later, The Original 1st Edition ‘Pendragon’ RPG Returns – To Kickstarter At Least

Pendragon 1st Edition is coming to Kickstarter, according to a recent announcement from Chaosium. Here’s what we know so far.

Pendragon 1st edition came out four decades ago, ushering in the idea of chivalric traits enmeshed with the typical trials and travails of RPG campaigns of the day. Now, in 2025, Chaosium has announced that it is going to be bringing the original edition of Pendragon back to life. Coming soon to a Kickstarter near you, of course, because that’s how everything goes these days.

Pendragon 1st Edition – Coming to Kickstarter Soon

It’s two anniversaries in one. Because Pendragon was published 40 years ago, and this year marks Chaosium’s 50th anniversary. But either way, you’ll still get the same great game as it originally appeared. And not just warts and all either—you get special bonus content “from the archives.”

All of which is contingent on a Kickstarter that will almost certainly succeed. It’s getting to be “crowdfunding announcement season” these days with all the

“Kickstarter coming soon”s that cross my desk. And I know that it’s an announcement of an announcement—but hey, there’s a method to this madness. In this case, it means a hefty pre-launch.

But it’s one where you know ahead of time what you’re getting into. Because the original Pendragon 1st Edition came out 40 years ago! And though there’s a new edition that came out just a few months ago, this is a return to the glory days writ large. “As pure and raw as it was back then.”

“In 1985, after decades of devoted research, Chaosium published Greg Stafford’s Pendragon Roleplaying Game. It ushered in a new era of roleplaying opportunities, devoted to immersive game play through Passions and Traits, across multiple generations within the same campaign. […] We are proud to publish that original edition of this classic RPG, as pure and raw as it was back then, with bonus content from the archives.”

But we are also currently in an old school renaissance. People are rediscovering what they loved about classic games—just look at the overwhelming success of Shadowdark and Worlds Without Number. But there’s more in the old school than just the original D&D ruleset to draw from. Which is what makes the 1st Edition Pendragon exciting.

You get to dig into virtues and vices. All the struggles of literary knighthood. Pendragon carved out a niche at a time when fantasy RPGs were a dime a dozen. Now we can see if it stands the test of time.

Look for Pendragon on kcikstarter soon!

Bell of Lost Souls Staff Writer and DM, J.R. covers RPGs of all stripes and on occasion eats sandwiches. You can ask him about either at [email protected]

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